The pilfered Bert Jansch song that spawned an entire scene he “knew nothing about”
Certain names consistently appear in every list of esteemed guitarists, and among them is Bert Jansch. Although unfamiliar to many who haven’t delved deep into the world of guitar virtuosity, for enthusiasts, he epitomises both technical mastery and creative brilliance.
One of the pioneers of the British folk revival of the 1960s, the Glaswegian cut his teeth in his hometown before moving to London and continuing to develop as a singer-songwriter and acoustic hero. Then, in 1968, he co-founded the group Pentangle and toured and recorded with them until they split in 1972. As well as working with the band, he would collaborate with their guitarist, John Renbourn, in other capacities and fellow folk pioneer Anne Briggs.
A crucial part of London’s folk scene, he would rub shoulders with and play the same venues as the likes of Roy Harper, Davey Graham and Wizz Jones and would have a direct influence on some of the most prominent names of his generation, including Nick Drake, Mike Oldfield, Jimmy Page, Paul Simon and Neil Young. Furthermore, Donovon would score a hit with a cover of his protest song ‘Do You Hear Me Now’ in late 1965.
Although Jansch’s influence is wide-reaching, with him scoring fans in later innovators such as Johnny Marr and Devendra Banhart, his most famous adherent is Jimmy Page, a man deemed by some as the greatest axeman of all time for his work with The Yardbirds and Led Zeppelin. Famously, ‘Black Mountain Side’ from Zeppelin’s eponymous 1969 debut album is an uncredited adaptation of Jansch’s reworking of the traditional Irish folk number, ‘Down by Blackwaterside’.
This was something that Jansch touched on during a 2007 interview, where he noted that the Zeppelin song created a music scene that he “knew nothing about” until one day when he came face-to-face with the gravity of Page’s pilfering in the United States. “That spawned a whole scene that I knew nothing about,” he recalled, “Until one day I was in the States and somebody said have you heard this track? He did the same thing with Davey. ‘White Summer’ is lifted from Davey’s arrangement of ‘She Moved Thro’ The Fair’.”
It was reported that a few years before the chat, Jansch’s record label enacted court proceedings against the Led Zeppelin leader, but they eventually ran out of money and dropped the matter. He had known Page for years but was reticent to mention plagiarism to him and claimed that the classic rockstar could have been more forthcoming about it.
“I haven’t said anything. He runs away. He could be friendlier,” Jansch said before maintaining that he was not interested in pursuing the matter further. “I’m quite happy. I don’t have to borrow guitars anymore. What am I going to do with three Rolls-Royces?”
Listen to ‘Blackwater Side’ below.
