IT DON'T BOTHER ME

I am not worthy to review such a landmark album but I will try my best.

Put simply "It Don't Bother Me" is proto-prog folk. Is it the first of its type? Some would say his first album would come under this category but to me this *is* it. "It Don't Bother Me" is a mixture of traditional folky songs with Jansch's trademark edgy idiosyncratic (read "genius") guitar playing intermingled with some bewildering instrumentals that defy classification; sort of Jazz/Folk/Never heard this type of playing before!

Bert is aided on guitar by John Renbourn on 2 tracks "My Lover"...now where did the Beatles get that sitar sound? Renbourn? This was recorded in early to mid 1965, well before Norwegian Wood had been recorded and actually released a month before Rubber Soul. "My Lover" is way out there for 1965. Lucky Thirteen (a Renbourn composition) is a mesmerizing interplay between Jansch and Renbourn...a proto-prog folk gem.

Other tracks such as the instrumental "The Wheel" is too good to describe; just listen to it. It states on Wikipedia and other sources that Roy Harper sings lead and plays guitar on "A Man I'd Rather Be" but I have my doubts. Nothing is mentioned on this in the extensive liner notes for the 2000 CD remaster and besides it sounds exactly like Bert! But then again it might just be Roy.

"Anti apartheid".....has there ever been a better protest song?

All other songs including "Oh My Babe", the title track and So Long (Been on the Road so Long) are classics. Sounds as if Bert is physically attacking his guitar on that latter song...you can almost hear him sweating and the guitar pleading for mercy.

"It Don't Bother Me" is just a fantastic album and it takes you back to a bygone pre-prog era; although no-one in that era was doing anything quite like Bert.

5 stars

If an album could be described as suffering the dreaded 'sophomore blues' its this follow up album to Bert Jansch's legendary debut. Sporting better production values but not better material, It Don't Bother Me seems a rushed affair and probably was at the time it was recorded and released. After all, who knew that Jansch's eponymous debut would be so popular in the British folk circles of the mid 1960s. Overall, the songs have a less polished sloppy presentation, especially on Bert's rough-hewn vocals.

Songs that stand out on It Don't Bother Me are 'Anti Apartheid', "Harvest Your Thoughts Of Love' and the album's dark and moody title track. John Renbourn guests on the wonderful instrumental 'Lucky Thirteen' while Jansch does a solo on the cyclical sounding instrumental titled 'The Wheel'.

It Don't Bother Me is by no means a bad album, it just doesn't improve on Jansch's debut. That would come pass on Jansch's third solo offering coming up quickly titled Jack Orion and, of course, with the debut album of the Pentangle that followed close behind. 3 stars.