My last record-buying outing netted me five LPs and a 7" single for a total outlay of £23. The cheapest album was the only I didn’t much care for when I played it: a recital of piano pieces by Erik Satie on the Classics for Pleasure label. Beyond a handful of his greatest hits I’ve struggled to enjoy Satie’s eccentric compositions, and this was another unsuccessful attempt. Pieces like his ‘Sonatine Bureaucratique’ and ‘La Piège de Méduse’ left me cold. Then again, the record was only a pound and at that price it had seemed worth a try. The same charity shop had a similarly cheap copy of The Astrud Gilberto Album, which I’d have eagerly grabbed had it not been in such poor condition.
As a general rule, I’ve tended to be drawn toward lower-pitched singing voices and conversely have often shied away from high soprano & falsetto ones (I was slower than most to recognise the merits of songs such as ‘Wuthering Heights’ & ‘Smalltown Boy’). Combined with an incuriosity about the British folk-rock of the late ’60s and early ’70s, this prejudice sufficed to keep me well away from Pentangle’s music for many years. The dull months of Covid lockdown brought about quite a bit of musical reappraisal on my part, with one of the upshots being a very belated recognition of just how unusual and excellent a band they were. The frequently high pitch of Jacqui McShee’s exquisite vocals was no longer a deterrent.
I’ve much enjoyed a ‘Best Of’ 2-CD album of theirs I acquired at that time, and hadn’t considered buying any of their original LPs until finding a gatefold copy of Sweet Child in the bins. At £12 it was easily the costliest of the day’s buys but it’s a late ’60s pressing in very good condition and (most of) the music on it is a delight. ‘Sweet Child’ itself, and the live rendition of ‘No More My Lord’ are my favourite tracks. I very much like the pictures of the band in the gatefold too.
