Ducking and Dartington

During the time Pentangle was on the road the 'Folk Revival' had been spreading throughout Europe and I had come back to find the scene much healthier. 

The guitar was a far more accepted part of it all than it had been previously in Britain, and some very good young players were emerging who had been listening to, and developing, the ideas of my generation.  That encouraged me to put out some books of my guitar pieces and to begin a series of guitar based albums featuring set arrangements that could be learned note for note.  These included "The Hermit", "Black Balloon" and "Nine Maidens". 

As an extension of this I began working with Stefan Grossman who was based in Europe.  We recorded two studio albums and one live double album as well as a limited edition direct-to-disk recording in Japan.  A compilation of our duets, "Keeper Of The Vine" has recently been released by Shanachie.

By that stage I had moved down to the West Country and hooked up with Tony Roberts who had worked with Alexis and played on some of my solo Transatlantic records, from "Lady And The Unicorn" to the "Lost Sessions". 

We began playing together without any particular aim in mind.  The music was mainly traditional and the ideas grew to incorporate Jacqui and other friends, Sue Draheim and Keshav Sathe.  Soon we found ourselves touring and recording again.  The two studio albums were "A Maid In Bedlam" and "Enchanted Garden" and, since we had no name, the  record company called us "The John Renbourn Group". 

We were taped playing at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco and the recording "Live In America" earned us a Grammy nomination in the Folk Music category.  We were pipped at the post by Queen Ida but we all felt that was fair enough.

In the early eighties I took time off to go back to school, I was living near a world-renowned music college, Dartington, in South Devon, and the temptation was too great.  I spent three years there and emerged with a degree covering composition and orchestration. 

But the most wonderful aspect was the range of music covered by the course, much of which I had scarcely been aware of. 

It was an awesome experience but not without its lighter side. 

To keep my hand in I still took the occasional gig whenever I could.  These usually passed without comment but special dispensation had to be applied for in order to re-sit my second year exams when it was discovered that they clashed with a concert with Doc Watson at the Carnegie Hall.