In 1977, Renbourn recorded and released what is probably his best-known solo record, ‘A Maid in Bedlam’ under the title of the John Renbourn Group. For the promotional tour, Renbourn augmented the recording lineup comprising of ex-Pentagle vocalist Jacqui McShee, Tony Roberts (flute, oboe, vocals), and Keshav Sathe (Tablas), with Sandy Spencer on Cello.
One of the German concerts from the 1978 tour was broadcast by Radio Bremen and stored in their archives. Some forty-three years later, thanks to the hard work of the independent German label MIG Music, this wonderful concert has been dusted down and given a general release under the title ‘A Maid in Bremen (Live at Roemer, Bremen Feb 14th 1978)’.
Mastered from excellent recordings by Mike Walker, the live sound is stunning. Instrumentation and vocals are perfectly mixed and the quality of music played live that night highlights the proficiency of the musicians in the band. The concert setlist comprises traditional folk songs – many of which the listener will be familiar with – but the arrangements here have a more world music influence as Renbourn’s unique Baroque finger-picking style mixes with the mystic tabla work of Keshav Sathe and the jazzy flute of Tony Roberts.
Highlights include the chant-like harmonies on ‘John Barleycorn’, the haunting ‘Death And The Lady’, while McShee’s vocal shines on the acapella ‘Westron Wynde’ and the heartbreaking ‘A Maid In Bedlam’.
Providing a contemporary mix, the playful blues covers of Booker T’s ‘Sweet Potato’, The Fury Lewis classic ‘Turn Your Money Green’ and the blues standard ‘Kokomo Blues’ reflect the marriage of musical styles that were popular at the time.
Jacqui McShee, who also wrote the sleeve notes for the booklet that accompanies the CD, still remembers the Bremen concert:
To my knowledge, this is the only recording of Sandy with the group. She left soon afterward to return to America. I have been chatting to Tony recently (we laughed a lot) and of course, we both miss John and Kesh, but we have these wonderful recordings and the albums that we made and we have a sense of pride in the music we played together.
An exceptional release, ‘A Maid In Bremen (Live at Roemer, Bremen Feb 14th 1978)’ is a fantastic snapshot in time that captures a very unique performance by some of folk music’s greatest players.