Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)

Subject: Obit: John Renbourn
From: GUEST,Ray
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 12:19 PM

Just heard that John Rebourn has died. Sad news but can't confirm any further details.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn
From: GUEST,HiLo
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 12:31 PM

Oh, what sad,sad news....I love his music...What a loss. I don't really know how to respond, I am so saddened by this.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 12:40 PM

It must have been sudden, a Google search on him shows information about a performance on Sunday, March 22. No mention of his death in the News outlets.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn
From: Backwoodsman
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 12:45 PM

Gordon Giltrap and Paul Brett both saying it's so.
Very sad, another great 'un gone to the Big Gig, wherever it is.

RIP John.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:03 PM

This is hard news.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn
From: GUEST,John James
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:03 PM

I shall post more info , if appropriate, later. But we are just making sure all family know in the best manner possible. In these days of instant social media sometimes it can be insensitive, by nature of the beast. Anyway John is survived by two sons and a daughter , and a sister. news has had to go to Australia.
and of course he has grandchildren.
Today has been a difficult day for many in the family and for many friends too.

John James

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: voyager
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:28 PM

Great Dreams From Heaven - John Renbourn

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: CupOfTea
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:38 PM

What a lovely man he was. He came to mind just this week when a friend in hospice (a fine musician and songwriter) mentioned that one of his favorite memories was drinking wine in my living room with John Renbourn after John had done a memorably brilliant concert for Celtic Ceol. I remembered that so clearly myself: he was the only person I've ever let smoke in my house. I was amused that it took him about three minutes to smoke the cigarette that he'd taken about 20 minutes to put together. Never saw anyone roll a tobacco smoke before that. He was such a delight to have stay with me, and invited me to look him up if I were ever again in England, and gave me his home contact information. I never got back to England, but did have a chance to see him perform one more time, with Jacquie McShee, at Nighttown in Cleveland Hts.

One of the stellar musicians of his generation and a genuinely nice man. I feel lucky to have had the privilege of meeting him.

Joanne in Cleveland, Ohio

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,#
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:38 PM

Obit in the Belfast Telegraph.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Bonzo3legs
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:55 PM

I used to see him at Les Cousins and Studio 51, RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Musket
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 01:57 PM

Another hero leaves us..

Very sad.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Sean Belt
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 02:08 PM

Really saddened to hear this. Renbourn's records and the handful of times I saw him live over the years were hugely influential to my guitar playing. Another good man gone.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: fat B****rd
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 02:27 PM

Sad news indeed. I listened to him and Wizz Jones with Cerys Matthews only the other Sunday. RIP Mr. Renbourn.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 02:54 PM

Another great talent gone RIP.

Still remember him on TV with Pentangle - one of my early LPs.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Brian May
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 02:56 PM

The above was me - bloody cookie reset . . . again.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: maeve
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 03:06 PM

Friend and fiercely brilliant musician. Thank you, John. We'll keep singing the songs you arranged for us.

Maeve

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: maeve
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 03:10 PM

" 26 March 2015
Influential folk guitarist John Renbourn has died aged 70.

The musician was found at his home in Hawick in the Scottish Borders today after a suspected heart attack.

Renbourn teamed up with fellow musicians, including guitarist Bert Jansch who died in 2011, to form Pentangle who were a critical and - to some extent - a commercial success towards the end of the 1960s.

His manager, Dave Smith, said Renbourn was "a huge character".

He said: "He was always playing and teaching. That is what he loved doing and he never stopped."

Among those paying tributes to London-born Renbourn were DJ Cerys Matthews who said: "So sorry and sad to hear of John Renbourn's passing. A loving, lovely man. RIP John, it was an honour and pleasure meeting you."

Novelist Ian Rankin tweeted: "Ach, and now John Renbourn has died. What a guitarist ..."

He leaves two sons and a daughter." http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/entertainment/news/guitarist-renbourn-dies-aged-70-31097652.html

Respect and shared loss to John's family. Thank you all for sharing him with the rest of us.

Maeve

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,Tunesmith
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 03:16 PM

It really is ridiculous. Davy, Bert and now John gone!
Back in the mid-60s, I desperately wanted to be John Renbourn!
I used to stare at his first album cover and imagine myself sharing a pad with Bert Jansch in some interesting area of London, and playing guitar duets all day, and then heading out at night to play in some subterranean acoustic folk/blues venue.

I had a few nice chats with John in the 60s. He once even bought me a pint!

Great days.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Wesley S
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 03:26 PM

Aw crap. I'm glad I had a chance to see him at least once. A concert with Pierre Bensusan. What a lovely night of music.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Bat Goddess
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 03:29 PM

I was just listening to Pentangle and other recordings all yesterday at work on Pandora...

I was first introduced to Renbourn's music (by an eclectic banjo player) with Sir John Alot and the Grene Knight back in 1970 or 1971. Discovered The Lady and the Unicorn shortly thereafter.

He will definitely be missed.

Linn

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: maeve
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 03:31 PM

Guest, John James - Thank you for your post. I wish you best hopes for contacting all family members in the kindest way possible. It is hard indeed to do this when such news can fly across oceans before a telephone number can be punched out or dialed.

Maeve

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST, DTM
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 04:35 PM

Sad, sad news. Great guitarist & a great guy.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Nick
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 05:04 PM

Sad. First saw him at the Albert Hall with Pentangle in 1968 but only once since. Very influential on the way I play a guitar and I still enjoy listening to his playing.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,Peter Laban
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 05:52 PM

Item in the Guardian

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 06:25 PM

My sympathy to his family, friends, and fans.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 07:29 PM

Sorry to hear this sad news. First saw him at our medical school folk club in E London in the 1960s, when he appeared with Jacqui McShee, even before Pentangle. Then a very long gap, before seeing him a couple of times in Edinburgh- the last being, I think, during Edinburgh Fringe 2013 when he played with Wizz Jones. RIP John.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Bob Hitchcock
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 07:42 PM

What a sad day indeed. I remember seeing John in the 60's with Pentangle, then I attended a concert with him and Stefan Grossman and Ralph McTell in Washington D.C. in about 1979 or so. Later, in 1988 I played a workshop at Philly Folk Festival with John, after which we sat and talked for a while. A superb musician and a gentleman as well, I will always remember him as a an all round good bloke. Whenever I heard him play my initial reaction was to go home and smash all my instruments in the fireplace as I could never match his skills. I am glad I didn't, but I am sad he is no longer with us. RIP john.

Bob Hitchcock

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,punkfolkrocker
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 08:16 PM

John Renbourn was a massive influence in my late teens...

First hearing the Pentangle LPs that were the background music in a druggy smoky squat
where we started to hang out with some older musicians [in their early 20s]

Then when I was 19 I left my west country home to move up north
in the middle of a bitter cold dark winter;
I'd be out at night at new wave agit pop punk gigs,
then back home to my damp bedsit listening to John Renbourn cassettes.
"Bert And John" was a favourite.

.. and a live gig of his 'Medieval' tunes I taped off the radio...

But the biggest influence of all his instrumental virtuosity
was he played electric guitar through a real nasty fuzz box
on Pentangle folky recordings !!!😎

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Teribus
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 09:37 PM

"Influential folk guitarist John Renbourn has died aged 70.

The musician was found at his home in Hawick in the Scottish Borders today after a suspected heart attack.

His manager, Dave Smith, said Renbourn was "a huge character".

He said: "He was always playing and teaching. That is what he loved doing and he never stopped."

Very sad - but don't gloss over the facts - always knew he was there but never actually saw him - no presence at all.

Unlike Archie Fisher, who has always been extremely supportive in terms of time and contributions to the "folk scene" in the borders, from his contribution nobody in the borders knew that John Renbourn was around so I have no idea whatsoever where exactly John was "always playing and teaching" - certainly wasn't locally.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Hagman
Date: 26 Mar 15 - 10:19 PM

Checking his website, he had 13 dates booked in March - and that's just the publicly advertised ones. I'd say that was definitely being around.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Larry The Radio Guy
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 12:04 AM

It was through Pentangle that I recognized the folk music and jazz really weren't two different planets.

He will be missed.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Dave Sutherland
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 03:52 AM

Very sorry to read this news; another part of my (and countless others) growing up on the folk scene gone. RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: tritoneman
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 04:15 AM

That is such sad news. A wonderful musician. I used to watch and listen to him in awe in the 1960's and no less so when I last saw him at Topsham doing a wonderful gig with Wizz Jones about two weeks ago.
Graham

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: MoorleyMan
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 05:15 AM

How tremendously sad. It has not been a good year...

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,MikeOfNorthumbria (sans cookie)
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 05:32 AM

A great loss to all of us. But at least he was still playing (and playing well)right up to the end. That's the way to go.

In a world where success often depends as much on how you look as on what you sound like, John established and sustained a viable career entirely on the basis of his musical ability. And once established, he was never content to carry on delivering the same familiar material to the same faithful followers - over the years he explored many different types of music, while always managing to sound unmistakably like himself.

And one thing more - he was an all-round good bloke, who will be missed by everyone who ever had the privilege of chatting with him about guitars, guitarists and guitar music over a pint.

Wassail!

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Nigel Paterson
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 06:44 AM

Maeve, thank you for alerting me to the very sad news of John Renbourn's death. We (The Halliard), worked with him many times, back in the halcyon days of the 60s Folk Revival...a regular visitor to our Club In Chelmsford. He wasn't a 'friend' in the strict sense of the word, but I grew to respect & admire his talent & evolving creativity. He was a lovely, gentle-man...a great loss to Music. My sincere condolences to his Family & Friends,
                                                                   Nigel Paterson (Mandolin, The Halliard)

(Edited re-post from 'Jane's Rainbow')

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Pete Jennings
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 06:55 AM

My heart is full of sorrow, my eyes is full of tears...

RIP John.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,Sean Breadin (Blandiver / Sedayne)
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 06:59 AM

Another one gone! And I was just listening to my John Renbourn Group albums the other day too, noting that their translation of Machaut's Douce Dame Jolie is by Mudcat's Anne Lister.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqfusObjTqM

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,Mike Wray
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 04:23 PM

I feel very sad hearing this news. I have loved JR's playing since the 60's and, like many others, have spent countless hours trying to play his tunes. I have seen him quite a few times going way back. His compositions and arrangements were so musical and ingenious. There was some unique and undefinable atmosphere in his tunes that really appealed to me. In his prime he had an incredibly deft and accurate technique which no one could copy. In my book he was unmatched.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,cujimmy
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 04:49 PM

When I was first learning to play guitar, I was in the Grove in Leeds on my birthday around 1996. John was playing in the back roon, a few friends of mine pushed me into the room, paid the entrance money and told me, you just listen to him. A moment and a concert il never forget.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Nick
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 05:40 PM

He was definitely still playing. In the i newspaper today they report his death on page 2 but then (missed by who ever checks the content)on the gigs page recommend people go to his concert tonight with Wizz Jones at the Band in The Wall in Manchester

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,gillymor
Date: 27 Mar 15 - 07:49 PM

So Clear

Won't see his like again.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: Rusty Dobro
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 04:37 AM

Spent a wonderful evening at Plaxtol village hall, Kent, a few weeks ago, watching John and Wizz Jones. It was a 200-mile round trip, but I'm so glad I went!

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,addison
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 05:36 AM

Obituary in today's Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/mar/27/john-renbourn

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: maeve
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 06:16 AM

Guardian obituary, linked by Guest addison, above.:
"John Renbourn, who has died aged 70, was one half of the powerful guitar duo of Pentangle, the innovative jazz-folk band of the 1960s and 70s. While his fellow guitarist, Bert Jansch, brought great emotion and inventiveness to his playing, it was Renbourn who provided a high level of technical accomplishment. They revelled in one another's virtuosity.

The two men first met when Renbourn went to a Jansch gig at Bunjies coffee bar, London, in 1964. At the time Renbourn was performing informally at clubs in London, and as an accompanist for the African-American blues and gospel singer Dorris Henderson, from Los Angeles, with whom he recorded two albums, There You Go (1965) and Watch the Stars (1967). By early 1965, Renbourn and Jansch were flat-sharing, playing guitar together by day and performing in the evenings, developing a style that became known as "folk baroque".

Jansch played on a couple of tracks on Renbourn's eponymous first solo album for Transatlantic Records in 1965, and Renbourn repaid the compliment on Jansch's Jack Orion (1966). Both were influenced by the guitarist Davey Graham, and their joint, largely instrumental album, Bert and John (1966), set the scene for their Pentangle collaboration with its modern jazz influences.

By the time of Renbourn's second solo album, Another Monday (1967), he was collaborating with the folk singer Jacqui McShee, whose renditions of traditional songs inspired him to make jazz-blues rhythmic accompaniments similar in style to those in Graham's 1964 Folk Roots, New Routes album with Shirley Collins.
John Renbourn was still performing up to his death. For the past two years he had been rouring with the folk and blues guitarist Wizz Jones.

Renbourn was the catalyst who brought together his two performing partners – Jansch and McShee – plus the jazz musicians Terry Cox, a percussionist, and the upright bass player Danny Thompson to form Pentangle. After a residency at the Horseshoe pub in central London, which McShee later described as public rehearsals, they made their concert debut at the Royal Festival Hall in May 1967. Their performances brought together all their wide and varied influences – jazz, blues, traditional folk, original songs, medieval themes – in a fluid, improvisatory style. Often described misleadingly as a folk-rock band – Renbourn's rhythmic accompaniment and Cox's percussion matched the patterns of the songs without imposing a rock beat – Pentangle paved the way for further innovations in folk music.

Their first album, The Pentangle (1968), was released to critical acclaim, and by 1969 they were touring the US, appearing at Carnegie Hall, the Newport folk festival and Fillmore West in San Francisco with the Grateful Dead, as well as the Isle of Wight festival in the UK. Their third album, Basket of Light (1969), took them into the charts when the opening track, Light Flight, was chosen as the theme tune for the television series Take Three Girls. During this time there was little space in the schedules for Renbourn's solo concerts, although he recorded solo albums, The Lady and the Unicorn (1970), with an emphasis on medieval music, and Faro Annie (1971), which revisited his folk and blues repertoire. The relentless touring with Pentangle took its toll and they disbanded in early 1973.

Renbourn returned to solo concerts and occasional duo performances with Jansch, then embarked on a new band collaboration with McShee – the John Renbourn Group – plus Tony Roberts, Keshav Sathe and Sue Draheim. Two albums, A Maid in Bedlam (1977) and Enchanted Garden (1980), were followed by Live in America (1981), which received a Grammy nomination. Solo albums such as The Hermit (1976) and The Black Balloon (1979) emphasised his continuing interest in early music.

Renbourn was born John McCombe in Marylebone, London: his father, Robert, was killed in the second world war, and his mother, Dorothy (nee Jopling), married Edward Renbourn, a physician, in 1952, when John's surname was changed by adoption. The family moved to Surrey, where John had piano lessons and was introduced to early music. He took grade examinations in classical guitar, which influenced his later folk and blues guitar arrangements.

By the 1980s, Renbourn was taking a more analytical approach to his music, wanting to build upon his earlier formal music studies. From 1972 he had been producing books of compositions and guitar tablature, and in 1982 he enrolled on a degree course in composition and orchestration at Dartington college in Devon. He described this as "an awesome experience", covering much music of which he had been completely unaware. On one occasion he had to request special permission to re-sit an examination as it clashed with an appearance at Carnegie Hall with the legendary American musician Doc Watson.

His new musical awareness led to invitations in guitar teaching, and he produced further publications. In 1988 he joined the staff at Dartington to head up the first degree course in steel-string guitar. But concert performances and collaborations continued. He formed a duo and recorded several albums with the American guitarist Stefan Grossman, and worked with Robin Williamson of the Incredible String Band. He formed Ship of Fools, initially for a concert in New York, with Maggie Boyle, Steve Tilston and Tony Roberts, and his solo concerts took him to Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and Alaska.

Renbourn was only briefly a member of the re-formed Pentangle in the 1980s, but in 2007 he joined the other original members to receive a lifetime achievement award from Sir David Attenborough at the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards, at which Pentangle performed. The band formally came together the following year with concerts, including Glastonbury festival, and television appearances. For the last couple of years Renbourn had been touring with one of his early 1960s colleagues, the folk and blues guitarist Wizz Jones. They were coming towards the end of their tour when Renbourn died.

He is survived by three of his four children: Joel and Jessie from his first marriage, to Judy Hills; and Ben from his second marriage, to Jo Watson – their other child, Jake, died in 2014."

• John Renbourn, guitarist, born 8 August 1944; died 26 March 2015

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,gnu on laptop
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 11:39 AM

Reading the posts herein and on Facebook have made me much more aware of John and his works. Mu condolences to all. RIP

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: maeve
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 12:33 PM

From Sing Out Magazine online:
Guitarist John Renbourn Passes Mar 27, 2015 Jay Ansill
Thurday, March 26th, brought the sad news that John Renbourn, the legendary guitarist and Pentangle founder, had died from an apparent heart attack at his home in Hawick in the Scottish Borders. Renbourn was 70 years old. These words from fellow musician Jay Ansill:

In 1978, I bought a copy of John Renbourn's album The Hermit at a very hip record store in Philadelphia known as 3rd Street Jazz. When I took it to the cashier to pay, the very attractive woman behind the counter said "Ooooh, a John Renbourn record … nice!" It seemed like just owning a Renbourn record was a sort of shorthand that let someone know that you were sophisticated, cool and had impeccable taste

John Renbourn had already established himself as an important guitarist on the British folk scene by the time he formed The Pentangle, along with another guitar legend, Bert Jansch, the striking singer, Jaqui McShee, and the equally able Danny Thompson on bass and Terry Cox on percussion. The group combined elements of traditional folk music with jazz and blues, and even bits of rock music. The two guitarist were the perfect combination, with Jansch's sensibilities being slightly more rooted in American blues and Renbourn's more in classical and early music. The band crossed over into the mainstream and secured John's place as one of the preeminent guitarists of the era.

Renbourn continued to make solo albums throughout the '70s, all of which combined a vast knowledge of classical and traditional music with non-traditional elements, like extended improvisations, employing electric guitars and the sitar, (on which he was one of the finer Western musicians of the time to try his hand at the instrument). His own compositions were impeccably conceived and performed. Although his technique was astonishing, his music was never about displaying his virtuosity. His compositional sense was rarely informed by "guitaristic" concerns; things that easily fell under one's fingers on the guitar. If he had an idea of what he wanted, he'd find a way to play it on the guitar, even if it meant using different tunings or extremely complicated fingerings.

After Pentangle split up in 1972, John also led his own "John Renbourn Group," combining once more the traditional with the non-traditional, employing tablas (Indian hand drums) which somehow worked perfectly with early music and traditional folk songs.

Beside being a great solo player, John was also a brilliant collaborator, maintaining fruitful partnerships with various luminaries, including Stefan Grossman, Wizz Jones, Isaac Guillory, Robin Williamson and Archie Fisher over the years. It was during a few tours of the East Coast of the US with Robin Williamson in the early 1990s that I got to know John better. I had been Robin's tour manager and driver when he toured the East Coast, and quickly took on the same role when they teamed up.

There was never a moment when John wasn't fascinating to be around. He had millions of hilarious stories about everybody he knew (Robin would say that John's stories were "great … and some of them might even be true!") and he could also talk knowledgeably on an impressive array of subjects. John was always generous with advice about the guitar and music in general. When the conversations slowed down he would suggest some kind of word game to pass the time during a long drive.

When I heard on Thursday that John had died I immediately began to been reflect on his vast contribution to the world of music and particularly the guitar. It would be difficult to find an acoustic guitarist who wasn't influenced by him. In a book on The Who, I recall seeing some lead sheets and Peter Townsend's notes saying to play one song like John Renbourn. His influence on Jimmy Page's playing is obvious as well.

John Renbourn left us with enough music to keep us all engaged and connected forever. What a gift."

— Jay Ansill

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,Spleen Cringe
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 05:37 PM

For those of us who weren't ever part of the 'official' folk scene, John Renbourn was one of the people who reached out and brought this music to us. I remember seeing him at Green Man Festival a few years back and my friend's 11 year old daughter said 'he's like Father Christmas, only cool!'...

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: nager
Date: 28 Mar 15 - 10:36 PM

Very sad news indeed. I usd to work with and became good friends with his sister Rebecca here in Australia a few years ago and I am sure she will be devastated at John's passing. RIP.

Subject: RE: Obit: John Renbourn (8 Aug 44 - 26 Mar 15)
From: GUEST,David E.
Date: 29 Mar 15 - 03:13 PM

The first time I met John (nearly 40 years ago now) he was doing one of those in store performance things and six people showed up. I apologized but he just smiled and said "I didn't expect that many!" The last time I saw John (2 years ago)he still remembered and still laughed. Outstanding guitarist and a very nice fellow. Our great ones are leaving us. At least we can still play the albums.

David E.