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Hey Folks,

As mentioned last week on the TG News, here is a lesson on Cruel Sister, the olde English Ballad as done by Pentangle.

Cruel Sister is the title tune from Pentangle's fourth album, released in 1970. It is a traditional English Ballad with the usual jealousy, murder and supernatural themes. There are dozens of renditions of the story, also known as The Two Sisters, but Pentangle's is probably one of the best known.

Their arrangement featured Jacqui McShee's haunting vocals over Bert Jansch's fingerpicking guitar accompaniment, while John Renbourn added a sitar part.

This lesson breaks down Bert's picking, which is fairly straightforward through the verse, but gets more involved in a short refrain, as well as an occasional instrumental interlude.

Great to see this lesson Neil. Many Thx.

nb are you sure that is Bert playing ? The first time i heard Cruel Sister i assumed it was John's playing. There's a bit of the interlude which sounds very much like the interlude in John's version of White House Blues, and the whole thing sounds cleaner than Bert's usual herky jerky style. Maybe Bert toned it down for his Pentangle recordings, and you're the John expert so i will defer to your view. .

all the best/ david

I think I hear John as well but the album lists Bert as playing acoustic guitar and John just playing sitar.. John's playing is usually a bit cleaner than Bert's in general, and this is very clean. It is likely that John overdubbed the sitar.

Another clue is that John plays both acoustic and overdubbed electric on Lord Franklin, Bert is just listed as concertina.

To sum up- I am going with my judgement over the liner notes and believe it was John. I wish I had asked him about this, as well as many other things in some of our times together.

Neil

Hey!Cruel Sister is such a great pick!I'm working on this lesson too and it really helps break down Jansch's technique. The picking is indeed simple, but that refrain... that's where the magic happens!I suggest spending extra time on that transition.The sitar adds so much vibe, totally worth getting into!P.S.If you struggle with the rhythm, start slow and gradually speed up.