Cruel Sister [Import]

Cruel Sister [Import]

Track Listings

1. A Maid Thats Deep In Love

2. When I Was In My Prime

3. Lord Franklin

4. Cruel Sister

5. Jack Orion

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
UK remastered reissue of the British folk super-group's 1970 album. 5 tracks including 'A Maid That's Deep In Love'.2001.

Tracks:

Maid That's Deep in Love
When I Was in My Prime
Lord Franklin
Cruel Sister
Jack Orion

Album Description

UK remastered reissue of the British folk super-group's 1970 album. 5 tracks including 'A Maid That's Deep In Love'.2001.

Customer Reviews:

Pentangle Get Witchy.......2007-07-04

Sometimes a sound just captures your imagination and carries you along with it, and Pentangle definitely does that for me. Even their questionable artistic moments are part of a constant search for some lost key in the murky depths of ancient music, matched with the spirit of jazz improvisation and Eastern touches. Although most listeners don't consider this album their best, I have a special fondness for it. Another reviewer mentioned that some of the vocal harmonies are a bit off, but for me it just adds to the wonderfully spooky atmosphere. "Lord Franklin" is one of my favorite Pentangle tracks because it creates a wistful effect attributable more to performance than lyrical content. Renbourn's vocal delivery, though hardly a technical marvel, is perfect for the song. (Dylan based "Bob Dylan's Dream" from FREEWHEELIN' on this traditional tune.) As for the "Lay the bent to the bonnie broom" refrain in "Cruel Sister," I found this in a Google search:

"holly and ivy, used magically from the earliest heathen times, holly being particularly abhorred by witches in England and other countries of Europe; broom, most potent against witches and spirits, and per contra, often used by witches in their spells; the bent or rush, protective against the evil eye, and, as Miss Broadwood points out, doubly powerful when combined with the broom, as in the refrain (1 A), 'Lay the bent to the bonny broom.'"

Just a bit of white magic, you know.

A Favorite.......2007-02-01

This is one of my favorite albums. If you like Steeleye Span and Fairport Convention, you'll love this. The import version is of superior quality too. This is one of the discs I would take to a desert island.

Odd but kinda cool.......2004-06-13

It's big break from the three albums that came before, but this is still a pretty cool folk-rock album. For one thing, this is folk music as it should be: a little weird and twisted.

The opening track is your standard girl-dressed-as-a-boy-to-follow-her-true-love ballad, in this case as a cabin boy, but it does contain a rather disquieting moment when the ship's captain says to his cabin "boy" "I wish you were a maid, your rosy cheeks your rosy lips, they are enticing me". It's a standard moment in songs like this but the fact that it happens on a ship at sea, and knowing what went on during these long voyages, it adds a nice hint of pederasty-you wonder if maybe the captain has used this line on other cabin boys.

In the title track the psychopathic cruel sister drowns her nice sister and mocks her as she goes down, telling her she's going to steal her true love. Two minstrels find the drowned sister's body and use the bones and hair to make a harp (hey, an artist must work with the materials at hand). You can imagine what happens when they play the harp for the sisters' father.

And Jack Orion, the epic that took up a whole side of the LP, is a great example of a murder ballad-or rather, a rape-murder-double suicide ballad. Charming stuff.

This is largely Renbourn and McShee's show. It's the first Pentangle album without a Bert Jansch song, and he only sings on one song, although that song is the epic Jack Orion (which originally appeared on one of his solo albums). Still, even on that song he shares the lead with McShee. And the sensibility here is much more like Renbourn's solo work--I think The Lady and the Unicorn came about the same time as this recording.

The first cut is classic Pentangle-nice, aggressive interplay between the instrumentalists, with Renbourn playing tastefully amplified electric guitar, but it's marred a little by McShee somewhat mannered singing-she didn't sing like this on previous Pentangle records so I'm not quite sure why she changed her style.

The second song, When I Was In My Prime, is an a cappella turn by McShee, and it's just fine, really, but it's hard not to think of other, more talented singers who've done similar things, like Jansch's old girlfriend Anne Briggs, or Shirley Collins (two favorites of mine). McShee just doesn't have a particularly strong or interesting voice-in fact, there's a rumor that bassist Danny Thompson's old girlfriend Sandy Denny was passed over for the Pentangle vocalist job because they were afraid her voice was too strong.

The next song, Lord Franklin, is in some ways the biggest departure, a lament for a lost sea captain and his gallant crew sung by Renbourn, with the dominant instruments being concertina and acoustic and electric (quietly electric) guitars. In this case, Renbourn's mediocre voice actually helps give the song a feeling of wistful authenticity-he sounds like a regular bloke, not a professional singer.

Some people have found the title track a little irritating, particularly the "Lay the bent to the bonny broom/fa la la la la la la la la la" refrains (no, I don't know what that bonny broom stuff means) and Renbourn's odd attempt to sing what almost sounds like a countertenor harmony with McShee, but it does feature Renbourn on sitar, something I've always liked (although I think it's used to greater effect on Basket of Light).

Then there's Jack Orion, Pentangle's Dark Star/A Sailor's Life. They throw everything into this one. It starts out much like a regular Pentangle tune, with Jansch singing and playing acoustic guitar. He swaps the lead with McShee, although unfortunately Renbourn does that countertenor thing behind her again. The tempo picks up, even gets a little frenetic, for the rape, and then they break into a stately sorta Morris dance-sounding bit dominated by recorder and bowed bass, very haunting and dramatic, for the first suicide, followed by a jam featuring Terry Cox's dulcitone (sounds like a glockenspiel to me) and Renbourn kicking out the jams on his electric ax, certainly the rockingest Pentangle had played to date (I don't have their last two albums so I don't know where they went from here). Then it quiets down for the murder and suicide that end the song.

It is an odd album, but to me an endearingly odd one. You get the feeling that Pentangle listened to Fairport Convention's Liege and Leif and thought, hey, we could do something like that.

Pentangle's masterpiece, with exceptionally clear sound.......2003-12-22

Though overshadowed by "Sweet Child" and "Basket Of Light", the dreamy, melodic beauty of "Cruel Sister" stands as the high point of Pentangle's exploration of the fusion of folk with jazz and rock elements.

Adding electric guitar for the first time to the already ethereal atmospheres of "Basket Of Light", though many fans did not appreciate it, makes Pentangle's sound much deeper. This was clear from the way in which the voices and instruments interweave on the epic "Jack Orion", which actually never gets boring owing to the fact that the sections do not repeat: they vary with guitars, voices, recorders many times. The title tune was almost as dreamy as Laura Nyro's "Brown Earth", even if built from a quite different story.

On the other side, McShee's amazing voice was never better seen than on "When I Was In My Prime", which despite being a capella, still is recognisable as Pentangle. It is most refreshing to se McShee allowed so much space especially with the sharp remastered sound, and on "A Maid That's Deep In Love", she sang perhaps even better: reflective yet never despairing, romantic yet never sentimental. "Lord Franklin" was even more subtle than the other songs, yet the electric guitar's melody ought to surprise those used to the more folksy "Sweet Child". Indeed, the remastered sound allows one to see how they both complement and supplement each other in a remarkable manner.

On the whole, an atmospheric masterpiece matching almost anything in its era, rivalling Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance", Tim Buckley's "Lorca" and "Happy Sad" (only just heard), Steeleye's "Hark! The Village Wait" and Laura Nyro's "Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat". Now all that has to be done is to remaster and reissue "Reflection".

Hidden treasure.......2003-01-03

I only knew Pentangle from a single song from a compilation (Will the Circle Be Unbroken) and decided to buy the LP in a second-hand shop. I've been a big fan since, maybe the biggest one in Spain since their records or re-issues are impossible to find here. Jacqui McShee's voice is absolutely stunning and the whole side two of the old LP is marvellous even with its more-than-30-years-old noise.
There are only five songs, all of them from old traditional British lore: A Maid That's Deep in Love surprises the listener with a very mellow folk sound taken from an electric guitar (Pentangle's previous sound was acoustic). When I Was in my Prime shows the true genius of Jacqui's voice without any musical accompaniament; I don't think any pop singer of the 90s could ever attempt this and sound soooo great! Lord Franklin is the only song featuring lead vocal by Jansch: he was a good singer but cannot match hers, good on its own. Then comes the hypnotic Cruel Sister whose tale puts you at the verge of crying... Finally, all of side B is reserved for a +18 minute rendition of Jack Orion, that I think is the crowning achievement of their career: I have never heard anything remotely similar in style and structure, it might be defined as progressive, jazzy folk but it needs to be heard to believe it. In one word, a masterpiece.

Average customer rating:

Cruel Sister
Rachel Unthank & the Winterset
Manufacturer: Rabble Rouser
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Folk | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0009HLBI4
Release Date: 2006-05-22

Tracks:

On A Monday Morning
January Man
Fair Rosamund
Cruel Sister
Rap Her To Bank
Raven Girl
Twenty Long Weeks
Fair Flower Of Northumberland
Greatham Calling On Song
River Man
Bonnie At Morn
John Dead
Troubled Waters

Album Details

With Rachel and Becky Unthank, There is No Comfort Zone Or Safety Margin, and They're all the More Engaging for It. Brought Up in a Family Steeped in Folk Traditions, "Cruel Sister" is the Challenging Sound They have Finally Poured their Heritage Into. It's a Sound which Marries Uncompromised Tradition with Cutting Edge Musical Values..

Average customer rating:

AGELESS,CLASSIC,DEEP,WONDERFUL

Cruel Sister
Pentangle
Manufacturer: Castle Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Sweet Child
The Pentangle
Basket of Light
Stormcock
Basket of Light

ASIN: B00077F8JO
Release Date: 2006-01-02

Tracks:

Maid That's Deep in Love
When I Was in My Prime
Lord Franklin
Cruel Sister
Jack Orion

Customer Reviews:

AGELESS,CLASSIC,DEEP,WONDERFUL.......2007-02-01

If you are even a passing fan of PENTANGLE,this disk is a must have.At the
time I write this review,Amazon is not offering us the chance to use a
media player to audition this disk.What a shame this may cause you to
miss one that I believe would become a household favorite.I am tasking myself to convince you to take a chance here.Every song on this disk has
the crisp,tight outstanding musicianship and soaring vocals of Jaquie Macshee (not sure of the spelling)--AND an added double bonus.The final
track on this album,"JACK ORION" is a twenty two minute epic that should
be mentioned as a classic along with any Led Zepplin or Fleetwood Mac song
that gets constant airplay.This tune alone is worth the price.You will not regret this expendtiture of you hard earned entertainment $.GIANT,VERY OBSCURE YUMMY MUSIC.NOT TO BE MISSED!

Average customer rating:

Puccini: Il Trittico

Manufacturer: Bella Voce Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Modern & 20th Century | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Puccini - Il Trittico (Il Tabarro / Suor Angelica / Gianni Schicchi) / Gavazzeni, La Scala
Eugene Onegin
Puccini - Il Trittico / Alagna, Gheorghiu, Guelfi, Guleghina, Gallardo-Domás, Manca di Nissa, Palmer, Shicoff, van Dam, Pappano

ASIN: B00003A9QR
Release Date: 1999-12-01

Average customer rating:

Pentangle - a musical gem
All are great songs, among their best "medieval" ballads

Cruel Sister
Pentangle
Manufacturer: Line
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B000002RJ8
Release Date: 1995-05-26

Tracks:

Maid That's Deep in Love
When I Was in My Prime
Lord Franklin
Cruel Sister
Jack Orion

Album Description

Reissue of their 4th album, first released in1970. Features the original line up of Bert Jansch, JohnRenbourn, Jacqui McShee, Danny Thompson & Terry Cox perform-ing a fantastic 19 minute version of 'Jack Orion' & 4 othertracks: 'A Maid That's Deep In Love

Customer Reviews:

Pentangle - a musical gem.......2000-06-22

Pentangle was a blend of 5 consummate musicians and musical styles. Their all-acoustic sound was based on traditional British folk, but blended and reworked with jazz, rock, and blues. Jacqui McShee's crystal-clear voice, amazing guitar work from John Renbourn and Bert Jansch, great bass from Danny Thompson, and tasteful percussion from Terry Cox... all made for really fine music that defied categories.

Some of the songs:

1. Jack Orion

2. A Maid That's Deeply In Love

3. When I Was In My Prime

4. Lord Franklin

5. Cruel Sister

Tho' I haven't yet heard the CD, I have fond memories of many hours listening to the LP in the early 70's... and I still remember the words to many of these songs. Pentangle is definitely in my Top 10 Groups of all time... and I'm a professional musician myself.

Q Magazine (4/97, p. 150) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...this is [a] fine example of progressive folk music."

All are great songs, among their best "medieval" ballads.......1998-07-07

I rate CRUEL SISTER and SOLOMONS SEAL as the best of Pentangle's pre 1980 recordings, with many excellent arrangements that are like medieval ballads. The title track, Cruel Sister is hypnotic and beautiful, and Jack Orion, (which occupied one whole side of the LP) is a tour de force which showcases alternately the talents of all, as the tune changes and also switches between vocals and instrumentals building the story and the mood. For a blend of Pentangle's jazzy/bluesy stuff and more ballads like the above see BASKET OF LIGHT and for lots more of their jazzy/bluesy numbers find a copy of SWEET CHILD .

Average customer rating:

Pentangle - a musical gem
All are great songs, among their best "medieval" ballads

Cruel Sister
Pentangle
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Folk | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000024JKQ

Tracks:

Maid That's Deep in Love
When I Was in My Prime
Lord Franklin
Cruel Sister
Jack Orion

Album Description

Customer Reviews:

Pentangle - a musical gem.......2000-06-22

Some of the songs:

1. Jack Orion

2. A Maid That's Deeply In Love

3. When I Was In My Prime

4. Lord Franklin

5. Cruel Sister

Q Magazine (4/97, p. 150) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "...this is [a] fine example of progressive folk music."

All are great songs, among their best "medieval" ballads.......1998-07-07

Average customer rating:

Cruel Sister
Pentangle
Manufacturer: Bmg
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

Folk | Imports | Stores | Music
Similar Items:

Reflection

ASIN: B0002B57M8
Release Date: 2007-07-16

Tracks:

Maid That's Deep in Love
When I Was in My Prime
Lord Franklin
Cruel Sister
Jack Orion

Album Description

Limited Japanese remastered reissue of the British folk-rock act's fourth album, originally released in 1970, is packaged in a paper sleeve & features five tracks including the crowning jewel of this masterpiece, the epic 'Jack Onion' that originally took up an entire side of the LP clocking in at 18 minutes plus. Sanctuary. 2004.

Album Details

Japanese Limited Edition Issue of the Album Classic in a Deluxe, Miniaturized LP Sleeve Replica of the Original Vinyl Album Artwork.

Average customer rating:

The Pentangle still delivered the goods here
Pentangle's masterpiece
Too stiff, by far...but one great track
One of my all time favorite albums - finally on CD

Cruel Sister
Pentangle
Manufacturer: Sbme Castle Us
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

British Folk | Traditional British & Celtic Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

General | Folk | Styles | Music

Traditional Folk | Folk | Styles | Music

Folk Rock | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music
ASIN: B00005QD6Y
Release Date: 2001-10-23

Tracks:

A Maid That's Deep In Love
When I Was In My Prime
Lord Franklin
Cruel Sister
Jack Orion

Customer Reviews:

The Pentangle still delivered the goods here.......2006-12-20

1970's Cruel Sister marked a point where John Renbourn started using electric guitars. The album is 100% traditional folk material, and it works to their benefit. A few detractors might find the album a bit repetitive, but I found none of it boring. "When I Was in My Prime" is all Jacqui McShee here without any band interaction, and she did such a great job. One could imagine a piece that's strictly vocal could be boring, but instead it's a stunning piece. The rest of the album has band interaction, of course. The title track is another piece that really stuns me, while "Lord Franklin", with vocals by Renbourn seems a little different from the rest of the album. But I really think the side-length "Jack Orion" really steals the show! While prog rock bands can get away with side-length cuts, since they have a habit of changing themes every couple of minutes, folk-rock groups generally shied from side-length cuts, but the Pentangle took a shot at it and succeeded with flying colors! They really get creative, and it sounds like at places Terry Cox actually used drumsticks, rather than drum brushes that he usually does (although he uses the brushes too), and there are passages where Danny Thompson actually bowed his double bass. I really love that solo that first involves the glockenspiel, then John Renbourn gives a great guitar solo. He comes to prove he is fully capable on electric guitar as he does acoustic. I also like the use of recorders too. There are passages that get very close to rock, I was imagining this piece turning to full-on rock. Not quite, it eventually goes back to the original theme. Most of the time, this album tends to have a rather laid-back, low-key feel. It might not get the classic reputation of their first three albums, but it's very much an album worth having!

Pentangle's masterpiece.......2003-12-22

On the other side, McShee's amazing voice was never better seen than on "When I Was In My Prime", which despite being a capella, still is recognisable as Pentangle. It is most refreshing to se McShee allowed so much space, and on "A Maid Tha's Deep In Love", she sang perhaps even better: reflective yet never despairing, romantic yet never sentimental. "Lord Franklin" was even more subtle than the other songs, yet the electric guitar's melody ought to surprise those used to the more folksy "Sweet Child".

On the whole, an atmospheric masterpiece beating almost anything in its era, rivalling Van Morrison's "Astral Weeks" and "Moondance", Tim Buckley's "Lorca" and "Happy Sad" (only just heard), Steeleye's "Hark! The Village Wait" and Laura Nyro's "Christmas And The Beads Of Sweat". Now all that has to be done is to remaster and reissue "Reflection."

Too stiff, by far...but one great track.......2003-10-28

Pentangle were truly great at first, playing a mix of blues, folk, and jazz with a totally original sound, but this album marked the start of a decline into trad folk anonymity. Get this CD for Renbourn's gorgeous rendition of Lord Franklin, and the beauty of McShee's vocal on A Maid that Deep in Love, but otherwise, it's a stiff. (The title cut is excruciatingly repetitive, and the overlong Jack Orion should be banished to boring folk ballad hell.)
After Basket of Light (their 3rd album), Pentangle began to focus much more on traditional songs--and, for some odd reason, they abandoned their trademark jazz-inflected approach to trad songs, and began to render them in a rather stiff fashion--a sad shift from the band's early originality and verve. This trend was interrupted by isolated tunes on Cruel Sister, Solomon's Seal, and Reflections--exceptions that make these last three albums worth pursuing, but not essential. To my ears, the first three albums--titled Pentangle, Sweet Child, and Basket of Light--represent the band's apogee.

One of my all time favorite albums - finally on CD.......2003-01-12

I've had the vinyl LP of this album for many years, and it has always been one of my favorites. I've been looking for it on CD for quite a while. It is definitely the best effort from Pentangle, and one of the very best of British folk-rock ever. The lead singer's voice is clear as a bell, and the band (including John Renborne at his best) is magnificent. The full length Jack Orion (the entire second side) is incredible, and is available only on this disk. If you get only one Pentangle disk, this is the one.

Average customer rating:

In Store Play Tune Up 9
The Zoo , Santana , Sass Jordan , Cruel Shoes , Shakespear's Sister , Pantera , Spin Doctors , and others
Manufacturer: album network
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000OM8S1W

Product Description

1. Shakin' The Cage~~~2. Step Up~~~3. Right On~~~4. You're Invited But Your Friend Can't Come~~~5. Make You A Believer~~~6. Feel~~~7. Dancin' Shoes ~~~8. Come A Long Way~~~9. Stay~~~10. One Way~~~11. This Love~~~12. Little Miss Can't Be Wrong~~~13. 2000 BC~~~14. Every Time I Roll The Dice~~~15. All I Want~~~16. Popular Creeps.