Bert Jansch (1943-2011) was a singer and guitarist who influenced successive generations of folk and rock musicians. He began his career in the folk clubs of his home city, Edinburgh, quickly gaining a reputation as a skilful and original guitarist. Visits to London made him known on the folk scene outside Scotland, and he recorded his first album, simply entitled Bert Jansch, for Transatlantic Records in 1965. Although the LP was on a small label and had very little promotion or media attention, it sold remarkably well and established Jansch as a key figure of the contemporary, beatnik-influenced strand of the folk scene, centred around clubs like Soho's Les Cousins. At this time some critics even compared him to Bob Dylan, although Jansch lived like a typical "folknik" and had little of