Pentangle -

Pentangle was an English folk-rock band from London that released six albums between 1968 and 1972 on Transatlantic–Reprise. After a twelve-year absence, they reemerged with a trio of albums on Spindrift, Transmedia, and pläne during the second half of the 1980s.

Pentangle formed in 1967 around guitarist/vocalist Bert Jansch, guitarist/vocalist John Renbourn, bassist/vocalist Danny Thompson, drummer Terry Cox, and singer Jacqui McShee. They pioneered a fusion of folk, jazz, blues, and early music, combining intricate acoustic guitar interplay with Cox’s jazz-inflected drumming and Thompson’s upright bass lines.

Their 1968 debut, The Pentangle, and 1969 follow-up, Sweet Child, showcased reimagined traditional songs alongside original compositions. Signature tracks included “Light Flight,” “Travelling Song,” and “Once I Had a Sweetheart,” blending haunting vocals with contrapuntal instrumentation. The band’s 1970s albums, Cruel Sister and Solomon’s Seal, emphasized darker, folk-oriented textures and complex arrangements. After their 1973 dissolution, the group returned in the late 1980s with McShee, Thompson, and new collaborators, exploring acoustic folk-jazz hybrids on Open the Door, So Early in the Spring, and Think of Tomorrow.

Members: Jacqui McShee (vocals), Bert Jansch (guitar, vocals), John Renbourn (guitar, sitar, vocals, 1967-73, 1982-83, 2008-15), Danny Thompson (bass, 1967-73, 1982-84, 2008-present), Terry Cox (drums, 1967-73, 1982-86, 2008-present), Mike Piggott (violin, guitar, 1983-86), Nigel Portman Smith (bass, keyboards, 1985-94), Rod Clements (guitar, mandolin, 1986-88), Gerry Conway (drums, 1987-94), Peter Kirtley (guitar, 1988-94)

Background

Pentangle formed in 1967 when guitarist/songwriters Bert Jansch (1943–2011) and John Renbourn (1944–2015), both veterans of the UK folk scene, enlisted singer Jacqui McShee, bassist Danny Thompson, and drummer Terry Cox.

Between 1965 and 1967, Jansch cut four albums and Renbourn cut two for Transatlantic. As flatmates in St John’s Wood, London, they played on each others recordings. Their earliest collaborative effort is the 1966 Transatlantic release Bert and John, marked by their contrapuntal acoustic guitar figures.

McShee (b. 1943) first edged into the London folk scene as an unpaid floor singer. By 1965, she conducted folk nights at the Red Lion on Sutton, Surrey, where she befriended Jansch and Renbourn. In 1966, she formed a live duo with Renbourn and sang on his second album, Another Monday.

Thompson and Cox were the rhythm section in Alexis Korner’s mid-’60s band Blues Inc. They jointly appear on two albums by Korner (Sky High, I Wonder Who?) and one by Gerry Lockran (Hold On – I’m Coming!). Thompson played on The 5000 Spirits or the Layers of the Onion, the 1967 second album by the Incredible String Band. Cox appears on the 1964 album I’ve Grown Accustomed to My Bass by jazz double-bassist Johnny Hawksworth.

Pentangle, a variant of “pentagram,” came together during a Sunday night residency at the Horseshoe Hotel in Tottenham Court Road, where Jansch and Renbourn were gradually joined by McShee, Thompson, and Cox. On May 27, 1967, they premiered to the broader public with a sold-out show at the Royal Festival Hall.

The Pentangle

The Pentangle released their self-titled debut album on May 17, 1968, on Transatlantic.

The album introduces the quintet’s hybrid of British folk, blues, and jazz, performed entirely on acoustic instruments. Their sound centers on the intricate fingerpicking of guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, countered by the supple, rhythmically alert support of double bassist Danny Thompson and drummer/percussionist Terry Cox, both seasoned in modern jazz. Vocalist Jacqui McShee provides a crystalline presence that anchors the group’s fusions of Elizabethan melody, rural blues, and chamber interplay.

Jansch and Renbourn wrote or co-wrote six numbers, including ensemble pieces (“Bells,” “Pentangling,” “Waltz”) that highlight the group’s collective authorship with McShee, Thompson, and Cox. The album also includes group-arranged renditions of English folk songs (“Let No Man Steal Your Thyme,” “Bruton Town,” “Way Behind the Sun”) and a cover of the Staple Singers’ gospel-blues “Hear My Call.”

Across the program, The Pentangle shifts between traditional modal settings and open-form improvisation. “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme” opens with bowed bass and overlapping vocal lines that evoke ritual chant. “Bells” unfolds in changing tempos, building from sparse guitar phrases to extended instrumental exchanges. “Pentangling,” the seven-minute centerpiece, blends dual vocal harmonies with a walking jazz pulse and double bass solo framed by syncopated acoustic interplay. “Mirage” and “Way Behind the Sun” reflect their command of 12-bar blues forms filtered through modal phrasing, while “Waltz” closes the album with a folk-based theme set to a triplet rhythm and improvised instrumental dialogue.

A1. “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme” (2:37) — arranged by Jansch, McShee, Cox; traditional English folk ballad
A2. “Bells” (3:52)
A3. “Hear My Call” (3:01) — originated as a 1965 Staple Singers single written by Roebuck “Pops” Staples; a spiritual plea rendered here with alternating vocal leads by McShee and Jansch
A4. “Pentangling” (7:02)

B1. “Mirage” (2:00)
B2. “Way Behind the Sun” (3:01) — traditional folk-blues adapted by the group
B3. “Bruton Town” (5:05) — 17th-century English ballad of class and murder retold in alternating male–female verse form
B4. “Waltz” (4:54)

Sessions occurred at IBC Studios in London with producer Shel Talmy and engineer Damon Lyon-Shaw.

The Pentangle features cover design by Osiris (Visions) Ltd. with photography by Robert Dowling.

Transatlantic promoted the album with the traditional “Let No Man Steal Your Thyme,” which introduced their acoustic chamber-folk sound to the late-1960s audience.

Sweet Child

Pentangle released their second album, Sweet Child, in November 1968 on Transatlantic.

Sweet Child is a double album that presents Pentangle in both live and studio settings, pairing concert performances from London’s Royal Festival Hall with new material recorded that summer at IBC Studios. The release highlights the group’s hybrid of British folk, early music, blues, and jazz, delivered through acoustic textures and chamber-style interplay among their five equal members.

Singer Jacqui McShee, guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, double-bassist Danny Thompson, and drummer Terry Cox each contribute to the album’s writing and arrangements. Jansch composed “A Woman Like You” and co-wrote several group originals, while the band adapted multiple traditional works and covered pieces by Charles Mingus (“Haitian Fight Song,” “Goodbye Pork-Pie Hat”) and folk writer Ewan MacColl (“Hole in the Coal”). The live program also includes their take on bluesman Furry Lewis’ “Turn Your Money Green” and Anne Briggs’ “The Time Has Come.”

The Royal Festival Hall recordings feature Thompson’s extended jazz showcase on “Haitian Fight Song,” McShee’s a cappella reading of “So Early in the Spring,” and Jansch’s haunting “A Woman Like You.” The group blends Elizabethan and folk idioms on “Three Dances,” unites vocal and instrumental interplay on “Market Song,” and closes the concert sides with a fresh version of “Bruton Town.” The studio material balances pastoral ballads (“I Loved a Lass,” “The Trees They Do Grow High”) with acoustic jazz-folk experiments (“In Time,” “In Your Mind”), a Cox vocal interlude (“Moon Dog”), and contrapuntal guitar work on “Three Part Thing.”

A1. “Market Song” (3:39)
A2. “No More My Lord” (3:55)
A3. “Turn Your Money Green” (2:16) — originated as a 1928 side by Memphis bluesman Furry Lewis.
A4. “Haitian Fight Song” (3:31) — composed by bassist Charles Mingus as a protest-themed jazz piece; here rendered as a Thompson showcase.
A5. “A Woman Like You” (4:00)
A6. “Goodbye Pork-Pie Hat” (3:43) — Mingus’ 1959 tribute to saxophonist Lester Young.

B1. “Three Dances: Brentzel Gay / La Rotta / The Earl of Salisbury” (4:32) — Renaissance works by Claude Gervaise, an Italian traditional, and William Byrd.
B2. “Watch the Stars” (3:03) — derived from an American children’s song.
B3. “So Early in the Spring” (3:06)
B4. “No Exit” (2:16)
B5. “The Time Has Come” (3:04) — written by English folk singer Anne Briggs.
B6. “Bruton Town” (5:31)

C1. “Sweet Child” (5:13)
C2. “I Loved a Lass” (2:40)
C3. “Three Part Thing” (2:26)
C4. “Sovay” (2:49)
C5. “In Time” (5:07)

D1. “In Your Mind” (2:14)
D2. “I’ve Got a Feeling” (4:26)
D3. “The Trees They Do Grow High” (3:48)
D4. “Moon Dog” (2:42)
D5. “Hole in the Coal” (5:19) — written by Ewan MacColl.

Sessions occurred at Royal Festival Hall on June 29, 1968, and at IBC Studios, London, in August with producer Shel Talmy and engineer Damon Lyon-Shaw.

Sweet Child features sleeve design by Peter Blake, whose collage artwork depicts stylized portraits of the group. Photography is by Studio Hans Feurer with typography by Gordon House.

Basket of Light

Pentangle released their third album, Basket of Light, in October 1969 on Transatlantic.

The album refines Pentangle’s hybrid of British folk and jazz interplay with medieval, modal, and Eastern accents. Compared with the preceding Sweet Child, it presents a more concise program that foregrounds Jacqui McShee’s crystalline vocals and the acoustic precision of guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn. Drummer Terry Cox and bassist Danny Thompson sustain the ensemble’s rhythmic intricacy with phrasing closer to jazz than to traditional folk.

Jansch, Renbourn, McShee, Thompson, and Cox share collective writing credit on four tracks. The band also adapts five traditional songs and covers The Jaynetts’ 1963 pop single “Sally Go ’Round the Roses,” written by Lona Stevens and Zell Sanders.

The material balances ancient and modern sources: “Lyke-Wake Dirge” and “House Carpenter” derive from medieval and Anglo-American balladry, while “Train Song” and “Springtime Promises” evoke contemporary imagery through cyclical patterns and contrapuntal rhythm. “Once I Had a Sweetheart” and “Hunting Song” merge sitar, glockenspiel, and layered guitars into ornate modal structures. “Light Flight,” with shifting time signatures and buoyant exchanges between voice and instruments, typifies the group’s chamber-folk design.

A1. “Light Flight” (3:18) — composed collectively by Pentangle and used as the theme for the BBC television series Take Three Girls.
A2. “Once I Had a Sweetheart” (4:44) — traditional; arranged by Pentangle, featuring sitar passages by Renbourn.
A3. “Springtime Promises” (4:09) — collective original with alternating male-female vocals.
A4. “Lyke-Wake Dirge” (3:36) — traditional funeral chant arranged by Pentangle, set to hand-drum and vocal drones.
A5. “Train Song” (4:48) — collective original with rolling rhythmic patterns that mimic locomotive motion.

B1. “Hunting Song” (6:44) — collective original using glockenspiel and interlaced guitars to evoke ceremonial pageantry.
B2. “Sally Go ’Round the Roses” (3:40) — originated as a 1963 US hit by The Jaynetts, written by Zell Sanders and Lona Stevens.
B3. “The Cuckoo” (4:29) — traditional song arranged by Pentangle with glockenspiel and multi-part vocals.
B4. “House Carpenter” (5:30) — traditional ballad arranged by Pentangle, combining banjo and sitar textures.

Sessions took place at IBC Studios, London, with American producer Shel Talmy and engineers Damon Lyon-Shaw and John Pantry.

Transatlantic issued “Light Flight” (b/w “Cold Mountain”) as the album’s lead single, which reached No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart and brought Pentangle their first mainstream exposure.

Basket of Light became Pentangle’s highest-charting release and remains a key statement of late-sixties British folk innovation, uniting early-music sources with jazz rhythmic sophistication and acoustic virtuosity.

Cruel Sister

Pentangle released their fourth album, Cruel Sister, on November 27, 1970, on Transatlantic.

The album finds Pentangle turning entirely to traditional British balladry, arranged in their intricate acoustic style. It contrasts the ornate, jazz-inflected textures of Basket of Light with a darker, more austere tone drawn from medieval and maritime sources. Guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn trade delicate acoustic filigree and subdued electric passages, anchored by Danny Thompson’s double bass and Terry Cox’s restrained percussion. Singer Jacqui McShee’s clear soprano carries much of the album’s emotional weight, framed by the band’s modal harmonies and droning resonance.

All five members—Jansch, Renbourn, McShee, Thompson, and Cox—share collective arrangement credit on four tracks, adapting centuries-old material from the English and Scottish folk canon. The lone unarranged entry, “When I Was in My Prime,” is an a cappella piece derived directly from the public domain.

The songs balance elegiac intimacy and extended narrative. “A Maid That’s Deep in Love” opens with flowing acoustic counterpoint and call-and-response vocals. “When I Was in My Prime” isolates McShee’s voice in a stark reflection on lost youth. Renbourn takes lead on “Lord Franklin,” a sailor’s lament later echoed in Bob Dylan’s “Bob Dylan’s Dream.” “Cruel Sister” revisits the archetypal tale of fratricide through cyclical instrumental figures. The eighteen-minute “Jack Orion” expands an ancient courtship ballad into a multipart suite, shifting from minor-key solemnity to electric improvisation and bowed bass interludes.

A1. “A Maid That’s Deep in Love” (5:30) — traditional; arranged by Pentangle.
A2. “When I Was in My Prime” (2:56) — traditional, public domain; unaccompanied vocal performance by Jacqui McShee.
A3. “Lord Franklin” (3:24) — traditional; arranged by Jansch, Renbourn, and McShee; recounts the lost Arctic expedition of Sir John Franklin.
A4. “Cruel Sister” (7:03) — traditional; adapted by Pentangle; retells the ballad of sororal jealousy and murder.

B1. “Jack Orion” (18:36) — traditional; adapted by Pentangle from the Child Ballads version “Glasgerion,” expanded into an extended instrumental narrative.

Sessions occurred at Sound Techniques, London, with producer Bill Leader and engineer Jerry Boys.

Transatlantic pressed Cruel Sister in both UK and Canadian editions, the latter manufactured and distributed by Warner Bros. Records of Canada.

The cover features an engraved medieval tableau consistent with the album’s neo-Renaissance atmosphere.

Cruel Sister marked Pentangle’s deepest engagement with traditional folk narrative and their last wholly acoustic work before later ventures into amplified and contemporary material.

Reflection

Pentangle released their fifth album, Reflection, in October 1971 on Transatlantic.

The album finds Pentangle broadening their sound with American folk and blues elements while incorporating selective electric textures. The group maintains their acoustic foundation but integrates amplified guitar, harmonica, and occasional piano, recorded with new clarity afforded by 16-track technology. The result bridges their earlier modal folk intricacy with freer rhythmic phrasing and blues-inflected improvisation.

Singer Jacqui McShee, guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, bassist Danny Thompson, and drummer Terry Cox share collective authorship on four numbers. The remaining selections are traditional songs arranged by the group, including interpretations of American ballads (“Omie Wise,” “Rain and Snow”) and gospel standards (“Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”).

“Wedding Dress” opens the album with interlaced banjo and acoustic guitar figures beneath alternating male–female vocals. “Omie Wise” and “Rain and Snow” return to Appalachian balladry through sparse textures and droning accompaniment, the latter colored by sitar and hand percussion. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” transforms the old spiritual into a slow, hymn-like meditation with harmonica and doubled voices. Jansch’s “When I Get Home” adds restrained electric guitar and subtle rhythmic lift.

Side two features three group originals: “Helping Hand,” a slow duet that alternates between airy vocal passages and grounded rhythm; “So Clear,” a flowing ballad of luminous chord voicings and wistful harmonies; and the eleven-minute title piece, where the ensemble stretches into open-ended instrumental dialogue between electric guitar, harmonica, and bass.

A1. “Wedding Dress” (4:48) — traditional; arranged by Pentangle.
A2. “Omie Wise” (4:23) — traditional Appalachian murder ballad; arranged by Pentangle.
A3. “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?” (4:06) — traditional gospel hymn; arranged by Pentangle.
A4. “When I Get Home” (4:55) — written by Pentangle.
A5. “Rain and Snow” (3:49) — traditional; arranged by Pentangle.

B1. “Helping Hand” (3:27) — written by Pentangle.
B2. “So Clear” (4:49) — written by Pentangle.
B3. “Reflection” (11:14) — written by Pentangle.

Sessions occurred at Command Studios in London in March 1971 with producer Bill Leader and engineer Nic Kinsey; “Reflection” was recorded separately at Olympic Studios.

The gatefold sleeve features photography and design by Shepard Sherbell, printed by MacNeill Press Ltd.

Reflection yielded no singles but stands as Pentangle’s final major work for Transatlantic before their 1972 lineup changes, showcasing their synthesis of British folk craft and transatlantic influences in an amplified, ensemble-oriented setting.

Solomon’s Seal

Pentangle released their sixth album, Solomon’s Seal, in September 1972 on Transatlantic.

The album closes Pentangle’s first chapter, recorded as their final work before disbanding in 1973. Its tone is understated and elegiac, balancing the group’s characteristic precision with a weary restraint. The set favors traditional British ballads and maritime laments rendered in sparse acoustic settings, occasionally touched by sitar, recorder, and dulcimer. It reflects the band’s shift from earlier jazz-inflected arrangements toward unadorned folk intimacy.

Singer Jacqui McShee, guitarists Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, bassist Danny Thompson, and drummer Terry Cox share collective writing credit on four songs and arrange five traditional numbers. They cover Cyril Tawney’s 1958 sea ballad “Sally Free and Easy” and adapt age-old narratives like “High Germany” and “Willy O’Winsbury,” the latter learned from singer Anne Briggs.

“Sally Free and Easy” opens the album with a slow, loping tempo anchored by Thompson’s resonant bass and McShee’s plaintive vocal. “The Cherry Tree Carol” and “High Germany” evoke 17th–18th century rural settings through paired guitars and soft vocal counterpoint. “The Snows,” adapted from an 1821 ballad, blends sitar and recorder over a drone-like accompaniment. “People on the Highway,” a weary farewell song with finger cymbals and intertwining vocals by Jansch and McShee, serves as the group’s parting reflection. Side two highlights “Willy O’Winsbury,” arranged for dulcimer and recorder with McShee’s crystalline phrasing, and “Lady of Carlisle,” a rustic closer with harmonica and dual male–female vocals.

A1. “Sally Free and Easy” (3:55) — written by Cyril Tawney; originated as a 1958 seafaring ballad later covered by Marianne Faithfull and Davey Graham.
A2. “The Cherry Tree Carol” (2:57) — traditional Christmas song arranged by Pentangle.
A3. “The Snows” (3:43) — traditional folk song dating to 1821; arranged by Pentangle.
A4. “High Germany” (3:15) — traditional 18th-century English ballad; arranged by Pentangle.
A5. “People on the Highway” (4:46) — written collectively by Jansch, McShee, Renbourn, Thompson, and Cox.

B1. “Willy O’Winsbury” (6:50) — traditional Scottish ballad; arranged by Pentangle.
B2. “No Love Is Sorrow” (2:41) — written collectively by Jansch, McShee, Renbourn, Thompson, and Cox.
B3. “Jump Baby Jump” (3:10) — written collectively by Jansch, McShee, Renbourn, Thompson, and Cox.
B4. “Lady of Carlisle” (4:41) — traditional border ballad; arranged by Pentangle.

Sessions occurred between February and March 1972 at Sound Techniques and Command Studios in London with Pentangle self-producing alongside engineer John Wood.

The sleeve features artwork and design by Chris Ayliffe, depicting symbolic illustrations aligned with each song theme.

Solomon’s Seal marked Pentangle’s final album with the original lineup. Despite minimal promotion and limited pressing, it later gained status as a sought-after document of the band’s closing phase—melding traditional British songcraft with chamber-like restraint and instrumental finesse.

Open the Door

Pentangle released their seventh album, Open the Door, in July 1985 on Spindrift.

The album marked the revival of Pentangle’s original quartet—singer Jacqui McShee, guitarist Bert Jansch, bassist Danny Thompson, and drummer Terry Cox—with guitarist and violinist Mike Piggott replacing John Renbourn. It reintroduces their acoustic chamber-folk format with renewed brightness, combining blues and English folk textures with subtle jazz inflection. The material alternates between traditional arrangements and newly written pieces, recorded with clarity and restraint characteristic of their late-period work.

Jansch wrote the majority of the songs and performs acoustic guitar throughout, contributing five originals. The group also covers Brazilian composer Milton Nascimento’s “Mother Earth” and arranges two traditional numbers: the opening title track and the Scottish ballad “Yarrow.”

The program moves from pastoral reveries to restrained jazz-folk interplay. “Open the Door” sets the tone with cyclical guitar figures and McShee’s choral phrasing. “Dragonfly” and “Child of the Winter” pair modal guitar passages with McShee’s airy delivery, while “Sad Lady” and “Taste of Love” convey reflective moods over slow-moving harmonic turns. “Lost Love” bears Jansch’s imprint through blues-tinged voicing, and “Street Song” closes the set with Thompson’s supple bass and Cox’s measured percussion supporting extended instrumental passages. “The Dolphin,” the album’s lone instrumental, functions as a serene bridge in the midsection.

A1. “Open the Door” (4:15) — traditional; arranged by Pentangle.
A2. “Dragonfly” (3:09) — written by Pentangle.
A3. “Mother Earth” (2:36) — written by Milton Nascimento; originally featured on his 1972 album Clube da Esquina.
A4. “Child of the Winter” (5:04) — written by Pentangle.
A5. “The Dolphin” (2:39) — written by Pentangle.

B1. “Lost Love” (3:35) — written by Bert Jansch.
B2. “Sad Lady” (3:40) — written by Pentangle.
B3. “Taste of Love” (4:05) — written by Pentangle.
B4. “Yarrow” (4:35) — traditional Scottish ballad; arranged by Pentangle.
B5. “Street Song” (5:37) — written by Pentangle.

Sessions occurred at Livingston Studios in London with producers John and Rick Chelew and engineer Jerry Boys.

The cover features artwork and illustration by Peter Bucker, depicting pastoral motifs consistent with the album’s reflective tone. Black-and-white photography is by Keith Morris, and liner notes were prepared by Carsten Linde with German lyric translations by Christel Kauder.

Open the Door reestablished Pentangle’s interplay after more than a decade apart, reaffirming their acoustic craftsmanship and ensemble balance through new compositions and reinterpreted traditionals.

In the Round

Pentangle released their eight album, In the Round, in 1986 on Spindrift.

The album marked Pentangle’s second recording by the reformed lineup of singer Jacqui McShee, guitarist Bert Jansch, drummer Terry Cox, guitarist/violinist Mike Piggott, and new bassist/keyboardist Nigel Portman-Smith. Compared to the largely acoustic Open the Door, this set integrates electric textures and rhythmic drive, blending folk, jazz, and light country elements with an amplified, mid-1980s production. The group emphasizes ensemble interplay and fluid tempo shifts while maintaining the close vocal harmonies and measured phrasing that defined their earlier work.

Jansch wrote three songs (“The Open Sea,” “The Saturday Movie,” “Let Me Be”) and co-arranged the remaining material with McShee and the band. Portman-Smith composed “Chase That Devil Away,” while Pentangle collectively developed several new originals. The album also includes interpretations of two traditional pieces, “She Moved Through the Fair” and “Süil Agrar.”

The program alternates between reflective compositions and modernized roots numbers. “Play the Game” opens with banjo and electric accents that set a bright, country-inflected pace. “Sunday Morning Blues” and “Chase That Devil Away” explore blues-jazz territory with supple Fender Rhodes textures and understated rhythm. “Set Me Free (When the Night Is Over)” balances folk phrasing with soft rock contour, while McShee’s lead on “Süil Agrar” underscores the group’s connection to Celtic tradition. Jansch’s introspective “The Open Sea” and “Let Me Be” close the album with plaintive tone and lyrical restraint.

A1. “Play the Game” (4:20)
A2. “The Open Sea” (4:00)
A3. “She Moved Through the Fair” (5:08) — traditional Irish ballad arranged by Pentangle.
A4. “Set Me Free (When the Night Is Over)” (4:37)
A5. “Come to Me Baby” (3:01)
A6. “Sunday Morning Blues” (4:35)

B1. “Chase That Devil Away” (5:03)
B2. “The Saturday Movie” (3:28)
B3. “Süil Agrar” (4:46) — traditional Scottish song arranged by Pentangle.
B4. “Circle the Moon” (3:36)
B5. “Let Me Be” (4:48)

Sessions occurred at Livingston Studios in London with producers Doug Beveridge and Pentangle, assisted by engineer Roger Wake.

The lineup features McShee (lead and backing vocals), Jansch (acoustic guitar, banjo, vocals), Piggott (electric and acoustic guitar, violin, mandolin, vocals), Portman-Smith (bass, Fender Rhodes, piano, accordion, synthesizer), and Cox (drums, percussion, synthesizer).

In the Round features sleeve design by Archie and photography by Dave Peabody (rear sleeve band shot) and Mike Jackson (inside images).

The album’s richer instrumentation and polished arrangements signaled Pentangle’s adaptation to contemporary studio sound while retaining their acoustic interplay and dual vocal identity.

Discography: