Pentagle Guitarist Bert Jansch Dead at 67

Folk guitar legend Bert Jansch passed away this morning, October 5, after succumbing to cancer. He was 67.

Jansch had been battling cancer for the past two years, although there were times when his chances for recovery were looking positive. The Scottish guitarist took a year off to fight the disease before heading out on the road to tour with Neil Young.

A virtuoso acoustic guitarist, Jansch began his career in the late '60s with the folk rock band Pentagle, who broke up in 1973. Within a few years, Jansch was back recording music, releasing A Rare Conundrum in 1977. Pentangle would reform twice more during the guitarist's lifetime, once during the 1980s and again in 2008.

Jansch was a highly influential guitarist to many, being name-dropped as an influence to everyone from Jimmy Page to Graham Coxon to Mikael Akerfeldt.

A lifelong fan, Page once said of Jansch: "At one point, I was absolutely obsessed with Bert Jansch. When I first heard that LP, I couldn't believe it. It was so far ahead of what everyone else was doing. No one in America could touch that."