John Martyn debuted as a fresh-faced teenage folky with 1967's London Conversation, he soon embarked on a restless musical odyssey. Built on a foundation of folk, blues, and jazz, Martyn's music has ranged from effects-laden experimentation, through rock, to fusion-influenced pop. This overview of Martyn's Island recordings ignores his first two albums and two releases with then-wife- Beverley, picking up with Bless the Weather (1971). Although ornate love songs from that record like "Head and Heart" remain close to Martyn's traditionalist roots, the instrumental "Glistening Glyndebourne" shows he was keen to distance himself from the Donovan-Cat Stevens orbit of twee folk-pop.
Solid Air, 1973's sublime follow-up, is well represented here. On it, Martyn moved effortlessly among light acoustic tunes ("Over the Hill"), darker numbers ("Solid Air," his ode to friend Nick Drake), and gizmo-enhanced excursions (his rendering of Skip James' "I'd Rather Be the Devil"). Martyn pursued his experimental inclinations further with the jazz-folkadelic Inside Out (1973). By the gently droning "Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhaill," which reworks a 19th century Celtic folk tune with such late 20th century rock tools as a fuzzbox and phase-shifter. Sunday's Child (1974) returned to a more focused song format, as demonstrated by mournful "Spencer the Rover." Martyn's next studio venture, One World (1977), combined chilled-out ("Small Hours"), ("Dancing"), the latter tendency even more prominent on Grace & Danger (1980) and exemplified by the delicate "Sweet Little Mystery." While Martyn's later Island releases were less memorable, those mid-'80s numbers collected here hold up well.
by Wilson Neate
This album provides a great introduction to John Martyn; its only weakness is the omission of his earliest efforts, a sampling of which would give a fuller sense of his work's evolution. There's no doubt what so ever that Martyn himself must have suffered his fair share of hangovers. You can hear it in his voice when those crooning, slurring tones eventually degenerated into something like a wino's rasp- Before his untimely death at the age of 60 in 2009, a few weeks after he was awarded an OBE.
by Greg Freeman
Tracks
Disc 1
1. Bless The Weather - 4:32
2. Head And Heart - 4:55
3. Glistening Glyndebourne - 6:34
4. Solid Air - 5:46
5. Over The Hill - 2:52
6. Don't Want To Know - 3:01
7. I'd Rather- Be The Devil (Skip James) - 6:21
8. May You Never - 3:44
9. Fine Lines - 3:50
10.Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhaill (Traditional) - 3:09
11.Make No Mistake - 5:58
12.One Day Without You - 3:00
13.Lay It All Down - 1:52
14.Root Love - 4:36
15.Sunday's Child - 3:17
16.Spencer The Rover (Traditional) - 4:13
17.You Can Discover - 3:44
18.Call Me Crazy - 7:30
Lyrics and Music by John Martyn except where indicated
Disc 2
1. Couldn't Love You More - 3:07
2. Certain Surprise - 3:51
3. Dancing - 3:56
4. Small Hours - 8:44
5. Dealer - 4:56
6. One World - 4:02
7. Some People Are Crazy - 4:19
8. Lookin' On - 5:13
9. Johnny Too Bad (Derrick Crooks, Roy Beckford, Trevor Wilson, Winston Bailey, John Martyn) - 3:57
10.Sweet Little Mystery - 5:27
11.Hurt In Your Heart - 4:59
12.Baby Please Come Home - 3:54
13.Sapphire (Alan Thompson, John Martyn) - 5:16
14.Fisherman's Dream - 4:18
15.Angeline - 4:45
16.Send Me One Line - 4:45
Words and Music by John Martyn unless as else written
Musicians
*John Martyn - Guitar, Electronic Drums, Vocals, Synthesizer, Clavinet
*Alan Thompson - Bass, Keyboards, Electronic Drums
*Danny Thompson - Double Bass, Vocals
*Al Anderson - Bass
*Andy Lyden - Drums
*Andy Newmark - Drums
*Arran Abmun - Drums
*Barry Reynolds - Guitar
*Bruce Rowlands - Drums
*Colin Tully - Saxophone
*Danny Cummings - Percussion
*Dave Lawson - Synthesizer
*Dave Mattacks - Drums
*Dave Pegg - Bass
*David Ball - Bass
*Foster Paterson - Keyboards, Vocals
*Hansford Rowe- Bass
*Harry Robinson Strings
*Jack Waldman - Keyboards
*James Hooker - Keyboards
*James Prime - Keyboards
*Jeff Castle - Keyboards
*John "Rabbit" Bundrick - Piano, Organ, Clavinet
*John Giblin - Bass
*Jon Field - Flute
*Kesh Sathie - Tabla
*Morris Pert - Percussion
*Neemoi Acquaye - Congas
*Phil Collins - Drums, Vocals
*Richard Thompson - Mandolin
*Rico - Trombone
*Robin Rankin - Keyboards
*Simon Nicol - Autoharp
*Steve Winwood - Multi Instruments
*Steven Stanley - Drums
*Sue Draheim - Violin
*Terry Nelson - Harmonica
*Tommy Eyre - Keyboards, Synthesizer
*Tony Coe - Saxophone
*Tristan Frye - Vibraphone
*Uziah "Sticky" Thompson - Percussion
Related Act
Have shared links across to your beautiful post here. Martyn at his creative peak here. Thanks
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