FEATURE:
A Buyer’s Guide
PHOTO CREDIT: Estate Of Keith Morris/Redferns/Getty Images
Part Thirty-Nine: John Martyn
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THE legendary John Martyn…
is one of those artists I am surprised there hasn’t been a biopic made about. He had such a fascinating musical career and personal life, it would translate very well to the screen. Although Martyn battled addiction and domestic issues through the 1970s and 1980s, what remains and shines brightest is his incredible songwriting. A sensational guitarist, singer and songwriting, the Surrey-born Martyn blurred lines between Folk, Jazz, Rock and Blues. If you need a starting place and guide to Martyn – who we sadly lost in 2009 at the age of sixty -, then I hope that my list and suggestions below provide you with…
SOME useful assistance.
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The Four Essential Albums
Bless the Weather
Release Date: November 1971
Label: Island
Producers: John Martyn/John Wood
Standout Tracks: Go Easy/Walk on the Water/Let the Good Things Come
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=134512&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/4vfbQM5t0jDXfZVpMjMg1N?si=PAiR4v4DSbK11MsDZksgTA
Review:
“Bless the Weather, the first release following two records with his wife Beverley, is a transitional effort for John Martyn. The Glasgow-born singer-songwriter's third solo album emphasizes a darker, smokier sound built around his increasingly jazzy vocals, plus sometimes aggressive, sometimes gentle acoustic guitar work, and Danny Thompson's double bass, which skirts in and out around Martyn's voice and guitar. It also contains the extended instrumental "Glistening Glyndebourne," which highlights his early experimentation with the Echoplex, a sound that would become a major part of his work in the coming years. Bless the Weather, with songs such as the title cut and "Head and Heart," stands as a fine representation of Martyn's early work” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Bless the Weather
Solid Air
Release Date: February 1973
Label: Island
Producers: John Martyn/John Wood
Standout Tracks: Solid Air/I'd Rather Be the Devil/ (Devil Got My Woman)Dreams by the Sea
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=60337&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/0QD0LEYQDkrJrtVcuRBcVp?si=a4G7cL-hT-a09jzrOgBuZg
Review:
“Above all this was folk filtered through jazz. Take the inclusion of Tony Coe on sax throughout. His own slurred delivery was second to none (his was the sax on those Henry Mancini Pink Panther themes). Martyn, himself, was a fan of artists like Pharaoh Sanders, and it was this combined with the finest in British folk rock (most of Fairport Convention, including Richard Thompson, make an appearance here) that lifted Solid Air above previous efforts.
The album kicks off with Martyn's lament for close friend Nick Drake on the vibe and sax-assisted title track. On the way we get the bluegrass jauntiness of Over The Hill (with its famously positive reference to Martyn's favourite pastimes); the voguishly pastoral Don't Want To Know, the Echoplex frenzy of his version of Skip James' Rather be The Devil, and the eerily mournful Man In The Station (showing Martyn to be a master of the autobiographical soul-bearing that was to riddle his later album Grace And Danger). Of course the one track that most remember here is May You Never - his paean to brotherly love that was to be a staple of EVERY performance he's given since.
Yes, it's a classic with not a note out of place.. And ably assisted by John Wood's late night production it's now firmly esconced in the hearts of chillers, smokers and music lovers the world over. Everyone needs a copy” – BBC
Choice Cut: Go Down Easy
One World
Release Date: 4th November, 1977
Label: Island
Producer: Chris Blackwell
Standout Tracks: Smiling Stranger/One World/Couldn't Love You More
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=60345&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/1G8gcNHZxeRUaqHVFyCADO?si=2EevjNLIQFinN3Zb-cYWJw
Review:
“After Sunday's Child, John Martyn took an extended break from studio recording. By late 1975, feeling he was close to going "completely round the bend," he had also stopped touring. To put some distance between himself and the pressures of the business and to recoup his creative energies, he went to Jamaica. There, after meeting dub producer Lee "Scratch" Perry, Martyn sat in on sessions by other artists and contributed to Burning Spear's Man in the Hills. Martyn returned to the U.K. reinvigorated and began recording One World in summer 1977. Produced by Island boss Chris Blackwell and featuring Dave Pegg, Morris Pert, John Stevens, Danny Thompson, and Steve Winwood, among others, One World combines the experimental tendencies of 1973's Inside Out and the more conventional song structures of Sunday's Child. While tracks like "Couldn't Love You More," "Smiling Stranger," and "Certain Surprise" display some continuity with the rootsy, jazzy folk-rock of Martyn's previous albums, this record has a stronger commercial feel than his earlier work, crossing over into pop territory. Especially memorable in that regard is the electrified swagger of "Big Muff," a number co-written by Perry that would become one of Martyn's live staples. But One World's understated explorations of mood are even more compelling; the experimental nature of dub -- of which Perry was a legendary exponent -- clearly resonated with Martyn. Since the early '70s, he had displayed a keen ear for sonic manipulation, using effects like Echoplex and a phase shifter to craft drifting, hypnotic textures. Here, the lazy title track and the synth-pulsing "Small Hours" exemplify Martyn's knack for mesmerizing, smoky grooves. Those looser, atmospheric numbers notwithstanding, most of One World signals the more slick pop direction John Martyn would take in the '80s starting with Grace & Danger (and with increasingly mixed results). [In 2005, Island released a Deluxe Edition of One World that included five live tracks and 10 alternate versions of songs from the initial release]” – AllMusic
Choice Cut: Small Hours
Grace & Danger
Release Date: 13th October, 1980
Label: Island
Producer: Martin Levan
Standout Tracks: Grace and Danger/Sweet Little Mystery/Baby, Please Come Home
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=60348&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/05FPn66m4Ry59KRrKFCg3Q?si=2LhsjSVfSJ2moD6aABk6nA
Review:
“Highly personal and sometimes almost unbearably poignant, the album remains one of the most charged and resonant titles in John Martyn’s canon. Indeed, the record’s painfully intimate contents initially disturbed Chris Blackwell so much that, while the album was completed in October 1979, he held up its release and only agreed to issue it a full 12 months later, in October 1980.
The emotional turmoil, however, spurred Martyn on to new heights of creativity. Eschewing his trademark effects-laden acoustic guitar in favor of a heavier electric Gibson SG, he recorded Grace And Danger with a dextrous, sympathetic in-studio band including bassist John Giblin and Genesis drummer/solo star-in-waiting Phil Collins.
Together, the ensemble pieced together a raw, affecting, and frequently sublime selection of tracks whose moods reflected the maelstrom of emotions Martyn was then working through. There was a clutch of wracked, introspective ballads (the self-explanatory “Hurt In Your Heart”; the plaintive, resigned “Sweet Little Mystery”) but these were balanced out by the angry, sarcastic titular song, the bittersweet blue-eyed soul of “Our Love” and an unexpected, but brilliantly realized reworking of The Slickers’ 1971 reggae hit “Johnny Too Bad.”
Though its creator later admitted that writing Grace And Danger had been “very cathartic”, the album was warmly received by fans and critics alike, who collectively agreed that this fiery troubadour had somehow alchemized artistic gold from the depths of despair. The record marked a turning point in Martyn’s commercial fortunes too, with its more mainstream-inclined follow-up, 1981’s Glorious Fool, introducing him to the UK Top 30 for the very first time” udiscovermusic.com
Choice Cut: Some People Are Crazy
The Underrated Gem
Glorious Fool
Release Date: September 1981
Label: WEA
Producer: Phil Collins
Standout Tracks: Amsterdam/Please Fall in Love With Me/Don't You Go
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=60354&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/5jBDX1Ug1rka0y4mwjIbqs?si=zJ_j7KRQR1GrshrnsY6ObQ
Review:
“Here we come to Glorious Fool's most alarming flaw: the songs are simply second-rate. There is none of the emotional depth or commitment that marks Martyn's best work (Grace & Danger, Inside Out), none of the originality and passion with which he can make his romance credible and gripping. Couldn't Love You More, Hold On To My Heart and Pascanel are typical minor Martyn, the kind of pretty fripperies he's been churning out for years, while Amsterdam and Never Say Never are louder but no less limp, one all melodramatic bluster, the other tainted with a tetchy petulance that spills over into Pascanel and Didn't Do That. Please Fall In Love With Me is another extreme and 'I want to fall in love with the world/ I want the world to fall in love' the kind of line you might smuggle through once but which lies exposed in all its mindless, posey banality when you turn it into a closing chant and accompany it with ponderous and very self-important drums.
Don't You Go, rooted in the traditional folk ballad, closes the LP in quiet, moving fashion. A plea for peace, it's 'Fool's one glorious moment: as striking as the rest is bland, as convincing as the rest rings false.
Martyn may have curtailed the indulgence to which he has always been prone, in doing so he seems to have lost his main source of inspiration. The unruly maverick has become net, tidy and polite. There is no drive, no depth to Glorious Fool; no grace or danger, just ordinary upmarket competence.
Whatever happened to the glory of love?” – NME
Choice Cut: Hold on My Heart
The Final Album
Heaven and Earth
Release Date: 16th May, 2011
Label: Music on Vinyl
Producers: Jim Tullio/Garry Pollitt
Standout Tracks: Heel of the Hunt/Could've Told You Before I Met You/Willing to Work
Buy: https://www.discogs.com/sell/list?master_id=594538&ev=mb
Stream: https://open.spotify.com/album/3AHCuCvx6GQIyd8NStqetj?si=I6V4VXdOTRKBKKe0yb8YhQ
Review:
“The provisional title of his last release was Willing to Work. Whether this was ironic considering the length of time it took him or straightforward in regards to the effort he put into it is unclear. The title of the song by that name is an eight-plus minute rambling sonic excursion that ends up with a dog barking, and the band seemingly looking for direction. Martyn repeatedly riffs on the phrase “Willing to Work” as if it is a mantra that will lead him somewhere, but he appears to have lost his way. Still, the song has its charms. One has the feeling that if only he had lived long enough, Martyn could have turned it into something better and more complete.
The disc is now called Heaven and Earth and the song of that name is a much more beautiful and finished product. The over-seven-minute piece incorporates a gentle jazz piano and tenor sax that provide an emotional lift to the proceedings. Martyn passionately sings of “moving heaven and earth” as if it is simply a matter of spiritual will. He laughs gently as he vocalizes, as if he is being tickled by the feelings welling within him. Martyn’s glee makes one smile along with him.
As a whole, the studio album bears traces of roughness around the edges. Martyn’s voice in particular can be creaky, especially on such tunes as “Colours” and “Heel of the Hunt”. Other times Martyn can still rock out, especially on the funky “Stand Amazed”. The grit in his voice serves the bluesy vibe and lends an air of authenticity to his back porch musings. The Band’s Garth Hudson accompanies Martyn on a honking accordion on this track.
Martyn wrote all the songs but one, his friend Phil Collins’ “Can’t Turn Back the Years”. Collins sings backup on this melancholy look at how one cannot correct life’s mistakes, but just go on. This four-minute cut may be the shortest one on the album; however, the depth of feeling expressed gives it a feeling of weight. It’s as if Martyn and the now retired Collins are telling listeners that their careers may be over. They are not going to apologize for any missteps. They take ownership of the good and bad they have done.
Judging by Martyn’s last album, he has nothing to apologize for. The results may be shaggy--a feeling reinforced by the length of the songs--but he still has much to offer. Hopefully he is in heaven now,. He left this earth with more than he took with him. His music enriches” – Popmatters
Choice Cut: Heaven and Earth
The John Martyn Book
Small Hours: The Long Night of John Martyn
Author: Graeme Thomson
Publication Date: 9th July, 2020
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Review:
“Developing a highly personal musical language after adding amplification and a variety of effects to his guitar, he enjoyed the early patronage of two influential men: the record producer Joe Boyd, who soon left, and the boss of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, who gave him years of backing while making allowances for his waywardness. Many other admirers within the music business shied away, alienated by a nature that could switch from rogueish charm to outright threat in the time it took to drain a pint glass. “He was almost like a bomb that was going to go off,” the singer Claire Hamill, his lover in the 70s, says.
In pieces such as “Solid Air”, “Glistening Glyndebourne” and the extraordinary “Small Hours” (layering his guitar over the dawn sounds of the wind and the birds on the lake outside the Berkshire farm where he was recording), Martyn showed himself to be both an innovator and a poet. The looseness and spontaneity of jazz and country blues were perfectly blended with strong echoes of English pastoralism. Thomson correctly identifies his sublime 1974 recording of the traditional song “Spencer the Rover” as a pinnacle of his career, not least because its narrative of a rambling man dreaming of home and heart corresponded so exactly with the singer’s own fantasies. Efforts to turn him into a shiny rock star in the 80s and 90s were an insult to such work.
An encounter with Martyn in his final years gives the book a dramatic opening sequence. As well as displaying a love and understanding of his subject’s finest music, the author is clear-eyed about the regular bouts of “loud, stupid behaviour, intimidating and graceless”, the chaotic tours, the vast amounts of drink and drugs, the selfishness and the emotional cowardice. Yet amid the despairing shrugs of the surviving witnesses, including his abandoned partners and children, a love of the roaring boy shines through” – The Guardian
Order: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Small-Hours-Long-Night-Martyn/dp/178760019X