I was putting together this mix of John Martyn songs earlier this week, something I'd decided would start with Small Hours and finish with the Talvin Singh mix of Something's Better, when I saw a news article reporting that Beverley Martyn had died aged 79. Beverley was surrounded by music and musicans from a young age, was tuaght guitar by Bert Jansch, played in bands, wrote songs with Nick Drake, Levon Helm, Loudon Wainwright III and Wilco Johnson, went out with a young Paul Simon, released a solo album in 2014 and in the 70s married John Martyn. They had two children and performed together but she acknowledged it put an end to her career at the time. John's vices- drink and drugs- led to Beverley getting out of the marriage eventually, with accusations of John's domestic abuse part of the reason for the break up.
This song, John The Baptist, was on Beverley and John's 1970 album Stormbringer! RIP Beverley Martyn
John The Baptist (Unreleased Version)
John Martyn's music has crept up on me in recent years. Drew from Across The Kitchen Table, a long gone and much missed blog, was a big fan and his posting of John's songs over a period of several years in the 2010s got me interested and I've subsequently picked up albums as I've found them- Solid Air and One World were my starting points and just last week at a record stall I found a copy of Grace And Danger, the 1980 album made during the period John and Beverley were getting divorced. John had to pressure Island records boss Chris Blackwell into releasing it- Blackwell said it was too depressing but Martyn insisted, calling it catharsis as well as the most directly autobiographical record he'd made.
John's music began steeped in blues and folk and then took in a variety of influences- jazz, blues, reggae, and his sound and use of alternate tunings, echo and delay pedals pushed some of his songs into the ambient and Balearic worlds. Vini Reilly has said Martyn's guitar playing was a big influence. In the 90s John's music took in trip hop among other sounds. He died in 2009, his death caused by life long abuse of drink and drugs.
John Martyn was by all accounts a difficult man, trouble with a big T. Drink, drugs, unpleasant behaviour, accusations of domestic abuse. It's difficult sometimes to separate the artist and the music. Drew (mentioned above) has stories of as a younger man being a barman in a pub that became Martyn's local for a period and having to kick him out on the landlord's orders, a man whose music he loved conflicting with the person presenting in front of him.
A folk and blues background, pioneering and experimental guitar playing, 80s sheen and ambient production, (One World was famously recorded outdoors and a flock of geese made it onto the album's final song, Small Hours, found sounds stitched into the music)- it's all here in the mix below, fifty minutes that only really gives a small glimpse into the man's music.
- Small Hours
- All For The Love Of You
- Anna
- May You Never
- Solid Air
- Johnny Too Bad (Alternate Take 2)
- Over The Rainbow
- Sunshine's Better (Talvin Singh Mix)
Small Hours is the last song on 1977's One World, eight and a half minutes of ambient- folk, Martyn's Echoplex guitar, the subtle Moog playing of Stevie Winwood, some percussion and the audible sound of geese on a lake in the early hours of the morning. Ralph McTell called it a 'nighttime hymn'. If nothing else of his back catalogue survived, this song on its own would be enough.
All For The Love Of You is a One World outtake, recorded at home in November 1976 but not released until a 2008 box set. Acoustic guitar and voice, beautifully played and sung, and ending with the sound of snoring.
Anna is from 1978, a song recorded for an Australian film called In Search Of Anna and played live around that late 70s and early 80s, but only released (I think) as an Australian single. It's got a fuller, band sound, drums and electric guitars, a heady brew.
May You Never and Solid Air are both from his much loved, best known album Solid Air, released in 1973. The title track was written for Nick Drake, a friend to both John and Beverley, who died the year after the album's release. Danny Thompson's bass playing is a treat, rich and woody and John's guitar playing and singing are superb, a real late night record. May You Never is his best known song, written in his early 20s but sounding like the work of someone much older and experienced, making use of the dropped D tuning.
Johnny Too Bad is from Grace And Danger, a cover of a 1971 reggae song by The Slickers that made its way onto the soundtrack of The Harder They Come. This take came out on the deluxe CD edition of the album. John's guitar playing is choppy, reggae distorted by guitar FX pedals.
Over The Rainbow was 1984 single and on that year's Sapphire album, recorded at Compass Point in the Bahamas with some help from Robert Palmer and an Anton Corbijn sleeve photograph. It's a cover of the famous Wizard Of Oz song, written by Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg- I can never decide if I like it or not, the 80s synths, drums and keys sometimes too syrupy, too smooth but I included it here because occasionally it hits the spot for me. Sapphire's considered to be something of a lost classic after a couple of more mainstream ones.
The Talvin Singh remixes of Sunshine's Better came out in 1996, a thirteen minute excursion into downtempo/ ambient/ Balearica and officially released on the Cafe Del Mar series (Volume IV). It's a perfect example of the art of the remix, testament to Talvin Singh's talent (and tabla playing), and one of Jose Padilla's sunset records. A blissed out, after hours psychedelic ambient classic.