Iain David McGeachy, OBE (11 September 1948 – 29 January
2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a British singer-songwriter and
guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 22 studio albums, and received
frequent critical acclaim. He was one of the most revered and innovative
singer-songwriters of his generation; his music – a mix of blues, folk and funk
– influenced artists as varied as U2, Portishead and Eric Clapton.
John Martyn was born Ian David McGeachy on September 11
1948
at New Malden, Surrey. His parents, both singers of light opera, divorced when he was five and he spent much of his childhood in Glasgow, where he lived with his grandmother and attended Shawlands Academy.
at New Malden, Surrey. His parents, both singers of light opera, divorced when he was five and he spent much of his childhood in Glasgow, where he lived with his grandmother and attended Shawlands Academy.
Having taught himself the guitar at the age of 15, he
returned to London on leaving school and appeared regularly at Les Cousins, the
Soho folk club which also launched Ralph McTell, Bert Jansch and Al Stewart. He
became the first white act to be signed to Chris Blackwell's Island record
label, and recorded his debut album, London Conversation, for £158 in 1968. He
began to experiment with electronic effects, notably a tape device known as the
Echoplex, which provided his signature sound, and which he introduced on his
second album Stormbringer! in 1970.
Martyn sealed his reputation with his album, Solid Air,
described as the "musical equivalent of a reassuring hug" by Q
Magazine, which named it the 67th best British album of all time in 2000. Martyn
dedicated the haunting title track to his friend Nick Drake, another
singer-songwriter, who died of an overdose at the age of 26 shortly after it
was finished.
At this point Martyn seemed on the brink of major
international success, but he was derailed by his passion for musical
exploration and by an appetite for excess that bordered on self-destruction.
Solid Air included his most celebrated song, the beautiful May You Never
(subsequently covered by Eric Clapton and many others), and his record company
anticipated a big commercial breakthrough. Yet the follow-up LP in 1973, Inside
Out, was wilfully inaccessible as his interest in experimental electronics
increased, and the jazz-rock fusions gave the album only limited cult appeal.
Over the next few years Martyn slid into alcoholism, his
live performances punctuated by moments of incoherent drunkenness. Drugs took a
toll on his personal life, and his first marriage broke up in the late 1970s. This
darkest period in his life found artistic expression in the despairing,
autobiographical Grace and Danger, which was finally released in 1980 after
Chris Blackwell had initially blocked it because he thought it was too
upsetting and personal. Martyn himself described the record as
"cathartic". Yet it yielded a restoration in his fortunes, and
subsequent albums – Glorious Fool (1981), produced by Phil Collins, and Well
Kept Secret (1982) – were the highest-charting records of his career.
In the late 1990s Martyn began to experiment with
electronic dance sounds, and in 2001 he had a top 40 hit as a featured vocalist
on Deliver Me, a dance record by Sister Bliss, keyboard player with the group
Faithless.
Since losing a leg, Martyn had performed from a wheelchair
but did not repine. "If I could control myself more, I think the music
would be much less interesting," he told Q Magazine. "I'd probably be
a great deal richer, but I'd have had far less fun and I'd be making really
dull music."
His cantankerous behaviour was famous, and age did not
appear to mellow him or diminish his interest in expanding the horizons of
music and making musical boundaries redundant. Early on in his career he proved
himself one of the most brilliant acoustic guitarists of his generation, but he
was never content to rest on his laurels, taking his guitar-playing into
constantly new directions, even at the cost of his commercial appeal.
Martyn hated being pigeonholed by any one musical genre
and as a result remained essentially a cult hero. He never became rich, but he
was hugely influential and was idolised by his peers.
He was presented with a lifetime achievement award by
Phil Collins at the 2008 BBC Folk Awards, when he sang May You Never, backed by
John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin. Eric Clapton sent a message saying he was
"so far ahead of everything else it was inconceivable". Martyn joked:
"At last I'm a celebrity."
He was appointed OBE in the 2009 New Year Honours. Martyn
died on 29 January 2009, in hospital in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland, after
a third bout with pneumonia.
John Martyn's marriage to the blues singer Beverley Kutner
in 1969 ended in divorce after 10 years, and his second wife, Annie,
predeceased him. (Edited from The Telegraph)
1 comment:
For “John Martyn – Solid Air (1973)” go here:
https://www97.zippyshare.com/v/erjMhsYQ/file.html
1) Solid Air 5:43
2) Over The Hill 2:52
3) Don't Want To Know 3:00
4) I'd Rather Be The Devil 6:17
5) Go Down Easy 3:34
6) Dreams By The Sea 3:15
7) May You Never 3:40
8) The Man In The Station 3:50
9) The Easy Blues 3:19
Bass – Dave Pegg
Congas – Speedy
Double Bass – Danny Thompson
Drums – Dave Mattacks
Engineer, Producer – John Wood
Piano, Organ, Clavinet – Rabbit*
Vocals, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Producer – John Martyn
Recorded at Island and Sound Techniques Studios November/December 1972.
Speedy (Neemoi Acquaye) appears courtesy of Mercury Records.
A big thank you to Stuck In The past blog for original link.
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