Big Muff

So, Solid Air, then.

The one they always come back to. The unavoidable one. The one with the classics on. In the year of Tubular Bells and The Dark Side Of The Moon, John Martyn released his most cherished album. And then, there's all the stuff that's been said about it: - "A much loved landmark album" - The Rough Guide To Rock; "Afterhours classic" - 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die; "An ocean of tension quivers beneath surface tranquility" - Mojo; "A quiveringly sexy folk record." - Q. It is for many, the very definition of John Martyn. It is Solid Air for which Martyn, when all has been said and done, will be most fondly remembered.

Thirty six years later and it's still perfect!

Emotionally intense and hauntingly beautiful Solid Air encapsulates almost every musical genre with ease and accomplishment. The songs are beautifully crafted fusions of blues, country, folk, jazz and rock with dazzlingly innovative guitar and dreamy evocative vocals from John in a seascape of exquisite flowing musicianship.

John Martyn
The Battle Of Medway
July 17 1973

"There's a question mark over whether I'm sober enough to play anything," said John, with a hint of humour and a hint of being mildly pissed off. "There's seems to have been a lot of killing time." He wasn't wrong on the last point, but he was, of course, only teasing on the first.
The late Geoff Harden's Medway Folk Centre in Kent, a weekly affair at Medway's Old Ash Tree pub, had been very lucky to get the man at all - with regulars asking for ages, Geoff had tried in vain to pin down a date. In the event, John, living down the road in Hastings at the time, had finally agreed to come along as a last-minute fill in for somebody else who'd had to cancel at short notice. But Geoff's problems were far from over.

John Martyn is an important and influential figure in both British folk and rock music. Over a career that spans thirty seven years John Martyn has managed to explore a variety of styles woven together to become a style all of its own. Based around a catalogue of songs second to none John Martyn continues to explore his own particular niche.

If you kissed the sun right out of the sky for me
and told me every lie I might deserve
if you lay all night in the rain for me
I could not love you more
I never could love you more
I could not love you more
I never could love you more

PRETTY IN AN UGLY SORT OF WAY

GRACE & DANGER BY JOHN MARTYN

"Grace & Danger was very cathartic, and really hurt, I was really in love with that woman."
John Martyn

"There was no point in to go and make a jolly, fairground album."
Martin Levan

THE currency of popular music is frequently that of love and despair. However, these emotions are often in the abstract and, although prurience may dictate otherwise, the listener is frequently reminded to keep the public utterances of an artist and their private lives strictly compartmentalised. With John Martyn's Grace And Danger, this it is absolutely impossible.

Inspirational, influential and above all progressive John Martyn has now entered his fifth decade as a renowned singer-songwriter. His timeless music has influenced whole generations of new artists including Everything But The Girl, Morcheeba, Sade, The Verve, Paul Weller and U2's The Edge. His song craft is recognised the world over with Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Ralph McTell, Wet Wet Wet, Courtney Pine, Dr John and Beck having all recorded their own renditions of his songs.

What kind of love is this, concealed behind your kiss.
What kind of love we're trying to find, the silent quiet to come
Stealing in, with an innocent grin; to leave you staring
At the empty ceiling, feeling nothing, looking on, I'm just looking on.

John Martyn celebrated twenty years as a performer in 1986 and what a celebration it was! Piece By Piece, John's fourteenth studio album was released in February on vinyl and CD, followed by a strictly limited CD release with bonus songs, a 12 inch Classic John Martyn single and, of course, the worlds first commercially available CD single Classic John Martyn in digi pack format! In a year that saw the environmental devastation of Chernobyl and the chemical plant fire in Basle that led to thousands of gallons of toxic water entering the Rhine, John added his voice to the worldwide condemnation by writing the theme and incidental music for the Tyne Tees Television environmental series Turning The Tide presented by David Bellamy.

Although he had originally begun his career as one of a wave of new British -mostly Scottish- folk singers in the late '60s, John Martyn was quick to test the boundaries of his chosen genre. A period spent working in Woodstock with such as The Band's drummer Levon Helm opened the young folkie's ears to the possibilities of folk-rock, and an interest in the work of John Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders led him towards introducing jazz elements into his own work.

If the The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) scheduled all its footage of John Martyn, his fans could be forgiven for thinking that their Christmases had all come at once! Classic 1970s programmes such as The Onedin Line, Multi-coloured Swap Shop, Animal Magic with Johnny Morris, The Generation Game, Morecambe and Wise, Blue Peter with John Noakes, It Ain't Half Hot Mum and Mastermind punctuated by rock, folk, blues, reggae and jazz from John, now there’s a thought! Luckily you don’t have to wait that long, Christmas is here thanks to Universal Music. John Martyn at the BBC; we have even removed the other programmes! There are three concerts and bonus material abounds in Extra Features.

Although he has recorded for a variety of other labels, John Martyn is one of last great undiscovered gems in Island Records' back-catalogue. His gravel-rough, sugar-sweet vocal delivery, expressive guitar playing and the folk-jazz ambience of the majority of his work make him ripe for reappraisal. His run of albums between 1971 and 1980 can all be deemed masterpieces.

JOHN MARTYN

John Martyn loves seaports and he's always lived close to the seaside. Back in 1975 the singer and family lived by the sea as well -in Hastings, East Sussex. When the 27-year-old Martyn came to Bremen/ Germany on September 17th, 1975, to play his second-ever concert in Germany, he also came to one of Germany's biggest harbours. And he performed for an audience that was open to listen. Open like the sea, in fact, not caring one iota about pigeon-holing his music. People simply wanted to hear one of the UK's most notorious musical talents.

John Martyn combines musical longevity with a perverse and pigheaded streak. Constant changes in musical direction over his 37-year recording career have meant his flirtations with charts and playlists have been few and far between, but fans will affirm his music is both addictive and intoxicating -a heady brew.

John met Al Stewart (Year Of The Cat) on the London folk club circuit. Stewart was already well known, being contracted to CBS Records and having released a single The Elf. In June 1968 he took to the stage to introduce John at Les Cousins and subsequently produced The Tumbler, which was recorded at Regent Sound, Denmark Street in London’s Soho, on 11th July 1968 and released in December the same year. John’s previous album, London Conversation (IMCD319), had been well received however The Tumbler documents an early step forward in his musical progression.