Big Muff

Exactly a year ago, late in the morning of 29 January, 2009, the news began to circulate that John Martyn had died at the age of 60. I spent the following 24 hours or so talking to many of his cronies to help assemble a tribute feature for The Word magazine. Chris Blackwell, the man who had signed him to Island in 1967, had just stepped off a plane in Jamaica. He sounded fuzzy and uncertain. He knew Martyn was dead but needed details. "What happened, I haven't heard?" he asked. Pneumonia, I told him. "Ah, God, that'll do you in."

Published on 25 Jan 2010

Almost a year after his death, John Martyn’s life is the focus of a celebratory concert. But the man behind the music remains as mysterious as ever.

He was an incurable romantic who was handy with his fists. Within his burly, imposing frame lay a soulful, expressive voice, and his songs lent themselves to cover versions by artists as renowned as Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton and Ralph McTell. As for his guitar playing, he was a master of the craft, an enduringly influential and inventive figure.

John Martyn, alas, is with us no more. He died less than a year ago, on January 29, 2009, aged just 60, of double pneumonia in a hospital in Ireland. On hearing the news, his long-time friend, the singer Phil Collins, was moved to say: "He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we’ll never see the likes of him again. I loved him dearly and will miss him very much."

Cult folk and blues singer John Martyn left his long-term partner and daughter an estate worth £82,000 in his will.

The twice-married musician, who grew up in Glasgow, died from pneumonia at the age of 60 last January.
His partner of 10 years Teresa Walsh received three-quarters of the estate while daughter Mhairi, 38, was left the rest by Martyn, best known for his 1973 album Solid Air.
The figure for his estate is thought not to include property and assets in Ireland. Martyn, who lived in County Kilkenny, also had a son Spenser.

JOHN MARTYN
(i.m. 1948-2009)

In the picture-perfect scenery of Challes-les-Eaux
in seventy-five, locked in private darkness,
I played your lost indefinable music
on a tired loop of tape: Solid Air –
its title track an elegy for a friend you couldn’t save,
while you were destined to survive.
With a brawler’s zest for living,
you absorbed the booze and heartbreak.

When I heard you had died I found you
in the afterlife of YouTube, restraining tears
for grief you’d caused,
knowing your muse, Serendipity,
had always been a harsh one, that even now
there could have been no easier way.

David Cooke

I received this a week ago and today, what would have been John's 61st birthday, seems a good day to publish this elegy. David writes:

11 september 1948 - 29 januari 2009

Luttele weken nadat John Martyn op nieuwjaarsdag een hoge Britse onderscheiding (OBE) toegekend had gekregen voor zijn muzikale verdiensten overleed de geweldenaar van de Britse folkscene aan de gevolgen van een dubbele longontsteking. Geboren in zuid-Engeland maar met sterke Schotse roots ontwikkelde Martyn een unieke eigen stijl tussen blues, jazz en folk die hem in 1967 een contract opleverde bij Island Records, waar ook zijn goede vriend Nick Drake onder dak was. Drake's carrière wilde maar niet van de grond komen, Martyn had steeds meer succes, eerst nog schoorvoetend met zijn toenmalige vrouw Beverley, met wie hij in 1970 twee lp's maakte, STORMBRINGER! en THE ROAD TO RUIN, en daarna solo met BLESS THE WEATHER uit 1971 en vooral SOLID AIR van twee jaar later.

The partner of the late folk and blues artist John Martyn yesterday collected an OBE on behalf of the musician, who died in January at the age of 60. Teresa Walsh collected the honour from the Prince of Wales at the Buckingham Palace investiture service.

John Martyn Special

Mike played excerpts of a lot of songs from various sources.

Monday 9 February
John Wilson presenting

John Martyn
Shortly before the recent death of the influential musician John Martyn, John Wilson recorded an interview with him in which he reflected on his life and his music. As well as hearing extracts from the interview, novelist Ian Rankin and fellow musician Danny Thompson pay their respects to the British singer-songwriter.

When folk-rock legend John Martyn died the music industry went into mourning, but few felt the loss deeper than Cardiff drummer Arran Ahmun and Barry bassist Dave Ball, who performed with Martyn throughout his career. The musicians talk to GAVIN ALLEN about the many sides of John Martyn...

By now most of you will be aware of the death of singer songwriter guitar stylist musician John Martyn. By virtue of his huge talent and colourful and sometimes reckless lifestyle his passing was noticed and commented upon by nearly all of the popular media.

I would just like to add my personal comments because John was very much a contemporary of mine and I admired his music immensely.

Hundreds of mourners flocked to the small town of Kells in County Kilkenny at the weekend to attend the funeral of world-renowned folk musician John Martyn.

John who had been living in Thomastown with his partner Theresa, died on Thursday last week.

Folkvernieuwer en voorloper van de triphop

John Martyn was een groot vernieuwer van de Britse folk. Kenmerkend voor Martyn waren zijn hoge ijle stem en de jazzy timing in het gitaarspel.

Here, BBC Scotland reporter Iain MacDonald recalls his and other stories about singer-songwriter John Martyn who died last week at the age of 60.
The folk, blues and funk artist was widely regarded as one of the most soulful and innovative singer-songwriters of his generation. Iain interviewed the musician for a BBC radio programme.
But the journalist was also among those who "cottoned on to" the Martyn phenomenon back in the 1960s.

We're steering unsteadily along narrow corridors on an upper floor of a London hotel, John Martyn cheerily pointing the way with a tumbler of brandy and port. I've got one hand on his wheelchair, one on the handle of a swing door. There's a wheezy cackle in his throat that makes a rich baritone sound like it's fighting through radio interference. "Sorry mate, I don't have a reverse gear, I can't go back... "

Ze hebben niet zoveel met elkaar gemeen, John Martyn en John Updike. Behalve dat ze stierven in dezelfde week en dat ik over beider dood vernam toen ik in New York verbleef. Toen ik vanmiddag, terug uit New York, de column van Frits Abrahams op de achterkant van NRC Handelsblad van afgelopen woensdag onder ogen kreeg kwam ik op nog een overeenkomst: 'John Updike zal voor mij altijd de grote schrijver van de echtscheiding blijven' begon Abrahams zijn column. Na lezing wist ik zeker dat ik Updikes Too Far To Go ga lezen, zoals hopelijk muziekliefhebbers na de necrologieën van John Martyn te hebben gelezen, zich geroepen voelen diens Grace & Danger aan te schaffen. Want hierop bewees Martyn zich als de grote muzikant van de echtscheiding.