Big Muff | The John Martyn Pages

John Martyn, Superstar!

01 Dec 1977

John Walker

Trouser Press

John Martyn, Superstar!

I once saw a girl absolutely cream some poor bastard with a John Martyn record. He'd whispered some lewd suggestion in her ear and she just whipped around and gave him a tremendous shot in the temple with a copy of So Far So Good.

Read more about John Martyn, Superstar!

Pages

Latest change

Honest John Loves To Work

John Martyn has cultivated a staunch following for his improvisational picking style and mellifluous voice that has produced a mesh of jazz, blues and folk. Since his much-lauded debut releases, Solid Air and Bless The Weather, Martyn's career has been dogged by alcoholic abuse. Then, in 2003, a serious infection led to a leg amputation.

Read on > Story

Piece By Piece..

Grace & Danger Deluxe Edition - Island 984 268-7

The collapse of a marriage (or two) has proven to be creatively satisfying for the likes of Abba, Fleetwood Mac and Marvin Gaye, but few accounts of love-gone-wrong come anywhere close to the emotional impact of Martyn's 1980 release

Read on > Review
Heaven And Earth - Hole in the Rain LSM 4010

It is a wee bit bizarre that what is British singer/songwriter/guitarist John Martyn's final studio album begins with him singing "Don't make me laugh, I might die laughing." That song, Heel Of The Hunt, also features Phil Collins singing a spectral-like refrain that calls for the singer to "Be at peace now."

Read on > Review
Media Wales interview

During the Grace and Danger Tour, Gavin Allen had this telephone conversation with John. It is one of his last interviews and it lasts sixteen minutes.

Read on > Story
May You Never | The Very Best Of | Timeline

11th September 1948: Born Iain David McGeachy in New Malden, Surrey
1966: Relocates from Glasgow to London

Read on > Sleevenote
The Brewery Arts Centre - Kendal 1986

John and Danny at the Brewery? In their hell-raising days of the 1970s this would have been no surprise, but to be more precise we join John and Danny at The Brewery Arts Centre, Kendal, on the 11th or 12th June 1986. The inimitable Arran Ahmun plays drums and percussion through many of John's songs both old and new.

Read on > Sleevenote
Telford, Oakengates Theatre, 22 May 1992

Martyn: Better late than never

John Martyn arrived on stage in Telford last night on a six-string and a prayer.

Read on > Review
Worst Luck

Section FOREWORD/ MUSIC

For the first time John Martyn "didn't do a runner from hospital". With good reason: he'd just had his leg amputated.

IN 1996, JOHN MARTYN'S PANCREAS exploded. The medical profession had warned him -and to be fair, he had adopted a more balanced diet; "a balance," he reflects, "of pickled eggs, whisky and beer"- but it was the point in the life of the now 55-year old songwriter when he had to concede that his grievances were self-inflicted and not merely an endless catalogue of catastrophic bad luck.

Read on > Story
Cultural Baggage

Arts+Books section

John Martyn/ Guitarist and singer-songwriter

Favourite new film
Gore Verbinski's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. I think Johnny Depp is particularly funny in it.

Read on > Story
Musical genius or a wasted talent?

Musical genius or a wasted talent? In search of the real John Martyn

John Martyn played many roles in his three score years. Curly-haired troubadour, spaced-out innovator, thug, fisherman, wizard, wastrel, lover and fighter.

Read on > Story
John Martyn [unknown]

John Martyn is one of Britain's best-loved troubadours. A pioneering folk singer during the sixties, his musical style has constantly changed over the years, breaking down the boundaries between reggae, jazz and pop.

He also has some of the itchiest feet in rock - John spends several months of each year on the road. He recently played more than 100 shows in Europe with hardly a night off.

Read on > Story

Serendipity

Poster Mansfield 1983

Lookin' on > Picture

Willing To Work

Recent Site Changes

July 15 2020 Backup and Migrate 3.9.
July 12 2020 Article added from Manchester Evening News, 27 Apr 2006.
July 11 2020 Backup and Migrate 3.8.
July 08 2020 Tony Tickle remembers John having a small gig on his birthday, 11 Sep 1987. Edinburgh area.
July 04 2020 Andy Walker remembers John Smith as supporting act for Basingstoke, The Anvil show 27 Apr 2004.
June 25 2020 Ticket stub and concert details Loughborough Uni, 01 Nov 1980.
June 21 2020 New old gigdate and ticket: Leicester Uni, 29 Oct 1977.
June 18 2020 Engine upgrade Drupal 7.72.

Read on > Page

11th September 1948: Born Iain David McGeachy in New Malden, Surrey
		1966: Relocates from Glasgow to London

Pages

Search form

Latest change

Piece By Piece..

Martyn: Better late than never

John Martyn/ Guitarist and singer-songwriter

Musical genius or a wasted talent? In search of the real John Martyn

Serendipity

Willing To Work