07 Nov 2008
Grace & Danger was the highly personal album that marked John Martyn's divorce and saw him leave Island Records in 1980. But its difficult conception hasn't stopped the 60-year-old singer-songwriter returning to it for his latest UK tour, following a successful trip around the country playing his classic Solid Air album last year.
01 Nov 2008
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.
****
UNIVERSAL/ ISLAND
Compiled with due devotion, a 4-CD box set of faves, unearthed lives and outtakes.
A national treasure whose importance and influence has never been reflected in sales, Martyn's exhaustive back catalogue is brimful of genuinely pioneering approaches to folk and jazz.
01 Nov 2008
Prompted by the release of a career-retrospective boxed set, Johnny Black talks four decades' music making with John Martyn
Whatever there was in the water at Cousins -heart of 60s London's folk music happenings- it was potent stuff that helped spawn a scene.
01 Nov 2008
"I was something of a hoodlum, yes," laughs a severely understated John Martyn when asked about his wild, infamously debauched past, which for decades encompassed chronic alcohol and drug addiction, endless womanising and a constant supply of headaches, heartache and, presumably, gargantuan hangovers, for everyone in his life.
01 Oct 2008
UNCUT: What do you think of the anthology?
JOHN MARTYN: I haven't heard it... I keep as far away from all that stuff, man. As soon as I've finished it, it's gone. I love playing live, you know? It's actually a stricter discipline than being in the studio, because you only get one shot at the gig, whereas in the studio you get loads of shots.
Reviewed by Nick Coleman
Four discs, two live, two studio, the latter comprising 34 songs, a dozen of which are unreleased – a decent enough way to reflect on an extraordinary career on the eve of the artist's 60th birthday.
04 Sep 2008
Next Thursday, John Martyn – the legendary singer-songwriter and guitarist – turns 60. It is a landmark many thought he’d never reach.
