09 Apr 1977
JOHN MARTYN was explaining Sunday's Child, the title track of his last new studio album recorded in 1974 and released in the first month of '75. He said he was a Saturday's Child really, but would've liked to have been a Sunday's.
Rather strange promo compilation from So Far So Good period.
Side A contains mainly bad rock music apart from the reggae track by Rico Rodriguez. On side B John is surrounded by country music, flamenco guitar and a miserable attempt at Bonzo Dog humour.
JOHN MARTYN is a genuine original and we should cherish him.
Hardly prolific (his last studio set was released in January 1975), Martyn is one of those rare artists who has displayed a talent for musically progressing from one project to the next.
For those of you who do not know, let me merely say this: John Martyn is Britain's number one singer/ songwriter. Absolutely. Without doubt.
This is a beginner's guide to John Martyn's (above) unique brand of music - and it's near-perfect.
05 Mar 1977
The agony and the ecstacy on tour with John Martyn. First aid by VIVIEN GOLDMAN.
JOHN MARTYN rivets attention performing. You'd be wrong in assuming that just because he's one-man-with-a-guitar he doesn't make every crevice of the stage swing.
One acoustic track, one electric recorded in BBC London studio.
01 Mar 1977
Only six weeks or so gone, and already it looks as if 1977 is going to be a cracker of a year for rock music! In the month of January alone we had superb albums from Spirit and David Bowie plus the exceptional music of Ry Cooder and his band at the Hammersmith Odeon, and February promises long-awaited albums from Neil Young and Roy Harper, with the latter about to return to the road with his new band Chips.
I sincerely believe that there isn't a singer-songwriter in Britain who can hold a candle to him in terms of innovation and imagination.
For regional news aimed at the Northwest of England, ITV (Granada Television) brought and entertaining half hour called Granada Reports. It had different presenters, one of them being Tony Wilson with his arts round-up What's On. "He would often have interesting guests – one was John Martyn singing May You Never," recalled Alan Ashworth on The Conservative Woman.
