Album: John Martyn, Ain't No Saint (Island)

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.

John Martyn - The Man Upstairs: In Concert Live In Germany 1978

Stunning live performance finally makes it to DVD

Almost 30 years to the day after it was filmed at Hamburg’s Audimax auditorium for the German TV show Rockpalast, this classic performance is only now available on DVD for the first time. The Man Upstairs captures the power of John Martyn’s live show, with Martyn at the height of his powers following the release of his then-current studio album One World.

It's July, 1973. John Martyn, one of the young princes of the flourishing British folk scene, is hurtling in a new direction.

John Martyn: BBC Live In Concert

(Island) * * * *

FANS will know that the only predictable thing about John Martyn is his unpredictability. His live performances can touch the heights, and sometimes just bumble along.

Although his voice occasionally isn't at its best on a couple of songs in these sessions, recorded in Paris and London over a 10-year period ¹, there are plenty of good (and now and then great) moments that more than compensate.