Ain't No Saint
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.
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.
Quarant'anni di canzoni, cinque ore di musica
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.
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.
Like several Island acts of the early 70s (Fairport Convention, Nick Drake, etc), Martyn was given a fairly loose roaming brief.
(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.