{"id":8409,"date":"2026-01-29T09:21:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T09:21:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/john-martyn-album-by-album-20955\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T09:21:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T09:21:16","slug":"john-martyn-album-by-album-20955","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/john-martyn-album-by-album-20955\/","title":{"rendered":"John Martyn: \u201cIt\u2019s about that need to be disconnected, to get somewhere else\u2026\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Originally published in Uncut Take 114 (November 2006 issue), the legendary singer-songwriter talks us through the cream of his crop of exceptional albums, including Solid Air, One World and Grace And Danger. \u201cIt\u2019s about that need to be disconnected, to get somewhere else. The source of the sauce, if you like\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Originally published in Uncut Take 114 (November 2006 issue), the legendary singer-songwriter talks us through the cream of his crop of exceptional albums, including Solid Air, One World and Grace And Danger. \u201cIt\u2019s about that need to be disconnected, to get somewhere else. The source of the sauce, if you like\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not been a good morning,\u201d growls John Martyn at home in Kilkenny. \u201cI\u2019ve just been done for speeding!\u201d Just as Uncut is pondering the advisability of the pickled bard of the Echoplex tearing through the rural lanes of south-east Ireland, he grudgingly reveals that it was in fact his partner, Theresa, who has just attracted the attentions of the local Garda\u00ed. Not that the old rascal remains averse to a little white line fever. At 58, Glasgow-born John Martyn remains the great outlaw figure of British music, architect of an unrivalled back catalogue blending blues, folk and rock, constructed with the aid of a pharmacy full of drugs and oceans of hard liquor. While pivotal albums Stormbringer! and Solid Air ensure he\u2019s f\u00eated by subsequent generations of musicians ranging from Paul Weller to Bright Eyes, Martyn keeps the trappings of stardom at a healthy distance. Indeed, when we first meet, he\u2019s a little spiky, and looks at me as if he\u2019s eyeing me up for a scrap.<\/p>\n

As he guides us through his career, though, you realise that the abrasive bonhomie disguises a finely tuned bullshit detector. Less a slave to wanderlust since the amputation of his right leg below the knee in 2003, Martyn still plays live regularly, confessing \u201cplaying gigs is all I ever wanted to do\u201d. And as an hour\u2019s worth of ribald reminiscences comes to an end, spirits are high. The sun has crossed over the yardarm, and the great man has got more practical matters on his mind. \u201cAll this talk about drinking has made me thirsty,\u201d he exclaims. \u201cI\u2019m off down the pub! Now, go forth and prosper!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

JOHN MARTYN<\/strong>
LONDON CONVERSATION<\/strong>
(Island, 1968)
<\/strong>Recorded for the princely sum of \u00a3158, London Conversation was released without fanfare in February 1968 on the fledgling Island label (later home to Fairport Convention and Nick Drake). An accurate reflection of his live set at the time, songs like \u201cFairytale Lullaby\u201d highlight the influence of early heroes Bert Jansch and Davey Graham.<\/em><\/p>\n

MARTYN: \u201cIt was a big step for me coming to London. I was from a folk background and, when I turned up, the hippy thing was in full swing. It didn\u2019t bother me in the least. I was a hippy long before that: I used to go to school barefoot; I was already in my own little world. I was living in my stepfather\u2019s house in Surbiton at the time, sleeping between two boilers. Not very comfortable, to say the least! I played all the established London folk clubs: Cousins\u2026 Bunjies off Charing Cross Road, but I wasn\u2019t fussy. I\u2019d play anywhere that would have me.<\/p>\n

\u201cTen minutes away from where I lived was this club called the Kingston Folk Barge, where I\u2019d play all the time. One night this guy called Theo Johnson came down and asked if Island could do my publishing. I said, \u2018No\u2019, but they could put an album out if they wanted. I knew that if I had a record in the shops, that it would get bums on seats. I recorded my live set in just four days flat. They\u2019re good songs \u2013 it\u2019s where I was at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOHN AND BEVERLEY MARTYN<\/strong>
STORMBRINGER!<\/strong>
(Island, 1970)
<\/strong>Having fallen in love with fellow folk singer Beverley Kutner, the pair headed to Woodstock in the summer of \u201969. A marriage of his folk roots and cosmic notions du jour, Stormbringer! also reflected his increasing interest in guitar effects on \u201cWould You Believe Me\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cJoe Boyd at [production company] Witchseason never really liked me. I think he thought I was vulgar because I was working-class. But he sent me to New York to record Stormbringer! and that was the nicest thing he could ever have done. I was 19 and New York blew my mind. We stayed in the Chelsea Hotel for a couple of weeks before we started. It was 98\u00b0F and I had all the windows open and the air-conditioning on full blast; I didn\u2019t have a clue. Woodstock was amazing. Dylan was living up the road, Hendrix used to arrive in a purple helicopter. Levon Helm from The Band just happened to be in the area and he ended up on the record. That was how it was in those days. Up until that point I\u2019d been trying to be like Ray Davies or the Pet Shop Boys of folk, quintessentially British. But the American influences came through on Stormbringer!. The sleeve photo was taken by this little Japanese feller on Hampstead Heath. People say I look really young and angelic and I suppose I was. It was all happening so fast: I\u2019d meet Cat Stevens, Steve Winwood and I wouldn\u2019t think twice about it. Wonderful times. I was an innocent abroad, in every sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOHN MARTYN<\/strong>
BLESS THE WEATHER<\/strong>
(Island, 1971)
<\/strong>With the newly recruited ex-Pentangle bassist Danny Thompson, and eager to distance himself from the burgeoning folk-rock movement, Bless The Weather saw Martyn display a new found maturity with simple, atmospheric songs and an increasing use of effects.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cDanny Thompson is on this one. He\u2019s a miserable bastard, but he\u2019s a great bass player. He really made a difference; on those sessions he was unbelievable. I hadn\u2019t got the Echoplex yet \u2013 I was still using a WEM Copicat. I was feeling my way.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs I remember it, the recording was pretty light-hearted. We\u2019d put the songs down, then go out. People ask me what Bless The Weather is about, but it was just how I was feeling \u2013 there\u2019s no specific incident I can put it down to. Like all the good ones, it just popped out of the old brainbox. I never question why they arrive \u2013 it\u2019s a non-negotiable contract with the future. I was drinking a bit by then \u2013 I felt as though I\u2019d be letting the side down if I didn\u2019t \u2013 but I wasn\u2019t what you\u2019d call serious. For me, it goes back to the blues tradition of the 1920s and acoustic players like Robert Johnson. It\u2019s about that need to be disconnected, to get somewhere else. The source of the sauce, if you like. The really heavy stuff came afterwards when we went on tour. Did Danny lead me down that path? No, mate. I found it myself \u2013 and I was very glad to see it.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOHN MARTYN<\/strong>
SOLID AIR<\/strong>
(Island, 1973)
<\/strong>A musical antidote to glam, Solid Air\u2019s woozy delivery and sombre lyrics made it a ubiquitous presence in halls of residence throughout the \u201970s. The prototype for everything from ambient to trip-hop, its bleak mix of blues, jazz and rock is now universally regarded as a classic.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d moved to Hastings by then and I loved the whole feel of the place. I come from a fishing family \u2013 my grandad had seven boats \u2013 and I liked the attitude of the people. You could live there for 50 years and the locals would still consider you a blow-hard. I was happy and the songs just flowed. Looking back, I knew at the time it was a good album. People would come down to visit and I\u2019d play them \u2018May You Never\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe stories about the drinking while I recorded Solid Air are all true. They would mostly start with bets. Danny Thompson would say something like, \u2018I bet you\u2019d like a bucket of whisky in here, wouldn\u2019t you?\u2019 I\u2019d said yeah, and before I knew it I\u2019d be sitting there drinking spirits out of a bucket. I\u2019m not sure if I ever finished it or not. It was mostly done at night; I\u2019d record the vocals and the guitar at the same time. It\u2019s well documented that the song \u2018Solid Air\u2019 is about Nick Drake. I didn\u2019t see him so much around that time, and he died the next year, but he probably heard it. It seemed apposite; he was just too delicate for this world.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOHN MARTYN<\/strong>
ONE WORLD<\/strong>
(Island, 1977)
<\/strong>Inspired by a sabbatical at label boss Chris Blackwell\u2019s home in Jamaica, the dub inflections of One World saw Martyn hit a chord during the height of punk. Boasting an all-star cast (Lee \u2018Scratch\u2019 Perry, Steve Winwood) and recorded in a fug of narcotics, it pleased the critics (NME called it \u201cmean, moody and magnificent\u2026 just plain better than everything else\u201d) and inspired everyone from Jah Wobble to Massive Attack.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThis was recorded at [Island Records founder] Chris Blackwell\u2019s house at Woolwich Green Farm in Berkshire. He\u2019s been an incredibly influential figure for me throughout my life. I think we did it in 10 or 12 days. It was a beautiful place. There was a lovely garden and a lake you could look out onto. I was really lonely at the time, and you can tell \u2013 it\u2019s in the music. There\u2019s some nice chords there, though. If you listen closely, on the song \u2018Small Hours\u2019 you can hear the 2.39 to Windsor going past in the distance. It was wonderful \u2013 three o\u2019clock in the morning, sitting outside, looking over this lake, smoking opium. That\u2019s what I call ambient!<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve always taken things in the studio to get the right atmosphere, and you can tell we were somewhere else when we made this one! One World is still one of my favourites. Musically speaking I was really pleased with it. I knew that I\u2019d moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n

JOHN MARTYN<\/strong>
GRACE & DANGER<\/strong>
(Island, 1980)<\/strong>
With pain and despair as the driving force \u2013 prompted by the dissolution of his marriage to Beverley \u2013 Martyn delivered an autobiographical outpouring to match Dylan\u2019s Blood On The Tracks. Legend has it that the album\u2019s release was delayed for a year by Chris Blackwell because he found it \u201ctoo depressing\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI was in a strange position when I recorded Grace & Danger. I didn\u2019t have to make an album, I just did. It\u2019s terribly sad but it\u2019s an accurate reflection of what was going on in my life at the time. I\u2019d been on the road a long time and, as a result, me and Bev broke up. I didn\u2019t have the intention of that happening, but when I went on the road I had intent, if you know what I mean. I was peripatetic at the time. Chris Blackwell had a flat in Basing Street he let me stay in. A very cool gaff. It had a bath the size of a swimming pool! I really like \u2018Some People Are Crazy\u2019. It\u2019s true. There are very few people I can get along with; or can get along with me. I have no idea why. I call it Joe Boyd syndrome.<\/p>\n

\u201cPhil Collins played the drums on it. He was a great friend to me. Very sweet. I think he was going through the same thing at that time with his wife. I was drinking the cooking sherry, anything I could get my hands on. It\u2019s a very heartfelt album. But then they\u2019re all love songs, really.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The post John Martyn: \u201cIt\u2019s about that need to be disconnected, to get somewhere else\u2026\u201d<\/a> appeared first on UNCUT<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Originally published in Uncut Take 114 (November 2006 issue), the legendary singer-songwriter talks us through the cream of his crop of exceptional albums, including Solid Air, One World and Grace…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,35,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","category-interviews","category-john-martyn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8409\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musictechohio.online\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}