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This week we pay tribute to the late, great John Martyn. John passed away this week at age sixty. A man who lived a very hard life, John was known to be a serious drinker for years.
John mixed Folk, Blues and Jazz into a unique sound. A mix of acoustic and electric guitar techniques influencing the likes of David Gilmore and Eric Clapton. John’s album “Solid Air” is a classic for guitar purists and fans of singer/songwriters.
John Martyn : The Independent
Before he passed away this week at the age of 60, the singer and guitarist John Martyn had cheated death many times. A former heroin user and lifelong alcoholic who suffered numerous injuries in falls, he also seemed to treat being shot at, pancreatic failure, and a broken neck sustained when his car collided with a bull as occupational hazards.
In April 2003, Martyn’s morale was further tested when a burst cyst led to septicaemia and the amputation of his right leg below the knee. Typically he soldiered on, playing gigs in a wheelchair, and referencing his injury and subsequent weight gain with black humour. “Does anyone require the services of a one-legged Sumo wrestler?” he enquired at some of his last concerts.
Tributes roll in:
LastingTribute.co.uk
Folk singer-songwriter John Martyn OBE died on 29 January, 2009, aged 60.
He was widely regarded as one of the most soulful and innovative singer-songwriters of his generation.
His music was an amalgamation of blues, folk, dub and funk – and is said to have influenced artists such as U2, Portishead and Eric Clapton.
John Martyn was born Iain David McGeachy on 11 September 1948 in New Malden, Surrey, the only son of two light opera singers. John’s parents separated and his early childhood was spent in Glasgow.
When he started playing he soon became a fixture at Les Cousins, a Soho club at the centre of London’s folk scene, which also launched the careers of Ralph McTell, Bert Jansch and Al Stewart.
He released 20 studio albums over a 40-year period, working with artists such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Phil Collins.
In 1973, he released Solid Air , one of the defining albums of the 70s. Its title song was a tribute to singer-songwriter Nick Drake , a close friend.
Phil Collins has paid tribute to John Martyn, whose death was announced 29 January. Collins played on Martyn’s 1980 album Grace And Danger and 1981’s Glorious Fool (Collins also produced the latter). The two became close as they had both gone through painful divorces.
The starkly emotional Grace And Danger remains one of Martyn’s triumphs. Martyn later said that Grace And Danger was “probably the most specific piece of autobiography I’ve written. Some people keep diaries, I make records.”
John’s official website says the album received tremendous reviews, “once in a while you hear a song that finds its way deep into your memory, and you find yourself humming along. This album has more than its share of fine songs like that, but noticeably Go Down Easy and May You Never .”
Twenty Six years later in 1999 Solid Air was voted as one of the best chill-out albums of all time in Q Magazine,
“With mellow jazzy flourishes and warm acoustic sounds, Solid Air is the musical equivalent of a reassuring hug…the man Beth Orton calls The Guv’nor achieved the impossible: he made a quiveringly sexy folk record.”
John was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2009 New Year Honours.
He was survived by his partner Theresa.
Collins told the BBC: “John’s passing is terribly, terribly sad. I had worked with and known him since the late 1970s and he was a great friend.
“He was uncompromising, which made him infuriating to some people, but he was unique and we’ll never see the likes of him again.
“I loved him dearly and will miss him very much.”
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- John Martyn : Courtesy The Independent
