Are there any plans to release national living treasure JOHN MARTYN's Glorious Fool album (WEA) on CD? His available back catalogue in general seems to be a random selection, at least. So what's going on?
Michael Slater, London SW12

■ There are no plans to reissue Glorious Fool in CD format at present, although a remake of Couldn't Love You More, easily the best track on that album, now forms the title cut on Martyn's latest LP for Permanent Records.¹ Island have reissued London Conversation, Grace & Danger, The Electric John Martyn, One World, Bless The Weather and Stormbringer in CD form during recent times and reckon they'll have all of his Island back-catalogue out on silver disc by next year.²

As for Martyn himself, he doesn't give a damn. When asked for a quote on the situation, he replied: "I'm not at all happy about my old albums being reissued. They are part of the past and I want it to stay that way. That's why I've re-recorded the best of my songs so that people can hear what they sound like in the '90s." His immediate future includes a probable gig at Harlesden's Mean Fiddler in early November,³ plus a tour running through January and February.

sitenotes:
¹ Couldn’t Love You More (PERM CD9) had been released 28 September 1992.
² The first CD release of Glorious Fool I could find is from 1997 - but this wasn't an Island release.
³ John took part in a series of concerts to celebrate ten years of Mean Fiddler, on 4 November 1992.
This exchange was part of the NME letters section called Write Said Fred, curated by Fred Dellar. It was published in the New Musical Express of 24 October 1992. Material dug up by John Neil Munro.