Album review

May You Never | The Very Best Of

22 Mar 2009
The Independent
Nick Coleman

John Martyn, May You Never: The Very Best of... (Island)

As posthumous best ofs go, this is as tidy as one could wish, despite the odd regrettable omission. It favours the Irascible One's songwriting over his musicianliness and, being Island, concentrates on his Seventies peak. And so we suffer again the tenderness of Head And Heart and Sweet Little Mystery and flow with Solid Air. If you have ever experienced the midnight blues and not had a Martyn album to hand, then here's where you start. Buy this and Inside Out and you are well equipped.

Nick Coleman

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May You Never | The Very Best Of John Martyn

Ain't No Saint

1 Nov 2008
Mojo #180
Phil Sutcliffe

John Martyn

****

Ain't No Saint

UNIVERSAL/ ISLAND

Compiled with due devotion, a 4-CD box set of faves, unearthed lives and outtakes.

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Ain't No Saint

Ain't No Saint

1 Nov 2008
Record Collector
Terry Staunton

A national treasure whose importance and influence has never been reflected in sales, Martyn's exhaustive back catalogue is brimful of genuinely pioneering approaches to folk and jazz.

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Ain't No Saint

Ain't No Saint

1 Nov 2008
Rock 'n' Reel
Colin Hall

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.

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Ain't No Saint

Ain't No Saint

7 Sep 2008
The Independent
Nick Coleman

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.

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Ain't No Saint

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