27 Apr 2006
John Martyn has cultivated a staunch following for his improvisational picking style and mellifluous voice that has produced a mesh of jazz, blues and folk. Since his much-lauded debut releases, Solid Air and Bless The Weather, Martyn's career has been dogged by alcoholic abuse. Then, in 2003, a serious infection led to a leg amputation.
08 Dec 2005
Elk label in de jaren zestig wilde zijn eigen Bob Dylan. Island Records koos voor John Martyn, de muzikant van wie geen enkele plaat op een vorige leek. Universal brengt nu tientallen oude Island-albums opnieuw uit, waaronder die van folklegende Sandy Denny en John Martyn.
15 Jul 2004
Dit voorjaar legde de BBC de laatste hand aan een documentaire over John Martyn. Hij wordt uitgezonden op BBC Four in een reeks gewijd aan de 'peetvaders van de moderne muziek'. Hoewel hij ruim 35 jaar in het vak zit geldt de Schot nog immer als een goed bewaard geheim. Een 'cult musician's cult musician'.
01 Jul 2004
A DAY OF MAYHEM STARTS pleasantly with lunch at the Savoy with Billy Swan, who's had a hit recently with a great record called 'I Can Help'.
01 Jul 2004
BY KERNAN ANDREWS
JOHN MARTYN is one of the great originals from the British folk-rock scene and now he's returning to the west to play Campbell's Tavern, Cloughanover, Headford, on Saturday 10, as well as the TF Royal, Castlebar, the day before.
26 Jun 2004
[Announcement with colour pic on page 7, ...the week's best TV and radio]
John Martyn: Johnny Too Bad 11.35pm BBC2 The world stops when Martyn sings, says one contributor. In this affecting profile, you can hear why. Pure magic.
01 Jun 2004
Section FOREWORD/ MUSIC
For the first time John Martyn "didn't do a runner from hospital". With good reason: he'd just had his leg amputated.
IN 1996, JOHN MARTYN'S PANCREAS exploded. The medical profession had warned him -and to be fair, he had adopted a more balanced diet; "a balance," he reflects, "of pickled eggs, whisky and beer"- but it was the point in the life of the now 55-year old songwriter when he had to concede that his grievances were self-inflicted and not merely an endless catalogue of catastrophic bad luck.
01 Mar 2002
Few artists have influenced and inspired whole generations of new musicians, but with a career that has now entered its fifth decade, John Martyn is one such artist. Everything But The Girl, Morcheeba, Sade, The Verve and U2's The Edge have all cited John as an inspiration. Just when you feel that you've heard all he has to offer, when you've finally pinned down and categorized his music, he undergoes yet another metamorphosis. Folk? Blues? Jazz? Reggae? Rock? Trip Hop? Funk? John refuses to conform to any particular music genre whilst simultaneously embracing them all.
01 Jan 2002
Try to pin down the quicksilver musical soul of John Martyn and he'll just squeeze through your fingers. Few who caught up with London Conversation, his late '60s recording bow for Island Records - he was the first white solo performer on what was then a reggae-based label - could have foreseen his transition from folky singer-songwriter to electric rock-band leader and, now, hip-hop balladeer.
Yet while Bob Dylan, an acknowledged influence, made at least the first change, he never showed the same fascination for sounds and textures as Martyn. The way the Scot applied slapback echo and other effects to the acoustic guitar in the '70s has helped shape the approach of many who followed: a generation led by Brit-winning Beth Orton, owes him a debt, while chart-toppers the Verve selected him as their special guest for a 1998 show, introducing him to a new audience.
01 May 2001
After thirty years away from it all, Beverley Martyn is making music again. She speaks to Bob Stanley about her music, friends, enemies and looking after Nick Drake.
