Interviews

Grace and Danger

Paul Tingen
The Guitar Magazine Vol 4 #7

Don't call it folk! John Martyn is 46, but he's not too old to kick up a stink if you dare lump him in with the finger-in-ear brigade. Paul Tingen dons his profanity-proof sou'ester to meet Britain's most eccentric and unique guitar stylist.

Martyn's Moments Make the Music

Dave Hoekstra
Chicago Sun-Times

One of the great lines of the year tumbled out of the film Glengarry Glen Ross as Ricky Roma was peddling real estate. Played by Al Pacino, the spidery Roma looked deep into the eyes of a diffident client and said that everyone worries about the past and the future. But no one lives for the moment. You can't say that about John Martyn, whose mysterious career is full of passionate moments.

The Triumphant Return of John Martyn

Lahri Bond
Dirty Linen #42

The voice on the other end of the telephone line is most certainly John Martyn's. The soft Glaswegian accent and the dark timbre which is Martyn's trademark is there, yet he seemed strangely disconnected. Oh no, I immediately thought. It is well known that Martyn struggled with alcohol and many other substances for years, but I thought those days were behind him. So why the strange distance in his hello, I mean it was four in the afternoon, after all!

Down That Lonesome Road

Jonathan Futrell
[Sunday Times]

Jonathan Futrell meets John Martyn, a folk troubadour who is still one of Britain's best-kept secrets

Something strangely prophetic happened to the much younger John Martyn when he opened for Charles Mingus and Weather Report at The Bijou Club.

The Apprentice [radio interview]

Nicky Campbell
BBC Radio 1

[Before interviewing JM, Nicky Campbell played a Prince track (Graffiti Bridge) and then reported that John had said that he would really like to hear Prince and Miles Davis working together. He then played a B52s record and started the interview...]

NC: John Martyn, you're here!
JM: Yes indeed I am (very Scottish accent).
NC: That was a long flight, wasn't it?

I Am John Wayne..

Simon Jones
First Hearing #9

..they don't write 'em like that anymore

It's been over two years since his last record, but JOHN MARTYN has returned to the fray with a critically acclaimed album. He talks to Simon Jones, explains his absence, and is evidently still recovering from post punk depression.

"I am John Wayne.."
The figure centre-stage flails around in the spotlight, the music building to an almost deafening crescendo. The head rolls back, the face contorts into an almost pained expression as the microphone comes close.

The Acoustic-Electric... John Martyn

Rick Batey
Guitarist magazine
featuring a piece about
Martyn's tuning

Jazz, blues, funk, soul, rock - or none of the above? As always, the music of John Martyn denies simple categorisation... Interview by Rick Batey.

John Martyn is looking positively perky. This is probably not unconnected with the fact that a three-year struggle to get his twentieth album off the ground has finally come to an end. The Apprentice is released in April*) on a brand-new label, Permanent Records...

Same Again?

Mark Cooper
Q #44

Sober, wiser, more than a little weather-beaten, John Martyn has survived 20 turbulent booze-fuelled years pursuing a romantic image of the lone folk troubadour. But the 'rebel stand' is still firmly intact, as Mark Cooper discovers.

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