JOHN MARTYN is to undertake a British tour this month which will be his last for the foreseeable future.

His latest album, recorded live at Leeds University on his last tour, with Danny Thompson on bass and John Stevens on drums, will be available on mail order only from his home, in a plain white sleeve and label. Each will be signed with a different inscription.

"I've been getting a bit fed up with the pop scene," Martyn told MM from his Hastings home. "I intend travelling extensively, taking a year to clean my habit – or longer, depending on how dirty my head turns out to be."

Limited
On the subject of the forthcoming live album which will be in a limited edition of 10,000, available from September 12, Martyn said: "I've had no say in the covers of the last two albums, and I think that doing it this way will make it much more personal. It means a lot more work for me, but it'll be better for people than going into Tesco's. I'm not just going to sign 'John Martyn', I'm going to put something different on each one."

Island Records say that the mail order basis on which the live album is available has no bearing on Martyn's long-term recording contract with the company.

The record is available at £2.50 plus 50p for post and packing, from: John Martyn, 10 Cobourg Place, The Old Town, Hastings, Sussex.

Martyn's farewell tour, which starts later this month, will be broken by a month long visit to America in October. The album will be on sale at the venues, while stocks last.

Schedule
The full schedule is: Drury Lane. London (September 21), Birmingham Town Hall (24), Leith Citadel Theatre (29), Glasgow City Hall (30), followed by the month in America. Dates resume at Kingston Polytechnic (November 1), North London Polytechnic (7), Southampton University (15), Bedworth Civic Hall (12), Plymouth Guildhall (13), Bath University (14), Manchester University (15), Middlesex Polytechnic (20), Bristol Polytechnic (21), Sheffield University (22), Leeds University (26), Dundee University (27), Stirling University (28), Strathclyde University (29) and Newcastle City Hall (30). More dates may be added as the tour progresses.

Martyn will be accompanied by Danny Thompson on the tour.

sitenotes:
This announcement was published in Melody Maker of 6th September 1975. Almost identical pieces ran in the NME and in Record Mirror.