John Martyn's Grace & Danger (Island L37469) is a polished, atmospheric album that steps lightly between rock, jazz and Caribbean rhythms.
Very rare single from the soundtrack of a road movie.
Ebsen Storm's Australian film In Search Of Anna, contains two of the most haunting songs you could hope to hear - the title tune, and Certain Surprise, composed and sung by John Martyn.
John composed part of the score. Other contributions from Alan Stivell, AC/DC and Rose Tattoo.
01 Aug 1978
John Martyn has just finished his second tour of Australia.1 He says he'd like to do many more. In fact he'd like to tour more often and give up recording. He's back in England now, finishing off an album with British jazz-man Neil Ardley, and beginning work on his new set. The Ardley album, The Harmony Of The Spheres, is, says Martyn, "very jazzing... maybe a little bit straighter than Kaleidoscope Of Rainbows. Not much straighter. In fact it might even be further out - it depends what you're into."
Stephen Kearney hosts a talk featuring JM, Robbie Lavin and Marion Arts (both members of Red Hot Peppers).
Interview
John Martyn grits his teeth, rocks back on his chair and rolls his guitar across his knee as a wave of sustained notes surges through Dallas Brooks Hall. The scene is Wednesday night's concert. He is playing Inside Out [sic], a stunning combination of virtuosity on amplified acoustic guitar involving the use of Echoplex, wah-wah pedal, stereo projection and lyricism. The concert, a blend of folk, rock and Caribbean influences, was a success.
Solo concert at State Theatre, Sydney. The date is not quite certain.
All the ingredients were there -an extremely talented guitarist and a dedicated audience- but the atmosphere was flat at the John Martyn concert on Thursday night. Martyn is a British guitarist who cannot be classified as a pure folk musician but is an interesting mixture of folk, blues and electrical effects.
01 Jul 1978
The tour program counts 16 pages. The first page is for record company advertisements, page 3 gives the tour dates, and page 4 a peculiar advert for the 'Moke Californian' buggy. The following pages are for John's career description, carrying six Island publicity photos. One additional page features eight review clippings and another page an advert for a 'Salute to Satchmo' jazz tour with the Graeme Bell Band. Supporting act Margret Roadknight gets a page towards the and and the booklet closes with tour production credits and a TAA airline ad.
