01 Dec 1973
1967: "So there I was on this barge on the river wearing nothing but denims and a smile..." so runs the sleeve note on London Conversation, the first 'white' album on a thriving reggae label by an eighteen year old folk guitarist and singer.
01 Dec 1973
"Music makes my heart go, makes me tick. The money doesn't really matter, if it didn't come in I would still go on playing, singing away. I'm just in love with music. That's me."
An album made with love and care.
Difficult to categorise this musician, except to say that he works in touches of blues, of folk, of the olde-worlde traditional sort of material.
01 Nov 1973
To those critics who demand pigeon-holes, John Martyn is a 'folk guitarist'. He plays mostly acoustic guitars and sings songs. And makes remarkable records, using jazz musicians, African drummers and anyone else he thinks appropriate. His latest (and seventh) album, Inside Out, has just been released by Island. Before that was Solid Air, which is one of Dave Dyke's favourite records. So we asked Dave to talk to John for Guitar.
A lesser man might have taken his audience slowly, by easy stages, through from his acoustic beginnings onto his electronic now. After all, moving from wooden sounds to solid state electricity has always been a hard road, and has floored many a great talent before him, who has had to wait a while until his audience catches up with him.
IT'S AN ENCOURAGING sign of recognition that a John Martyn concert can be advertised as sold-out a week before it takes place.
JOHN MARTYN has more musical riches than most of the people from the Top 10 put together.
Two acoustic tracks with Danny Thompson recorded in BBC London studio.
