JOHN MARTYN
BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert
WINDSONG WINCD 012

Never, for John Martyn, the true rewards of commercial success, merely the warm glow of acclaim for a career that has already celebrated its silver jubilee. On his day, he can still be one of the most persuasive live performers these isles have ever nurtured, sustaining him while others have fallen by the wayside. These archive recordings find him at his most mesmerising, both in his solo incarnation during the '70s for Hand On Heart [sic] and Spencer The Rover, and re-reading Johnny Too Bad, Serendipity and Big Muff at the 1986 Glastonbury Festival in the company of a band that rages and roars with all the efficiency of Weather Report on heat. Should further commendation be necessary, the package concludes with a 15-minute echoplex extravaganza that, 25 years on, can still turn a head or two.
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Peter Kane