TONY WILSON reviews new Folk records

THERE has been one good side effect of the revival of interest in folk music. That is the number of records now available that cover the whole spectrum of folk music from the traditional to the contemporary styles. At one time Topic were more or less on their own in the recording field in Britain, now we have a number of labels such as Fontana, Transatlantic, Elektra and Major-Minor keeping a steady flow of albums and single-play records coming on to the market.

A new label in the folk field is Island Records, who put out records by the Traffic pop group and ate major distributors of Bluebeat and Ska, the West Indian music that has become very popular. Their first offering is a debut record by 19-year-old singer and songwriter, John Martyn; LONDON CONVERSATION (ILP952, 32s 6d).

Apart from three songs, John has written all the songs himself. He has a strong feel for lyrics, although it would not be unfair to say there is a strong hint of Incredible String Band and Bert Jansch in his writing. London Conversation, the title track, Fairy Tale Lullaby and Rolling Home are particularly good. An interesting and listenable record from a bright prospect on the contemporary song scene.

Caption: Nineteen-year-old Glasgow singer and songwriter, John Martyn - Debut record on the new Island label

sitenotes:
This prehistoric review was tracked down and transcribed by Jonathan Evans Coley. Publishing date is estimated. As it was written by Tony Wilson, we may assume it was printed in Melody Maker.