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John Martyn

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John Martyn
John Martyn, Dublin, 2006
Background information
Birth name	Iain David McGeachy
Born	September 11 1948 (1948-09-11) (age 59) New Malden, Surrey, England
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Folk
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, guitarist
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Guitar
Years active	1965–present
Label(s)	Island
Website	www.johnmartyn.com

John Martyn (born Iain David McGeachy on September 11, 1948 in New Malden, Surrey, England^[1]) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. He grew up in Glasgow and attended Shawlands Academy.

1 Career
2 Discography
- 2.1 Studio albums
- 2.2 Other
3 Multimedia
4 References
5 External links

Career

Martyn's parents divorced when he was five and he spent his childhood alternating between England and Scotland. His professional musical career began when he was 17; a blend of blues and folk resulting in a unique style that made him a key figure in the London folk scene during the mid-1960s. He signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records in 1967 and released his first album, London Conversation, the following year. This first album was soon followed by The Tumbler, which was moving towards jazz. By 1970 Martyn had developed a wholly original and idiosyncratic sound: acoustic guitar run through a fuzzbox, phase-shifter, and Echoplex. This sound was first apparent on Stormbringer in 1970, which featured Martyn's then wife, Beverley Kutner, as his collaborator. She also appeared on The Road to Ruin in 1970. In 1973, Martyn released one of the defining British albums of the 1970s, Solid Air, the title song a tribute to the singer-songwriter Nick Drake, a close friend and label-mate, who in 1974 died suddenly from an overdose of antidepressants. On this album, as with the one that preceded it, Bless the Weather, Martyn collaborated with jazz bass player, Danny Thompson, with whom he proceeded to have a fruitful musical partnership which continues to this day. He also developed a new, slurred vocal style, the timbre of which resembled a tenor saxophone. Following the commercial success of Solid Air, Martyn quickly recorded and released the experimental Inside Out, a more difficult album with emphasis placed on feel and improvisation rather than song structure. In 1975, he followed this with Sunday's Child. In September of that year he released a live album, Live at Leeds - Martyn had been unable to convince Island to release the record, and Martyn resorted to selling individually signed copies by mail from his home. Live at Leeds features Danny Thompson and drummer John Stevens, and is notable not only for the performances given, but the recording quality and incredibly quiet audience for a live recording. After releasing Live at Leeds, Martyn took a sabbatical, including a visit to Jamaica, spending time with famous reggae producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry. In 1977, he released One World, which led some commentators to describe Martyn as the 'Father of Trip-Hop'. It included tracks such as 'Small Hours' and Big Muff, a collaboration with Lee 'Scratch' Perry. One World is notable for having been recorded outside, the album's lush soundscapes partly the result of microphones picking up ambient sounds, such as water from a nearby lake. John's marriage to Beverley finally broke down at the end of the 1970s and, according to his official website, "John hit the self destruct button". Out of this period, described by Martyn as "a very dark period in my life"[1] , came the deeply personal album Grace and Danger. Released in October 1980, the album had been held up for a year by Island boss Chris Blackwell. He was a close friend of John and Beverley, and found the album too openly disturbing to release. Only after intense and sustained pressure from Martyn did Blackwell finally agree to release the album. Commenting on that period, Martyn said, "I was in a dreadful emotional state over that record. I was hardly in control of my own actions. The reason they finally released it was because I freaked: Please get it out! I don't give a damn about how sad it makes you feel - it's what I'm about: the direct communication of emotion. Grace and Danger was very cathartic, and it really hurt."[2] In the late 1980's Martyn would cite Grace and Danger as his favourite album, and said that it was "probably the most specific piece of autobiography I've written. Some people keep diaries, I make records."[3] Phil Collins played drums and sang backing vocals on Grace and Danger and subsequently produced Martyn's next album, Glorious Fool (1981). Martyn left Island records in 1981, and since then his recording output has been characterised more by re-recordings and re-releases of classic tracks through several labels than by original material. In 2001 Martyn appeared on the track Deliver Me by Faithless keyboard player and DJ Sister Bliss. His steady output has gained him considerable recognition as a performer and a songwriter. There is a more comprehensive short biography written by John Hillarby on the Official John Martyn Website via the link below. Currently residing in Ireland, Martyn is still touring and brings his inimitable blend of folk-blues-reggae-ambient-rock music together with his typically Glaswegian sense of humour wherever he plays. Over the years he has performed with a variety of musicians, including Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, Phil Collins, Paul Kossoff, Richard Thompson and Steve Winwood among many others. In July 2006 an intimate documentary 'Johnny Too Bad' was screened on BBC 4. The programme documented the period surrounding the operation to amputate John's right leg below the knee (the result of a burst cyst) and the writing and recording of On the Cobbles (2004), an album described by Peter Marsh on the BBC Music website as "the strongest, most consistent set he's come up with in years."[4] John continues to write and collaborate with various artists and has recently completed recording a ballad 'Really Gone' with UltanJohn which was released in November '06.