Hi Ian. It's a pre-FM soundboard recording from a show on 23 April 2006. The actual FM transmission was probably shorter than this and not in the right order, but this was the complete recording from which they chose the tracks to broadcast.
I remember being young in the80' s & seeing John Martin play in Liverpool & I built up a spliff& threw it...he just sparked it up and played ...it was magical:)
34'12" " what's the biggest geezer in the place? I'm gonna hit him!". True story.. a fried of mine who's a veteran lighting designer used to work and drink with John in the 70s and 80s. They once walked into a bar in the US and John said " you take the big fella,.. I'll take all the rest! My friend said he wished that just once during that period they they could go for a drink without it turning into the Wild West ...
His explanation of what drew him to the echoplex. I’ve only just discovered John Martyn in last few days. I’m 52. As a teenager ,I was always drawn to echoed or reverby guitar sounds. Durutti Column and early U2.
The accent thing makes sense when you realise blues singers from anywhere but USA had to adopt an accent to make it the blues. Love this guy John Martyn
Too bad there's no subtitles, english is not my native language and there's quite a lot that I can't understand.... would love to know the artist playing at 4'18'' (dark hair) ? Listened to that several times but I struggle really thx
Back in the day, I made a 60 minute cassette of "Small Hours" playing over and over on both sides. I played the tape on a deck that would play one side of the tape and then the other continuously. So I basically had the song on continuous loop long before the digital world. One time I took acid with a friend, not a huge dose, but it definitely had our attention, and we had that tape on in the background for about 4 hours. Trippy to say the least. It was the soundtrack of my brain for a while there. Still love it to this day. So simple and so beautiful. So soulful. Whatever his demons may have been up to, I think they took the day off whenever he played this one.
Back in the late 70's, I was playing my songs in a little health food restaurant in my hometown. A girl came up to me when I was done and said, "Have you heard of John Martyn?" I said, "Nope" She said, "Oh, you'd really like him! Wait right here..." She literally ran home to bring me her vinyl copy of "Solid Air" which she informed me I could not keep but could borrow for a week. I went home and listened to it and she was right. I loved it and I've been a fan ever since. I did get to see him "live" in NYC in the early 80's at the Bottom Line which was a treat. I like his acoustic early stuff best, but man, he was a terror on electric later on too. RIP John (if possible) ;~)
Great post, thanks. Re. John recording 'Glorious Fool' at the Townhouse starting at around 50:10 - would anyone know where that fab footage comes from? And is there any more anywhere online?
Bless the Weather Head and Heart Solid Air Over the Hill Small Hours Go Down Easy Glorybox Sunshine's better ....to name but few , some of the best songs of all time.
