Joh Martyn was as absolute legend. Definitely worth diving into his work. An incredibly talented musician, songwriter and singer his music moved brought plenty of genres and he even pioneered his own sound often described as a one man Pink Floyd.
Thank you for another amazing reaction guys. This was so much fun to watch. I’m glad you both enjoyed it so much. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve watched this performance. But I still get so much joy from it. There’s just so much to admire. Obviously John Martyn and David Gilmour are the standouts. But then there’s the incredible bass player hiding in the shadows, the keyboard player, the saxophone player. There’s so much going on, but everything comes together so perfectly to create and capture such a beautiful performance ❤
This amazing gentleman wrote the guitar tuning for this song on a beer mat for me. He was not just balllads. If you want to hear him rock out listen to John Wayne or Dealer if you want to a groove.
Good point about the vocals, John Martyn’s whole idea behind his vocal style is that he wanted to sound like those classic jazz saxophone players, slurring his notes together like they do. If you want to hear him even more laidback then look up a solo performance of him doing the song Small Hours. It is just him, his acoustic guitar, an echo machine and a small rhythm box.
I saw him live twice, about 10 years apart: the first concert was in a big venue in Birmingham, the second at the student union in Leicester. The second was more enjoyable because he wasn't a distant figure, but it obviously meant that his popularity had declined hugely.
I think it's time for you to go back to visiting the Motown sound. Start with the original version of Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye followed by Papa Was a Rolling Stone by the Temptations.