Comments on: John Martyn, Legend of English Folk Revival, Plays N.Y.

By: Steve Owens

Steve Owens — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 17:39:13 +0000

Couldn’t agree more Richard. What with Davy Graham dying a month or so ago, it’s been a bad time for the guitar.

Heaven might be a good place right now though. Imagine a quartet of Martyn, Graham, Kossoff and Drake..that’s if you could stop the first three fighting.

JM did do an interview not long back when he said he might fake his own death just to see if his record sales increased. I keep hoping he’s gone through with this plan. I’d even forgive him the heartache he’s put me through if it were true.

Keep up the good work, and if you get the chance, try out some Seth Lakeman. An interesting Tenor Guitar and Fiddle player if you haven’t heard of him.

http://www.sethlakeman.co.uk

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 03:00:09 +0000

I am SO sorry to hear this news. We’ve lost a great one.

By: Steve Owens

Steve Owens — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 17:30:30 +0000

Richard,

It’s just been announced that John Martyn died this morning 29/01/09.

See http://www.johnmartyn.com.

It’s at time like this that I wish I believed in another world, not just One.

By: Steve Owens

Steve Owens — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 16:22:30 +0000

Hi Richard, thought you might like to know that John’s influence (and let’s not forget he was born in New Maldon, Surrey, ENGLAND) has spread to very high circles.

He’s been awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year’s honours list for services to music (See http://www.johnmartyn.com).

In the words of Neil Young “the world is turning”.

Happy new year and Shalom.

By: Richard Silverstein

Richard Silverstein — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 06:15:36 +0000

@dominic: Yes, I know as I wrote the article about him for the Encyclopedia of Blues & Folk. But his influence spread far beyond Scotland and I couldn’t very well call him “Legend of Scottish Folk Revival,” since that wouldn’t do justice to his impact.

By: dominic

dominic — Fri, 26 Dec 2008 17:25:47 +0000

He’s Scottish, not English. Glaswegian native.

By: Pete Grant

Pete Grant — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 04:22:34 +0000

Great to see any mention of John Martyn and I do thank you for it. You are not alone in thinking his jazzier stuff is the least successful, but I can’t see it like that. The album “Inside Out” recorded months after “Solid Air”, is to my mind his finest, substituting experimentation great feel for the folkier tunes from before. Accompanied by much of the band Traffic, “Inside Out” is a dense but eventually rewarding album that ought to be heard. Anyway, almost all John Martyn output has something to offer, and for those who have never heard him, his canon of work represents a treasure trove.