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Monday, September 11, 2006 (8:00 PM)

As part of London’s Don’t Look Back series John Martyn performs his classic album Solid Air at the Barbican.

Tickets : SOLD OUT.

Dirty Down & Live : Recorded live in London in 1990, this double CD contains 130 minutes of classic John Martyn and features Pink Floyd Guitarist Dave Gilmour as guest performer. Pre-Order Now! Release Date Not Determined.

Live At The BBC (DVD) : Martyn, John Pre-Order Now! Available: Tuesday, August 15, 2006.

Live At The Bottom Line New York 1983 (2003) .
Live At The Town & Country Club 1986 (1986) .
Live In Milan 1979 (2002) Audio Samples (2002).
Live At Bristol (1999) .
Live At Leeds & More (2006) .
Live At Leeds ‘75 (1998).
Live At Leeds/Kendall 1986 .
Live At The 21st Annual Cambridge Folk Festival 1985 (2004).
Live At The Bottom Line 1983 (2003) .
Live In Germany 1986 .
Live In Milan (2002).
Live In Nottingham ‘76 .
Live Shaw Theater ‘90 (2001) .
New York Sessions (2001).

Find all these imports and more, plus studio albums (many with clips you can listen to online now) here.

Solid Air : LP Track Listing

* Solid Air
* Over The Hill
* Don’t Want To Know
* I’d Rather Be The Devil
* Go Down Easy
* Dreams By The Sea
* May You Never
* The Man In The Station
* The Easy Blues

Solid Air is a folk/jazz album, released in 1973 by John Martyn (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, synthesizer) and produced by Island Records. Other musicians were Richard Thompson (mandolin), Simon Nicol (autoharp), Sue Dranheim (violin), Tony Coe (saxophone), John “Rabbit” Bundrick (acoustic & electric piano, organ, clavinet), Tristan Fry (vibraphone), Danny Thompson (acoustic bass), Dave Pegg (bass), Dave Mattacks (drums) and Neemoi “Speedy” Acquaye (congas).

Listen to album track sound clips … & buy cd today at John Martyn CDS

John’s 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.

Following the commercial success of Solid Air, Martyn released ‘Inside Out’ [1975], and then took a sabbatical. During this time, he visited Jamaica, spending time with famous Reggae producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry.

In 1977, he released One World, an album including tracks such as ‘Small Hours’ which has led some commentators to describe Martyn as the ‘Father of Trip-Hop’.

Grace and Danger, released in 1980, saw Martyn take another sharp change of direction: an album characterised by heavy rock, it included Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals. Collins also produced Martyn’s next album, Glorious Fool (1981).

Martyn left Island records in 1988, 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.

In 2003, preceding the release of his latest album, On The Cobbles, Martyn’s right leg was amputated below the knee as a result of a burst cyst.

Currently residing in Kilkenny (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, Dave Gilmour, Phil Collins, Paul Kossoff, Richard Thompson and Steve Winwood among many others.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article “John Martyn”.

Discography

* London Conversation (October 1967)
* The Tumbler (December 1968)
* Stormbringer (John Martyn album) (February 1970) (with Beverley Martyn)
* The Road to Ruin (November 1970) (with Beverley Martyn)
* Bless the Weather (November 1971)
* Solid Air (February 1973)
* Inside Out (October 1973)
* Sunday’s Child (January 1975)
* Live At Leeds (September 1975)
* One World (November 1977)
* Grace and Danger (October 1980)
* Glorious Fool (September 1981)
* Well Kept Secret (August 1982)
* Philentropy (November 1983)
* Sapphire (November 1984)
* Piece by Piece (February 1986)
* Foundations (October 1987)
* The Apprentice (March 1990)
* Cooltide (November 1991)
* Couldn’t Love You More (October 1992)
* No Little Boy (July 1993)
* And. (August 1996)
* The Church With One Bell (March 1998)
* Glasgow Walker (May 2000)
* On The Cobbles (April 2004)

Listen to album track sound clips & buy cd today at John Martyn CDS