John Martyn RIP

This sucks...

http://www.johnmartyn.com/

Christ, what a year, and not even February yet... :-(

RIP, what a loss.

Oh no!

RIP

DAMN IT

: (

FUUUUUCK

Oh fuck it man. RIP John.

And him wi' a bad leg tae. RIP Johnny.

RIP :(

wow. awful. I just got into him late last year and I've listened to him since then more than just about anything else. RIP

Shitty, shitty news. RIP.

RIP :(

Glad he got the OBE last month anyhow.

Nooooooo! Grace & Danger is brilliant.

^^^ Small Hours live

RIP.

Oh no! RIP.

Loved just about everything he did, in one way or another, but if I had to pick just one of his records it'd be a barroom fight right enough between Live At Leeds and One World.

Will always cherish the memory of seeing him thrash away with John Stevens (say hello from me when you see him up there, big man) and his SME big band at the '79 Camden Jazz Festival with both JS and Phil Collins on drums.

The air solidifies for the big man - RIP.

"give us a ring" is my favorite for some reason, but i can't explain why.

Oh, I love Give Us A Ring to bits too.

just last weekend i walked from my flat in dennistoun to the barras w/ 'bless the weather' on my earphones - a beautiful beautiful record to match the winter sky and my wintry mood, and as i walked, i wondered if JM had once gone been this way too, back when he lived in the city

a great loss

SME big band at the '79 Camden Jazz Festival with both JS and Phil Collins on drums.

how did this happen? sounds like an insane combination.

Phil actually talked about it once! Click on this old MM interview and scroll down a bit to where he starts talking about John M and John S.

A recent-ish interview with the Mirror of all people, talking about his health problems:
Interview: Legendary John Martyn on his nine lives

Also this:

Onstage he remains one of the greats, a true Brit original still excited by new challenges, such as a forthcoming recording with his hero, tenor saxophone veteran Pharoah Sanders.

“I was dumbfounded when I was asked,” John admits. “There’s nothing better in music for me than his album Karma, so I have to work really hard to get a theme we can do together. It’s lovely news for me, a wonderful thrill.”

Wonder if this ever happened?

My dad blahdiblah etc session waffle waffle so I have owned "London Conv" from it was first out. Worth a small fortune, I believe.

I did get to see him w/ Danny Thompson, on his last tour with both legs.

RIP and damn.

listening to solid air now. will put on One Wold when it gets dark. RIP big man.

DAMN. 'solid air' and 'one world' are genius. the first time i heard arthur russell, i thought john martyn straight away. saw him a couple of years ago in limerick. not at his finest i have to admit. drunk and slurring, morbidly obese and it was like someone just plonked the guitar in front of him on his wheelchair. RIP

Aww no, I thought he was on the mend after his op a couple of years back. I saw an advert for an upcoming gig in Fife in the latest Mojo so I figured he must be doing well. Will have to dig out my battered copy of Solid Air and have a wee greet.

From OBE to RIP. Sad, sad news.

I saw him live three times. First time - awesome. Second time - awful. Third time - started mediocre, ended super-super-awesome (that was the recent Solid Air tour).

Nearly interviewed him, too. Got as far as his wife on both occasions, only to be confronted with long pauses, unintelligible burbling in the far distance, and then a terse, brisk "John can't come to the phone right now. You'll have to arrange another time." Free spirit. Bless him. He even drank his leg off in style (sort of).

Aww no, I thought he was on the mend after his op a couple of years back

^^^this, and RIP

Oh, and OPO? "May You Never". Gets me every time.

Decent BBC obit: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7858569.stm

OPO - May You Never

gutted.....

He lived life to the full, knew the damage he was doing to himself, and never really showed any regret...

RIP Big John.

ooh dang, RIP. Still a bunch of albums I haven't heard by him, but I was listening to Bless the Weather A LOT last year...

RIP
had just played a bit of Outside In at the AC shows last week as well as a fine disco edit of a live Martyn tune from Black Disco dude.

I saw him play a couple of times and was always fond of him. This has been a bleak month for life.

:-((((

Simon Reynolds wrote a good piece about Solid Air in Marooned; if you've got a copy handy, check it out.

One of my favourite artists. My first introduction to him was a compilation So Far, So Good back in the late '70s and I've loved him and his music ever since. It's funny the ones that get to you. I can't say this is altogether surprising and you can't exactly say he died young, but the whole package -- the man, his story, the anecdotes, and especially the music -- I'm just feeling this extra keenly. It's harsh. RIP big fella.

He opened for Yes, of all bands, when Tales From Topographic Oceans came out.John was solo and in full Echoplex flower. It was tremendous. R.I.P.

Ha! What an interesting show that must've been. Cool that he sort of floated around in so many different spheres -- folk rock, prog, pop, jazz, etc.

much love. inside out might be my fave. but solid air is right up there. as well as stormbringer and the road to ruin with beverley. eventually, i'd like to hear some of the later albums that i've never heard. which is most of them.

Inside Out 's been playing a lot in my home today after reading the sad news.

Odd that you both mention that album. Recently, I'd been thinking of the instrumental track "Beverley" and realised that I'd lost my vinyl copy of Inside Out so I ordered a CD copy online pretty much for that song alone (I had other high points from that album from other sources). It just arrived this week, and the playing is as emotive and as full of, well, love as I remembered it, which feels all the more poignant in its timing.

Christ, I almost daren't play "One World" or "Small Hours" now.

Oh gosh STORMBRINGER is good!

nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo rip.... one of my heroes

couldn't love you more, john

With his bent for spontaneity and innovation John now had an enviable reputation and his partnership with Danny Thompson on double bass remains one of the greatest partnerships of all time. John said that working with Danny, “was always fast; the whole of Sunday's Child was recorded in six days and it was all improvised, all of it." Danny feels it is “a perfect relationship. It reaches incredible highs because of its uniqueness and because it's spontaneous. It's this exploration and when it happens it tops anything that anybody can do. You can't write that, you put these elements together and you let it develop but you can't plan that." The pair also had a legendary reputation for drink and drug fuelled hell raising, "We used to drink a great deal together. I got really drunk one night and woke up and he had nailed me under the carpet. I couldn't move my hands or feet. I was very dry and had a hangover and I said Danny, please...get me, get me a drink. So he stepped over my helpless body, went to the phone and in a very loud voice said, can I have a glass of orange juice for one, please. Breakfast for one, please. I was screaming blue murder by this time. I was furious! He met the guy in the hall, so the guy couldn't get into the room and see what was happening. He sat in front and downed the orange juice and had the breakfast.”

I can't find the story online now, but there's a great one about him and Danny Thompson beating up Paul Kossoff in their dressing room at Leeds.

This one really hit me in the gut. "May you never" still makes me sigh. RIP John.

Solid Air *****

RIP

caek, is this it?

For the Sunday's Child tour John persuaded Paul Kossoff (who at the time was inactive and heavily involved with drugs) to take the road with him, Danny Thompson and John Steven's. Kossoff joined the stage on the last few numbers, which were usually 'Clutches,' 'So Much In Love With You' and 'Mailman.' Only these three songs were ever attempted, as Kossoff's fragile condition prevented so. However, the spell with Martyn rejuvenated Kossoff: "Because I've started playing again I'm happy, you know? I just feel happy." With a new found vivacity to play Paul went on to form a band, Back Street Crawler that abruptly ended before the completion of their second album, Second Street, when Kossoff died not unexpectedly on the 19th March 1976. Earlier in the year, John, in fear of Kossoff's life begged his management not to send him on tour: "He was just a little insecure boy. He should have had an enormous minder with him all the time. I used to lock him in the room and quite literally, me and Danny would turn him upside down and empty his pockets out, he'd bite your ankles, attack you, and kick your nuts in! ... A terrible wee man! I really liked him, but it's like OOOFF! What can you do with someone like that?"

The day John Martyn played for us in prison:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2009/jan/30/john-martyn-music

Just heard :-(

don't know what else to say except i wish he was better known... waiting for wes anderson or whomever to (mis)use "woodstock" in an annoying cute indie film

Y'know what with the ridiculous alcoholism and the amount of unpleasant violence he seemed to display to his friends while up to WACKY touring antics etc I'm left rather won dering, how much of a good life did his wife get? Fuck talent and art, this guy was a selfindulgent cunt.

Mrs Martyn, feel free to disagree

gutted.....

He lived life to the full, knew the damage he was doing to himself, and never really showed any regret...

---what a fucking champ.

Getting nailed under a carpet was so incredibly fucking violent of him, wasn't it?

really hitting the spot today

Stop reviving threads that make me go "Oh Noooooo oh wait.."

Beverley Martyn RIP

https://johnmartyn.com/news/beverley/

aww I love Road to Ruin and Stormbringer. RIP

RIP :((

Françoise Hardy covered her song "Ocean" (and another song from Stormbringer!) a couple of years later:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLt1QPi-mDA