John Martyn

**Iain David McGeachy** OBE (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as **John Martyn**, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. The Times described him as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues".

Martyn began his career at age 17 as a key member of the British folk music scene, drawing inspiration from American blues and English traditional music, and signed with Island Records. By the 1970s he had begun incorporating jazz and rock into his sound on albums such as Solid Air (1973) and One World (1977), as well as experimenting with guitar effects and tape delay machines such as Echoplex. He struggled with substance abuse and domestic problems throughout the 1970s and 1980s, though he continued to release albums while collaborating with figures such as Phil Collins and Lee "Scratch" Perry. He remained active until his death in 2009.

## Links to Kershaw

Kershaw had an anecdote before introducing a session track from John Martyn on his 18 August 1996 show about a spider in John's mouth, whilst performing at Leeds University, where AK organised many concerts:

> *"We used to put him on, you know, regularly, at Leeds University. I saw him frequently, I think we had some sort of monthly arrangement with him. Anyway, he came one time, he was doing a concert, and he does the first couple of numbers in that sort of engaging, mumbling way that he has. And then, two numbers in, he stops and he reaches inside his mouth and he pulls out a huge black rubber spider and tosses it to the side of the stage! That's John Martyn, in the third one in this session tonight, She's A Lover, and don't forget, new album, on Go disks..."* [1]
>
>

As a fan of the singer, many songs and sessions from John Martyn were performed on Andy's shows. Kershaw also included Martyn's Johnny Too Bad track in his 2004 compilation album, More Great Moments Of Vinyl History.

## Sessions

1. Recorded: unknown. First Broadcast: 31 August 1985

* unknown / unknown / Johnny Too Bad / unknown

2. Recorded: unknown. First Broadcast: 17 October 1992. Repeated: 18 June 1994

* Make No Mistake / Bless The Weather / The Cure / Over The Hill / Beverly

3. Recorded: 1996-08-12. First Broadcast: 18 August 1996

* Suzanne / Sunshine's Better / She's A Lover/Solid Air / Step It Up

4. Recorded: unknown. First Broadcast: 21 May 2006. Repeated: 21 January 2007

* Cool Tide / Glorious Fool / Rock, Salt and Nails / Never Let Me Go

## Other Shows Played

   1991
* 29 September 1991: May You Never

1996
* 04 August 1996: Sunshine's Better
* 11 August 1996: The Downward Pull Of Human Nature

1998
* 01 October 1998: Glory Box

2000
* 18 May 2000: So Sweet (CD - Glasgow Walker) Independiente

2004
* 04 January 2004: Big Muff (CD - Live In Concert At The Cambridge Folk Festival) Strange Fruit
* 08 February 2004: Johnny Too Bad (LP - Grace & Danger) Island
* 23 May 2004: Back To Marseilles (CD - On The Cobbles) Independiente
* 27 June 2004: One For The Road (CD - On The Cobbles)  Independiente
* 08 August 2004: Baby Come Home (CD - On The Cobbles) Iindependiente

2006
* 14 May 2006: Bless The Weather (CD - Live At Leeds) Awareness

2007
* 14 January 2007: Big Muff (album - One World) Island

2022
* Andy Kershaw Podcast Episode 12: Go Down Easy (album - Head And Heart, The Acoustic John Martyn) Island

2023
* Andy Kershaw Podcast Episode 20: Johnny Too Bad (12") Island

## External Links

* Wikipedia
* Discogs
* Official Website