John Martyn

I was told by Chris Will, a scottish engineer and a friend of mine that John Martyn died recently. We were having a drink last evening.

"John who?"

"Stanley, you know Martyn, the famous singer guitarist who did Solid Air in the seventies"

Chris started to air strum a guitar and sang some lines. Well, like me, Chris has never been known to sing well.

"Again, John who?"


Wikipedia has these to say.

John Martyn OBE, born Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he released twenty studio albums and worked with artists such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Phil Collins. He has been described as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues".

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 4 February 2008, Martyn received the lifetime achievement award at the BBC Radio 2 Folk awards. The award was presented by Phil Collins. The BBC website says of Martyn, "his heartfelt performances have either suggested or fully demonstrated an idiosyncratic genius." Eric Clapton was quoted as saying that Martyn was, "so far ahead of everything, it's almost inconceivable." Martyn performed "Over the Hill" and "May You Never" at the ceremony, with John Paul Jones accompanying on mandolin.

Martyn's death was announced on his website on 29 January 2009.


I looked for Solid Air in youtube and witness an impressive performance. For some reasons, embedding was not allowed. Here is the link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg_Utj4Aljc

You've been taking your time and you've been living on solid air
You've been walking the line and you've been living on solid air
Don't know what's going 'round inside
And I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on solid air

You've been painting the blues and you've been looking through solid air
You've been seeing it through and you've been looking through solid air
Don't know what's going 'round in your mind
And I can tell you don't like what you find when you're moving through solid air

I know you, I love you
And I can be your friend, I can follow you anywhere
Even through solid air

You've been stoning it cold, you've been living on solid air
You've been finding it cold, you've been living on solid air
I don't know what's going on inside
I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on solid air

You've been getting too deep, you've been living on solid air
You've been missing your sleep and you've been moving through solid air
I don't know what's going on in your mind
But I know you don't like what you find when you're moving through solid air

You've been walking your line, you've been walking on solid air
You've been taking your time but you've been walking on solid air
Don't know what's going on inside
But I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on solid air