John Martyn – Live At Rockpalast 1978
John Martyn (born Iain David McGeachy on September 11, 1948 in New Malden, Surrey, died January 9, 2009 in Thomastown, County Kilkenny, Ireland) was an exceptional guitarist and accomplished singer/songwriter. He was “an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues” (The Times).
Nick Drake, the melancholy songwriter born in Burma, now Myanmar, was a good friend and flatmate of John’s and, like John Martyn, an insider tip on the singer/songwriter scene for years. When Drake died in 1974, John Martyn had just gotten his career off the ground, signed a record deal with Island Records, and celebrated his first chart successes with his 1973 album “Solid Air”, the title track of which was dedicated to the depressed Drake. In 1977 came the album “One World”, the final breakthrough for John Martyn. An album with music somewhere between folk and jazz, recorded under the direction of Chris Blackwell with musicians such as Stevie Winwood and the Jamaicans Rico and Lee Perry. On this album, Martyn had already perfected his amazing virtuoso picking technique on the guitar, and he also created a unique sound by often running his acoustic guitar through a fuzzbox, phase shifter and above all Echoplex and other effects devices.
John Martyn makes full use of this technique at the concert on March 17, 1983 in Hamburg’s Audimax. Alone on stage, John is the solo entertainer, spontaneous, sometimes funny and ironic, unpredictable, fearless and fascinating and all this on a very high musical level. John is the great master of ceremonies who inevitably captivates the audience. And he is not above interacting with and involving his audience, creating a unique live atmosphere.
Acoustic, electric, funny, ironic, unpredictable, fearless and fascinating – all this plus a bonus track from “Die Aktuelle Stunde” (WDR TV) from October 12, 1989!
Tracklist:
CD & DVD:
- One Day Without You 05:02
- Outside In 11:41
- Bless The Weather 06:18
- Certain Surprise 03:56
- Big Muff 06:40
- Couldn’t Love You More 04:31
- Small Hours 07:01
- Solid Air 06:59
- May You Never 05:29
- Seven Black Roses 03:31
- I’d Rather Be The Devil 07:29
Bonus:
- Look At That Girl 04:39
live @ WDR 3 Aktuelle Stunde, October 12, 1989
Total: 73:16 min.