Singer songwriters seem to be back in vogue recently, as can be seen with the huge success of David Gray and Beth Orton (she calls Martyn ‘The Guv'nor’) or the more melodic ballad based music of groups such as Travis and Coldplay. With all the focus on the new acts it easy to forget the long tradition that Britain has for producing great singer/songwriters. People like Nick Drake are just now being re-discovered by a new generation and in the same way I think it’s time that one of the best records of the 70’s by one of the UK’s most talented songwriters and performers should also be re-evaluated.
BACKGROUND
John Martyn was born in England in 1948 to a Scottish father and English mother, he was brought up in Scotland living in Glasgow and has considered himself Scottish ever since. He started his music career early in 1964 at the age of 16 when he began learning his trade under the tutelage of the legendary Scottish folk musician Hamish Imlach. After years of performing in small venues and clubs Martyn produced his first album in 1967 ‘London Conversation’. Still only 19 at the time this record shows a maturity and musical talent far beyond his experience or age.
SOLID AIR
After a string of critically acclaimed albums in the late 60’s and early 70’s he released ‘Bless the Weather’ (1971) which marked a departure for Martyn. After having recorded two albums with his then wife, folk singer Beverly Kutner she bowed out of the next project has she was expecting a baby. Martyn was also becoming frustrated with the limitations of the folk/rock niche he had carved
out for himself. A desire to experiment with other forms of music led to collaboration with bassist Danny Thompson and guitarist Richard Thompson. The mix of acoustic folk rock combined with Jazz and Blues was an obvious success on ‘Bless the Weather and the collaboration was reprised in 1973 with the release of ‘Solid Air’. By now John and Danny had become first friends and drinking partners. The power and atmosphere of the music on ‘Solid Air’ is due in large part to the chemistry that existed between the two.
Tracks:
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 Easy Blues
Musicians:
John Martyn - acoustic guitars, electric guitar, vocals, synthesiser Danny Thompson - double bass Rabbit (John Bundrick) - acoustic piano, electric piano, organ, clavinet Dave Mattacks – drums (Paul Kossof drums on May You Never) Dave Pegg - bass Speedy (Neemoi Acquaye) - congas Tristan Fry - vibes Tony Coe - sax Richard Thompson - mandolin Simon Nicol - autoharp Sue Draheim – violin
On the surface Martyn had now fully broken away from his Scottish folk roots and embraced Blues, Jazz and Rock however there are still strong elements of folk to be heard in the melodies.
Solid Air is arguably Martyn best album. This is an emotional record and Martyn creates a brilliant mix of folk, rock, jazz and blues that comes from the heart. The ‘standout’ track and the one that is probably the best known John Martyn track is the title song ‘Solid Air’. This is a heartfelt tribute to Martyn’s friend and fellow artist Nick Drake who was suffering from depression and who would in 1974 take his own life. Lyrically and musically this is a close to a perfect sad, moody ballad as you can get. For this album Martyn develops a soft-spoken, whispering almost slurred vocal style, which most obviously on the title track blends in beautifully with the ethereal and yet at the same time raw, gruff and bluesy guitar. The whole song is underpinned by a constant baseline and you can say that Martyn achieves his goal of using his voice as an additional instrument so that the lyrics could well be ignored and the vibe of the song would still be as powerful. Having said this the lyrics are sublime and really convey the feeling of pushing your way through a dense mist or fog that dulls your senses, this could be a allusion to drugs, some have said this was written about heroin or simply to the decline into deep depression that he was witnessing in Nick Drake. Martyn himself has always been evasive about the true meaning of the words.
You've been taking your time And you've been living on solid air. You've been walking the line, You've been living on solid air. Don't know what's going wrong inside, And I can tell you that it's hard to hide when you're living on Solid air.
‘Solid Air’ can accurately be describes as the ultimate Chill-out track!
Other outstanding tracks on record include the powerful, angry ‘I’d Rather Be The Devil’ (Phil Collins allegedly on Drums although not credited). This track is most noticeable fro Martyn deep grating voice and the loud almost hypnotic drum backing, which sets the pace for the song. This is essentially a bluesy lament to lost love but it’s given a new fresh and more powerful interpretation by Martyn. This track is the only really high tempo song on the record and soon a more laid back style is resumed with ‘Go Down Easy’ a beautiful love ballad in which Martyn singing is so much softer that you wonder if it’s the same vocalist as on the other tracks. ‘May You Never’ goes back to Martyn’s folk roots. Instrumentally it is very simple featuring just Martyn singing accompanied by an acoustic guitar. His distinctive plucking strum style compared to another folk great Bert Jansch, is obvious and as always the lyrics and voice perfectly match the tune. Also included is the whimsical ‘Over the Hill’ a light ode to going an end to travelling, going home or maybe getting old again his early folk influences are obvious. On many of the songs Martyn employs echoed guitar to complements Danny Thompson’s sliding jazzy bass, this produced a fullness of sound hard to achieve in simple acoustic ballads. Although folk elements are still present in his music on this record especially we see a more distinctive ‘rockier’ intonations of the lyrics (similar to Van Morrison’s early style) and the musical complexity of the songs has signalled a wish to expand and break out of his folk roots to explore and develop wider musical influences.
A more traditional blues style is seen in ‘Easy Blues’ and ‘Man in the Station’ has distinctive jazzy undertones.
One of the most compelling aspect of this album is that although each track is distinctive in it’s own right and a wide spectrum of musical influences are covered the whole record hangs together perfectly and seamlessly. This is not a record to pick and choose tracks from you simply put it on and from the initial slow gentle intro of the title track you become hooked as the music envelops you. It is a great achievement and remains his most accessible and inspired works.
Since this highpoint in his career Martyn has had a rollercoaster ride through the next two decades. His alcohol and drug problems have dogged him though the 70’s and 80’s and his musical output has in many ways paralleled his own personal high and lows. One thing that can be said is that he has always strived to push himself and his music in to new area. ‘I could follow you - anywhere. Even through solid air.’
I would consider ‘Solid Air’ to be one of the Top 20 Albums of the 70’s.
In 1998 five of the songs from Solid Air were used as part of the soundtrack to the BBC film ‘Titanic Town’. A political drama starring Julie Walters set in Belfast in the early 70’s.
Q magazine 7/99 described it as "...the musical equivalent of a reassuring hug....a quiveringly sexy folk record." Which just about sums it up…
Highly recommended!
‘Solid Air’ (Island Records) can be bought on CD for £ 5.99 (+p&p) from Amazon.co.uk
Thanks for reading and rating this opinion.
Ó Mauri 2004
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Throughout his 30-year-plus career, Scottish musician John Martyn had touched on an ... more
eclectic range of sounds and styles. His continuous work in the jazz, blues, folk and rock fields has resulted in some fantastic music though, somehow, Martyn never rea...
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Throughout his 30-year-plus career, Scottish musician John Martyn had touched on an ... more
eclectic range of sounds and styles. His continuous work in the jazz, blues, folk and rock fields has resulted in some fantastic music though, somehow, Martyn never rea...
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