John Martyn - Solid Air

Danny Thompson, who played bass on this album—as well as lots of others—died last week.

I saw Martyn live in 1985, at one of those free festivals put on by the GLC, when they were using up all the money before being disbanded by Thatcher. I think he was a bit lost on me at the time. I was waiting for Gil Scott-Heron to come on. I wish I'd appreciated it more, but there you go. Looking at the setlist, it would've been great.

I probably don’t need to say what a fine album this is.

There's a rather good docco about Martyn made by the BBC, Johnny Too Bad, which is well worth a watch. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0DVynJD4jE&t=4s(it's on YouTube) It might be time to give it another watch.

#NowPlaying
#Vinyl
#JohnMartyn
#SolidAir
#DannyThompson
#Folk
#Music

Ga jij bijdragen aan een #progressief , #groen en #solidair #purmerend en #beemster ?
Klopt je hart aan de linkerkant?
Stel je dan kandidaat als raadslid van #groenlinkspvda !!

Tot 15 augustus kun je solliciteren. https://purmerend.groenlinks.nl/nieuws/gezocht

Who's streets? Our streets! Vanavond was de Nijmeegse #Heksennacht 🧙🏼

In #Nijmegen werd door een grote groep mensen gedemonstreerd tegen #Straatintimidatie en vóór straten voor iedereen. ✊🏼

Mannen; toon je #Solidair. Zég niet alleen 'Ik respecteer vrouwen', maar hándel ernaar. Doe stappen terug, geef ruimte, luister, zie je medemensen als medemensen.

En toch ook even; if you don't like abortions, get a #Vasectomy. Serieus, maak een afspraak met je dokter. 👏🏼

#CatCallsOfNimma #DolleNimmas

NOS: Trump: importheffingen Mexico en Canada gaan op 4 maart in.

De #EU moet nu #solidair zijn met #canada en #mexico! Als deze landen de #VS terugslaan, dan vanuit de #EU dezelfde maatregelen nemen. #ookCanadaheeftEuropageholpeninWOII

#NightCap #SolidAir #Vinyl #VinylCollection #CDOnVinyl #Ice #JohnMartyn #NickDrake #NowPlaying

Cheers 🥃

WTF’s happened to the thick nip tumbler btw? #Outrage

Unite in #solidarity with Palestinian workers on #May1st 2pm at #Museumplein in #Amsterdam.

On the #FNV's #InternationalWorkersDay march. For solidarity with workers who are murdered, oppressed and starved.

Vakbondsleden, #solidair met #Palestina.

1000 Day Album Challenge (#57) John Martyn: Solid Air (1973) [26.02.24]

don't know what's going wrong in your mind / and I can tell you don't like what you find / when you're moving through / solid air…

I guess you could say that I was a latecomer to Solid Air. I bought it 30ish years after its initial release. I’m not sure I had even heard of John Martyn before the late-90s and early-00s when I began to see Solid Air regularly name-checked by DJs and tastemakers to whom I paid attention. at the time, the tune Solid Air seemed to have gained quite a cachet among chill out DJs.

so glad I bought this album because it is an amazing one. there is a strong late night vibe to it. I would be hard pressed to assign Solid Air to a specific genre which I guess is often true of great records. John Martyn seamlessly combines elements of rock, blues, folk and jazz to create a sound that is uniquely his own.

it turns out I already knew one of the songs on Solid Air. I immediately recognized May You Never from Eric Clapton’s Slowhand (1977). I wouldn’t say I dislike the song, but it really is the most straight forward, dare I say ordinary, song here. I would think one would only cover this tune if (s)he were to dramatically rearrange it which Clapton doesn’t do it all. (in case you’re wondering – John Martyn’s version > Eric Clapton’s version. it ain’t close.)

for me the showcase tune here is I’d Rather be the Devil, a dramatic reimagining of Skip James’ Devil Got My Woman. Martyn’s take is downright scary. he really works the echoplex, a tape delay effect. I’m sure I had heard it before on other songs, but it truly stands out on I’d Rather be the Devil.

do yourself a favor and check it out. the chance of a true music fan being disappointed seems quite slight to me.

#1000DayAlbum Challenge #JohnMartyn #SolidAir #SkipJames #IdRatherBeTheDevil