Rebellious Jukebox: John Martyn

I had to pay tribute to the late great John Martyn who has sadly passed away. I came late to him but it was a great discovery the day I bought On Air and recognised on there a track that I was familiar with from an Old Grey Whistle Test compilation that I had.

At the point I got into him he was undergoing something of a revival – there was a documentary on him that was aired on BBC3, I think Uncut Magazine had written something about him and featured one of his albums in their all-time classic section, and there was a spate of expanded re-releases of his back catalogue, and of course some new music.

Watching the documentary, reading about him, you got a picture of a man who was not untroubled, but who had a real lust for life – and even if I had never read or seen anything about him the evidence is there in the music. It is full of harmony, passion and remains compelling after many listens. I\’m going to put some of his music on now and you should too, and if you don\’t have any go and hunt it down.