The Apprentice (Esoteric 3CD + DVD released 25 November 2022).
The album that finished his Island deal, now with added concert.
In 1987, John Martyn’s label Island rejected two mixes of The Apprenrice and a 20-year relationship was over. Three years later, Martyn had a new label and The Apprentice finally saw the light of day. This time around, there are two extra tracks and, on two CD and one DVD, a 1990 concert from London’s Shaw Theatre which features a good humoured, shades-sporting Martyn and David Gilmour wreaking all kinds of wondrous havoc on Johnny Too Bad.
Self-penned, bar Foster Patterson’s Patterns In The Rain, The Apprencice itself was superior to his preceding Island output, without quite supplanting the magnificence of his glory days. The synth 
wash dates it, but Martyn’s vocals are clear, and the songs are carefully crafted. He’s unusually upbeat in Live On Love, but he’s quietly angry on Income Town and Upo glides serenely, propelled by his trademark hidden, nagging melodics.
John Aizlewood
Mojo No. 351
February 2023
