John toured America, Europe and Britain in 1986 and Island released Foundations, a live album recorded at the Town and Country club on 13 November 1986.

John played two concerts at The Town and Country Club in London on 12 and 13 November and both were recorded with a view to releasing a live album. Foundations was mastered in September 1987 and released in October. There were three new songs, The Apprentice, Send Me One Line and Deny This Love that had all been written for his next album.

The Apprentice was inspired by John’s chance meeting with a particularly ill looking man in a pub near the Sellafield nuclear recycling plant in Cumbria. John enquired about the man’s health and asked why he was so ill and he replied that he worked “at the station.” The romantic ballad Send Me One Line was inspired by Helene Hanff’s book 84 Charing Cross Road, describing her twenty year correspondence with Frank Doel of the antiquarian booksellers Marks & Company, of Charing Cross Road in London. John told me, “Joe Lustig rang me and asked me to write a song for the film so I read the book and wrote the song, I think it’s a nice little tune. I wrote the song and then forgot about it so it was too late to be used in the film!”

The rest of the album consisted of enjoyable and interesting re-workings of old favourites and was well played and produced. John again toured to promote the album.

Caroline Records remastered Foundations from the original master tapes in 2018 with a view to releasing on vinyl.  A catalogue number was allocated and test pressings produced and approved, however the release has still not been forthcoming.

“Musically excellent.” – Q magazine.

1. Mad Dog Days
2. Angeline
3. The Apprentice
4. May You Never
5. Deny This Love
6. Send Me One Line
7. John Wayne
8. Johnny Too Bad
9. Over The Rainbow

Catalogue Number: ILPS 9884 Island
Matrix / Runout: Side A – ILPS 9884 – A1 PRECISION 5 1 and Side B –  ILPS 9884 – B1 Precision 6 1

Vocals and Guitar – John Martyn
Keyboards – Foster Patterson
Bass Guitars – David ‘Taef’ Ball
Drums – Arran Ahmun
Percussion – Danny Cummings
Keyboards – Jeff Castle
Saxophone – Colin Tully
Engineer – Amdy Rose (assisted by Nick and Michelle Reynolds)
Mixed at Compass Point Studios – Rob Fraboni
Engineered by – Doug Oberkircher (assisted by Alex Dee)
Design – Island Art