Live At The Hanging Lamp was recorded on 8 May 1972 in the tiny crypt of St. Elizabeth’s Church just off Richmond Hill in London. An individually numbered limited edition of only 1,000 copies released on 180 gram vinyl on 30 September 2013.

The atmosphere is tremendous and after playing his acoustic guitar John then ‘plugs in’ and delights the small audience with outstanding electric performances of Sugar Lump and experimental versions of I’d Rather Be The Devil and Outside In.  A fantastic document of an early John gig that was captured on reel to reel tape. Graham Hinde was at the concert and secured a copy of the tape that he cared for and cherished for over 40 years before agreeing to contribute the concert to this special vinyl only release and a one off CD which is only available as part of the extensive limited edition The Island Years 18 disc box set.

“I’m trying to pull electric into acoustic and acoustic into electric.” John Martyn told Melody Maker in February 1972 as he rushed through the offices at Island Records studios in a converted church just off Ladbroke Grove.

At twenty three years old John Martyn was then a fresh, gentle looking young man with wispy curly hair, earrings and a back catalogue of predominantly traditional acoustic songs but all that was about to change!

Having released two solo albums 1967s London Conversation and 1968s The Tumbler, John the married and recorded two albums with his wife Beverley, Stormbringer! and The Road To Ruin in 1970. In 1971 he recorded his third solo album Bless The Weather which marked a shift towards a more electric based sound that inspired him to explore and experiment with the use of effects.

This solo concert was recorded on 8th May 1972 at The Hanging Lamp Folk Club in the crypt of St. Elizabeth’s Church just off Richmond Hill. It was a small intimate venue seating around 150 people on wooden benches in the vaulted crypt. The atmosphere was tremendous and after playing his acoustic guitar John then ‘plugs in’ and delights the small audience with outstanding electric performances of Sugar Lump, and experimental versions of I’d Rather Be The Devil (that was subsequently to appear on 1973s groundbreaking Solid Air album) and Outside In (later released on his exceptional album Inside Out the following year).

Live at The Hanging Lamp finds John at a pivotal point in his career and is an outstanding recording of a very young John discovering the electric effects that he was to become famous for as he started to earn a reputation as a live performer not to be missed!”

1. The Easy Blues
2. Bless The Weather
3. May You Never
4. Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright
5. Back To Stay
6. Head And Heart
7. Singin’ In The Rain
8. Sugar Lump
9. I’d Rather be The Devil
10. Outside In
11. The Glory Of Love

Catalogue Number: ILPS 10001 Island

Compiled by – John Hillarby
Project Co-ordination by – Joe Black at Hey Joe!
Edited by – Jared Hawkes at Universal Mastering, London
Mastered by – Paschal Byrne at The Audio Archive, London
Designed by – Phil Smee at Waldo’s Design and Dream Emporium

With special thanks to Graham Hinde for having the foresight in obtaining, preserving for 40 years, and allowing the tape to be used for this special project.

Please Note: Due to the source nature of this recording you may experience a slight deterioration in the sound quality towards the end of Side 2. Every effort was made to clean up the recording but what we are left with after 40 years on a dusty shelf is some very light print-through on the tape. We hope that this does not impair your listening experience.

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