Martyn – Keep On Keepin’ On
A rough tumble through the career of John Martyn, 20 years and still going strong, and it’s clear why he remains the artists loved by many, but overlooked by more.
Early folk beginnings, leanings towards jazz, exploations of jazz, touches of reggae and even the smooth pop sophistication of the recent single, Angeline, make for more eclectic listening. Add to this an unmatched, but misunderstood, vocal style and a singular approach to the guitar and still you’ve only got part of the picture, and nowhere near a category. So what is it that keeps him going in face of limited sales?
“This music thing has been incorporated into my life, it’s like it is my life, with birthdays coming when the albums come out,” Martyn mulls. “and playing live, I always like to see the whites of their eyes. Although it’s only transient it’s more rewarding. ”
A brief sojourn at WEA aside, Martyn’s career has been spent exclusively within the shaores of Island and he is emphatic on the reason why: “I feel good at Island, I like the people and I feel comfortable. Also there’s CHris Blackwell. That man wrote the book as far independent labels go, he’s the greatest possible asset a company could have.”
Despite Martyn’s avowal that he’s found the right balance between commercialism and artistic control the recent past has seen a certain boosting of his profile, with a video and a CD single becoming available.
“Yeah, there’s a certain amount of marketing about putting out a CD single, but this is the thing of the future.”
Remembering how he started, can Martyn see any danger of CD simply becoming the medium for established acts, with pure finance preventing the new bands from getting their music out? “I suppose so, maybe vinyl will become the outlet for new stuff. CD becomes the dividing line between posh people’s music and working class music!”
On his video, Martyn says: “It was good to do, a fine record of a live performance, maybe a little too much dry ice for my liking! No, it’s an area I’m interested in, maybe do a bit of directing myself one day.”
Martyn is also keen to develop the single. Despite many a memorable ditty working through an album, that significant, if not precisely essential (for Martyn) notch on the bed post (the singles chart) has so far proved elusive.
“We’re gonna have a crack at it, yeah, why not. We’ll go in and do a demo over demo until we get it right. It’s something I’ve never done before and it’ll be a good discipline.”
The charts would be a richer place for the inclusion of Martyn, but would anybody be able to categorise it? Indeed, can Martyn himself describe his music? “Well, it’s Celtic, I’m a sucker for the slow airs, I love ’em. It’s a sad music, but that’s it’s strength, it’s not just maudlin. Maybe one day I’d like to do an album of that sort of music,” he says. “Like Clannad, I think they’re a great band, that doleful sound, there’s a great spirit to it.”
That vexed subject of A&R is one Martyn feels most strongly about. “The lowest common denominator needs raising. These A&R people just vacillate, they don’t make their own decisions, they’re like sheep. If one signs a Belfast band, they all go over to Belfast and sign a Belfast band.”
And it’s not only A&R which distresses Martyn, it’s also the current state of music. “Alright, I started at the right time, and I wanted to play. In the beginning I was actually paying 10 bob to get on stage. But I had time to do things, to learn. I’d hate to be starting now. There’s an altruism missing from the spirit of young musicians. But the criteria is all different now, you do your demo, send in your demo, have to get a publishing deal. It all rests on the move towards authorship, which is all very convenient for the powers, but not for the music.”
So, Martyn stays in his own (One) world and does things in his own way. He’s proud that he’s a left field artist, almost ‘beatnik’ within the musical establishment, but equally he’s proud that he can still make a living. “I’ll just carry on like this, I’ll soon know if it’s right anymore. Then I’ll give up, perhaps go back to university, yeah, that’s what I’ll do.”
“Y’know, this Martyn music thing, is a hybrid little thing, an orchid, or perhaps a weed, which one day may take over your garden!”
Duncan Holland
Music Week
29 March 1986
