Well...........alleged wife beater. We don't know. We weren't there. JM was an alcoholic, probably since his mid-thirties. It's a disease.
I'm trying to find out how much of what's on this is new (by new I mean only released before on the The Island Years box set). This link suggests that a lot of it is http://www.superdeluxeedition.com/news/john-martyn-the-best-of-the-island-years-4cd-box-set/ Does anyone have any news on this?
If you mean the Island Years box you don't need this condensed version. They did the same thing with the Sandy Denny mega box years ago.
Slight sideways step . . . . There is a double CD and DVD tribute to John . . . "John Martyn - Johnny Boy would love this". A massive cross section of artists recording his songs, shows what a huge influence he was to many people. Lucky enough to see him perform in an old church (now an Arts Centre) in Salisbury back in the early 80's - never going to forget that!
From what I was told when I discussed this with someone who knew John personally for many years and who was there, Beverley made up a lot of things. John was obviously an alcoholic but also one of the sweetest guys you could ever meet.
I think it depended on how he was feeling on the day. He certainly had a dark side- he was a very complex character it seems to me, he could be really quite shy under his Jack The Lad persona. He was emotional, impulsive and restless, and that's why he was a great songwriter, guitarist, singer, but those qualities often don't make you a walk in the park to live with. I've heard it said that Beverley was actually quite a lot tougher than she might seem and capable of giving as good as she got. And we forget that these were different times- in the early-mid 70s giving 'er a slap wasn't considered particularly unacceptable behaviour. Now it is, and very rightly so. I believe, and this is just my opinion, that Beverley was the love of his life, that almost all the songs we remember him for were written when he was with her, that many were written for her, that he never really got over losing her, and that self-medicating the pain of her loss may well have turned him from a heavy drinker into an alcoholic. Not that Beverley is remotely to blame, and JM was often his own worst enemy. This is from Beverley's memoir Sweet Honesty; "John phoned me [in 2003] just before he had the operation [to remove his left leg below the knee]. He started the call by singing "See That My Grave Is Kept Clean" then asked me if I thought he was going to die. I told him we were all going to die soon and he'd probably outlive us all. Then he said "I'm going to have my leg off tomorrow. Do you forgive me?" I told him I forgave him but he had to forgive himself. He said he couldn't.........." Whatever your view, not the words of a man without conscience or remorse........
Same here, although I did try and get it when Amazon.de mispriced it at the equivalent of £30-something only for it to be cancelled.
I bought the big box from Amazon for £38 earlier this year. It was only that price for a few minutes I think. I gave it to a friend for a gift.
"John Wayne" is one of my favourite John Martyn songs from the later albums. A blisteringly good track when played live and here it is with some other guy accompanying John .
Aimed at his former manager, Sandy Robertson, with whom John had had a disagreement!! Whilst writing the lyrics, John realised how indignant he was and decided he was sounding like John Wayne - whom he considered to be "A self -righteous twit" - in the film True Grit. (taken from "Some People Are Crazy' by John Neil Munro.)
I didn't have a view until I discussed it with the friend I'm speaking of. We had a lengthy discussion about Beverley's autobiography and I was told that it was quite thin on the truth.
I've now listened to 3 of the 4 discs of The Best Of The Island Years. I've been very impressed with both the music & the accompanying book. Highly recommended to any JM fan who hasn't bought the monster Island Years box set.
Having compared this to an earlier WB CD I can say that the earlier CD sounds better as it's not so "in your face". The bonus tracks on the reissue are only so so for me; as Gun Money & Hiss On The Tape are my least favourite tracks & alternate/live versions of these tracks aren't an improvement over the originals IMO.
Thanks for that. I confess I haven't bought it as it's probably one of my least favourite albums- the arrangements and production rather than the songs- the story, as you may know, is that just before the recording sessions started JM managed to impale himself on a fence, puncturing a lung, and was so loaded with medication during the sessions that he could remember very little of them..................
Don't know if you guys have seen this: The famous (?infamous) "Les Cousins" Club in Soho's Greek Street. Hilarious account of these days from Ralph McTell in the book, "Some People Are Crazy" They called it "Les Cousins" to sound French and exotic. The artists thought, for years, that it was owned by a man called. Les Cousins!!
I just got the 4-CD The Best Of The Island Years, which is a great compilation of the alternate/unreleased tracks from the massive 17-CD/1 DVD The Island Years box. Really recommended! Now...I really miss some of the rare tracks from the big box, though - especially these: *Anni (1976, w/John Stevens Away) *Black Man At Your Shoulder (1977, 17-minute version) *Anna (1978) *Johnny Too Bad (1979, all versions!) Maybe I´ll have to get the big box, after all...
I hold my hand up to being a bit of a box set fan, but the full blown John Martyn Island Years is probably the best of the many that I own. An absolute must for any serious John Martyn fan. Sounds great too.
