Thank you! (p.s. I bought multiple Genesis albums based on your analysis and agree w/you re: Joni, so I’ll follow your JM suggestions! The only Sting I know is Summoners Tales, which I love; never much liked The Police)
The OW releases were essentially official bootlegs. They were named ‘Collectors’ Series’; they were released with JM’s consent and OW paid him royalties. They were very much intended for JM collectors/completists. As to sound, it varies between releases- vol 1 (Another World) is One World session tapes and studio quality; vol 2 (Town & Country Club ‘86) is very close to official live album quality. Some were sourced from amateur 70s recordings and the sound does reflect this but the performance was considered worth releasing. I understand it was just a handshake deal between JM and OW so when he died that was the end of it. But they did pay him, properly.
Great summary from Black Elk I would like to recommend On Air - a solo performance broadcast by Radio Bremen from 1975 and great quality. Can be picked up cheaply. This is a legitimate release - not a bootleg.
Apologies for replying in non-chronological order, but I moved the longest reply to the end. I actually do have two of the One World titles (Another World and Bristol 1991). I think I may have out thought myself back in the day, and confused the One World label with the Big World label (which released a series of Jaco Pastorius titles which I slavishly bought). I wonder if any label is going to bother to do some justice to his later live career? Since tvstrategies asked specifically about the post Grace & Danger material, I deliberately omitted titles like this and some of the BBC discs (which are all 70s recordings). Of course, with the deluxe editions, expanded remasters, Island Years boxset and Ain't No Saint set, there is a ton of 70s era material worth listening to. While I do really like The Police, and have the entire catalog 3 or 4 times over, I am of the opinion that Sting's early solo career is a match for pretty much anyone's. He could essentially do no wrong in the 1985-1994 period as far as I am concerned, and I bought up all the albums and especially the singles for the bonus and live tracks, plus the bootlegs. My friends and I traveled all over Europe to catch multiple shows per tour. He put together some stellar bands like he was Miles Davis or Frank Zappa! While TST is a fine album, it is not his best, IMO, and I would encourage you to check out The Dream Of The Blue Turtles, Bring On The Night (live), Nothing Like The Sun and The Soul Cages. While I think Mercury Falling is still a fine album, the tour that followed its release is where the rot started to set in, AFAIC. I was lucky enough to see his shows at The Paradiso, Amsterdam where he played virtually the entire Mercury Falling album with an extended band featuring backing singers. Sadly, by the time he hit the arenas and open-air shows later, the extra band members had gone, and the days of extended soloing and improvisation were over. I would put his Art Of The Heart bootleg from a concert at The Wiltern, Los Angeles in 1988 up against the best live albums by anyone! He had a top-notch band, played the best of his solo songs, did a number of Police songs and covered Frank Zappa, Tom Waits, Jimi Hendrix, Jacques Brel and even dropped a Beatles snippet in. In addition, he allowed two of the band members to do their own material! It's a 3-hour tour-de-force!! What does this have to do with JM? Well, like I wrote earlier, the instrumentation is very similar, especially when Sting had Branford Marsalis in the band. They were both influenced by reggae, ska and Carribean rhythms, and both wrote sophisticated arrangements and intelligent lyrics. Why Sting and Phil Collins had massive success in this period and JM did not, is a mystery. I hear similarities in the musicianship, arrangements, etc., but maybe JM did not move far enough into a pop vein to become more widely known and accepted. Anyway, while you are checking out JM's stuff from 1980 on, you may want to check out Sting's stuff too! Now back to JM:
Just listened to it all the way through for the first time in ages. It is actually very good. It's an 'old school' CD, so you have to be prepared to turn up the wick compared to the playback level for modern discs. If you can find a copy, grab it -- you can never go wrong with live JM! Here's two links with info: Live At Bristol 1991 | Big Muff Live At Bristol 1991 (1998) - The Official John Martyn Website (track listing in wrong order, above link is correct)
Thanks for taking time to listen to Live At Bristol to check the sound quality for me though I'm sure you enjoyed it. I've now got this CD & I'm very happy with it. Although his band has different musicians & there's a 5 year gap, for me the overall feel is not dissimilar to that of Foundations. Sonically it's not quite as good as Foundations but musically I think it's a lot better with JM sounding like he's really enjoying himself.
Do you have these two? BBC Radio 1 Live In Concert | Big Muff Live | Big Muff I have listened to the above far more than Foundations or Bristol, especially the `86 part of the BBC disc.
If it helps, Live exists in several different permutations: Live | Big Muff Live '91 (The Best Of John Martyn) | Big Muff Live (Shaw Theatre, London, 31st March 1990) (1995) - The Official John Martyn Website Classics Live (2004) - The Official John Martyn Website https://www.johnmartyn.com/2000s/live-91-2000/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-John-Martyn/dp/B0010V4TDC/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dirty-Down-Live-John-Martyn/dp/B00003G1N3/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Classics-Live-Martyn-John/dp/B0006622EK/ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-John-Martyn-Live-91/dp/B00004TFNL/ There is no alternative for the BBC disc, but the BBC disc from Cambridge is also worth seeking out: https://www.johnmartyn.com/2000s/live-in-concert-at-the-cambridge-folk-festival-2003/ https://johnmartyn.info/release/live-concert-cambridge-folk-festival https://www.amazon.co.uk/Live-At-Cambridge-Folk-Festival/dp/B0000WSTPQ/
Does anyone know if the "Island Masters" series of John Martyn CDs issued in the early 90s meant that the original master tapes were used for the first time or was this term just concocted by someone in PR? Why I ask is that for some titles there were CDs that were released before the Island Masters series (I think, Discogs isn't clear). I have both an Islands Masters & earlier version of Foundations. Both sound very good & sound very similar to each other but they are different masters.
Our local community radio station plays a bit of John Martyn from time to time. One thing I have noticed: if I hear a John martyn song, even if it's the first hearing it, I usually immediately think "That sounds like John Martyn." He had a very distinctive guitar style, recognisable in a way that one could not say about many other guitarists.
John Martyn: 11 September 1948 - 29 January 2009. John Martyn - Live At Leeds Island Records, UK, 1975, ILPS 9343 ILPS 9343 A-1 ILPS 9343 B-3 signed, numbered # 64 or ? 164 The world will never see his like again. R.I.P. "Big Man".
I picked up a copy of Cooltide for all of 25¢ a thrift shop awhile back after loving Solid Air for many years. This stanza from Jack The Lad always makes me smile: I got skin as thick as a potato They try to skin me and still call me Jack I got skin as thin as a tomato Always watch my little red back
If ones loves Solid Air (which I do), what else should one check out? Solid Air is the only one I know.
Obvious next stop would be One World. Chances are, most JM fans would agree that Solid Air and One World are his two best albums. After that, Bless The Weather, Inside Out and Sunday's Child are all excellent (just not quite the level of SA and OW) and in a similar style. Then things become interesting, go back to the John & Beverley albums, or forward to his 'electric' albums, plus all the various live releases from that era. Lots to discover and enjoy. @adriatikfan quotes a post I wrote about the 'electric' period in the post above this one!
I absolutely adore Michael Chapman from the 70s all the way until now. Roy Harper I also like. And have tried and tried and tried with John Martyn. I don't mind Solid Air or Bless the Weather. I also have One World. But I just cannot get into John Martyn for some reason. He is all right and I appreciate him musically, but for whatever reason I cannot get into him fully. I also am not a fan of the more "polished" sound of his post One World stuff.
