John Martyn
| John Martyn | |
|---|---|
Martyn at the Cropredy Festival, 11 August 2006
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Iain David McGeachy |
| Born |
11 September 1948 New Malden, Surrey (now Greater London), England |
| Died | 29 January 2009 (aged 60) Kilkenny, Ireland |
| Genres | Folk, rock, jazz, blues |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Guitar |
| Years active | 1967–2009 |
| Labels | Island, WEA |
| Associated acts | Beverley Martyn |
| Website | www |
John Martyn, OBE (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), born as Iain David McGeachy, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 21 studio albums, working with artists such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour and Phil Collins. He was described by The Times as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues".
Martyn was born in Beechcroft Avenue, New Malden, London, England to an English mother and a Scottish father. His parents, both opera singers, divorced when he was five and he spent his childhood alternating between Scotland and England. Much of this was spent in the care of his grandmother, as well as on his mother's houseboat. He attended Shawlands Academy in Glasgow. At school, he was a keen rugby player. On leaving school he attended Art College in Glasgow, but left to pursue his musical aspirations.
Mentored by Hamish Imlach, Martyn began his professional musical career when he was 17, playing a fusion of blues and folk resulting in a distinctive style which made him a key figure in the British folk scene during the mid-1960s. He signed to Chris Blackwell's Island Records in 1967 and released his first album, London Conversation, the following year.
This first album was soon followed by The Tumbler, which was moving towards jazz. By 1970 Martyn had developed a wholly original and idiosyncratic sound: acoustic guitar run through a fuzzbox, phase shifter and Echoplex. This sound was first apparent on Stormbringer! in 1970, which was written and performed by Martyn and his then-wife Beverley, who had previously recorded solo as Beverley Kutner. Her second album with Martyn was The Road to Ruin, also released in 1970. Island Records felt that it would be more successful to market Martyn as a solo act and this was how subsequent albums were produced, although Beverley continued to make appearances as a background singer as well as continuing as a solo artist herself.
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