Review:

on 2011-03-11 CharlesMartel Said:

John Martyn's recent passing reminded me of a time, long a go, when I first encountered his work. At the time, Martyn was contemporary with my earliest musical development (plus some sidetracking into various dead ends). As one of the artists who I had first heard when I was at school, it is hardly surprising that he should have featured in that way. I had heard a couple of albums by him back in the mid seventies but then largely forgotten about him except for the inclusion of "Solid Air" on a list of albums, scrawled on a piece of paper, which then constituted my wishlist. That wishlist disappeared decades ago and I had completely forgotten about him and his work. However, I had never actually got round to buying any of his albums.

His death therefore prompted a revisit. Martyn's back catalogue is huge and rather than go out and buy all, or one inevitably unrepresentative album, I gravitated towards a compilation. I ended up buying this one, confusingly also titled "Solid Air". In retrospect, this may not have been the best choice. The album consists of two disks which cover a period in the early nineties when Martyn re-recorded some of his material from the seventies and eighties, together with a few tracks from "The Apprentice". I did not know this until I purchased the album, got it home and read the sleeve liner notes.

The result is rather unsatisfactory. Martyn's style of the period when I first encountered him was a strongly folk-influenced but guitar led one, with a crisp and clear sound. The re-recordings are almost all in a style which I would call lounge jazz, reminiscent of insipid acts like Norah Jones. The guitar is pushed so far into the background it is almost imperceptible, while the dominant instruments are piano and tenor sax. Of these, probably the one which emerges most successfully from this treatment is "Man in the Station". "Solid Air" comes across poorly, with the languid music combining with Martyn's distinctive slurred vocal style creating the impression that it was performed by a bunch of tired drunks. And as for "May You Never", well - even Clapton's version off "Slowhand" sounds better than this and given the dire impression I have of that album that is seriously worrying.

The tracks from "The Apprentice" are stronger, as I said, but are neither sufficient in number, nor really in quality either, to compensate for what else is on this album. At least Martyn's wonderfully understated guitar comes back to the fore to be appreciated as it should be. And just to show you how he can do it, he includes from his earlier work, a colossal thirteen minute jam of "Johnny Too Bad", lest you forget what he was all about. There should have been more of this sort of thing on the album, frankly.

It is sad really that my purchase should have turned out to be so disappointing. All artists have their high points and low points, career-wise. It is a shame that this compilation comprises music from what seems to have been very much the latter. Had I known these facts before I purchased the album I would not have got it. I suppose it is a lesson to teach me to be more careful. But even having said that, I cannot understand for the life of me what would possess someone to rehash his back catalogue in such a poor fashion.
Rating: 5/10