Thursday, 29 January 2009

I couldn't believe it when I heard today that John Martyn died this morning!!

My friend Nigel managed him, and just before Christmas we spoke about having John guest vocal on my next record, which he seemed to be really up for.  I can't tell you how excited I was at the thought of working with the man who made me really want to play acoustic guitar, a man who inspired me to pour my heart into my own songs, to sing inside out, the Creator of 'Solid Air'...!!!

At the weekend I had a moment to myself when I could do as I wished.  At such times I generally put on music and soak it up.  Last weekend it I went for my vinyl copy of Solid Air.  I haven't listened to it for so long (well, the vinyl copy that is) that it had dust on it.  I find blowing the dust from a record cover just before you engage with the vinyl itself can be equally joyous a task.  I like the size of the artwork, the weight of it in my hands, the smell of it and it's many sounds.  The first pleasurable sound it makes is when you tilt it to let the vinyl slid out.... sshhhhhhuh, it's like a call to silence, like being hushed by your Kindergarten teacher before she embarks on a story in a whispered tone, it's the calm before the storm, when your senses are on fire...you know what's coming, but there's time to feel all that in a minute, first you must delight in the silence, and the mere handling of the record.  Every time I hear that 'sshhhhhhuh' of the vinyl gracefully falling into my hand it takes me right back to my brother's room, and the feeling of a covert operation.  When I got home from school, Easton (my eldest brother) was still at work on the building sites for at least a few hours, in which time I could drown in a vinyl orgy.  He was very meticulous, not so much any more I might add, so I had to be careful not to leave a single sign of my having been there.  Any time I removed a record I would pull half way out the records before and behind it, so as to replace it in exactly the right spot... then 'sshhhhhhuh'... followed by the pop of setting the needle down, then that blissful crackle denoting the oncoming freight train. During that whole process I would be moving slower than a Tai Chi Master so as not to mark the vinyl in anyway whatsoever.  Since then, putting  a record on has always retained a quiet magic.

All of these emotions where present at the weekend when I put on Solid Air.  As much as I enjoy all the aspects of the vinyl experience it's 'raison d'être' is obviously the music itself, and there few records that begin as gloriously as Solid Air, which is the first and title track of the album.  I'm so blessed to have enjoyed that record over the years and I now look forward to it entering a new chapter in light of today's events.

If you don't own it, I highly recommend it as your next purchase, it is without a shadow of doubt in the top 10 records of all time for me [and a lot of people I know for that matter]...

I found this great quote from John when he was asked "what has living life to the full taught you?" in his last interview with Word Magazine... says it all...

"It's taught me two things. One is that I honestly believe no man who has ever *lived* has had more fun than me. The second is that living full on is the best fucking way to do it and I would absolutely do it all again in a fucking moment!"