Article: The Best Version Of ... Nick Drake's Bryter Layter

[Iansr]

On 12/29/2020 at 3:49 AM, Jud said:

I've now read the very fine and enjoyable article, and wanted to mention someone who's noted in passing there: John Martyn. He's not that widely known, at least in the US, but had an absolutely prodigal career of about 40 years. I had the pleasure of seeing him live a very long time ago. He might be the second best acoustic guitar player I've ever seen after John McLaughlin, and I've seen Clapton among others. His unique vocals were better than the guitar playing as far as I'm concerned. They were half-jazz-scatted, half-sung, and a bit mumbled, especially in his mid to late career. One of my favorite albums is his No Little Boy from 1993, a reworking of some of his own material. (He liked reworking material, never doing one of his songs the same way twice, and he went through various labels, so his discography is, to put it politely, a bit disordered.)

 

If you find yourself liking Nick Drake, check out Martyn.

John Martyn not widely known in the US?  Unbelievable!   Solid Air is a desert island disc.