This is a previous post and I’m moving it to the front page because I was sad to hear that he’d died. I really hope he had some wonderful, joy-filled days during his time here. I’m sure he did.
I met John Martyn one lunchtime in a pub in Henley-on-Thames. He had been on the refreshments for quite a while before I turned up.
I had been scouting for a location and had found a nice looking doorway of a church. This was about 200 yards away but it still took a fair while for us to get there as I had the added problem of another pub between there and the one we were currently in. John felt obliged to pop his head in at this other watering hole on the way. I virtually had to manhandle him out of there.
He is a gentle and sweet man underneath all this. As we were crossing the road to the church, I told him that I dearly loved his album ‘Solid Air’ and apologised as I said I thought he must get people saying that all the time. He thanked me and said you’d be surprised and proceeded to sing for most of the rest of the time I was with him.
From Wiki:
“John Martyn (born Iain David McGeachy on September 11, 1948 in New Malden, Surrey, England) is a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he has released twenty studio albums and worked with artists such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour, and Phil Collins. Despite this, he has largely remained a cult figure.”