Earlier this month, in the comments of my Nick Drake post, Four Or Five Guy Bambi thought I'd like John Martyn, and then the legendary blogger Farquhar Throckmorton III, told me in no uncertain terms, "If you can find time for a six-disc Mosaic set, Babs, you can find time for John Martyn. I think you'd love him to bits in a where-have-you-been-all-my-life way." So I listened to a few tracks on YouTube, and was quite impressed. Then I listened to a little more, but by now you should know, when it comes to music, I don't do things in small measures. So I spoke to a "low friend, in a high place" in the music biz, and before you can say, "was, was not", I was the proud owner of 'The Island Years : Complete Island Studio Albums', a 17CD set. Yes, you read that right, seventeen compact discs.
After listening to all 17CDs, I can't believe that myself and John Martyn's music, had not crossed paths before. But then again, as I commented in the Nick Drake post, "So much music....so little time."
So, here's John Martyn - 'The Island Years : Complete Island Studio Albums'
CD1 - London Conversation (1967) + The Tumbler (1968)
In the interest of bandwidth, I've "dumbed-down" the FLAC files down to 320 kbps 44.1 kHz files, and they sound perfectly fine. Speaking of dumb (on my part), I asked my friend Zelda (who once asked me, "Is anal retentive hyphenated?") to scan the book and artwork for me, and she got a little carried away, as you will see.
To qualify for the freeload, tell us about an artist or group that, at first, passed you by, but now you are a fan of.
I was a callow youth, and sometimes condemned music for "trying too hard to 'have soul.'" I distinctly remember having such a reaction to an album played in a student cafe at University of California, Santa Cruz. The meal was memorable mostly because my sister was having an acute allergic reaction to ...redwood tree pollen? Or...?? Anyway, they had a Musicette-style record player in a corner, and put on this male vocalist who was convinced he had So. Much. Soul.
ReplyDeleteI remembered the cover and was suitably embarrassed five or six years later when I heard "Moondance" by Van Morrison again.
Let me say that I haven't ever completely fallen for "Astral Weeks," and yeah, the contours of Mr. Morrison's character aren't attractive to me. But the song, not the singer, eh? From "Moondance" through "Too Late To Stop Now," and somewhere beyond, I'm a fan.
BTW, late research convinces me that the trip and album could've happened at the same time only if someone were playing it right after release. I guess they were just that hip at U.C.S.C.!
D in California
Thelonious Monk. For a long time I thought his piano playing was just bizarre, with lots of intentional wrong notes. After not listening to his music for many years I decided to give a listen to his album “Underground “ and it just clicked with me. After that it was “Solo Monk” and it was off to the races - I became a huge fan.
ReplyDeleteGbrand
I've been to few small-scale John Martyn gigs where sitting (on the floor, natch) front n' center meant he'd pass you his spliff at some point. His unique style of finger-picking (think slap bass for acoustic guitar) was something we all tried to copy, as was his smokey, slurred voice. A monster talent.
ReplyDeleteSlurred voice. I saw him quite a lot in the 80's and 90's and he often seemed completely 'out of it', but could always play wonderfully and his bands were superb.
DeleteSorry, I'm drawing a blank. All of my fandoms were immediate and complete (buy everything). There are a few artists I enjoy a little bit more then I used to but I liked them to begin with and they're still not cracking my top 100. More go the other way, from obsessive fan to never want to hear Born to Run again.
ReplyDeletePeople on the other hand...everything is in flux. From what a jerk to best friend. And it goes the other way - ask any of my seven ex-wives.
Usually once I discovered a group I liked I'd work back through their catalog and buy everything they had put out. I even worked back in time to Big Band music. New music just wasn't released fast enough so you had to buy their older stuff. My first rock records were Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night & The Guess Who. But I remember buying Quicksilver Messenger Service - Anthology and became a fan instantly. But buying an anthology meant they had broken up. I guess they passed me by. Now in the days of the internet I still grab anything with John Cipollina or Gary Duncan. So QMS must be my answer to the question.
ReplyDeleteRelatively new group, the Black Pumas. Going to a festival in June and we were going to leave a day early because they are the headliners the last day, and we thought it was alt rock. Listened to a mix that the promoters of the festival released and kept asking ourselves who's that when their music played. Sort of a neo soul/rnb group. We are now staying through the last day.
ReplyDeleteThe Grateful Dead!! Took me quite a while to see what all the fuss was about!! (I was into Hawkwind, Gong, Can etc. - early 70s!!) Then someone lent me Garcia's 1st solo album ...I was hooked!!! By the way Google doesn't seem to want to let me sign in as "Songhkla Steve" ..'cos that's who I am!!!
ReplyDeleteArt Pepper! My Dad was a very big Jazz fan with a huge collection of LPs that he would play from Friday through to Sunday night every weekend. As a kid, I sat there absorbing all of his music collection without realising. Some of it I loved, some I hated. In his collection were quite a few Art Pepper albums and latterly CDs but I never got it. However, at around the age of 30, I joined the National Film Theatre on the South Bank in London, which, back in the day, showed several jazz films through the an entire week and I took him along each day. On one of those days was an Art Pepper documentary and knowing Dad was a big fan, along we went. That was the eureka moment with Art for me! Dad passed away five years ago and I’ve inherited the original LPs and the CDs to add to my own AP collection. I’m 67 now and still a fan.
ReplyDeleteseveral prominent examples - good question
ReplyDeletePink Floyd. Initial 'aided' exposure (around 1969) to their early chapter didn't take. Then they later blew up during a time when a principle bias of mine was: "If it's really popular I probably shouldn't give it any time." So, scroll ahead decades and the early chapter of Pink Floyd finally clicks.
A band I ignored were The Beach Boys, I had a nice compilation and Pet Sounds, but thanks to our friends at the IoF® and here, in the last few years I realise they had a lot more to offer.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, I had enjoyed a couple of Colosseum albums that I had purchased during the 80’s (they had broken up in 1971).
When my friends older brother suggested going to see their reunion concert in the mid 90’s(?) at a smallish local venue I went along not expecting them to be all that good, reunions can be pretty awful. My doubts were unfounded, it was all the old band and they were dynamite.
When I first heard Olu Dara's album "In the World: Natchez to New York," I was a bit underwhelmed. It came across as a little offhand and perhaps unfocused. In my dozens of listenings since, I've come to appreciate its naturalness, its lack of affectation and utter refusal to be categorized. There are threads of blues, jazz, and folk woven into its utterly unique song cycle.
ReplyDeleteThe Beatles kinda fit this category for me. I thought She Loves You & I Want to Hold Your Hand were pretty lame, but Beatlemania demanded you love them. They caught my attention with Beatles For Sale & kept on improving with each new release. Then I was hooked!
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ReplyDeletePart 1
https://we.tl/t-5SkWEXXAUS
Part 2
https://we.tl/t-oXoq0kEGIJ
Thank you, Babs! Can't get a smile off my face when I listen to JM... A musician's musician!
DeleteHuey
Enjoy, Huey!
DeleteThank you Babs. This is going to be a treat, I have most of his essential stuff on vinyl, so these bonus tracks and the odd album I missed are very welcome. Piece By Piece contains the live favorite John Wayne, I look forward to hearing that again.
DeleteThank YOU, Bambi, for steering me towards John Martyn.
DeleteYup, better later than never; alternately: perfect timing!
DeleteI dismissed the entire genre of C&W when I was younger, more fool me. Ditto MOR-ish acts like Matt Monro and Barbara Dickson. But it took until the last 5-6 years for me to get some idea why people go nuts for the Rolling Stones, a process I suspect linked to my growing appreciation for old school R&B, Jump Blues etc.
ReplyDeleteSteely Dan!! I grew through the postpunk years.
ReplyDeleteHow much I've been missing...
Bat
I missed out on NRBQ for many years. A college station used to play their song "Rain At The Drive In", and I thought it was sappy. Didn't realize that romantic pop was only one side of the Q until a few years later, and was fortunate to see them several times before Big Al Anderson retired from the road.
ReplyDeleteI decided I could keep up as it came. Music would change. But after psychedelic music I was still listening to prog rock when hard core punk arrived. I couldn't get into it although I understood why. The record companies were breaking contracts with Rock n Roll bands. About the same time Disco began, which was only good for meeting girls. I then liked New Wave. Which was essentially AM radio pop, when I came up from the underground it was like fresh air. Then there was Hip Hop and Rap, which I tried to understand but although I got that they were telling me about life on the street that was no longer important to me. So I went back to the old music and stopped trying to keep current. I liked what I liked. Mostly guitar rock. From the old days. I don't know what the record companies are doing now. Eliminating musicians. Just like they tried with Disco. I remember when lip syncing was frowned upon. So there ya are.
ReplyDeleteForget a particular band, try whole genres. As much of the 70's punk/ mod revival generation in the UK , psychedelia and particularly progressive rock was shunned in the UK in the 1970's ("no elvis, beatles or the rolling stones"). It was only later that I grew to enjoy the qualities they offered
ReplyDeleteTommy Emmanuel
ReplyDeleteThe Smiths
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