John Martyn - Ain't No Saint (2008) FLAC
Artist: John Martyn
Title: Ain't No Saint
Year Of Release: 2008
Label: Island Records
Genre: Pop-Rock, Folk
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue, log)
Total Time: 05:12:36
Total Size: 1.7 GB
WebSite: Album Preview
Tracklist:Title: Ain't No Saint
Year Of Release: 2008
Label: Island Records
Genre: Pop-Rock, Folk
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue, log)
Total Time: 05:12:36
Total Size: 1.7 GB
WebSite: Album Preview
01-01. John Martyn - Fairy Tale Lullaby (Album Version) (2:49)
01-02. John Martyn - Sing A Song Of Summer (Album Version) (2:17)
01-03. John Martyn (feat. Beverley Martyn) - Stormbringer (Album Version) (4:15)
01-04. John Martyn - Tree Green (3:08)
01-05. John Martyn - Head And Heart (4:51)
01-06. John Martyn - In The Evening (4:04)
01-07. John Martyn - Solid Air (Previously Unreleased) (5:45)
01-08. John Martyn - Keep On (4:56)
01-09. John Martyn - The Glory Of Love (2:14)
01-10. John Martyn - Go Down Easy (Album Version) (3:35)
01-11. John Martyn - Ain't No Saint (Instrumental Previously Unreleased) (5:53)
01-12. John Martyn - Fine Lines (Album Version) (3:48)
01-13. John Martyn - Eight More Miles (Previously Unreleased) (2:00)
01-14. John Martyn - Call Me Crazy (Album Version) (7:25)
01-15. John Martyn - Black Man At The Shoulder (Previously Unreleased) (7:20)
01-16. John Martyn - All For The Love Of You (5:03)
01-17. John Martyn - Working It Out (2:42)
01-18. John Martyn - Couldn't Love You More (Album Version) (3:05)
02-01. John Martyn - Advertisment (Previously Unreleased) (0:32)
02-02. John Martyn - Small Hours (Previously Unreleased Version) (10:18)
02-03. John Martyn - Anna (4:11)
02-04. John Martyn - Lookin' On (5:15)
02-05. John Martyn - Amsterdam (5:27)
02-06. John Martyn - Hung Up (3:58)
02-07. John Martyn - Acid Rain (4:10)
02-08. John Martyn - Who Believes In Angels (4:55)
02-09. John Martyn - The Apprentice (4:20)
02-10. John Martyn - Hole In The Rain (4:39)
02-11. John Martyn - One World (6:25)
02-12. John Martyn - Sunday's Child (Previously Unreleased Version) (6:11)
02-13. John Martyn - Carmine (5:27)
02-14. John Martyn - The Sky Is Crying (3:59)
02-15. John Martyn - So Sweet (4:48)
02-16. John Martyn - Back To Marseilles (4:20)
03-01. John Martyn - Bless The Weather (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (10:31)
03-02. John Martyn - Make No Mistake (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (5:13)
03-03. John Martyn - So Much In Love With You (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (5:53)
03-04. John Martyn - Spencer The Rover (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (4:05)
03-05. John Martyn - My Baby Girl (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (2:46)
03-06. John Martyn - You Can Discover (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (5:13)
03-07. John Martyn - Solid Air (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (6:59)
03-08. John Martyn - I'd Rather Be The Devil (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (8:54)
03-09. John Martyn - Outside In (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (13:07)
03-10. John Martyn - Advertisment (Previously Unreleased) (0:16)
03-11. John Martyn - Big Muff (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (9:30)
03-12. John Martyn - One Day Without You (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (3:27)
04-01. John Martyn - Dealer (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (7:12)
04-02. John Martyn - Smiling Stranger (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (7:43)
04-03. John Martyn - Johnny Too Bad (BBC A Little Night Music) (3:54)
04-04. John Martyn - Hurt In Your Heart (BBC A Little Night Music/ London/ 1981) (6:48)
04-05. John Martyn - John Wayne (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (6:36)
04-06. John Martyn - Angeline (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (5:20)
04-07. John Martyn - Mad Dog Days (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (5:11)
04-08. John Martyn - The Moment (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (4:15)
04-09. John Martyn - Fisherman's Dream (Previously Unreleased Live Version) (5:04)
04-10. John Martyn - Sweet Little Mystery (BBC Later With Jools Holland) (5:53)
04-11. John Martyn - May You Never (BBC Later With Jools Holland) (5:35)
04-12. John Martyn - Step It Up (BBC Later With Jools Holland) (3:46)
04-13. John Martyn - Sunshine's Better (BBC Radio 1 Andy Kershaw) (5:04)
04-14. John Martyn - One For The Road (BBC Later With Jools Holland) (3:26)
04-15. John Martyn - Over The Hill (BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards Show 6th Feb 2008) (3:27)
If ever there were a blueprint for how to compile and present the perfect retrospective box set, John Martyn's Ain't No Saint is it. These four discs contain all of the artist's best known and best-loved tracks to be sure, but set producer and compiler John Hillarby has gone a few extra miles here. Discs one and two contain the well-known studio gems from John Martyn's classic Island career, as well as choice recordings from his Warner, Sanctuary, and Permanent periods -- the recordings from this last one are well due to be revisited, especially Cooltide and The Apprentice. But rather than rest with that accomplishment, pulling out literally the finest with almost no room for quibbles, Hillarby gives us no less than a dozen completely unreleased studio performances including "In the Evening," a gorgeous cut that was left off Solid Air and would have fit seamlessly with that recording's mood. Some of these cuts are alternates and outtakes; still others have only turned up on shoddy bootlegs, and others nowhere at all.
That all said, it's the latter two discs that really provide the magic. With the exception of seven tracks that were recorded for the BBC, the rest of this material, 19 cuts worth, is previously unissued. Martyn was both awe-inspiring and irritating as a performer. He stubbornly refused to give a damn about what anyone else thought of what he did on a stage, but he could be both charming and tender as well, and these traits were with him to the end of his life. But it was on-stage that Martyn's lifelong pursuit of song became self-evident: with his eyes closed his amazing guitar playing reached for previously unknown cracks and corners in a song he'd written, or in a cover. Check the version of "Bless the Weather" that opens disc three. The first two minutes are a funny story where Martyn endears himself to his audience with a self-deprecating tale of substance abuse and ego crushing before he begins to fingerpick his acoustic guitar, flowing into something like a modal raga style he's followed by bassist Danny Thompson, who bows his instrument in an improvisational interlude that is simply stunning. This track, almost 12 minutes long is, amazingly enough, just a primer for what is to come. Check the rocking electric versions of Skip James' "I'd Rather Be the Devil," or the blindingly great 13-plus-minute version of "Outside In": both are full band workouts. They offer solid proof of what a genius guitarist Martyn was, possessing a blues musician's sense of time and phrasing, a jazzman's knowledge of improvisation and exploration, the historical knowledge and picking tricks of a folk musician, all wrapped in the dynamic sensibility of a rocker. The versions of "Johnny Too Bad," "Hurt in Your Heart," "Fisherman's Dream," and "Sweet Little Mystery" here are almost definitive ones, and the closing versions of "Sunshine's Better" and especially "Over the Hill" offer the view of Martyn as a poet and storyteller, as well as a visionary songwriter, singer, and guitarist. Sonically, this collection -- especially the live material -- is stellar throughout. The liner notes by Hillarby and Daryl Easlea are terrific. They provide critical commentary as well as plenty of biographical information. There are some fine photographs to boot. Ain't No Saint is destined to be a classic and the final jewel in Martyn's crown. This set should make you miss the man and the artist even more. If not, it's time for a blood transfusion.
That all said, it's the latter two discs that really provide the magic. With the exception of seven tracks that were recorded for the BBC, the rest of this material, 19 cuts worth, is previously unissued. Martyn was both awe-inspiring and irritating as a performer. He stubbornly refused to give a damn about what anyone else thought of what he did on a stage, but he could be both charming and tender as well, and these traits were with him to the end of his life. But it was on-stage that Martyn's lifelong pursuit of song became self-evident: with his eyes closed his amazing guitar playing reached for previously unknown cracks and corners in a song he'd written, or in a cover. Check the version of "Bless the Weather" that opens disc three. The first two minutes are a funny story where Martyn endears himself to his audience with a self-deprecating tale of substance abuse and ego crushing before he begins to fingerpick his acoustic guitar, flowing into something like a modal raga style he's followed by bassist Danny Thompson, who bows his instrument in an improvisational interlude that is simply stunning. This track, almost 12 minutes long is, amazingly enough, just a primer for what is to come. Check the rocking electric versions of Skip James' "I'd Rather Be the Devil," or the blindingly great 13-plus-minute version of "Outside In": both are full band workouts. They offer solid proof of what a genius guitarist Martyn was, possessing a blues musician's sense of time and phrasing, a jazzman's knowledge of improvisation and exploration, the historical knowledge and picking tricks of a folk musician, all wrapped in the dynamic sensibility of a rocker. The versions of "Johnny Too Bad," "Hurt in Your Heart," "Fisherman's Dream," and "Sweet Little Mystery" here are almost definitive ones, and the closing versions of "Sunshine's Better" and especially "Over the Hill" offer the view of Martyn as a poet and storyteller, as well as a visionary songwriter, singer, and guitarist. Sonically, this collection -- especially the live material -- is stellar throughout. The liner notes by Hillarby and Daryl Easlea are terrific. They provide critical commentary as well as plenty of biographical information. There are some fine photographs to boot. Ain't No Saint is destined to be a classic and the final jewel in Martyn's crown. This set should make you miss the man and the artist even more. If not, it's time for a blood transfusion.
