Beverley Martyn

Last updated

Beverley Martyn
Birth nameBeverley Kutner
Born (1947-03-24) 24 March 1947 (age 77) [1]
Coventry, England
Genres Folk, folk rock
Occupation(s) Singer, songwriter, guitarist
Years active1965–present
Labels Island Records
Voiceprint Records

Beverley Martyn (born Beverley Kutner [2] 24 March 1947) [1] is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist.

Contents

At various times, Martyn has worked with John Martyn, Levon Helm, Jimmy Page, Dave Pegg, Richard Thompson, John Renbourn, Ralph McTell, Davy Graham and Sandy Denny. She appeared in the photograph on the album sleeve of Bert Jansch's 1965 album, It Don't Bother Me , where she can be seen lounging in the background.

Early life and career

Martyn was born near Coventry, England. [2] While still a student, she was picked to front The Levee Breakers, a jug band featuring Mac McGann and Johnny Joyce, who played the folk circuit in south east England. At the age of 16 she recorded her first single. "Babe I'm Leaving You", which was released on the Parlophone label in 1965.

Martyn was then signed as a solo artist to the Deram Records label. [2] In 1966 she released a single, "Happy New Year" (b-side "Where The Good Times Are"), written by Randy Newman, [2] on which she was accompanied by Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Andy White. "Happy New Year" was chosen as the first single release on the brand new Deram label, distributed by Decca Records, in 1966, [2] catalogue number DM 101. [3] The second single was the Cat Stevens hit, "I Love My Dog" (DM 102). [3] She also recorded a then unreleased single in the same year, "Picking Up The Sunshine" / "Gin House Blues". [4] These last two tracks also featured John Renbourn and Mike Lease. The single was released in April 1967. [4] During that period she was taught the guitar by the folk guitarist Bert Jansch, who also encouraged her songwriting. Her follow-up single "Museum", written by Donovan and produced by Denny Cordell, was released in 1967. [4]

Closely involved with the folk scene at the time, she met Paul Simon who invited her to New York. On the Simon & Garfunkel album Bookends , she contributed to the track "Fakin' It", [2] in the middle of which she is heard saying: "Good morning, Mr Leitch, have you had a busy day?" She later appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival on 16 June 1967, as did Simon & Garfunkel. [5]

With John Martyn

In 1969, she met John Martyn, whom she later married. [2] As a duo they issued two albums, Stormbringer! and The Road to Ruin [6] both of which were released on Island Records. Following The Road to Ruin, Island persuaded John Martyn to resume his career as a solo artist, because they believed that there was more public interest in solo singer/songwriters. [7] Although she was spending more time with her children, Martyn continued to contribute to her husband's solo projects until the breakdown of their marriage, owing heavily to her husband's alcoholism and abuse. The couple divorced during the making of John Martyn's album Grace and Danger in 1980 and she retired from music for years.

Return to music

In the 1990s, with her children now grown, she was invited to join Loudon Wainwright III on his European tour. In 1998 she resumed her recording career with the release of the album No Frills.

In 2004, Martyn's song "Primrose Hill", about the simple joys of domesticity, which she wrote and sang on Road To Ruin, was sampled by Fat Boy Slim for the track "North West Three" on his 2004 album Palookaville .

On 3 December 2013, she performed the song "Levee Breaks" with her band at the concert 'A Celebration Of Bert Jansch' at London's Royal Festival Hall, alongside Robert Plant, Donovan and various members of Pentangle, amongst others. [8] The concert was broadcast by BBC4 in the UK on 28 March 2014 under the name The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk Blues and Beyond. [9]

Martyn released a new album in 2014 entitled The Phoenix and The Turtle. It contains a previously unrecorded Nick Drake and Martyn song, "Reckless Jane". [10] The album featured bass by Matt Malley (Counting Crows), drums by Victor Bisetti (Los Lobos), acoustic guitars by Mark Pavey, electric guitars by Jakob Nebel (Livingston) and Michael Watts, and strings by Owain Roberts. [11]

Discography

Singles

Albums

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pentangle (band)</span> British folk rock band

Pentangle are a British folk rock band, formed in London in 1967. The original band was active in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and a later version has been active since the early 1980s. The original line-up, which was unchanged throughout the band's first incarnation (1967–1973), was Jacqui McShee (vocals); John Renbourn ; Bert Jansch ; Danny Thompson ; and Terry Cox (drums).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Jansch</span> Scottish folk musician (1943–2011)

Herbert Jansch was a Scottish folk musician and founding member of the band Pentangle. He was born in Glasgow and came to prominence in London in the 1960s as an acoustic guitarist and singer-songwriter. He recorded more than 28 albums and toured extensively from the 1960s to the 21st century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Renbourn</span> English guitarist and songwriter

John Renbourn was an English guitarist and songwriter. He was best known for his collaboration with guitarist Bert Jansch as well as his work with the folk group Pentangle, although he maintained a solo career before, during and after that band's existence (1967–1973). Several albums were credited to the John Renbourn Group. He worked later in a duo with Stefan Grossman.

<i>Listen Here!</i> (sampler album) 1968 compilation album by Various artists

Listen Here! is a sampler album released by Transatlantic Records in 1968. It was the second significant UK contemporary music sampler release in the period.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archie Fisher</span> Scottish folk singer and songwriter

Archie Macdonald Fisher is a Scottish folk singer and songwriter. He has released several solo albums since his first, eponymous album, in 1968. Fisher composed the song "The Final Trawl", recorded on the album Windward Away, that several other groups and singers, including The Clancy Brothers, have also recorded. Starting in the mid-1970s, he produced four folk albums with Makem and Clancy. He also performed with them and other groups as a backup singer and guitarist. He hosted his own radio show on BBC Radio Scotland for almost three decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Davey Graham</span> Musical artist

David Michael Gordon "Davey" Graham was a British guitarist and one of the most influential figures in the 1960s British folk revival. He inspired many famous practitioners of the fingerstyle acoustic guitar such as Bert Jansch, Wizz Jones, John Renbourn, Martin Carthy, John Martyn, Paul Simon and Jimmy Page, who based his solo "White Summer" on Graham's "She Moved Through the Fair". Graham is probably best known for his acoustic instrumental "Anji" and for popularizing DADGAD tuning, later widely adopted by acoustic guitarists.

Anne Patricia Briggs is an English folk singer. Although she travelled widely in the 1960s and early 1970s, appearing at folk clubs and venues in Britain and Ireland, she never aspired to commercial success or to achieve widespread public acknowledgment of her music. However, she was an influential figure in the British folk revival, being a source of songs and musical inspiration for others such as A. L. Lloyd, Bert Jansch, Jimmy Page, The Watersons, June Tabor, Sandy Denny, Richard Thompson, and Maddy Prior.

Bill Leader is an English recording engineer and record producer. He is particularly associated with the British folk music revival of the 1960s and 1970s, producing records by Paddy Tunney, Davey Graham, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Frank Harte and many others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wizz Jones</span> British musician (born 1939)

Raymond Ronald Jones, better-known as Wizz Jones, is an English acoustic guitarist, and singer-songwriter. He was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England and has been performing since the late 1950s and recording from 1965 to the present. He has worked with many of the notable guitarists of the British folk revival, such as John Renbourn and Bert Jansch.

<i>Cruel Sister</i> (Pentangle album) 1970 studio album by Pentangle

Cruel Sister is an album recorded in 1970 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the most folk-based of the albums recorded by the band, with all the tracks being versions of traditional songs. Whereas their previous album had been produced by Shel Talmy, and featured quite a heavily produced, commercial sound, Cruel Sister was produced by Bill Leader, noted for his recordings of folk musicians.

<i>The Pentangle</i> (album) 1968 studio album by Pentangle

The Pentangle is the 1968 debut album of the band Pentangle: Terry Cox, Bert Jansch, Jacqui McShee, John Renbourn and Danny Thompson. It brought together their separate influences of folk, jazz, blues, early music and contemporary songwriting. One of the band's most commercially successful albums, it reached number 21 in the British charts.

<i>Reflection</i> (Pentangle album) 1971 studio album by Pentangle

Reflection is an album recorded in 1971 by folk-rock band Pentangle.

<i>Solomons Seal</i> (album) 1972 studio album by Pentangle

Solomon's Seal is an album recorded in 1972 by folk-rock band Pentangle. It was the last album recorded by the original line-up, before the band split in 1973. Jacqui McShee has stated that it is her favourite Pentangle album. The album title refers to the Seal of Solomon — a mythical signet ring with magical powers, sometimes associated with the pentagram symbol adopted by Pentangle.

<i>Sounds of Silence</i> 1966 studio album by Simon & Garfunkel

Sounds of Silence is the second studio album by the American folk rock duo Simon & Garfunkel, released on January 17, 1966. The album's title is a slight modification of the title of the duo's first major hit, "The Sound of Silence", which originally was released as "The Sounds of Silence". The song had earlier been released in an acoustic version on the album Wednesday Morning, 3 A.M., and later on the soundtrack to the movie The Graduate. Without the knowledge of Paul Simon or Art Garfunkel, electric guitars, bass and drums were overdubbed under the direction of Columbia Records staff producer Tom Wilson on June 15, 1965. This new version was released as a single in September 1965, and opens the album.

"Anji" is an acoustic fingerstyle guitar piece composed and recorded by noted folk guitarist Davy Graham in 1961 and originally released as part of his EP debut 3/4 AD. The piece is one of the best-known acoustic blues-folk guitar pieces ever composed, with many notable artists covering it, such as Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Lillebjørn Nilsen, Paul Simon, and Harry Sacksioni. The song is in the key of A minor and is notable for its trademark descending bassline. However, the original recording by Davy Graham is in the key of C minor with a capo at the third fret.

<i>It Dont Bother Me</i> 1965 studio album by Bert Jansch

It Don't Bother Me is the second album by Scottish folk musician Bert Jansch, released in November 1965. The album was produced by Nathan Joseph and Bill Leader, although Leader was left uncredited.

<i>Bert and John</i> 1966 studio album by Bert Jansch

Bert and John is an album by the folk musicians Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, released in 1966. The two would later play together in the group Pentangle. An expanded version of the album was later released in America in 1969 by Vanguard as Stepping Stones. It featured two extra tracks, "It Don't Bother Me" and "My Lover".

Folk baroque or baroque guitar is a distinctive and influential guitar fingerstyle developed in Britain in the 1960s, which combined elements of American folk, blues, jazz and ragtime with British folk music to produce a new and elaborate form of accompaniment. It has been highly important in folk music, folk rock and British folk rock playing, particularly in Britain, Ireland, North America and France.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorris Henderson</span> American singer

Dorris Henderson was an American-born, United Kingdom-based folk music singer and autoharp player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bert Jansch discography</span>

Bert Jansch was a Scottish folk musician. His discography consists of 21 studio albums, 8 live albums, 36 compilations, 5 videos, 2 EPs, and 12 singles. In addition, his compositions and guitar work have been featured on a number of albums by other artists.

References

  1. 1 2 Sweet Honesty – The Beverley Martyn Story; Amazon.co.uk, published 7 January 2011, retrieved 22-04-14
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Colin Larkin, ed. (1992). The Guinness Encyclopedia of Popular Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. p. 1632. ISBN   0-85112-939-0.
  3. 1 2 "Deram Label Discography – UK". 45cat.com. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Beverley Discography – All Countries". 45cat.com. Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  5. "Monterey Festival: Who Was There". Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 29 August 2009.
  6. Harris, Craig. "Biography: Beverley Martyn". AllMusic . Retrieved 26 April 2010.
  7. John Martyn: guitarist and singer The Times , 30 January 2009, p. 75, "Obituaries".
  8. Bert Jansch Celebration, The Observer ; published 8 December 2013, retrieved 28-04-14
  9. Folk Radio; published 25 March 2014, retrieved 23-04-14
  10. Review, The Guardian ; published 17 April 2014, retrieved 22 April 14
  11. "The Phoenix & the Turtle – Beverley Martyn | Credits". AllMusic . Retrieved 28 September 2021.
  12. "Beverley Martyn Albums and Discography". AllMusic . Retrieved 28 September 2021.