John Martyn - The Smiling Stranger In Bremen (Live at Schauburg 1983) (2023)

John Martyn's extraordinary talent rightly secures him a unique place in music. Emerging from the 1960's folk boom, John is without doubt one of the most progressive and influential artists. Guitarist, singer and songwriter, his inspirational and innovative music is evidenced in his extensive back catalogue of studio and live albums, each providing a fresh chapter in the evolution of his music. John signed for Island Records and released his first album London Conversation in 1967. By the end of the 1970's he had released a string of acclaimed albums and his music had evolved from fingerpicking acoustic folk to embrace rock, blues, jazz and reggae. John created an astonishingly distinctive sound with his uniquely percussive guitar playing fed through a tremolo/wah combination and echoplex. Always exploring, transforming and refreshing, by the early 1980's John was concentrating on electric guitar, playing it in his own unique style and in his own band (Jeff Allen, dr., among others also Snowy White and Van Morrison as well as Alan Thomson, b, also with Robert Palmer, Chris Rea and Eric Clapton). "The bearded musician from the north of Britain had obviously consumed a substantial quantity of rum and cola before beginning the concert... and with the help of further drinks musical energy was released, which made the evening a complete success... two impressive hours of most intense music." The Weser Courier, Bremen's largest daily newspaper, reported a day after John's concert at the club € Schauburg € in June 1983. No doubt about the rum, but John would have been apoplectic at the suggestion he was from € the north of Britain' although born in Surrey he was Scottish through and through, and fiercely proud of it!