John Martyn – Solid Air (Island 1973)

Legendary album from this troubled soul. It is perhaps a stretch to call ‘Solid Air’ a folk or folk rock album per se, as it is a rather varied affair! But the basis is John Martyn, his acoustic guitar and the various effects he used on it. This guy certainly had his own style here. Compositionally speaking, ‘Solid Air’ mixes compact and highly emotional folk songs with more experimental stuff often heading in a jazzy or even avantgarde direction. But the album flows beautifully, and never turns into a mess at all. ‘Solid Air’ opens with the classic title track. This is late night listening for sure, but the same can be said for the whole album. The melodic theme on this song is simple, but very effective. It has a slightly mysterious atmosphere, and I absolutely love it. His vocals might be an aquired taste, with his blurred pronunciation and all, but I have never had a problem with it myself. Songs like ‘Over the Hill’ (very Zeppelinesque!) and ‘The Easy Blues’ (divided in two parts) are more easygoing, and very enjoyable. The most rocking songs are ‘I’d rather be the Devil’ and ‘Dreams by the Sea’. Martyn sounds almost possessed on both! That is a compliment, by the way. ‘May you never’ might be the most honest and beautiful ballad he has ever written, and is clearly among my favourite tracks here. But the album doesn’t feature any weak points at all in my eyes. It’s probably his only really essential album, but never mind that – this is superb and highly recommended stuff!