Chris Nickson preaches the gospel of John Martyn and in my case he’s preaching to the converted. His love for the big man is evident and he writes from the heart with a simple, direct and conversational approach. I’m dead envious…this is the book I would love to have written about one of my heroes.
Nickson’s analysis of each track on every album is both insightful and unflinchingly honest; he certainly doesn’t pull his punches when it comes to assessing some of John’s shortcomings, musically or otherwise. But overall I think the Guv’nor would probably have agreed with some of the sentiments (assuming that he had been feeling suitably amenable).
John’s forty-two year recording career spanned sixty-nine albums if you include all of the many compilations and live albums, and his career had more trajectory curves than a test-match bowler. However Nickson manages to get beneath the skin of the man and paint a comprehensive portrait that goes far beyond the usual lazy canon of stories and reminiscences.
I have a couple of other biographies of John (Lee Barry and John Neil Monroe) but I feel that this version is better than either of those because it feels more personal, more heart-felt. However the fact that Nickson seems to love the songs that I do (Just Now, Hurt in your Heart, Spencer the Rover and the obvious Solid Air) probably helps the connection.
In his acknowledgements Nickson says that “this is a book I’d always imagined writing, but I never believed anyone would want to publish”. Well from my perspective this is a book I’d always imagined reading but couldn’t believe anyone would ever write. From the bottom of my heart my thanks go out to Chris Nickson.
