The first time I listened to the first take of John Martyn's album bearing same title, his seldom-heard, weird voice gave to a younger me the same feeling as when I sipped for the first time a Laphroaig single-malt, turfed Islay's whisky... oh, oh... what's wrong with "that": ten-to-be Islay's nectar was, at first, perceived like a medicine (...) and John Martyn's voice as a... broken cartridge/turntable by-product.
I was young, I told you... as years passed, both the above became part of my life...
Solid Air was written and composed and dedicated to John's friend, the late Nick Drake.
John Martyn claimed several times to be a John Coltrane's music lover and, indeed, his voice reminds in some passages, the deep tone of a puffing tenor sax, that cool air-column which is so similar to an old pipe-organ...
His "S" which sounds like "ZZZ" - i.e. SZZZooolidddaiiirrr is sometimes so painfully beautiful and remains carved in every listener memory; the vibes, a superb, reverbed Rhodes' electric piano, a sax solo and that cheap Yamaha acoustic guitar with a white DeArmond pick-up producing those plucked, percussive strings attack, all this contrributes to transform a song in a world.
A perfect world of classy balance and beauty.
grande disco!
ReplyDeleteciao!
michele