Bless the Weather is a 1971 album by John Martyn and marks his return as a solo artist having released two albums with his wife Beverley Martyn. The writing reflects their move from London to Hastings Old Town. When it was released it garnered his best reviews to date, and remains a firm favourite among fans, featuring such standards as "Head and Heart" and the title track. The album is predominantly acoustic, although it does feature Martyn's first real 'echoplex track' in "Glistening Glyndebourne".
| Bless the Weather | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 1971 | |||
| Recorded | 17–21 May 1971 | |||
| Studio | Sound Techniques, Chelsea, London | |||
| Genre | British folk rock, folk jazz | |||
| Length | 37:32 (original release) 75:19 (2005 reissue) | |||
| Label | Island | |||
| Producer | John Martyn, John Wood | |||
| John Martyn chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| The Guardian |  [2] |
| Record Collector | [3] |
Q magazine chose Bless the Weather among the dozen essential folk albums of all time in 1999. According to Q the album was recorded in just three days (but Tony Reeves, the other bass player, has Monday 17 May, 6pm Sound Techniques and Friday 21 May 1pm to 6pm in his 1971 diary). In November 2007 Bless the Weather was included in a list by The Guardian newspaper entitled '1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die'.[4] It was voted number 684 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).[5]
Track listing
editAll tracks composed by John Martyn except where indicated.
- "Go Easy" – 4:15
- "Bless the Weather" – 4:29
- "Sugar Lump" – 3:43
- "Walk to the Water" – 2:49
- "Just Now" – 3:39
- "Head and Heart" – 4:54
- "Let the Good Things Come" – 3:05
- "Back Down the River" – 2:40
- "Glistening Glyndebourne" – 6:30
- "Singin' in the Rain" (Nacio Herb Brown, Arthur Freed) – 1:28
Bonus tracks
- "Walk to the Water" (Take 3) (3:34)
- "Bless the Weather" (Take 4) (5:37)
- "Back Down the River" (Take 1) (2:44)
- "Go Easy" (Take 1) (4:39)
- "Glistening Glyndebourne" (Take 2) (7:48)
- "Head and Heart" (Band Version) (10:17)
- "May You Never" (Single Version) (2:45)
Personnel
edit- John Martyn - vocals, guitar, harmonica, keyboards
- Richard Thompson - guitar
- Smiley De Jonnes - percussion
- Beverley Martyn - guitar, vocals
- Danny Thompson - double bass
- Tony Reeves - double bass, bass guitar
- Ian Whiteman - keyboards
- Roger Powell - drums
- Technical
- Steve Mayberry - engineer
- Visualeyes - design, photography
References
edit- ^ Bless the Weather at AllMusic
- ^ Dorian Lynskey (4 November 2005). "CD: John Martyn, Bless the Weather | Music". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ Euan Andrews (1 January 2006). "London Conversation, The Tumbler, Bless The Weather, Inside Out, Sunday's Child (remastered & expanded) | Big Muff". Johnmartyn.info. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ "Rocklist.net...The Guardian Best Albums Lists". Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 221. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.