Stormbringer!

Several years ago, when I was looking to see whether the Island samplers "Bumpers" and "El pea" had received a reissue on cd, I discovered that there was a 3 cd set entitled "Strangely strange" which encompassed (if I remember correctly) all four Island samplers. I only downloaded songs which I didn't already have, so I'm not too familiar with the complete set.

One track which was on 'Bumpers' but not SS, was "Go out and get it" by John and Beverley Martin; this song didn't impress me very much at the time. Someone obviously did their homework, for it was replaced by a song, "Stormbringer!", which is much better. That's an understatement: it's far far better, being an excellent track.

'Stormbringer!' the song starts off with what sounds like a 12 string guitar playing an octave chord with no third, before drums call the song to order. Then follows the weakest of all chord progressions, where a major chord falls to its relative minor (think G -> Em); the feeling which I get from this is one of resignation. The Em then resolves to D which is the tonic (I am probably wrong about the key) and a verse evolves. The chorus is much stronger although the music is familiar with a descending bass line. Then follows a piano solo, picking notes here and there with no attempt to create a melodic line. Another verse follows with understated strings in the left channel accompanied by very assertive drums. Those drums: one could make a substantiated claim that they are the lead instrument here. They're not keeping time but rather punctuating and emphasising the lyrics. The sound of this song is very 'open': instruments can breathe; they're not competing for room in the audio spectrum, instead each contributes a little to the final product, where the total is greater than the sum of its parts. I suppose that this is part of the production style of Joe Boyd.

It is customary to mention at this point that the entire 'Stormbringer!' album was recorded in Woodstock NY under the influence of The Band. Levon Helm does indeed play on two tracks but ironically not the eponymous song; the outstanding drummer is Herbie Lovelle, otherwise known as a session drummer. The pianist and musical director is Paul Harris, with whom Joe Boyd also worked with on Nick Drake's albums.

I was so enraptured by this song that of course I had to listen to the entire album: I wish I hadn't. The album is credited to John and Beverley Martin: Beverley was quite possibly better known at the time. and so the album is approximately shared 50:50 with his and her songs. I do not like the Beverley songs and I don't like her singing (or her phrasing): there's an 'ad lib' in one of her songs which is cringe inducing. 'Come and get it' is about the third best song on the album, which isn't saying much, and 'John the Baptist' is second best. The title song stands head and shoulders above everything else.

I wondered what their follow-up record, "The road to ruin", would sound like: one listen discouraged me so much that I am disinclined to try again. Then the marriage fell apart and John went out on his own (or maybe the other way around), developing an echoplexed sound and becoming a professional drunk. None of his later, electric, work matches the beauty of 'Stormbringer!' (the song); his singing also became more relaxed, or to use the technical term, 'slurred'. This does not press my buttons.

'The road to ruin' compared to 'Stormbringer!' sounds a little like Nick Drake's 'Bryter Layter' compared to 'Five leaves left', which is not accidental as they had the same producer, Joe Boyd, and many of the musicians that played on 'Bryter Layter' also played on 'The road to ruin'. I thought that I would look up the Joe Boyd angle in his autobiography, 'White Bicycles': I was quite surprised to read that Joe didn't think much of John Martyn.

"[Chris] Blackwell [owner of Island records] made me a present of John Martyn. He had released a couple of LPs on Island but Chris didn’t really know what to do with him and thought I ought to. I admired his playing but had never been a huge fan. When John started living and performing with Beverley Kutner, an ex-Denny Cordell artist [that] Tod Lloyd wanted to sign to Witchseason, I was stuck with him. I recorded an album with the couple in America using a New York pianist named Paul Harris as musical director. I thought Paul’s style would work for ‘Time Has Told Me’, so when he came to London to finish John & Beverley’s Stormbringer, I introduced him to Nick."

I actually saw John and Beverley Martin perform in the time between the two albums in April 1970 when they appeared on a treble bill with Fotheringay headlining and Nick Drake supporting. As I've written elsewhere, unfortunately I have no recollection of this evening whatsoever, so much so that I don't know whether Nick Drake even appeared or whether J&B performed as a duo or with extra musicians.

Someone else's take on this album can be found here.

[Edit: I have revised somewhat my opinion of this record. The title track is still the best by far; in second place is 'Would you believe me', that closes the album. The style of this song is completely different from everything that precedes it and also features instruments not previously heard (electric guitar, electric piano). The drums are also very forceful here. In third place would be 'John the Baptist' with 'Come and get it' relegated to fourth place.]