New John Martyn Tribute Album Due

John Martyn remains a legend. Emerging from the folk scene, his acoustic stylings has a definite jazz edge. Soaked in honey, his smooth voice belied the often troubled nature of his life.

Releasing some inspiring material, John Martyn remained a powerful performer until the end. Leaving behind a considerable legacy, a new tribute album aims to demonstrate just how influential the singer was.

'Johnny Boy Would Love This - A Tribute To John Martyn' is set to be released on August 15th and contains an extremely varied cast. Spread across two CDs, some thirty artists have agreed to pay their respects to the late singer.

As usual with tribute albums, the tracklisting is extremely varied. Big hitters such as Snow Patrol, Paolo Nutini and Beth Orton are on display tackling some of the better known aspects of John Martyn's arsenal.

However the likes of Robert Smith, Vashti Bunyan and Beck have also contributed to the tribute album. In a short statement The Cure singer revealed that witnessing John Martyn performing 'Small Hours' was a real inspiration.

“I first heard ‘Small Hours’ on the John Peel Show late in 1977 and fell instantly in love with it... ‘One World’ very quickly became my favourite John Martyn album..." he explained. "And these beautiful songs were, are and always will be an inspiration and an enchantment”.

Phil Collins appears on the tribute album, and the two musicians were frequent collaborators. Appearing on two full John Martyn albums, the drummer even co-wrote 'Tearing And Breaking' with the folk legend.

“John Martyn was unique. Completely unique. He had such power, such emotion, in his music that he could overwhelm the listener even when it was just him and an acoustic guitar" Collins remembered. "He gave ‘Tearing and Breaking’ to me as he didn't know what to do with it. It consisted of the chorus melody and not much else really. Proud of collaborating with him, I wrote the rest, but never considered it my song."

"It was his song on loan to me. I loved him very much as there was no half measures, literally and musically. I hope people remember him and his music always.”

'Johnny Boy Would Love This - A Tribute To John Martyn' is set to be released on August 15th. Tracklisting:

CD1 - David Gray - Let The Good Things Come; Clarence Fountain and Sam Butler - Glorious Fool; Robert Smith -Small Hours; Beck – Stormbringer; Ted Barnes (featuring Gavin Clark) – Over The Hill; The Swell Season – I Don’t Wanna Know; The Emprerors Of Wyoming – Bless The Weather; Lis Hannigan – Couldn’t Love You More; Vetiver – Go Easy; Skye Edwards – Solid Air; Cheryl Wilson – You Can Discover; Joe Bonamassa – The Easy Blues; Sonia Dada – Dancing; Sabrina Dinan – Certain Surprise; Paolo Nutini – One World.

CD2 - Snow Patrol – May You Never; Beth Orton – Go Down Easy; Bombay Bicycle Club – Fairytale Lullaby; Syd Kitchen – Fine Lines; Vashti Bunyan – Head And Heart; Morcheeba – Run Honey Run; Nicholas Barron – Angeline; John Smith – Walk To The Water; Judy Tzuke – Hurt In Your Heart; Jim Tullio – Road To Ruin; Oh My God – John Wayne; The Blackships – Rope Soul’d; Ultan Conlon – Back To Stay; Brendan Campbell – Anna; Phil Collins – Tearing And Breaking.