Sweet Little Mysteries - The Island Anthology
John Martyn was Island Records' first white solo performer. Having debuted … Read Full Bio ↴John Martyn was Island Records' first white solo performer. Having debuted as a fresh-faced teenage folky with 1967's London Conversation, he soon embarked on a restless musical odyssey. Built on a foundation of folk, blues, and jazz, Martyn's music has ranged from effects-laden experimentation, through rock, to fusion-influenced pop. This overview of Martyn's Island recordings ignores his first two albums and two releases with then-wife Beverley, picking up with Bless the Weather (1971). Although ornate love songs from that record like "Head and Heart" remain close to Martyn's traditionalist roots, the instrumental "Glistening Glyndebourne" shows he was keen to distance himself from the Donovan-Cat Stevens orbit of twee folk-pop. Solid Air, 1973's sublime follow-up, is well represented here. On it, Martyn moved effortlessly among light acoustic tunes ("Over the Hill"), darker, jazzier numbers ("Solid Air," his ode to friend Nick Drake), and gizmo-enhanced excursions (his rendering of Skip James' "I'd Rather Be the Devil"). Martyn pursued his experimental inclinations further with the jazz-folkadelic Inside Out (1973); that album's adventurous spirit is captured by the gently droning "Eibhli Ghail Chiuin Ni Chearbhaill," which reworks a 19th century Celtic folk tune with such late 20th century rock tools as a fuzzbox and phase-shifter. Sunday's Child (1974) returned to a more focused song format, as demonstrated by the mournful "Spencer the Rover." Martyn's next studio venture, One World (1977), combined chilled-out moodscapes ("Small Hours") with slick, adult-oriented pop and rock ("Dancing"), the latter tendency even more prominent on Grace & Danger (1980) and exemplified by the delicate "Sweet Little Mystery." While Martyn's later Island releases were less memorable, those mid-'80s numbers collected here hold up well. This album provides a great introduction to John Martyn; its only weakness is the omission of his earliest efforts, a sampling of which would give a fuller sense of his work's evolution.
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Sweet Little Mysteries - The Island Anthology
John Martyn Lyrics


Angeline Angeline, did you hear me singing? Singing of our love in…
Baby Please Come Home Baby, please come home Baby, please come home Baby baby, p…
Bless The Weather Time after time, I held it just to watch it…
Call Me Crazy Call me baby, make sure I'm home. I did not hear…
Certain Surprise And now the air is clear, my dear and you're…
Couldn't Love You More If you kissed the sun right out of the sky…
Dancing Oh darling, it's gonna be late when we get back…
Dealer Well, I cannot be your lover and I will not…
Don't Want To Know I don't want to know about evil Only want to know…
Fine Lines Here a fine line, there a fine line Oh what a…
Fisherman's Dream What happened to the fisherman's dream When they rowed thei…
Head And Heart There's just no way to say how much I love…
Hurt In Your Heart When that hurt in your heart has gone; When that hurt…
Johnny Too Bad SEND MARTYN JOHN RINGTONES TO YOUR CELLPHONE I don't want…
Lay It All Down Darling will you walk with me gentle Come walking through th…
Lookin' On What kind of love is this Concealed behind your kiss What ki…
Make No Mistake If I can't be a happy man, I won't be…
May You Never And may you never lay your head down Without a hand…
One Day Without You One day without you And I feel just like I'm somebody…
One World Some of us live like princes Some of us live like…
Over The Hill I'm going away to leave you, I'm going to leave…
Root Love A thousand kisses flying home to you A thousand kisses, two…
Sapphire I watch the day go down Sapphire I watch my luck turn…
Small Hours You've been taking your time and you've been living on…
Solid Air You've been taking your time And you've been living on solid…
Some People Are Crazy Some people are crazy about him Some people can't stand his…
Spencer The Rover This tune was composed by Spencer the Rover As valiant a…
Sunday's Child Saturday night comes creeping Saturday night comes creeping …
Sweet Little Mystery Just that sweet little mystery that breaks my heart Just tha…
You Can Discover One day our laughter comes flowing with the rain And on…


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