John Martyn

John Martyn OBE
Martyn in 1978
Background information
Birth name	Iain David McGeachy
Born	(1948-09-11)11 September 1948[1] New Malden, Surrey, England
Died	29 January 2009(2009-01-29) (aged 60) Thomastown, Ireland
Genres	Folk blues, progressive folk, folk-rock, folk jazz
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1967–2009
Labels	Island, WEA
Website	johnmartyn.com

Iain David McGeachy OBE (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a British guitarist and singer-songwriter. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. The Times described him as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues".^[2]

Martyn began his career at age 17 as a key member of the Scottish folk music scene, drawing inspiration from American blues and English traditional music, and signed with Island Records. By the 1970s he had begun incorporating jazz and rock into his sound on albums such as Solid Air (1973) and One World (1977), as well as experimenting with guitar effects and tape delay machines such as Echoplex.^[3] Domestic and substance abuse problems marked his personal life throughout the 1970s and 1980s, though he continued to release albums while collaborating with figures such as Phil Collins and Maeve Aubele, Carolyn Woolham and Lee "Scratch" Perry. He remained active until his death in 2009.