No Little Boy

IT CAN hardly be a year since John Martyn's last LP outing, the rejigged retrospective Couldn't Love You More, yet hot on its heels comes this updated back-tracking exercise.

Martyn himself told this writer some months back that he was a little unhappy with some of the mixes on the last record. As a consequence, this new 16-track album, complete with new mixes, comes on stream. Martyn buffs will love it for its collector value and Martyn himself will love it because it erases his doubts. So everybody's happy, even if 'Sweet Little Mystery' and 'Solid Air' are among a total of eight tracks which appear yet again on the new platter.

That said, there are seven other songs that do not feature on the last album. Of these seven, there is but one new song, and that not written by Martyn at all, but by one Bruce Philips. Still with me? This new song is the curiously titled 'Rock Salt and Nails', a country-inspired soulful duet with Levon Helm, he of The Band fame. It is very rare for Martyn to stray into this territory, and it works in a kind of an anthemic 'Last Waltz' sort of a way, with the voices becoming passionate and uplifting as the song nears its end. What on earth is it about at all, at all? Both Pascal Mooney and Niall Toner should play it on their programmes.

The two most striking of the other six rejigged numbers are 'Just Now' from 1971's Bless the Weather and 'Pascanel' from 1981's Glorious Fool. 'Just Now' - with both John and Levon Helm in superb voice - hits you in the face with its funky clout. What was a gentle folk song over twenty years ago is turned into something meaty, beefy, big and bouncy, a product of Martyn's current Chicago address.

The aforementioned 'Rock Salt and Nails' and 'Just Now' are the two songs featuring Levon Helm and feature very much a Band sound, a sound that is not apparent on the rest of the record. The tone generally is cool, London, jazz-inspired rock, with the divinely-inspired Andy Sheppard on sax, fleshing out 'Solid Air' and former Weather Report drummer Peter Erskine working rhythmic wonders on 'Sunday's Child', which also features interesting trumpet from one Mark Ohlsen.

There is of course an entirely different way of looking at this record. Just supposing this was the very first Martin album that you happened to hear, then you'd be hearing 'Solid Air' for the first time, sounding divine and inspired as ever, although over twenty years old. Or a great version of 'Sweet Little Mystery' for the first time. Or 'One World' for the first time, or 'Pascanel'. All differ significantly from the originals through rangey, spacious readings. The sublime growl of 'Hole in the Rain' would be new to your ears too.

For this the album should get a high rating. On the other hand, I'm no novice and I can't wait for him to put together an album of new material.

* Paddy Kehoe