Beverley Martyn
Beverley Martyn
Genres: folk rock, folk, Need to Rate, 70s, female vocalists
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About Beverley Martyn
Beverley Martyn (born Beverley Kutner near Coventry on 24 March 1947; died 27 April 2026) was an English folk singer, songwriter and guitarist remembered for her solo work, for her albums with her then husband John Martyn (as John & Beverley Martyn), and for her collaborations with Levon Helm, Jimmy Page, Dave Pegg, Richard Thompson, John Renbourn, Ralph McTell, Davy Graham, and Sandy Denny. While still a student, she was picked to front The Levee Breakers, a jug band who played the folk circuit in South East England. At the age of 16 she recorded her first single "Babe I'm Leaving You" which was released on the Parlophone label in 1965. She was then signed as a solo artist to the Deram Records label, releasing singles under the mononym Beverley. On her 1966 single, "Happy New Year" (b-side "Where The Good Times Are"), written by Randy Newman, she was accompanied by Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Nicky Hopkins. "Happy New Year" was chosen, together with "I Love My Dog" (by Cat Stevens), to launch Deram as the progressive branch of Decca Records. She also recorded an unreleased single in the same year, "Picking Up The Sunshine" / "Gin House Blues". During this period she was taught the guitar by the folk guitarist Bert Jansch who also encouraged her songwriting. Her follow-up single "Museum" (written by Donovan) was released in 1967, produced by Denny Cordell. Closely involved with the folk scene at the time, she met Paul Simon who invited her to New York where she contributed to the track "Faking It" on the Simon & Garfunkel album, Bookends--she's the one who says in the middle of the song: "Good morning, Mr Leitch, have you had a busy day." She later appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival on June 16, 1967, as did Simon & Garfunkel. In 1969 she met, and later married, John Martyn. As a duo (John & Beverley Martyn) they issued two albums, Stormbringer! and The Road to Ruin, both of which were released on Island Records. Following The Road to Ruin, Island persuaded John Martyn to resume his career as a solo artist because they believed that there was more public interest in solo singer/songwriters. Although she was spending more time with her children, she continued to contribute to his solo projects. However, his physical violence towards her led to the breakdown of the marriage. The couple divorced during the making of John's album Grace and Danger in 1980, and Beverley retired from the music industry for a number of years. She was interviewed in 2004 for a BBC documentary about John Martyn and, despite the decades since their marriage ended, the conflicted feelings as regards her ex-husband was there for all to see. In the 1990s, with her children now grown up, she was invited to join Loudon Wainwright III on his European tour. In 2001 she resumed her recording career with the release of the album No Frills. In 2004 Beverley's song ‘Primrose Hill’ about the simple joys of domesticity, which she wrote and sang on ‘Road To Ruin’ was sampled by Fat Boy Slim for the track ‘North West Three' which is on his 2004 album ‘Palookaville.’ At various times, Martyn worked with Levon Helm, Jimmy Page, Dave Pegg, Richard Thompson, John Renbourn, Ralph McTell, Davy Graham, and Sandy Denny. She appeared in the photograph on the album sleeve of Bert Jansch's 1965 album It Don't Bother Me; where she can be seen lounging in the background. On 3 December 2013, she performed the song "Levee Breaks" with her band at the concert 'A Celebration Of Bert Jansch' at London's Royal Festival Hall, alongside Robert Plant, Donovan and various members of Pentangle, amongst others. The concert was broadcast by BBC Four in the UK on 28 March 2014 under the name The Genius of Bert Jansch: Folk Blues and Beyond. Martyn released a new album in 2014 entitled The Phoenix and The Turtle, the opening track being a previously unrecorded Nick Drake and Martyn song, "Reckless Jane". The album features bass by Matt Malley (Counting Crows), drums by Victor Bisetti (Los Lobos), acoustic guitars by Mark Pavey, electric guitars by Jakob Nebel (Livingston) and Michael Watts, and strings by Owain Roberts.
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