Lord knows you're trying to POLL me: John Martyn One World

anyway I'm quite sure which song is gonna win but I'm voting for one of the dark horses instead.

Greatest album ever.

Impossible

love this record

Greatest album ever.

― Malevolent Arugula (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, August 10, 2022 6:55 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

Impossible

― J. Sam, Wednesday, August 10, 2022 7:48 PM

agreed all around.

and yet, it's "small hours" without even a second thought.

Really it is "Small Hours", but I still went for "Dancing"

At the very least, this is a top 20 or maybe top 10 greatest album ever for me

i almost went for "big muff" because lee scratch perry.

uk mix or us mix????

i like how varied this album gets stylistically, or at least varied within the dubby island vibe that ties it all together, it's like walking down a beach and hearing different music emanating from the houses nearby

suppose this is why the sides are divided into day and night

It's Martyn's one world, we just live in it.

Will go for "Couldn't Love You More" with the proviso that the version of it on Glorious Fool is better.

Voted title track even though the correct answer is Small Hours

couldn't decide so I'm playing it now ... might be "Big Muff" for me!

but "Couldn't Love You More" — oh man.

this album is so good

suppose this is why the sides are divided into day and night

A great detail which usually goes unnoticed! (Then again many at the time missed the 'A' and 'B')

I should probably read fewer books about music/musicians. I've always loved One World but it's hard to listen to it (and any of John Martyn's albums) after reading the account of him brutalizing his wife at Compass Point in the Chris Frantz memoir.

yeah personally I can’t really listen to him anymore, I went through a huge JM period in my early 20s. I like “dancing” best these days… “couldn’t love you more” kills me, it sounds like a breakup song to me for some reason?

Those accounts are very upsetting. I don't know much about it in detail, just know that Martyn was no saint especially around that period of drink and drugs. But the truth is that I'm probably desensitized after reading about innumerable other musicians who I can't really remove from my life.=

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I've only heard Solid Air before. I've now listened to One World four times this week and had a different favourite song each time. It pulls the interesting trick of hanging together despite covering a fairly wide genre range. Right now, I'll vote for "Dealer".

While the Chris Frantz reminiscences are indeed awful there's also this story, about him and Danny Thompson on tour https://www.johnmartyn.info/sleevenotes/martyn-lore

"We used to drink a great deal together. I got really drunk one night and woke up and he had nailed me under the carpet. I couldn't move my hands or feet. I was very dry and had a hangover and I said Danny, please... get me, get me a drink. So he stepped over my helpless body, went to the phone and in a very loud voice said, can I have a glass of orange juice for one, please. Breakfast for one, please. I was screaming blue murder by this time. I was furious! He met the guy in the hall, so the guy couldn't get into the room and see what was happening. He sat in front and downed the orange juice and had the breakfast." - John

The fishing story's too long to bother pasting in but also worth a read.

Everyone is correct that the answer to this poll is either “small hours” or impossible, so I went for “dancing”

I adore "Dancing" and this entire album but - yeah - "Dancing".

I almost voted for "Dancing" but went for the title track instead, because I find the phrase "fancy pantsin'" really off-putting for some reason

lol that is fair

'Dealer' is one of my all-time favourites - it has this brooding intensity and some great guitar licks while staying within the spacy feel of the rest of the album.

Clapton's solos on the 1981 'Couldn't Love You More' remind me of Glenn Frey's soloing on 'I Can't Tell You Why'.

uk mix or us mix????

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, August 11, 2022 11:18 AM (six days ago) bookmarkflaglink

I haven't done a proper A/B of the two mixes, but I'd probably go for the UK just based on "Big Muff" which has a completely different drum track on each mix. The UK mix has that ethereal blend of drum machine + understated drums w/snare hits on the rim, while the US mix mostly eliminates the drum machine in favor of a relatively overstated funk beat that comes off as clumsy to my ears

i think i prefer the uk mix too! just fyi to anyone who's listening to the two disc special edition of one world: that's the us mix

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Went for the title track as I love the Eddie Hazel vibes on it and I think I’ve overdone ‘Small Hours’ but v difficult…’Certain Surprise’ rocks too inc George Chisholm ‘bone solo

John Martyn "The Island Years" brilliant & massive 17CD + 1DVD box set, genius at work @JohnMartynCom pic.twitter.com/2gjqbmax5m

— Observations of Deviance AntiFascist (@AtBestIsKorny) December 3, 2014

Now the whole(?) thing is on YT, including two complete unreleased live shows & gobs of outtakes @JohnMartynCom https://t.co/QG7Vqw3wSG

— Observations of Deviance AntiFascist (@AtBestIsKorny) September 15, 2015

Definitely the UK mix yea

"Smiling Stranger" could have gotten a vote. One of my top four or five. Love the liquid dub-meets-Whitfield stringsiness, reminds me of David Essex's "Rolling Stone"

[And yes Massive Attack and all that to go here]

yay, "big muff" got a vote!

wasn't me tho

I almost voted for "Dancing" but went for the title track instead, because I find the phrase "fancy pantsin'" really off-putting for some reason

― J. Sam, Wednesday, August 17, 2022 2:48 PM

literally favorite part of the song

Dancin

DANCIN

DAAAANCIN

DAAAAAANCIIIIIIN

*falls back into echoplex guitar*

is mine