Returning to his form of several releases ago, John Martyn found good things to convey to the listener here. The classic love song "Never Let Me Go" is worth the price of admission here alone, but the rest of the cuts have something to recommend them also. Too bad Well Kept Secret turned out to be only a lost, rough-cut gem.

The Island Years is the most exhaustive career retrospective from one of Britain’s most original and enduring singer/songwriters. Housed in an LP size hard-back slip case, this lavish box set including: 17 CDs featuring 12 key studio albums, recorded for Island between 1967 and 1987, now with previously unreleased mixes, Out-Takes, unheard songs and 2 complete, previously unreleased live solo concerts from 1972 and 1977 and the complete demos for The Apprentice, the last album Martyn delivered to Island. A hard-back book featuring a new essay by The Island Years compiler and researcher John Hillarby plus rare and previously unseen photographs and extensive memorabilia.

London Conversation is the first album by John Martyn released on Island Records in 1967. Largely self-penned, the album is much more folk oriented than the Blues/Jazz tinged later releases. The album reputedly cost £158 to record. The cover photo was taken on the roof of Island Records boss Chris Blackwell's Cromwell Road flat. In 1967, John Martyn became the first white solo act to sign with Island Records. While this is notable in the history of the label, his initial release, London Conversation, on the other hand, stands as a mere footnote. The record, though incorporating touches of blues and his characteristic guitar and vocal, doesn't really prepare you for what's to come from Martyn.

A wonderful collection of songs that deserves to be heard, No Little Boy serves as a sort of greatest-hits package for John Martyn, and also makes an excellent introduction to the music of this unique performer. This album is made up of newly re-recorded versions of some of Martyn's finest material from throughout his career. With assistance from longtime fan and friend Phil Collins, and contributions from an all-star cast including vocalist Levon Helm of the Band, Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour, saxman Andy Sheppard, and others, Martyn delivers definitive takes on his catalog of folk- and jazz-flavored material, recorded with pristine clarity and crispness. His trademark vocal slur is in evidence here, but the enunciation is more decipherable than on earlier recordings. This is beautiful, haunting, densely atmospheric, at times funky music.

Solid Air (whose title track was written for John Martyn's friend, songwriter Nick Drake) is one of the defining moments in British folk, in the same league as Fairport Convention's Liege & Lief, Richard & Linda Thompson's Shoot Out the Lights, and Michael Chapman's Rainmaker. Martyn stepped out of his comfort zone to record and produce it, including not only jazz and blues but rock and plenty of sound effects, and featuring Rhodes piano on some of its tracks, dismaying some fans while winning a ton more for its genre-blurring presentation. A number of its cuts – such as the title track, "Over the Hill," "I'd Rather Be the Devil," and "May You Never" – remained staples in his live sets until the end of his life. [This edition includes a live performance of "I'd Rather Be the Devil" as a bonus track.]

2006 CD featuring all 16 of the surviving sessions this Scottish-born Folk legend recorded for the Bob Harris and John Peel radio programs at the BBC between 1973 and 1978. Martyn began his career as a teen in the late '60s and has become one of the most innovative and influential artists to come from the original British Folk scene. Features rare versions of tracks from his Inside Out, Solid Air, Sunday's Child and One World albums including 'Inside', 'Beverley', 'May You Never', 'Fine Lines', 'My Baby Girl', 'Over the Hill', 'One Day (Without You)' and more.

Bless the Weather is a 1971 album by John Martyn and marks his return as a solo artist having released two albums with his wife Beverley Martyn. When it was released it garnered his best reviews to date, and remains a firm favourite among fans, featuring such standards as "Head and Heart" and the title track. The album is predominantly acoustic, although it does feature Martyn's first real 'echoplex' track in "Glistening Glyndebourne". Q magazine chose Bless the Weather among the dozen essential folk albums of all time in 1999. According to Q the album was recorded in just three days. In November 2007 Bless the Weather was included in a list by The Guardian newspaper entitled '1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die'.

Glasgow Walker is a 2000 album by John Martyn. It was his first album to be written on a keyboard rather than a guitar, after a suggestion from his friend Phil Collins. It contains a trip-hop song, "Cool In This Life", after John experimented with trip-hop on his earlier album And. Kathryn Williams is featured on backing vocals on "Can't Live Without" and "The Field of Play." The album was dedicated to Rod Woolnough.

Because Island Records didn't feel it was the right time for a live album, Martyn independently released this record from his home. The initial release was a limited edition of 10,000 (which Island did manufacture, though not distribute or promote) that was numbered and signed. Though the album shares its title with the famous Who live collection of the same name, the working title was "Ringside Seat" and photos of Martyn and bassist Danny Thompson in a boxing ring were even taken for a prospective cover, though never used. Recorded February 13, 1975 (the sleeve incorrectly states October), at Leeds University in the U.K., this is John Martyn at a peak in his career.

Three CD + NTSC/Region 0 DVD box set. Digitally remastered and expanded edition of John Martyn's 1990 album. Includes two bonus CDs plus a DVD that contains a concert recorded in March 1990 featuring guest David Gilmour. Includes an illustrated booklet with essay. With a career that had begun in the late 1960s and had produced a succession of excellent albums throughout the '70s and '80s, Martyn recorded 'The Apprentice' at the end of 1989 at a studio in Glasgow working with musicians including Foster Patterson (keyboards), Dave Taif-Ball (bass) and Aran Ahmun (drums) and guest saxophonist Andy Shepherd. The resulting album was a well-crafted work which was well-received by critics and fans alike. To promote the album, Martyn embarked on a UK tour which included a series of concerts at the Shaw Theatre in London. The concert on 31st March 1990 featured special guest David Gilmour of Pink Floyd. This Esoteric Recordings edition has been newly remastered and expanded to include two rare tracks issued as a single in 1990 along with two additional CDs of the concert at the Shaw Theatre and a DVD of the concert originally issued as The Apprentice In Concert.

John Martyn's follow-up to 1973's Inside Out is a much more song-oriented, less experimental effort which concentrates on the joys of home and family. Sunday's Child skillfully blends the sensual ("You Can Discover") with the sweet ("My Baby Girl"), the modern ("Root Love") with the traditional ("Spencer the Rover"), and the tormented ("Sunday's Child") with the satisfied ("Satisfied Mind," "Call Me Crazy") while retaining its cohesiveness. The record, his sixth on his own, shows the many facets of Martyn's playing, from his effects-driven electric guitar to his signature acoustic work, which can be both aggressive ("The Message") and gentle ("Lay It All Down"). This album contains a collection of strong original songs, as well as a pair of wonderful covers: the traditional British ballad "Spencer the Rover" and the country standard "Satisfied Mind." His last recording of new material for three years, Sunday's Child is a fine farewell to this period of Martyn's ever-changing career.

Though his reputation is based on folk music, in the 1990s John Martyn began saying he was "funky, not folky," and this album proves it. A heady brew of trip-hop, late-night jazz, and heavy rhythms, it was a step away from the primarily smooth jazz of his 1980s work and a quantum leap away from his 1960s and 1970s acoustic music. It's a successful venture, as Martyn's slurry impressionistic vocals were made for this kind of music…

Released five years after the performance from whence it came, Live is a decent if unessential album. Focusing primarily on songs from his later career, it's a very slick, keyboard-heavy collection. None of the songs add anything to previously released versions, though David Gilmour guests on "John Wayne" and "Look at That Girl" (which is about Martyn's daughter, who was in the audience)…