Customer Reviews

The Tumbler

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4 star:		(1)
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Young John Martyn, who started quite nicely in 1967 with London Conversation (quite possibly one of the best debuts by a 19-year-old folkie ever released), just got better with The Tumbler. Recorded during the late summer of 1968 and released in time for that Christmas, JM's second album was produced by Al Stewart, himself in the process of readying his own second album (the very good Love Chronicles), and some of the tracks I could easily imagine with Al's own vocals on them ("Dusty," which features the able flute-playing of the late Harold McNair, another early white signing to Island, comes to mind). JM's talent for interpreting American material ("Fishing Blues," "Goin' Down to Memphis," "Winding Boy") is also well-documented here, and he proves more than able to turn in a family-friendly track ("Knuckledy-Crunch and Slippledy-Slee Song") as well as something darker ("The Gardeners," with its pulp-horror images of demon gardeners).

Excellent as The Tumbler is, JM's pinnacle was yet to come--two fine albums with first wife Beverley and the hat-trick-plus of Bless the Weather, Solid Air, Inside Out and Sunday's Child. But all of this is worth checking out, as it cements John Martyn's reputation as a singer-songwriter and a really fine acoustic guitarist.

Being the first white musician on the Island label, John Martyn had a lot to live up to. His second album "The Tumbler" does just that and then some. His melodic folk/jazz/old time sound is just the thing to put you in a pleasant mood. This was just the beginning of Martyn's extensive career as an extremely influencing musician.

I strongly recommend this album to anyone interested in progressive rock and/or folk music. It is a must have.

John Martyn's second album "The Tumbler" was recorded a year after his first record "London Conversation". Martyn claims in the liner notes that he had only been playing the guitar for three months prior to recording "London Conversation", and the leap forward in his guitar skills is evident on "The Tumbler". There are many moments on these songs where Martyn's guitar playing can drop your jaw: the blinding fingerpicking combined with harmonics at the conclusion of "Goin' Down To Memphis", his spellbinding solo piece "A Day At The Sea", and his rapid fire combination of hammering and pulling off notes and detuning on "Seven Black Roses". Overall, his playing was worlds away from the more restrained yet still impressive "London Conversation". Vocally, Martyn was still singing in the more relaxed style that he had on his previous album, and had yet to push his voice to the rasp that he attained on later albums. In fact, one of my favorite songs off of "The Tumbler" is the bluesy "Winding Boy", simply because Martyn comes close at certain points to letting loose vocally but holds back; it makes me wonder when the point was that he realized what his voice was capable of. I have two complaints about this album though. I for one found the flute playing of Harold McNair on songs like "The River" and "Dusty" to be too high in the mix. Don't get me wrong, "The River" is a beautiful song, but the flute starts its riffing at the exact point that Martyn begins singing and distracts from Martyn's vocals as well as the gorgeous chord progression on the guitar. (Conversely, the flute part on "Fly On Home" was further back in the mix, and didn't sound so distracting to me.) Also, "Sing A Song Of Summer" with its whimsical vocal delivery and Martyn's nonsensical memories of his childhood on the sing songy "Knuckeldy Crunch and Slippledee-Slee Song" are two songs that I don't play much from this album, although Martyn's guitar work on both songs is excellent as always. Overall, "The Tumbler" captures a young man moving steadily forward in his artistry. Looking back on Martyn's career, it is amazing the leaps and bounds he made in a few short years.