''Grace and Danger'' is the eighth studio album by

John Martyn Iain David McGeachy (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), known professionally as John Martyn, was a Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a 40-year career, he released 23 studio albums, and received frequent critical acclaim. ...

, released on October 13, 1980 by Island Records.

Background

The album was written and recorded while John Martyn was in the process of divorcing his wife

Beverley Beverley is a market and minster town and a civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The town centre is located south-east of York's centre and north-west of City of Hull. The town is known fo ...

, and the songs strongly reflect the emotional upheaval that he was experiencing at the time. Martyn and Phil Collins forged a close friendship during the writing and recording of the album with both musicians going through painful divorces at the time - Collins played drums and provided backing vocals. In fact a strong kinship exists between ''Grace And Danger'' and Collins' contemporaneous album '' Face Value'', which also contained a strong narrative relating to relationship breakdown. The release of the album was delayed by Island Records for well over a year because Chris Blackwell, the label owner (and friend of both John and Beverley) found the album too depressing. Producer Martin Levan said of the delay that "the messages I was getting back was that Chris lackwellfelt it was too sad and he didn't want to put it out. He felt it too depressing and didn't want it released." Speaking in 1981, Martyn captured his frustration at the situation, "I freaked: 'Please get it out! I don't give a damn how sad it makes you feel - It's what I'm about: direct communication of emotion.'" When released, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' described the album as "a very strong outing for John Martyn, placing him in a class with such intelligent eclectics as

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

and Joni Mitchell." ''Grace and Danger'' was released in a deluxe edition in February 2007, which featured the original album remastered, with a second CD of demos and offcuts. The BBC Scotland programme ''Scotland's Music'', presented by Phil Cunningham included a performance of "Hurt In Your Heart" by Martyn during its November 2007 episode "Love & Loss". It was voted number 327 in

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

All Time Top 1000 Albums ''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by th ...

3rd Edition (2000). In the book he stated “Martyn shared the break-up of his marriage to Beverly with us, tearing open his heart and exposing all his emotions on record." The album cover was created by UK photographer/artist Sandy Porter.

Track listing

Deluxe edition track listing

Disc 1 #"Some People Are Crazy" – 4:19 #"Grace and Danger" – 4:02 #"Lookin' On" – 5:11 #"Johnny Too Bad" – 3:56 #"Sweet Little Mystery" – 5:28 #"Hurt In Your Heart" – 4:58 #"Baby Please Come Home" – 3:56 #"Save Some (For Me)" – 3:34 #"Our Love" – 3:57 #"Sweet Little Mystery" (''

Old Grey Whistle Test ''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...

'' performance, 10/01/81) - 4:56 #"Lookin' On" (''Old Grey Whistle Test'' performance, 10/01/81) - 5:10 #"Some People Are Crazy" (''

Rock Goes To College ''Rock Goes to College'' (RGTC) was a BBC series that ran between 1978 and 1981 on British television. A variety of up-coming rock oriented bands were showcased live from small venues and broadcast simultaneously on television and radio during ...

'' performance, 02/03/81) - 4:19 #"Grace and Danger" (''Rock Goes To College'' performance, 02/03/81) - 4:25 #"Save Some (For Me)" (''Rock Goes To College'' performance, 02/03/81) - 3:34 Disc 2 #"Small Hat" #"Johnny Too Bad" (First version) #"Running Up The Harbour" #"Sweet Little Mystery" (First version) #"Dead On Arrival" #"Some People Are Crazy" (First version) #"Baby Please Come Home" (First version) #"Grace And Danger" (First version) #"Hurt In Your Heart" (Instrumental) #"After Tomorrow Night" #"Our Love" (First version) #"Lilo Blondino" #"Johnny Too Bad" (Dub mix) Tracks 1-12 from CD2 recorded at Basing Street Studios, London, 29 March 1979. Tracks 4-6 were mixed there 4 June 1979. The rest 9 June 1979.

Personnel

;Original album *

- guitar, vocals *

Tommy Eyre Tommy Eyre (5 June 1949 – 23 May 2001) was an English session keyboardist from Sheffield, England, who appeared on records by Joe Cocker, John Martyn, Gary Moore, Michael Schenker, The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, Greg Lake, B.B. King, ...

- keyboards, synthesizers *

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and cont ...

- bass * Phil Collins - drums, backing vocals *Dave Lawson - additional synthesizers on "Some People Are Crazy", "Sweet Little Mystery" and "Baby Please Come Home" ;Other musicians, Deluxe Edition * Alan Thomson - bass on Disc 1, tracks 10-14 *Danny Cummings - percussion on Disc 1, tracks 10-14 * Jeff Allen - drums on Disc 1, tracks 12-14 ;Technical * Martin Levan - producer, engineer *Mark Freegard - assistant engineer *Bruno Tilley - design *Sandy Porter - photography

References

External links

The Official John Martyn Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grace And Danger John Martyn albums 1980 albums Island Records albums