(Art-Rock, Pop-Rock, Folk) [24/96] John Martyn - Grace and Danger [Simply Vinyl 180g LP / SVLP 174] (Phil Collins - Drums & Back-up vocals) - 1980, FLAC (tracks+.cue)

John Martyn, OBE (Order of the British Empire), (11 September 1948 – 29 January 2009), born Iain David McGeachy, was a British singer-songwriter and guitarist. Over a forty-year career he released twenty studio albums, working with artists such as Eric Clapton, David Gilmour. He has been described by The Times as "an electrifying guitarist and singer whose music blurred the boundaries between folk, jazz, rock and blues".- Wiki

"Following a short layoff, John Martyn returned with his 12th record (including two with wife Beverley and a best-of collection), Grace & Danger. The album, which finds Martyn fronting a tight quartet featuring Phil Collins on drums and backing vocals, paints a stark, painful portrait of Martyn and Beverley's crumbling marriage. Close friend and Island Records president Chris Blackwell reportedly found the songs so personal and unsettling that he delayed its release for a year. Martyn sets a somber feel right from the start with the seductive opener "Some People Are Crazy" and carries it, for the most part, throughout the record. The hushed, tormented blues of "Hurt in Your Heart" the beautiful "Sweet Little Mystery" and the heartbreaking closer "Our Love" are a few of the highlights. With some of his clearest, strongest singing in years and a collection of terse, honest originals, as well as a cover of the Slickers' reggae classic "Johnny Too Bad" Grace & Danger shows John Martyn at the top of his game".- Brett Hartenbach