Singer-guitarist John Martyn dies at 60; John Paul Jones sat in with him a year ago

It did go unnoticed at LedZeppelinNews.com a year ago when John Paul Jones paid tribute to John Martyn upon the occasion of the singer-songwriter and guitarist's Lifetime Achievement award, presented at the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards on Feb. 4, 2008.

But it is mentioned now, upon the occasion of John's Martyn's passing earlier today. He was 60.

From what I can glean, the man's music defied categorization, which is something I have always admired about Led Zeppelin's music as well. I wasn't familiar with John Martyn's work, but leave it to John Paul Jones to select a good muse.

Jones showed up at the event to present the Musician of the Year award to melodeon player Andy Cutting, but the Led Zeppelin multi-instrumentalist stuck around to sit in with John Martyn's band and lend his mandolin for two songs, "Over the Hill" and "May You Never."

Phil Collins presented Martyn that night with the annual Lifetime Achievement award. Collins had assisted Martyn by producing two of his solo albums, Grace and Danger in 1980 and Glorious Fool in 1981.

As the Folk Awards evening went on, Martyn appeared to be in a jovial mood, resting his award on top of his head while an interviewer and film crew tried to maintain a serious composure, surveying him about his thoughts on the evening's festivities. At the mention of John Paul Jones's name, Martyn lost balance and the award slipped off his head.

Jones, meanwhile, said he was glad to be at the awards and have the opportunity to follow Martyn's footsteps and become immersed in the contemporary folk music scene.

Below is a classic performance of "May You Never" from 1973, with Martyn performing it on The Old Grey Whistle Test, in support of his album Solid Air.



Eric Clapton covered "May You Never" on his 1978 album, Slowhand. Clapton later appeared on Martyn's aforementioned Glorious Fool album.

Below is a photo of Martyn's onstage performance with John Paul Jones at the Folk Awards on Feb. 4, 2008. Both of the songs Martyn and Jones performed at the Folk Awards were from that album.

Guitar innovator Davy Graham dies at 68; popularized tuning that inspired Zeppelin's 'Kashmir'

Guitarist Davy Graham, a contemporary of Jimmy Page's and whose work inspired him, died yesterday, Dec. 15. A note posted at his official Web site, www.DavyGraham.com, says:

"It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Davy died yesterday amongst friends and family from a massive seizure at home after a short battle with lung cancer. There will be a private family funeral held in the next few days and a public memorial in January; details of which will be available at www.lescousins.co.uk shortly. Davy will be missed by those of us who loved him. The many fans who came to see his last concerts gave him much joy and satisfaction and was something he drew great strength from. Messages of condolence can be sent via davygraham@lescousins.co.uk."

Graham was 22 years old when he was performing a piece titled "She Moved Through the Fair." Its melody was derived from a traditional Irish tune and sometimes credited to Herbert Hughes. Graham adapted it to the acoustic guitar, playing it in the alternate guitar tuning DADGAD. In live versions, he sometimes combined it with another piece, "Blue Raga." One recording of this made in London in May 1963 was released that year on a four-song EP on the Decca label, called The Thamesiders and Davy Graham: From a London Hootenanny.

Upon hearing Graham's "She Moved Through the Fair," anyone familiar with Page's guitar instrumental "White Summer" would recognize the influence immediately upon hearing that piece. (Graham's original recorded version can be found among the bonus tracks on this remastered version of his first album, Folk, Blues & Beyond....)

Page would very soon be getting into session work in London at that time, and so it would take a few more years for his developing guitar style to manifest itself in front of a wide audience. In the final days of April 1967, when the Yardbirds were spending some time at De Lane Lea Studios in London, Page took the opportunity to record his own arrangement of the same guitar instrumental, which he was now calling "White Summer." Over two days, Page recorded it once on electric and another time on acoustic. A studio musician by the name of Chris Karan provided the exotic tabla drums on this studio effort. (Page's original released version can be found on the Yardbirds' Little Games; the other take can be found on the Yardbirds' outtakes collection, Cumular Limit.)

Page was using the DADGAD tuning, which was becoming common primarily among folk guitarists at the time since Graham's first use of it early in the 1960s. Among rock guitarists, this alternate tuning was unheard of. For the most part, it has stayed this way, but Page went on throughout his career to contribute some of those few exceptions.

The next one was recorded the following year, with Page on acoustic again and assisted by another session tabla player, this time Viram Jasani. That track was "Black Mountain Side," released on Led Zeppelin's first album. When Page played it live with Led Zeppelin, he inserted it into his longer solo showcase of "White Summer," adding rhythmic support from drummer John Bonham. One live version of the two was broadcast live on BBC Radio One's "Playground Theatre" in June 1969, with that performance finally seeing its release on Led Zeppelin's four-CD box set in 1990.


The live performance of "White Summer" and "Black Mountain Side" shown above is taken from the Led Zeppelin performance on Jan. 9, 1970, at the Royal Albert Hall in London. It was included on Led Zeppelin's DVD in 2003.

Page turned to DADGAD again in the 1973/1974 recording sessions for Physical Graffiti. This time, it provided him with two completely original compositions, the better known being "Kashmir." That song, originally included on Physical Graffiti in 1975, is on the above-mentioned box set as well as nearly every Led Zeppelin compilation released since then. A remarkable live version recorded at the Knebworth Festival in 1979 was released on DVD in 2003 and is included below.


The other of Page's two known DADGAD compositions from the mid 1970s was then called "Swan Song," although at the time it did not survive beyond the demo stage. Page revisited it nearly a decade later, by which time Led Zeppelin had disbanded. Then collaborating with Paul Rodgers who helped to provide lyrics, they called their shaping composition "Bird on the Wing" in their early performances of it in 1983. Again, the piece was later retitled, this time to "Midnight Moonlight," in time for its first official release on record. It was included on the self-titled debut album of Page's band with Rodgers, The Firm. A live version is included below.


Davy Graham was not responsible for inspiring every note of Page's work on these songs, but without his influence, Page would not have developed these songs as easily. Graham's death, reported today, must deliver some sadness to Page, who recently mourned the passing of his one-time bandmate, drummer Michael Lee.

As further information becomes available about the public memorial currently being planned for Graham, LedZeppelinNews.com will deliver it.

Sad news: Drummer Michael Lee has died

I've just learned of the unexpected passing of drummer Michael Lee, who collaborated with Jimmy Page and Robert Plant on tour and in the studio for several years.

Michael drummed for Robert Plant beginning with the recording of his 1993 album Fate of Nations. He can be heard on that album's "Memory Song (Hello Hello)" and "Network News."

Robert Plant asked him to go on tour as the drummer for his tour, and he gladly accepted. They spent some time opening for Lenny Kravitz on that tour. Led Zeppelin's singer was closing his sets with "Whole Lotta Love," and Michael Lee was a major part of it all.

A keen sense of timing is one thing a good drummer should have. Michael's was great since Robert Plant's next career move was to reteam with Jimmy Page. Half of Led Zeppelin was playing regularly for the first time in 15 years and, Michael was along for the ride. He drummed for the Unledded sessions and promoted the No Quarter album release with Page and Plant.

As Page and Plant then took their band on tour for the next year, Lee may have been the world's most-watched drummer. They trotted across the globe and packed houses while they put a new twist on Led Zeppelin's music with local orchestras and an assembly of Lebanese, Egyptian and Moroccan musicians. But when they were just a fourpiece playing Led Zeppelin songs, they were very much like Led Zeppelin.



Whoever filmed this rare live rendition of "Achilles Last Stand" played in Atlanta in 1995 liked getting shots of Michael Lee's rat-a-tat-tat.


The one thing Page and Plant hadn't done with their new group that whole time was write some new material. Finally, Michael got the chance to participate in some songwriting sessions in 1997. As a result, he and bassist Charlie Jones are credited alongside Page and Plant as co-writing every song on Walking into Clarksdale. The scaled-down fourpiece band embarked on a tour in 1998 to support this album.

The two times I saw Michael Lee play live were during this tour, on July 7 and 10. Thanks to some videos, I've also been able to enjoyed several other shows with Michael Lee on drums. My favorite memory of his drumming is how he threw himself into the quick drum solo at the end of "Rock and Roll" so much that he once accidentally hit his forehead with a drum stick. Then he was joking about it before the next show to fans, and he jokingly compared the lump on his head to the ones Bugs Bunny would get in the cartoons.

It was just before some 1999 tour dates that Robert Plant slipped away from Page and took Charlie Jones with him. Michael Lee evidently stayed with Jimmy Page, as Lee was there for the very next live appearance with Page, which took place in October 1999 at Net Aid. They unveiled a new instrumental at that show, "Domino," and to this date, it stands as the only original number Page has released since Walking into Clarksdale. Since Michael Lee was there for that too, it's pretty clear how important he was in the ongoing story of Led Zeppelin's former members in the 1990s.

Michael Lee, also known as Michael Gary Pearson, will be missed.