Beverley Martyn
| Beverley Martyn | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Beverley Kutner |
| Born |
March 24, 1947 Coventry, England |
| Genres | Folk, folk rock |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, guitarist |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Labels |
Island Records Voiceprint Records |
| Associated acts | John Martyn |
Beverley Martyn (born Beverley Kutner on 24 March 1947) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist.
Martyn was born near Coventry. While still a student, she was picked to front The Levee Breakers, a jug band featuring Mac McGann and Johnny Joyce, who played the folk circuit in south east England. At the age of 16 she recorded her first single. "Babe I'm Leaving You", which was released on the Parlophone label in 1965.
Martyn was then signed as a solo artist to the Deram Records label. In 1966 she released a single, "Happy New Year" (b-side "Where The Good Times Are"), written by Randy Newman, on which she was accompanied by Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Nicky Hopkins and Andy White. "Happy New Year" was chosen as the very first single release on the brand new Deram label, distributed by Decca Records, in 1966, catalogue number DM 101. The second single was the Cat Stevens hit, "I Love My Dog" {DM 102} which was a UK #28 the same year. (see references). She also recorded an unreleased single in the same year, "Picking Up The Sunshine" / "Gin House Blues". These last two tracks also featured John Renbourn and Mike Lease. During this period she was taught the guitar by the folk guitarist Bert Jansch who also encouraged her songwriting. Her follow-up single "Museum", written by Donovan was released in 1967, produced by Denny Cordell.
Closely involved with the folk scene at the time, she met Paul Simon who invited her to New York where she contributed to the track "Fakin' It" on the Simon & Garfunkel album Bookends on which she says in the middle of the song, "Good morning, Mr Leitch, have you had a busy day?" She later appeared at the Monterey Pop Festival on 16 June 1967, as did Simon & Garfunkel.
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