John Martyn

THERE AREN'T too many singers who've been shot, stabbed, burst their pancreas, and had their right leg amputated at the knee. Fewer still whose career has slalomed from Radio 1 to Radio 2 and now to Radio 3's delightfully eclectic late-night Sunday slot with Andy Kershaw. Where else would you put a Scottish crossover troubadour, jazznik, rocker and Godfather of Trip-Hop inspired by Saint-Saëns, Debussy and Fauré who cites Lee Perry's Roast Fish And Cornbread as the best record he's ever heard? As John Martyn's physical condition has plummeted, so has his cultural stock risen.