Beverley Martyn (24 March 1947 – 27 April 2026)

Beverley Martyn - GUARDIAN obituary

 «I’d already been singing in folk and jazz clubs in Coventry – and my sister was always volunteering me to take a floor spot in the local folk and jazz clubs. When I came to London, I already had a voice – but mostly it was just a way to meet people. I went to all of the pubs and clubs – like Les Cousins, Bunjies Coffee House, The Troubadour and so on. I started to play regularly with a 12 string guitarist called John Joyce, who lived in Putney. We met this guy called Matt McGann, who played the tiple and a six string guitar – and then we met our jug player, who we all called Henry because he looked like Henry VIII, I don’t think I ever knew his real name, but I did come up with the band’s name The Levee Breakers because I was singing When The Levee Breaks a lot at the time» – 

 

«There was love there with John. It was the drink and the bad drugs, the very heavy ones, that changed his disposition – and they made life unbearable for anyone around him. I wouldn’t stay with a man who was killing himself»

 

– Beverley Martyn (24 March 1947 – 27 April 2026) 

Beverley Martyn Band: When The Levee Breaks