Grace and Danger

Background[edit]

The album was written and recorded while John Martyn was in the process of divorcing his wife Beverley, and the songs strongly reflect the emotional upheaval that he was experiencing at the time. Martyn and Phil Collins forged a close friendship during the writing and recording of the album with both musicians going through painful divorces at the time - Collins played drums and provided backing vocals. In fact a strong kinship exists between Grace And Danger and Collins' contemporaneous album Face Value, which also contained a strong narrative relating to relationship breakdown. The release of the album was delayed by Island Records for well over a year because Chris Blackwell, the label owner (and friend of both John and Beverley) found the album too depressing. Producer Martin Levan said of the delay that "the messages I was getting back was that Chris [Blackwell] felt it was too sad and he didn't want to put it out. He felt it too depressing and didn't want it released." Speaking in 1981, Martyn captured his frustration at the situation, "I freaked: 'Please get it out! I don't give a damn how sad it makes you feel - It's what I'm about: direct communication of emotion.'"


When released, Rolling Stone described the album as "a very strong outing for John Martyn, placing him in a class with such intelligent eclectics as Joan Armatrading and Joni Mitchell."^[5] Grace and Danger was released in a deluxe edition in February 2007, which featured the original album remastered, with a second CD of demos and offcuts. The BBC Scotland programme Scotland's Music, presented by Phil Cunningham included a performance of "Hurt In Your Heart" by Martyn during its November 2007 episode "Love & Loss".^[6] It was voted number 327 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums 3rd Edition (2000).^[7] In the book he stated “Martyn shared the break-up of his marriage to Beverly with us, tearing open his heart and exposing all his emotions on record." The album cover was created by UK photographer/artist Sandy Porter.