Folk/Rock - When John Martyn died earlier this year he left behind a rich legacy of pioneering music that spanned British folk, rock, jazz and psychedelica - sometimes at the same time. Signed in the late '60's as the first white artist on the then fledgling reggae label Island Records, Martyn began his career as a traditional Brit-folk troubadour. But by the early 70's it was obvious that he was, through his own exploration of mind expanding drugs and a desire to put his bluesy folk songs in a more experimental, progressive framework, moving into some new and exciting territory.

One of the first to work with electronic effects and the process of looping repeated, layered instrumental passages, Martyn turned albums such as 1973's groundbreaking Solid Air and Inside Out into mind-bending, often stark, simply beautiful works that, like most classic albums, transcend genres. With his slightly slurred delivery and husky rasp, Martyn's singing, like almost everything else about his music, was unlike anything else at the time (or since). Along with celebrated U.K. folk icon Nick Drake, a friend to whom he dedicated the song "Solid Air", Martyn helped rewrite the book on what it meant to make acoustic music, not only in England but everywhere.

Martyn's seminal 36-year-old Solid Air is released here August 11 in an expanded 2-disc set with a full second CD of alternate takes (the entire album, actually), previously unreleased songs and demos and three live tracks. Listen to the modern standard "May You Never" and the title track and find out why Magnet calls Martyn "one of the greatest singers of the 20th century." (And check out the amazing 1973 video of "May You Never" after the jump...)

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