I had no idea what I was going to post tonight. Well, actually I had a vague idea of getting a shot of some blackberries and using them for the PAD Food Challenge as the hedgerows are laden with glistening fruit. So I was walking through the field with a macro lens on my camera when I looked up and saw this amazing rainbow. By the time I ran inside, changed my lens, and got back outside the rainbow had lost some of its intensity but was still pretty impressive although I don't think this shot does it justice.
Rainbows, of course, make me think of the song ' Over The Rainbow'. Not the Judy Garland version but that by the late great Scottish singer/songwriter John Martyn.
I count myself lucky to have seen him perform three times. The first time, over quarter a century ago, wasn't particularly memorable, or if it was memorable it was memorable for the wrong reasons. It was at a time when his heavy drinking and/or drug abuse made him an unreliable performer and he stumbled off stage after a disappointing set. I still loved his music and for many years lamented that I had no record player to play those classic LPs 'Grace and Danger', 'Solid Air' 'Sapphire', and 'Piece by Piece'. Eventually I got a remixed CD of many of his greatest songs as well as a re-issued copy of 'Solid Air'.
John moved to Ireland and in 2005 I saw him play twice in The Spirit Store in Dundalk. It's a wonderfully intimate venue, run by music-lovers for music-lovers, over-looking the harbour and mountains. The only trouble was the performance area is upstairs, and as John was in a wheelchair by that stage, a 'cherry-picker' had to be taken in to get him upstairs.
He was in great form and clearly enjoying himself. His voice and his guitar playing were as amazing as ever, and while the first gig had the edge over the second a few months later, both were truly memorable.
John died earlier year, on January 29th, aged 60.