Editing John Martyn (section)

=== 1980s ===
Martyn's marriage broke down at the end of the 1970s and "John hit the self destruct button"<ref>{{Cite web|date=30 January 2009|title=The wild man of folk dies aged 60|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-wild-man-of-folk-dies-aged-60-1520400.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220613/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/the-wild-man-of-folk-dies-aged-60-1520400.html |archive-date=13 June 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=9 July 2020|website=The Independent|language=en}}</ref> (although other biographers, including ''The Times'' obituary writer, attribute the break-up of his marriage to his already being addicted to alcohol and drugs).<ref name="timesobit" /> In her autobiography, Beverley also alleges protracted domestic violence.<ref name="honesty">Beverley Martyn, Jacki Dacosta, ''Sweet Honesty – The Beverley Martyn Story''; {{ISBN|978-1-90721-188-1}}, Grosvenor, 2011</ref>  Out of this period, described by Martyn as "a very dark period in my life",<ref name="bio1980">{{cite web|url=http://www.johnmartyn.com/?location=/web/1980s|title=''John's Diary 1980s'' — Martyn's biography on his website|publisher=Johnmartyn.com|access-date=24 August 2012}}</ref> came the album ''[[Grace and Danger]]''. Released in October 1980, the album had been held up for a year by Chris Blackwell. He was a close friend of John and Beverley, and found the album too openly disturbing to release. Only after intense and sustained pressure from Martyn did Blackwell agree to release the album. Commenting on that period, Martyn said, "I was in a dreadful emotional state over that record. I was hardly in control of my own actions. The reason they finally released it was because I freaked: Please get it out! I don't give a damn about how sad it makes you feel—it's what I'm about: the direct communication of emotion. ''Grace and Danger'' was very cathartic, and it really hurt."<ref name="bio1980" />

In the late 1980s, Martyn cited ''Grace and Danger'' as his favourite album, and said that it was "probably the most specific piece of autobiography I've written. Some people keep diaries, I make records."<ref name="bio1980" /> The album has since become one of his highest-regarded, prompting a deluxe double-disc issue in 2007, containing the original album remastered.

[[Phil Collins]] played drums and sang backing vocals on ''Grace and Danger'' and subsequently played drums on and produced Martyn's next album, ''[[Glorious Fool]]'', in 1981. Martyn left Island records in 1981, and recorded ''Glorious Fool'' and ''[[Well Kept Secret (John Martyn album)|Well Kept Secret]]'' for [[Warner Music Group|WEA]] achieving his first Top 30 album.<ref name="timesobit" /> In 1983 Martyn released a live album, ''[[Philentropy]]'', and married Annie Furlong but the couple, who had lived in Scotland, later separated.<ref name="munro" /><ref name=":0" /> Returning to Island records, he recorded ''[[Sapphire (John Martyn album)|Sapphire]]'' (1984), ''[[Piece by Piece (John Martyn album)|Piece by Piece]]'' (1986) and the live ''[[Foundations (album)|Foundations]]'' (1987) before leaving the label in 1988.