One World is a 1977 album by John Martyn. One of his more experimental works, it features atmospheric, reggae

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...

 influenced rhythms and free-flowing, jazzy arrangements. Acclaimed for its collaborative spirit, the album includes contributions from Lee Perry on "Big Muff", and Steve Winwood

Steve Winwood

Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...

 (keyboards). Contemporary reviews were positive, with the NME declaring the album "mean, moody and magnificent". The album is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die

1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...

by Robert Dimery. When selecting Martyn as part of a "100 Great Voices" feature, Mojo

Mojo (magazine)

MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...

chose the title track as an example of his talent.

The album is notable for parts of it having been recorded outdoors. In particular, Small Hours was recorded late at night in the English countryside. The sweeping soundscapes on the album are partly due to the consequential presence of ambient sounds (such as water from a nearby lake) and natural reverb. "Small Hours" was later reworked by Martyn into the track "Anna" as the haunting backdrop for Esben Storm

Esben Storm

Esben Storm was a Danish-born Australian actor, screenwriter, television producer and director, well known for his work with Australian children's program Round the Twist. He worked to adapt John Marsden's Tomorrow series but lost the rights to the film...

's 1978 Australian film production of In Search of Anna. This version of "Anna" also appears on Martyn's live album Live At The Bottom Line, New York, 1983.

Martyn later re-recorded the acoustic ballad "Couldn't Love You More" in a rock arrangement for his 1981 album Glorious Fool

Glorious Fool

Glorious Fool is a 1981 studio album by musician John Martyn. After a long association with Island Records, this was Martyn's first album for WEA. The album was produced by Phil Collins and engineered by Nick Launay and Steve Travell. The album is named for the title track satirizing Ronald...

. The song, in its various forms, would remain a fixture of Martyn's live performances. Irish Musician Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Hannigan

Lisa Margaret Hannigan is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician. For several years she was a member of Damien Rice's band before beginning her solo career in 2008. She has been the recipient of various award nominations and critical praise both in Ireland and the USA...

 has described the song as one of her favourites, covering the song with Faultline

Faultline (musician)

Faultline is an electronic music project centred on producer David Kosten.This UK act's enigmatic music has background death threats, Dennis Hopper dialogue and cover versions sung by rock stars. Faultline is the recording moniker for David Kosten, who claims to have turned to samplers and...

 in 2006.

Whilst touring, Martyn's gig at the Collegiate Theatre, University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

 was filmed by the BBC and transmitted on The Old Grey Whistle Test on 10 January 1978. In January 1978, Island released "Dancing" / "Dealer" as a single. The album charted at #54 on its UK release.

In 2004, a remastered Deluxe Edition of the album was released. It consisted of the original studio album in remastered form and a bonus disc collating previously unreleased live recordings from Martyn's summer 1978 concert at Regents Park. The remaining bonus tracks were studio outtakes, previously available on the scarce 1999 release "Another World".

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Martyn; except where indicated

1. "Dealer" – 4:58
2. "One World" – 4:10
3. "Smiling Stranger" – 3:29
4. "Big Muff" (Martyn, Lee Perry) – 6:30
5. "Couldn't Love You More" – 3:07
6. "Certain Surprise" – 3:52
7. "Dancing" – 3:43
8. "Small Hours" – 8:45

Deluxe Edition Track listing

Disc 1 (Original Album remastered)

1. "Dealer" - 4:59
2. "One World" - 4:04
3. "Smiling Stranger" 3:30
4. "Big Muff" - 6:32
5. "Couldn't Love You More" - 3:08
6. "Certain Surprise" - 3:52
7. "Dancing" - 3:56
8. "Small Hours" - 8:44

Disc 2

1. "Certain Surprise" (Live) - 3:06
2. "Couldn't Love You More" (Live) - 3:12
3. "One World" (Live) - 5:20
4. "Dealer" (Live) - 6:11
5. "Small Hours" (Live) - 7:23
6. "Black Man At Your Shoulder" - 5:54
7. "Dealer" (Alternate Version #1) - 4:31
8. "One World" (Alternate Version) - 4:06
9. "Smiling Stranger" (Instrumental) - 4:43
10. "Big Muff" (Alternate Version) - 6:47
11. "Certain Surprise" (Alternate Version) - 4:48
12. "Dancing" (Alternate Version) - 3:44
13. "Big Muff" (Drum Machine Version) - 4:53
14. "Dealer" (Alternate Version #2) - 4:56
15. "Small Hours" (Instrumental) - 10:20

Personnel

• John Martyn - vocals, guitar, harmonica
• John Field - flute
• Steve Winwood
  Steve Winwood
  Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
  
   - bass, electric piano, Moog synthesiser
• Dave Pegg
  Dave Pegg
  Dave Pegg is an English multi-instrumentalist and record producer, arguably most visible as a bass guitarist. He is the longest-serving member of the pre-eminent electric folk band Fairport Convention and has been bassist with a number of important folk and rock groups including The Ian Campbell...
  
   - bass
• Neil Murray
  Neil Murray (British musician)
  Philip Neil Murray is a Scottish bass player, best known for his work in Whitesnake and Black Sabbath.-Early days:Originally a drummer, Murray formed his first band with school friends in 1967 and his musical tastes were heavily influenced by the mid-1960s 'blues boom' bands and musicians,...
  
   - bass
• Andy Newmark
  Andy Newmark
  Andrew "Andy" Newmark is an American musician, best known as a popular session drummer, and for playing with the funk band Sly & the Family Stone from 1972 to 1973....
  
   - drums
• Morris Pert
  Morris Pert
  Morris David Brough Pert was a Scottish composer, drummer/percussionist, and pianist who composed in the fields of both contemporary classical and jazz-rock music...
  
   - percussion
• Harry Robinson - strings
• Hansford Rowe
  Hansford Rowe (musician)
  Hansford Rowe is a fusion bass guitarist.Basically a self-taught musician, Rowe played bass in a local New York City band in jazz clubs until he met drummer Pierre Moerlen...
  
   - bass
• Bruce Rowland
  Bruce Rowland (drummer)
  Bruce Rowland is an English rock drummer best known for his memberships of The Grease Band and folk rock band Fairport Convention. He is also a prolific session musician.-Early career:...
  
   - drums
• Kesh Sathie - tabla
• Danny Thompson
  Danny Thompson
  Daniel Henry Edward 'Danny' Thompson is an English multi-instrumentalist best known as a double bassist and businessman...
  
   - bass
• John Stevens
  John Stevens (drummer)
  John William Stevens was an English drummer. He was one of the most significant figures in early free improvisation, and a founding member of the Spontaneous Music Ensemble .-Biography:Stevens was born in Brentford, the son of a tap dancer...
  
   - drums
• George Lee - saxophone
• Rico Rodriguez
  Rico Rodriguez
  Rico Rodriguez MBE , also known as Reco or El Reco, is a ska and reggae trombonist. He has recorded with many producers, including Karl Pitterson, Prince Buster, and Lloyd 'Matador' Daley...
  
   - trombone
• Phil Brown - recording
• Cover art by Tony Wright

Recording History

The different mixes.
On initial LP release the album was issued in two distinct and separate mixes.
The two mixes were distributed thus: Europe and the UK, USA and Canada.
The track listing remains the same for both mixes but the audio is different, being the result of two entirely separate mix-down sessions from the master tapes.
Referred to henceforth as the 'UK' and the 'US' mixes.

Subsequent CD releases have used the UK version. The 'US' mix of One World has not been released on CD.

Every track on the album is mixed at least slightly differently between the two mixes but some tracks are much more noticeably different.
Three of the 'US' mixes appeared on the Electric John Martyn compilation: "Dancing" (U.S. mix); "Certain Surprise" (U.S. mix); "Dealer" (U.S. mix).
The 'US' mix of "Big Muff" Appeared on the B side of a promotional UK 12" of "Johnny Too Bad" taken from Grace and Danger.

No indication of the differences in mix were given on the LP sleeves.