Solid Air  by John Martyn

It took only eight days of November and December 1972 for the Scotsman John Martyn to record Solid Air, one of his best musical works. Solid Air was released in early 1973, produced by himself and John Wood, and is an album full of folk-rock songs with quite a few passages from folk jazz and psychedelia.

Among the musicians who helped John Martyn in the recording of the album was the virtuoso bassist Danny Thompson and some of the members of Fairport Convention. The eponymous song Solid Rock is dedicated to Martyn's friend Nick Drake. The compositions are exclusively written by John Martyn, except for I'd Rather Be the Devil, which is a cover of a song by bluesman Skip James.

The impressive cover of the album is an example of Schlieren photography that demonstrates the “solid nature” of the air around objects.