Beverley Martyn (* 24 March 1947 near Coventry as Beverley Kutner; † 27 April 2026) was an English folk singer, songwriter and guitarist.

She released her first single in 1965 with the jug band "The Levee Breakers." Several solo singles followed under her first name, including "Happy New Year," written by Randy Newman. She met Paul Simon, with whom she moved to New York. She can be heard on the Simon & Garfunkel song "Faking It" from their 1968 album *Bookends*, where she says, "Good morning, Mr. Leitch, have you had a busy day?" On June 16, 1967, she performed at the Monterey Pop Festival, as did Simon & Garfunkel.

In 1969, she met John Martyn, whom she later married. As a duo, they released two albums in 1970, *Stormbringer!* and *The Road to Ruin*. John Martyn then resumed his solo career. The couple divorced in 1980, and Beverley Martyn retired from the music business.

She made a comeback in the 1990s. She toured with Loudon Wainwright III. Her album No Frills was released in 1998. In 2004, her song "Primrose Hill" was sampled by Fatboy Slim for his track "North West Three" on the album Palookaville.

Throughout her musical career, Beverley Martyn collaborated with numerous artists, including Levon Helm, Jimmy Page, Dave Pegg, Richard Thompson, John Renbourn, Ralph McTell, Davy Graham, and Sandy Denny. She appears on the cover of Bert Jansch's 1965 album It Don't Bother Me, who taught her to play guitar in the 1960s. She was friends with Nick Drake, who occasionally babysat for her. She co-wrote the song "Reckless Jane" with him, which was released on her 2014 album The Phoenix and the Turtle.[2] In 2018, Fly Records released the album *Where The Good Times Are* (“The Lost 1967 Album”), featuring some previously unreleased recordings from 1967.

She died in April 2026 at the age of 79.

THE LEVEE BREAKERS - Wild About My Loving - PARLOPHONE R5291 - UK 1965 Folk Dancer Beverley Martyn

Beverley - Museum