Jam Sessions
Photographs by Martyn Goddard
Published by Ormond Yard Press in June 2021.
Jam Sessions, with photographs by Martyn Goddard, is the latest book from our publishing arm, Ormond Yard Press, and features the very best work from Martyn Goddard’s extensive Jam archives.
This beautiful signed and numbered limited edition book measures 12 x 12 inches and contains approximately 150 photographs and personal recollections from Martyn’s eight sessions with the Jam from 1977 to 1980. Many of the photographs have never been published before.
The signed hardcover book is housed in its own presentation box and is accompanied by a signed and numbered 12 x 12 inch limited edition photograph of The Jam selected by Martyn Goddard.
The edition size is small – just 350 individually signed and numbered books are available to collectors worldwide.
Clockwise from left: the book cover, the presentation box, the limited edition photograph.
More about the book
Jam Sessions — Photographs by Martyn Goddard is the definitive book of photographs from Martyn Goddard’s Jam archives. This is the first time that Martyn’s photographs of The Jam have been gathered together and presented in a single volume. Many of the photographs in this book were uncovered by Martyn during a comprehensive review of his archives during the Covid-19 lockdown, and are being published for the first time.
For avid consumers of Jam vinyl in the late seventies and early eighties, Martyn Goddard’s photographs need little introduction. His images appear on the cover of their first album, In The City, and their fifth, Sound Affects. In between, his photographs were used on the front covers of a flurry of picture sleeve singles: “All Around The World”,“The Modern World”, “News of The World”, “David Watts/ ‘A’ Bomb in Wardour Street”, “Down in the Tube Station at Midnight”, and finally “Strange Town”.
Jam Sessions presents the very best of his sessions with the band, supported by Martyn’s personal recollections, and his shoot journals, where he recorded the dates of his studio sessions. These journals provide a fascinating visual reference of the lighting set up and camera/ lenses he used, and also include some original polaroids taken by Martyn as part of the set up for the sessions. The polaroids are interesting historical documents, and while not capable of pin sharp enlargement because of their small original size (just 6 x 6 cm), they are an important part of the story.
For those growing up with the Jam, picture sleeves provided important visual references and studying them in detail was standard activity on release day. What was Paul Weller wearing? Where could you buy it? It all meant something when you were invested heavily in this band. By spending time with Martyn’s surviving archive, as presented in this book, we better appreciate his role in documenting the group’s image in this golden period marking their ascendancy on the UK music scene.
This is a limited edition hardcover book—just 350 individually signed and numbered copies are being offered to collectors worldwide. Each book is housed in a presentation box and is accompanied by a signed and numbered limited edition print of an image of The Jam from the David Watts cover session in 1978.
It has been a pleasure to work with Martyn on this book, and we hope you enjoy it.
“Most of the sessions with The Jam were held in my studio in Kensington Church Street, in West London. Bill Smith, who was the art director at Polydor Records looking after the Jam, would usually phone a few days before each shoot and I would make sure that I had the backgrounds and lighting equipment ready. My method of working at that time was to try and make the sessions quick and interesting, as young musicians often had a short attention threshold. It was up to me and Bill to know what we wanted to produce and then get on with it. With new wave bands, shoots rarely took all day.” Martyn Goddard.
Jam Sessions facts and figures
12 x 12 inch limited edition hardcover book, 84 pages on heavyweight 400gsm paper
Layflat presentation, so when open, double pages spreads lie completely flat and no images are lost in the central gutter
Approximately 150 photographs, many previously unpublished
A worldwide limited edition of 350 copies, each book signed and numbered by Martyn Goddard
Supplied with a limited edition 12 x 12 inch photograph, signed and numbered by Martyn Goddard
Book and photograph have matched edition numbers.
Book and photograph housed in black presentation box with inset image in lid.
No extra delivery costs for shipping to a UK mainland address.
The front cover of the book
The limited edition photograph
The limited edition photograph
Each book is accompanied by a signed and numbered limited edition photograph, which is suitable for framing.
The photograph has an image size measuring 11 x 10 inches (approx 28 x 25 cm) on 12 x 12 inch (approx 30 x 30 cm) paper.
The image chosen by Martyn Goddard is a previously unpublished photograph from his studio session for the “David Watts” single sleeve, taken in his studio in Kensington.
Each archival photograph is signed and numbered by Martyn on the front under the image area.
The book and the print have matched edition numbers.
If you would like us to organise framing please get in touch.
Spotlight on a session – News of the World
Shoot over, our heroes repair to Frank’s Café, just off Carnaby Street for a well-deserved breakfast.
The “News of the World” session took place on 9 February 1978, and was Martyn’s first shoot with the band outside the studio environment. Carnaby Street as a location made sense to everyone. It was central to the 1960s mod culture that Paul Weller was drinking in at the time, and Bruce Foxton had even penned a B-side titled “Carnaby Street” which appeared the back of their second single “All Around The World”.
Martyn recalls: “For the cover of “News of the World” the band wanted to continue the Carnaby Street theme so we met up in Soho early on a cold damp winter’s day. The plan was to shoot the group walking down the street towards the viewer—as if you were passing them in the street.”
“The dull weather wasn’t such a problem as Westminster Council had pedestrianised the street by covering the road surface with yellow, black and orange rubber flooring. The early start meant that there was just the odd fashion store assistant scurrying to work. Looking at the front cover image now I get the sense of the band split into two parts, with Paul on the left, slightly distanced from the rhythm section—almost as if he was travelling at a different speed.”
“The shoot was necessarily short due to the cold outdoor location and the group members complaining at the early start and lack of breakfast. As luck would have it I knew the area well because my father-in-law ran a business in adjacent Beak Street and he was the fount of all knowledge when it came to local cafés. I led the way to Frank’s Café just around the corner in Lexington Street, where I shot one of the most informal and interesting rolls of 35mm film of the band. Paul sat on the right, again slightly separated from the others, having a cup of tea and a smoke, while Rick and Bruce tucked into a full English.”
Martyn Goddard
Martyn Goddard began taking photographs at school, building a darkroom in his parents’ bathroom. He went on to study photography at Harrow College of Art, where he refined his technique and, as he puts it “learned how to take pictures”. After graduating in 1974 he assisted various leading photographers, including renowned music photographer Gered Mankowitz, before going freelance.
He became part of the new wave music scene of the late-seventies, shooting artists such as Blondie, The Jam, Sham 69, Ian Dury and The Cure. He went on to work with more mainstream acts such as Genesis, Queen, Wham! (touring China with them) Elton John and U2. Towards the end of the seventies he was invited to contribute to The Sunday Telegraph Magazine where he was assigned portrait and feature shoots with some of the great writers, artists, actors and politicians. At the same time he was also contributing to the iconic Car magazine, producing automotive and travel stories. In recent years he has moved to a digital platform, becoming an active photo-blogger and content provider, producing travel features and images for media groups in the UK, Europe and USA, in addition to cataloguing and preserving his extensive archive of musicians.
He has contributed to or staged several photography exhibitions including Blondie in Camera in 1978 and The Jam About the Young Idea in 2015. He has published two book combining his images of musicians and motors, Rock ‘n’ Roll and Fast Cars, (Volumes 1 and 2). As Martyn explains: “As a freelancer I have always had the freedom to work for an array of interesting magazines and record labels. It has been an extension of my teenage dreams of music and fast cars that my chosen profession has given me the ability to be a part of both worlds, as I can’t play a note of music and only managed fourth place in my ten-year career as a historic rally driver.”
His collaborator on the Jam sessions that are featured in this book, Bill Smith, said “Martyn has always been terrific to work with, and after the first Jam session we worked on many, many album and single covers together—very successfully in my opinion. In a strange way we complemented each other in our working styles. His work is testament to his vigilant eye for detail and meticulous preparations. Too many people think photography is just clicking the shutter and hoping for the best. Martyn belies this notion, which is why he is still working all these years later.”
In recognition of his work, Martyn became a Fellow of the British Institute of Professional Photography in 1987.
Martyn Goddard
Jam Sessions
Photographs by Martyn Goddard
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