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artist · mark murphy
release · sugar of
year · 1997
genre · jazz+funk
label · uptight recordings
catalogue · uptight 19
website · n/a
date · 19-may-2004
quality · 203kbps/44,1khz
source · vinyl
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a1 do it again 5:46
a2 you got to my head 6:09
b1 is just talk (flytronix mix) 8:16
playtime · 00h 20m 11s
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mark murphy often seemed to be the only true jazz singer of his
generation. a young, hip, post-bop vocalist, murphy spent most of
his career sticking to the standards ù and often presented
radically reworked versions of those standards while many
submitted to the lure of the lounge singer ù during the
artistically fallow period of the 1970s and '80s. marketed as a
teen idol by capitol during the mid-'50s, murphy deserted the
stolid world of commercial pop for a series of exciting dates on
independent labels that featured the singer investigating his wide
interests: jack kerouac, brazilian music, songbook recordings,
vocalese, and hard bop, among others.
he grew up near syracuse, new york, born into an intensely musical
family (both parents sang). mark began playing piano as a child,
and studied both voice and theatre while at college. he toured
through canada with a jazz trio for a time and spent awhile back
home before he moved to new york in early 1954. a few television
appearances gained him a contract for decca records, and he
debuted with 1956's meet mark murphy. he released one more lp for
decca before signing to capitol in 1959. though label executives
often forced material (and an excessively clean-cut image) on the
young singer, he managed to distinguish himself with good sets of
standards, musical accompaniment furnished by west coast jazz
regulars, and a distinctive vocal style that often twisted lines
and indulged in brief scatting to display his jazz credentials.
he eventually released four lps for capitol, but never reached
popular audiences the way that the label intended. in 1961, murphy
recorded his first album for riverside, a set of standards and bop
vocals named rah! that gave a first glimpse at his ambition.
though the twenty-something murphy seemed a little young for a
saloon-song chestnut like "angel eyes," he performed quite well on
side two, styled after a lambert, hendricks & ross lp with vocal
covers of bop standards including "milestones" and annie ross'
"twisted." it and its follow-up, the themed lp that's how i love
the blues, included a top-notch backing group including jazz
heroes the likes of clark terry, snooky young, al cohn, bill evans
and blue mitchell. the records also displayed murphy's penchant
for trawling the entirety of the 20th-century popular/jazz
repertory for songs ranging from the slightly overdone to the
downright forgotten.
by the mid-'60s, murphy had begun to recognize his sizable
european fanbase. along with scores of american expatriates, he
spent many years in europe and didn't even issue his lps in
america during the rest of the '60s. instead, he recorded lps for
british labels including fontana and immediate (the latter run by
rolling stones manager andrew loog oldham). murphy also
collaborated with the clarke-boland big band for 1967's midnight
mood. his frequent nightclub performances and intimate stage
presence also earned rave reviews from jazz and vocal critics. by
the time of his return to america in the early '70s, murphy had
become a major name in vocal jazz.
with a contract from muse in hand, murphy began recording what
would become close to two dozen albums for the label, ranging from
earthy '70s dates with the brecker brothers to jack kerouac
tributes complete with spoken-word readings to a two-volume nat
king cole songbook series. during that period, murphy was one of
the only straight jazz vocalists (other than old-guard names like
sinatra and tormΘ) to actually make a living out of his craft. he
toured relentlessly as well, and remained as hip a name to drop in
1999 as he was in 1959.
uptight recordings is the label werner geier (aka demon flowers)
and rodney hunter; located in vienna, austria. included a nice
remix of flytronix..
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