Mark Murphy - Mark II

Mark Murphy’s 13^th album, and second for the Muse label, was recorded in December 1973, over a year after its predecessor, Bridging A Gap.  The record practically dispenses with the jazz vocal genre - that is to say, it does not swing in the least, there are no established jazz standards in the song selection.  Instead, singer and band smoulder through what is undoubtedly his most left-field album. 

The record opens with a moody reading of Chicken Road, a song made famous by country singer Tennessee Ernie Ford in 1955 (the original is more than worth tracking down - a slow, swirling trip of a record.  Seriously).

Otherwise, Mark II draws heavily on the work of contemporary singer-songwriters**.  Of special note are Stevie Wonder’s Looking For Another Pure Love (from Stevie’s October 1972 LP Talking Book); Joni Mitchell’s Barangrill (originally from her 1972 album For The Roses) and David Crosby’s Triad (first heard on Jefferson Airplane’s Crown Of Creation in 1968).

This model for song choice is maintained with James Griffin & Robb Royer’s Too Much Love and Truckin’ (both first heard on Bread’s 1971 album Manna) as well as two songs from The Band – Sleeping (from 1970’s Stage Fright) and The Unfaithful Servant (from 1969’s eponymous The Band). 

The two Mark Murphy originals - They and Lemme Blues – are both polished and late-night FM friendly tracks.  The former is pure 70s smooth funk with chord changes that would make Donald Fagen proud.  Lemme Blues is a spacious vehicle for John Tropea’s polished blues licks. Upon hearing these two songs, one wonders why Mark avoided including more of his own songs on later albums.

The album is a fascinating insight into what could (presumably) be found in Mark Murphy’s record collection in the early 1970s.  It would be easy to assume that his album shelf was dominated by Miles & Coltrane, but his taste in music clearly went well beyond post-bop.

Mark II is not fondly remembered – only two tracks were included on subsequent compilations, the album was practically ignored by the jazz dance cognoscenti; nonetheless it remains something of a hidden treasure. 

It would be four years before his next album on the Muse label.   Mark II, to the best of our knowledge, has never been issued on CD.  Whilst it is not the rarest of his albums, it is certainly hopelessly out-of-print. It is an indispensable part of his Muse catalogue.

Track listing

1.       Chicken Road

2.       Too Much Love

3.       The Unfaithful Servant

4.       Lookin' For Another Pure Love

5.       Barangrill

6.       Triad

7.       They

8.       Sleeping

9.       Lemme Blues

10.   Truckin'

The players

·         Ken Ascher – keys

·         John Tropea – guitar

·         Sam Brown – giotar

·         Mike Moore – bass

·         Jimmy Madison – drums

·         Susan Evans – percussion

·         David Matthews – arrangements

MR 5041 (1973)* 

download here

* As is common amongst certain jazz publications, we lean towards listing the recording date(s) rather than the year of issue. This is because it is not uncommon for jazz albums to remain on the shelf for years, if not decades, prior to release.  And what we are interested in (as far as jazzmen go) is where their heads were at when they cut the album. Or something like that.

**Dig the album sleeve – isn’t that a portrait of singer-songwriter James Taylor, rather than our hero?  I think we should be told.