Mark Murphy - Four Classic Albums (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M / Let Yourself Go / Hip Parade / Rah) (Digitally Remastered) '2022

Tracks list

Tracklist:

1. Fascinating Rhythm (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (02:04)
2. A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M)
(03:53)
3. Give It Back to the Indians (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (03:18)
4. Guess I'll Hang My Tears out to Dry (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M)
(03:40)
5. Limehouse Blues (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (02:34)
6. I'm a Circus (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (02:08)
7. Exactly Like You (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (04:13)
8. Two Ladies in the Shade of De Banana Tree (Meet Mark Murphy… the
Singing M) (02:49)
9. Irresistible You (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (03:23)
10. If I Could Be with You (One Hour Tonight) (Meet Mark Murphy… the
Singing M) (02:39)
11. You Mustn't Kick It Around (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (02:33)
12. I've Got Two Eyes (Meet Mark Murphy… the Singing M) (02:36)
13. I Got Rhythm (Let Yourself Go) (02:25)
14. Elmer's Tune (Let Yourself Go) (02:44)
15. 'Tain't No Sin (Let Yourself Go) (02:15)
16. Robbin's Nest (Let Yourself Go) (03:47)
17. The Lady in Red (Let Yourself Go) (03:48)
18. Pick Yourself up (Let Yourself Go) (02:30)
19. Let Yourself Go (Let Yourself Go) (01:46)
20. Crazy Rhythm (Let Yourself Go) (02:55)
21. Taking a Chance on Love (Let Yourself Go) (04:07)
22. Lullaby in Rhythm (Let Yourself Go) (02:56)
23. Little Jazz Bird (Let Yourself Go) (02:31)
24. Ridin' High (Let Yourself Go) (02:27)
25. Firefly (Hip Parade) (02:27)
26. Lonesome Town (Hip Parade) (02:25)
27. Kansas City (Hip Parade) (02:40)
28. Come to Me (Hip Parade) (02:18)
29. Catch a Falling Star (Hip Parade) (02:45)
30. All the Way (Hip Parade) (02:49)
31. Personality (Hip Parade) (02:41)
32. Witchcraft (Hip Parade) (03:34)
33. Venus (Hip Parade) (03:00)
34. It's Not for Me to Say (Hip Parade) (02:29)
35. Send for Me (Hip Parade) (02:59)
36. I Only Have Eyes for You (Hip Parade) (03:01)
37. Angel Eyes (Rah) (03:12)
38. On Green Dolphin Street (Rah) (03:42)
39. Stoppin' the Clock (Rah) (03:08)
40. Spring Can Really Hang You up the Most (Rah) (03:48)
41. No Tears for Me (Rah) (03:10)
42. Out of This World (Rah) (04:48)
43. Milestones (Rah) (02:29)
44. My Favorite Things (Rah) (02:15)
45. Doodlin' (Rah) (03:28)
46. Li'l Darlin' (Rah) (05:00)
47. Twisted (Rah) (02:25)


 moreHe 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 theater while at college. He toured through Canada with a jazz
trio for a time and spent a while back home before he moved to New York in early
1954. A few television appearances gained him a contract with 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 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 twentysomething 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 such as 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 fan base.
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
Tormé) 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. After the
'90s, Murphy released a handful of albums including Some Time Ago in 2000,
Memories of You in 2003, and Love Is What Stays in 2007. He died in October 2015
at the age of 83. © John Bush



Mark Murphy - Four Classic Albums.rar - 791.6 MB

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