Charles Shaar Murray

Charles Shaar Murray
Born	Charles Maximillian Murray (1951-06-27) 27 June 1951 (age 74) Reading, Berkshire, England
Education	Reading Grammar School
Occupation(s)	Journalist, writer, broadcaster
Years active	1970–present
Employer	Guitarist

Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English music journalist and broadcaster. He has worked on the New Musical Express (NME) and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of television documentaries and reports on music. ^[1]

Early life

Murray grew up in Reading, Berkshire, England, ^[2] where he attended Reading School and learned to play the harmonica and guitar.^{[ citation needed ]}

Career

Murray's first experience in journalism came in 1970, when he was one of a number of schoolchildren who responded to an invitation to edit the April issue of the satirical magazine Oz . He thus contributed to the notorious Schoolkids OZ issue and was involved in the consequent obscenity trial. ^{[1] [2]} He wrote for International Times , before moving, in 1972, to the New Musical Express (NME), ^{[3] [4]} for which he wrote until around 1986. He subsequently worked for a number of publications including Q magazine , Mojo , MacUser , The New Statesman , Prospect , The Guardian , The Observer , The Daily Telegraph , Vogue and The Independent . He also began writing a monthly column about his lifelong love affair with guitars in Guitarist magazine.^{[ citation needed ]}

Murray sang and played guitar and harmonica as Blast Furnace in the band Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves and performed with London blues band Crosstown Lightnin'. ^{[5] [1]}

Political views

Murray was a supporter of the Labour Party under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership and was a signatory to an open letter to The Guardian in April 2016 that denied antisemitism was "rife" in the party. ^[6]

Bibliography

In addition to his magazine work, Murray has written a number of books.

Non-fiction

• David Bowie: An Illustrated Record (1981), with Roy Carr, ISBN   0-906008-25-5
• Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop (1989), a musical biography of Jimi Hendrix, ISBN   0-571-20749-9; won the Ralph Gleason Music Book Award
• Shots From The Hip (1991), ISBN   0-14-012341-5, selected writings from his first two decades as a journalist
• Blues on CD: The Essential Guide (1993), ISBN   1-85626-084-4
• Boogie Man: Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American 20th Century (1999), a biography of John Lee Hooker, ISBN   0-14-016890-7; shortlisted for the Gleason award.

Novels

• The Hellhound Sample (2011), ISBN   1-900486-78-4

Broadcasting

Murray's broadcasting credits include:

• The Seven Ages of Rock (BBC2, 2007) as series consultant and interviewee
• The South Bank Show (ITV, 2006) Dusty Springfield – interviewee
• Inky Fingers: The NME Story (BBC2, 2005) – interviewee
• Dancing in the Street (BBC2) – series consultant
• Jazz From Hell: Frank Zappa (BBC Radio 3) writer and presenter ^[7]
• Punk Jazz: Jaco Pastorius (BBC R3) writer and presenter
• The Life and Crimes of Lenny Bruce (BBC R3) writer and presenter

References

1. "Charles Shaar Murray at rock's backpages library" . Retrieved 26 May 2013.
2. "I was an Oz schoolkid". The Guardian. 2 August 2001. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
3. "A tale of two rock critics". The Guardian. 20 October 2000. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
4. "NME: Still rocking at 50". BBC. 24 February 2002. Retrieved 7 February 2011.
5. Long, Pat (2012). The History of the NME: High Times and Low Lives at the World's Most Famous Music Magazine. Pavilion Books. ISBN   978-1-907554-77-3.
6. "Labour, antisemitism and where Jeremy Corbyn goes from here". The Guardian. 29 April 2016. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
7. "Jazz from Hell". BBC Radio 3. 12 June 2004. Retrieved 7 February 2011.

External links

• Professional biography