| The Best of Mark Murphy: The Capitol Years | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Compilation album by | |
| Released | 1997 |
| Recorded | 1958–1960 |
| Genre | Vocal jazz |
| Length | 49:00 |
| Label | Capitol Jazz |
| Producer | James Gavin |
The Best of Mark Murphy: The Capitol Years is a compilation of selected highlights of singer Mark Murphy's recordings for the Capitol Records label. It was released in 1997.
Capitol Records producer Tom Morgan signed Murphy to a three-album contract in 1958 on the basis of the 1956 and 1957 albums he recorded for Milt Gabler of Decca Records. [1] [2] Morgan and Murphy would produce three albums together from 1958 to 1960, This Could Be the Start of Something, Mark Murphy's Hip Parade, and Playing the Field. Murphy told Will Friedwald that he went to California "looking for places to work. Instead, to his surprise, instead of getting gigs, he got the chance to make the three albums for Capitol". [1]
In the liner notes James Gavin tells how Murphy was staying at the YMCA, searching for work as a singer, when he got his second career break in 1958. [3] Murphy said it was, "The year I was starving in Hollywood – literally. As soon as I signed the contract I went over to this cafeteria, just sliced that turkey, and ate an enormous meal." Gavin wrote, "Walking back to the Y, he fantasized about becoming the male version of his idol Peggy Lee, who combined pop stardom with an illustrious jazz reputation". [3] [2]
Jazz musician and arranger Bill Holman was Murphy's personal choice for musical director and arranger for the albums. Murphy knew of him from his work with Stan Kenton, and he was a favorite of Peggy Lee, who Murphy idolized. [2] [3] Peggy Lee wrote the liner notes for Mark Murphy's Hip Parade where she described Murphy's vocal approach, "He phrases like a horn, and a horn with a modern sound". [4] Bill Holman described Murphy's role in the arranging process in the liner notes to This Could Be the Start of Something, "First, being a good piano player, he went into the Capitol studios and recorded a demonstration of each tune the way he heard it, accompanying himself. Second, he knew the exact feeling he wanted on each section of each tune. For example, he was able to indicate where the conga drum should or should not be used to get the sound he wanted . . . equal arranging credit should go to him". [5] [2]
Producer Morgan and director Holman used many famous West Coast jazz musicians on the recordings. Pianist Jimmy Rowles appears on all three albums. He was a noted accompanist for singers such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Jo Stafford, Anita O'Day, and Julie London. [6] The rest of the rhythm section on these albums included bassist Joe Mondragon, and drummers Mel Lewis, Stan Levy, and Shelly Manne. All of them worked with Peggy Lee. The trumpeters and brothers Pete and Conte Candoli appeared on many of the recordings. [2]
The albums include Murphy in trio settings, small jazz band settings, and with pop background vocals. He records some of his first scat solos, standards from the Great American Songbook, and recent pop hits that they attempt to make hip, as well as attempts at new hit singles. [3] [2]
James Gavin curated the selections for this release. Ellington's "I Didn't Know About You" was a song Murphy heard Nicky DeFrancis perform at "Jilly" Rizzo's 52nd street bar Jilly's Saloon. Murphy said, "He was fantastic – played like Erroll Garner and sang like the Italian singers in Philadelphia, where he was from. He did the hippest tunes in New York at that time, like "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" and "I Didn't Know About You". If you asked for them, everyone knew you were hip. That's why they sometimes appeared in my records". [3]
One of Capitol Records founders, Buddy DeSylva, is covered with his "Wishing (Will Make It So)" which is from 1939's Love Affair co-starring Charles Boyer and Irene Dunne. [7] A Murphy favorite, [3] "Put the Blame on Mame" is a song featured in the 1946 film noir Gilda in which Rita Hayworth lip synch ed to Anita Ellis' vocal recording. Murphy adds a few original lines. [3] [8] Murphy and Producer Tom Morgan thought it had potential to be a hit single but Capitol refused to release and promote it as a single. Murphy said, "By that time they had given up on me. They released the album and said Goodbye". [3] [2]
The Best of the Capitol Years also features "The Blacksmith Blues" which was never released by Capitol until now. [3] The tune was a hit for Ella Mae Morse. [3] [9] The song "This Could Be the Start of Something" by Steve Allen was a minor hit for Murphy. [10] [2] [1] [11] But album sales were weak, critical reception was tepid and the reviews were mixed. Murphy said, "I had tried to compromise, which of course was a mistake. People who wanted those songs didn't want to hear me, and people who liked me didn't want to hear those songs . . . We were kind of traumatized." [2] [3] "I'm an alternative singer. In those days we didn't know what to call it", Murphy told Gavin. [3]
Murphy's biographer Peter Jones points out that Murphy had grown up and matured with bebop and swing, but he was now trying to achieve stardom in the mainstream commercial record market. "That seemed to mean presenting himself as a young hipster, a swinging cool dude around town, toying with the affections of innumerable women, and having a whale of a time". Jones wrote, "The one thing Murphy hadn't yet tried was just being himself". [2] Although none of his Capitol records were as commercially successful as Murphy and his label had hoped, they marked the beginning of a long, interesting and influential career. Although he never became a star, he would become a highly respected performer noted for his fearlessness and an influential vocal coach. [3] [2] Just before this compilation came out Murphy won the 1996 DownBeat annual reader's poll for best male jazz singer and would win again in 1997. [2] Murphy would next move to Riverside with his first release for that label in 1961.
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [12] |
The editors of AllMusic assigns the release 4.5 stars and in its review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine, he writes that the album is "an excellent overview of the three albums Murphy recorded for Capitol in the late '50s that proves he was one of the more underrated singers of his era. Murphy is an inventive vocalist, putting new spins on songs". [12]
Scott Yanow recommends the release in his book The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. He writes, "The Best Of Mark Murphy has the high points from his three Capitol records, including a popular version of Steve Allen's "This Could Be The Start Of Something Big". [13]
Will Friedwald said that the taken together albums made during his early recording career from 1956 to 1960 "reveal a young singer with a strong, dark, attractive voice, with a lot of good ideas and an obvious commitment to the jazz idiom-but one who stops just short of having a sound and a style of his own". [1] Friedwald wrote, "As Murphy himself noted, the audience for these songs just wasn't his, and vice versa-even though he succeeded in doing something aesthetically interesting and indeed hip with material that no one would have thought could lend itself to such a treatment". [1]
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Music | Album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Put the Blame on Mame" | Allan Roberts, Doris Fisher | Roberts, Fisher | Playing the Field | 2:49 |
| 2. | "Swinging on a Star" | Johnny Burke | Jimmy Van Heusen | Playing the Field | 2:36 |
| 3. | "Playing the Field" | Steve Allen | Allen | Playing the Field | 2:46 |
| 4. | "Day In – Day Out" | Johnny Mercer | Rube Bloom | This Could Be the Start of Something | 3:55 |
| 5. | "This Could Be the Start of Something" | Allen | Allen | This Could Be the Start of Something (album) | 3:40 |
| 6. | "I Didn't Know About You" | Bob Russell | Duke Ellington | Playing the Field | 3:19 |
| 7. | "The Blacksmith Blues" | Jack Holmes | Holmes | New issue from 1959 | 2:09 |
| 8. | "Kansas City" | Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller | Leiber, Stoller | Playing the Field | 2:42 |
| 9. | "Wishing (Will Make It So)" | Buddy DeSylva | DeSylva | Playing the Field | 3:17 |
| 10. | "As Long as I Live" | Ted Koehler | Harold Arlen | Playing the Field | 1:46 |
| 11. | "Witchcraft" | Carolyn Leigh | Cy Coleman | Mark Murphy's Hip Parade | 3:35 |
| 12. | "I Only Have Eyes for You" | Al Dubin | Harry Warren | Mark Murphy's Hip Parade | 3:02 |
| 13. | "That Old Black Magic" | Mercer | Arlen | This Could Be the Start of Something | 2:09 |
| 14. | "Cheek to Cheek" | Irving Berlin | Berlin | This Could Be the Start of Something | 3:15 |
| 15. | "Jersey Bounce" | Buddy Feyne | Tiny Bradshaw, Eddie Johnson, Bobby Plater | This Could Be the Start of Something | 1:52 |
| 16. | "Sweet Georgia Brown" | Ben Bernie, Kenneth Casey, Maceo Pinkard | Bernie, Casey, Pinkard | This Could Be the Start of Something | 2:30 |
| 17. | "Lucky in Love" | DeSylva, Lew Brown | Ray Henderson | This Could Be the Start of Something | 1:00 |
| 18. | "Hit the Road to Dreamland" | Mercer | Arlen | This Could Be the Start of Something | 2:41 |
| Total length: | 49:00 | ||||
James Gavin – producer
Norma Deloris Egstrom, known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music. Called the "Queen of American pop music", Lee recorded more than 1,100 masters and co-wrote over 270 songs.
Mark Howe Murphy was an American jazz singer based at various times in New York City, Los Angeles, London, and San Francisco. He recorded 51 albums under his own name during his lifetime and was principally known for his innovative vocal improvisations. He was the recipient of the 1996, 1997, 2000, and 2001 Down Beat magazine readers' jazz poll for Best Male Vocalist and was also nominated five times for the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. He wrote lyrics to the jazz tunes "Stolen Moments" and "Red Clay".
Willis Leonard Holman was an American composer, arranger, conductor, saxophonist, and songwriter working in jazz and traditional pop. His career spanned over seven decades, starting with the Charlie Barnet orchestra in 1950.
The Dream is a 1995 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Song for the Geese is a 1997 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Bop for Kerouac is a 1981 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Kerouac, Then and Now is a 1989 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Once to Every Heart is a 2005 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Stolen Moments is a 1978 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Brazil Song is the 20th album by American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. It was recorded when Murphy was 51 years old in 1983 and released by the Muse label in the United States in 1984. This album is collection of Brazilian jazz songs.
The Artistry of Mark Murphy is a 1982 studio album by Mark Murphy.
Stolen...And Other Moments is a compilation album of American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy's Muse Records recordings. It was released by the 32 Jazz label in the United States in 1997. This album is collection of songs from his Muse years from 1972 to 1991.
Some Time Ago is the 37th album by American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy. It was recorded in 1999 when Murphy was 68 years old and released by the HighNote Records label in the United States in 2000. The album is a collection of jazz bebop tunes and standards with Murphy backed by a jazz quintet.
Jazz Standards is a compilation album of American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy's Muse Records recordings. It was released by the 32 Jazz label in the United States in 1998. This album is a collection of jazz songs from his Muse years from 1972 to 1991.
This Could Be the Start of Something is a studio album by Mark Murphy.
Playing the Field is a studio album by Mark Murphy.
Mark Murphy's Hip Parade is a studio album by Mark Murphy.
Songbook is a compilation album of American jazz vocalist Mark Murphy's Muse Records recordings. It was released by the 32 Jazz label in the United States in 1999. This album is a collection of songs from his Muse years 1972–1991.
Dim the Lights is a studio album by Mark Murphy.
Crazy Rhythm is a 1999 compilation of singer Mark Murphy's Decca label recordings in 1956–1957.
