MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY
Red River Drifter
Red River 052

www.michaelmartinmurphey.com
 

Martin Murphey’s origins provide a key to his music. “I grew up in Texas, the world’s number one musical crossroads where anything goes musically.” In the tradition of Lone Star statesmen like Bob Wills and Willie Nelson, his compositions reach from country to swing to bluegrass to schmaltzy romantic pop. Murphey’s choice of subject matter often includes environmentalism and love of the land.

Red River Drifter‘s opener, “Peaceful Country,” is an exercise in rapid-fire enunciation. Wistful “Faded Blue” relives his younger days when a well-heeled dude easily stole his girlfriend.

Next comes “Shake It Off,” a high-spirited romp with Pauline Reese. With its line “No food on the table and they’re cutting off the cable – buddy, can you shake it off?” emphasizing how much the country music world has changed since Dolly Parton sang, “Anything at all was more than we had in the good old days when times were bad.”

The CD ends perfectly with “Unfinished Symphony,” where a musical composition is a metaphor for a decades-long on-going love affair. Of course, as a whole, the entire body of Martin Murphey’s work is presumably an unfinished symphony for now as well.

By the way, comparing Red River Drifter to his 1972 debut Geronimo’s Cadillac or his other early cosmic cowboy discs (a number of which have been reissued by Australia-based Raven), one can really hear how much he’s developed as a vocalist.

— Bruce Sylvester