Michael Martin Murphey Albums (30)
'Cowboy Classics: Old West Cowboy Collection'
Release Date 6/16/2009
Tracks 15
Label Rural Rhythm
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'Buckaroo Blue Grass'
Release Date 2/10/2008
Tracks 11
Label Rural Rhythm
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What The Critics Say
Michael Martin Murphey has always gone his own way. He has recorded pop, country, and rock records, but one of his first gigs was as lead singer for the Earl Scruggs Band. Over the years his songs have been bluegrass hits for artists including Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver, the Seldom Scene, and the Country Gentlemen, and while this is his first official bluegrass outing, he's always included bluegrass pickers on his albums, even when he was making pop records. Since 1990 Murphey has been concentrating on cowboy music, and this album combines both genres to good effect. "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round?" was one of the first tunes Murphey ever wrote, and was covered by the Monkees on Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. Its bluegrass transformation includes Pat Flynn's solid acoustic guitar picking and Charlie Cushman's banjo. "Carolina in the Pines" is a Murphey tune that's been recorded by several bluegrass bands, and is delivered here in an arrangement marked by high lonesome harmonies, Cushman's driving banjo, and the fiddling of Andy Leftwich. "Fiddlin' Man" is another oldie, this one from Tonight We Ride, Murphey's first cowboy album; its Celtic feel is intensified by Leftwich's fiddle work. "Dancing in the Meadow" is another Celtic-flavored tune, with a bare-bones arrangement that gives the tune a spooky flavor. "Boy from the Country" was covered several times by John Denver and included on Murphey's first album. Here it gets a blue treatment that intensifies its melancholy melody. The album also includes two new Murphey tunes: "Lone Cowboy" has a catchy melody that combines pop, country, and bluegrass and sounds like a potential classic with hot fiddling by Leftwich and rippling banjo work by Cushman. "Close to the Land" is a ballad that Murphey adapted for the PBS documentary series America's Heartland, but this bluegrass version is more mellow, with a heartfelt vocal from Murphey and understated Dobro work by Mike Stidolph. ~ j. poet, All Music Guide
'Heartland Cowboy: Cowboy Songs, Vol. 5'
Release Date 10/31/2006
Tracks 11
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'Tonight We Ride'
Release Date 1/18/2005
Tracks 11
Label Wounded Bird
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What The Critics Say
Tonight We Ride is Michael Martin Murphey's debut album for Warner Bros. Issued in 1986, it boasted guest performances from Pam Tillis, Reggie Young, Sonny Throckmorton, Mark O'Connor, Charlie McCoy, Buddy Emmons, J.D. Souther, and many others. Produced by Jim Ed Norman, the album's title track was also its first single. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
After 13 years and three previous labels, singer/songwriter Michael Martin Murphey settled down for a long run with Warner Bros., where he experienced his greatest commercial success. Americana, produced by label boss Jim Ed Norman, was his second outing for the label and features Nashville stalwarts Lloyd Green and Reggie Young in attendance. The album's first single, "Face in the Crowd," paired Murphey in duet with singer Holly Dunn. ~ Thom Jurek, All Music Guide
'Live at Billy Bob's'
Release Date 3/16/2004
Tracks 14
Label Smith Music Group
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'Cowboy Classics: Playing Favorites II'
Release Date 5/14/2002
Tracks 13
Label Paras
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What The Critics Say
In 1990, after 25 years of performing folk and country-rock and a brief fling on the pop charts, Michael Martin Murphey returned to his cowboy pedigree. While such a move might be considered a commercial one designed to capture the "roots" audience following the O Brother, Where Art Thou? craze, at the time he was only helping to revive a niche that seemed to be going the way of the longhorn. Furthermore, Murphey's attraction to the cowboy's way of life had less to do with a romantic whim than an attempt to preserve his own heritage. In 2002, Murphey continued to mine Texas tradition with Cowboy Classics: Playing Favorites II. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of Western music will recognize classics like "I Ride an Old Paint," "Red River Valley," and "Yellow Rose of Texas." There's a stately six-minute version of "Streets of Laredo," adorned with fiddle and piano, and a fine two-stepping take on "Whoopie Ti-Ti-Yo." Like a number of old-time musicians, Murphey includes a short note concerning each of the song's origins. He has no intention, however, of reproducing the music as it might have sounded around the campfire. Full acoustic arrangements of guitars, fiddle, accordion, and bass tastefully adorn Murphey's relaxed vocals. For anyone drawn to music flavored by the open Western landscape, Cowboy Classics: Playing Favorites II more than satisfies the inner cowpoke. ~ Ronnie D. Lankford, Jr., All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Listening to the songs on this disc is the musical equivalent of inviting a handful of old and dear friends over to dinner. They're a bit older and wiser since they were last seen, and the details of the stories they share have changed slightly with age, but their warmth and familiarity win listeners over instantly. More than simply an exciting greatest-hits project from one of contemporary music's most beloved and enduring artists, the collection features completely new recordings of 11 country, cowboy, and pop crossover classics that perfectly capture the romance and adventurous Western spirit of the singer/songwriter's 30-year recording career, including his best loved hits: "Wildfire," "Carolina in the Pines," and "What's Forever For." Murphey also includes a new, previously unrecorded track, the heartfelt ballad "Dancing Horses," which was written with his oldest son, Ryan Murphey, and has been part of the singer's live repertoire for several years. Murphey's liner notes begin with the on-target comparison that "songs are like children, they grow, evolve, change with time," and the concept behind the project was to document the way his best-loved tunes have gone through this process -- using many new musicians and modern recording technology which was not available when the original recordings were done. Playing Favorites opens with "Carolina in the Pines" (from 1975's Blue Sky, Night Thunder), which was a Top 30 pop hit and the follow-up to "Wildfire." Murphey adds more vocal muscle to this version, but still marvels that the original "was a hit despite having a banjo solo on the radio during the dawning of the disco era." "Adobe Walls" is a more recent song (from 1995's live recording, Sagebrush Symphony), inspired by the Hispanic culture of the southern Colorado/northern New Mexico region which is now his home. This is a more stripped down version of the song, which was originally done with an orchestra. Singer Johnny Lee's version of "Cherokee Fiddle" is better known than Murphey's original (from Flying Free Forever, 1976) because John Travolta heard Lee sing it at Gilley's and wanted it on the soundtrack to the film Urban Cowboy. This version features mandolin and is closer to Lee's Cajun fiddle arrangement than Murphey's original two-step. "Cowboy Logic" (from 1990's Cowboy Songs, Vol. 1) epitomizes Murphey's lifelong love for cowboy music. This version was developed on-stage, with Murphey doing the old man's voice in a spoken, low tone and with different guitar licks throughout. "I'm Gonna Miss You, Girl" (from 1989's Land of Enchantment) features fewer backing vocals than the original and a more stripped-down arrangement. "From the Word Go" (from 1988's River of Time) closely approximates the original, while "Geronimo's Cadillac" (from his 1972 debut of the same name) is a beloved song among Native Americans; it spearheaded Murphey's involvement with the American Indian movement, and led to his becoming a member of the Sioux tribe. ~ Jonathan Widran, All Music Guide
'Acoustic Christmas Carols'
Release Date 8/4/1999
Tracks 14
Label Valley
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What The Critics Say
Michael Martin Murphey's second Christmas album, subtitled "Cowboy Christmas II," is, as its title declares, a record of carols played on acoustic instruments. The titles all come from the 19th century or earlier, among them such favorites as "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World," and Murphey's arrangements usually feature his own finger-picked guitar, frequently accompanied by John McEuen on banjo or mandolin, or Paul Sadler on hammer dulcimer, over which he sings solemnly in his slightly wheezy tenor. Things get a bit livelier when Murphey's sons Ryan and Brennan trade blues guitar licks on "Go Tell It on the Mountain" and when daughter Laura duets on "Silent Night." But this is a spare and reverent Christmas album, appropriate for a rustic celebration in a Western church. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide
