Michael Martin Murphey's Buckaroo Bluegrass album is All-American Bluegrass sung and written by Today's No. 1 Selling Cowboy Music Singer( RIAA certified gold for Cowboy Songs)- straight from the back porch of his cabin in... more » the Rockies, the Back 40 of his Rocking 3M Ranch on the Upper-Midwestern Prairie, and his adventures traveling and riding horseback over the American backcountry. Michael Martin Murphey's songs have been recorded by Bluegrass artists such as Flatt and Scruggs, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Seldom Scene, Country Gentlemen, Bluegrass Cardinals, the Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band and many others. Buckaroo Bluegrass; reprises many of his songs covered by Bluegrass bands, with a stellar cast of players and singers.
Buckaroo Bluegrass contains Michael's Bluegrass classics- such as Carolina in the Pines, Fiddlin' Man, Lost River (featuring harmony vocal by Rhonda Vincent),What Am I Doing Hanging Around. On Buckaroo Bluegrass Michael also reaches into his song bag of past albums to create Bluegrass versions of his Acoustic music classics like Boy from the Country (recorded by John Denver), Dancing in the Meadow and Healing Spring. Buckaroo Bluegrass also contains two new songs, Close to the Land (theme song for the hit PBS and RFD-TV documentary television series and America's Heartland , and the defining song of the album, Lone Cowboy, written about Michael's experiences as a fiercely independent maverick lone touring artist in some of America's most colorful places; outdoor acoustic music festivals, cowboy gatherings, historical theaters and trail rides.
Michael's Bluegrass credentials date back to when he was chosen at a young age to sing lead with Earl Scruggs Band. Since then, Michael has always written and sung a few songs with Bluegrass influence. And
he's always used Bluegrass musicians to sing and play on his many albums- Byron Berline, Ricky Skaggs, the Whites, John McEuen, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Mark O'Conner ( who played his first major Nashville session on Michael's Fiddlin' Man, and many others. For his Cowboy Songs series, he relied on Sam Bush, Pat Flynn, Mark O'Connor, John McEuen, Ricky Skaggs and the Whites- and now, for Buckaroo Bluegrass he adds Ronnie McCoury, Charlie Cushman, Rob Ickes, Andy Leftwich, and Rhonda Vincent. Michael's son, Ryan Murphey, produced the album, and added acoustic guitar and vocals- as he's done on several of his father's previous albums.
Buckaroo Bluegrass is All-American Bluegrass sung and written by Today's No. 1 Selling Cowboy Music Singer. The album contains new songs and classic Michael Martin Murphey songs performed with today s top Bluegrass artists blazing a trail and finding intertwining pathways across the vast Americana panorama of Cowboy and Bluegrass Music.« less
Michael Martin Murphey's Buckaroo Bluegrass album is All-American Bluegrass sung and written by Today's No. 1 Selling Cowboy Music Singer( RIAA certified gold for Cowboy Songs)- straight from the back porch of his cabin in the Rockies, the Back 40 of his Rocking 3M Ranch on the Upper-Midwestern Prairie, and his adventures traveling and riding horseback over the American backcountry. Michael Martin Murphey's songs have been recorded by Bluegrass artists such as Flatt and Scruggs, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, Seldom Scene, Country Gentlemen, Bluegrass Cardinals, the Nitty-Gritty Dirt Band and many others. Buckaroo Bluegrass; reprises many of his songs covered by Bluegrass bands, with a stellar cast of players and singers.
Buckaroo Bluegrass contains Michael's Bluegrass classics- such as Carolina in the Pines, Fiddlin' Man, Lost River (featuring harmony vocal by Rhonda Vincent),What Am I Doing Hanging Around. On Buckaroo Bluegrass Michael also reaches into his song bag of past albums to create Bluegrass versions of his Acoustic music classics like Boy from the Country (recorded by John Denver), Dancing in the Meadow and Healing Spring. Buckaroo Bluegrass also contains two new songs, Close to the Land (theme song for the hit PBS and RFD-TV documentary television series and America's Heartland , and the defining song of the album, Lone Cowboy, written about Michael's experiences as a fiercely independent maverick lone touring artist in some of America's most colorful places; outdoor acoustic music festivals, cowboy gatherings, historical theaters and trail rides.
Michael's Bluegrass credentials date back to when he was chosen at a young age to sing lead with Earl Scruggs Band. Since then, Michael has always written and sung a few songs with Bluegrass influence. And
he's always used Bluegrass musicians to sing and play on his many albums- Byron Berline, Ricky Skaggs, the Whites, John McEuen, Jerry Douglas, Bela Fleck, Mark O'Conner ( who played his first major Nashville session on Michael's Fiddlin' Man, and many others. For his Cowboy Songs series, he relied on Sam Bush, Pat Flynn, Mark O'Connor, John McEuen, Ricky Skaggs and the Whites- and now, for Buckaroo Bluegrass he adds Ronnie McCoury, Charlie Cushman, Rob Ickes, Andy Leftwich, and Rhonda Vincent. Michael's son, Ryan Murphey, produced the album, and added acoustic guitar and vocals- as he's done on several of his father's previous albums.
Buckaroo Bluegrass is All-American Bluegrass sung and written by Today's No. 1 Selling Cowboy Music Singer. The album contains new songs and classic Michael Martin Murphey songs performed with today s top Bluegrass artists blazing a trail and finding intertwining pathways across the vast Americana panorama of Cowboy and Bluegrass Music.
CD Reviews
Murphey's "Bickaroo" Crosses Genres
T. Yap | Sydney, NSW, Australia | 02/14/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Prime Cuts: Lost River (Featuring Rhonda Vincent), Boy From the Country, Close to the Land
There's a fine line between a good and a great singer. A good artist excels within his or her genre of music. While a great performer's brilliance excels genres. Michael Martin Murphey belongs to the latter. For over four decades, Michael Martin Murphey has had cross-pollinated success including ruling the pop airwaves with the no. 3 "Wildfire," and a slew of country hits such as "What's Forever For," "A Long Line of Love" and "From the Word Go." Since the 90s, Murphey has tilted his portfolio to include more cowboy songs. Ever since, he's become one of the mavericks to put the western back into country. Nevertheless, "Blue Grass Buckaroo" is his most ambitious project: this time he brings together three genres: bluegrass, country and cowboy songs. And glad to say Murphey has done a deft job. He has taken his self-composed songs (mostly western and country themed songs) and has given each of them a deliciously delightful bluegrass treatment. Despite the numerous pluses associated with this disc, there is a cause for despair. Like every seasoned artist, age has mercilessly crept on Murphey. At times Murphey's light tenor timbre suffers from not hitting the notes that he sounds awfully out of tune; and with the sparse bluegrassy backing, such vocal deviation becomes even more apparent.
The newly composed "Lone Cowboy" sets the tenor of the whole project. The mournful sounds of the fiddles and the aching plucking of banjo strings get a lonesome sound going for Murphey to express the frustrations of being an itinerant cowboy. "Lost River," a track Murphey wrote for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band years ago, gets to be reprised this time with the haunting vocals of Rhonda Vincent. Of the numerous recordings Murphey has made of his top 20 hit "Carolina in the Pines" this version here is the best. The desolate sounds of the deep south has never sounded more lonesome than the imbued ambiance created by fiddles and banjos. "Cherokee Fiddle," a track Murphey wrote for Johnny Lee, reminds us what a great storyteller Murphey is. For who have thought Indians, cowboys, fiddling, whiskeys and social justice could all exist conterminously in a song?
First written for John Denver, "Boy from the Country" is an autobiographical entry expounding Murphey's love for nature which unfolds along a soothing musical backdrop with some ruminative sounding guitars. "Wild Bird," another nod to nature, first appeared on his 1975 album "Blue Sky, Night Thunder." It is pleasant without being memorable. Much better is the softer "Close to the Land" (also the theme song for a PBS series) where Murphey's heartwarming vocal resonates with an affirming conviction for an ethical lifestyle of hard work and honest living. "Fiddlin' Man," calls to mind a tamer Charlie Daniels without the rockish undergirding.
With his son Ryan Murphey on the producer's chair, "Blue Grass Buckaroo" feeds a lacuna in the music business. It brings together, in a winsome way, cowboy and country songs set to a bluegrass setting. And by choosing songs Murphey has had written from a career long portfolio, there's never a dearth of material. And it's safe to say, the songs on the whole are well chosen. However, it would be even better if some of Murphey's more signature tunes like "What's Forever For," "A Long Line of Love" and even "A Face in the Crowd" get a similar bluegrass treatment. That, on the other hand, would be something.
"
Country-folk rides onto bluegrass
hyperbolium | Earth, USA | 02/17/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Michael Martin Murphey is forever lodged in the memories of pop fans for his 1975 hit "Wildfire." And those who checked the credits of the Monkees' Pisces, Aquarius, Capicorn & Jones Ltd. would have found him as the writer of the Mike Nesmith-sung "What Am I Doing Hangin' `Round." In contrast to this brief flirtation with the pop charts, Murphey's career, before and after "Wildfire," has been extensive. He co-founded the Lewis & Clark Expedition, recorded an album for the same Colgems label that produced the Monkees, and supplied songs to Flatt & Scruggs, Bobbie Gentry, and Kenny Rogers. He recorded a string of country-rock albums throughout the `70s, and after peaking with "Wildfire," returned with "Carolina in the Pines."
Murphey's success on the country charts took off in the `80s, stoked in part by re-recordings of his earlier works. "Carolina in the Pines," originally a modest hit in 1976, became a full-fledged country top-10 with a 1985 reworking. As the `80s waned, so did Murphey's country chart success, and in 1990 he waxed Cowboy Songs, the first of several albums mixing Western standards with original contributions to the canon. On 2001's Playing Favorites he took yet another pass at "Wildfire" and "Carolina in the Pines," setting in place a pattern of reinterpreting fan favorites. This time out, Murphey sets two new tunes ("Lone Cowboy" and "Close to the Land") and nine earlier works to acoustic bluegrass arrangements, once again discovering new layers in the fan favorites.
Thirty years after his first pass at "Carolina in the Pines," Murphey's voice adds an appealing edge. Dropping the `70s drums and guitars leaves the banjo, guitar, bass and fiddle to create an earthier mood. The same is true for "Cherokee Fiddle," whose 1976 original was turned into a hit for Johnny Lee on the Urban Cowboy soundtrack; as reworked here it's a twangy concoction of fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo. Murphey reaches all the way back to 1972 for "Boy from the Country," adding a fiddle and mandolin to the original singer-songwriter arragnement.
"As with the first reviewer, who does a much better job at summarizing the album, I would concur that Murph's voice is starting to show wear. I noticed this on Cowboy Songs Vol. 5. I think he really peaked at Cowboy Songs 3 and Cowboy Songs 2 (one of my favorite Christmas albums). Still, the guitar pickin', beat and melodies on this album are not to be missed.
I have to say that I was not as impressed with Murph's pop era ('70s) and only mildly happy with his more country phase. He hits his stride with western cowboy songs and this is a very good addition to that genre, with a great infusion of bluegrass. As I'm starting to appreciate bluegrass more and more, I like where Murph is heading. I would recommend somebody get this disc prior to any of his 80s or 70s stuff.
My favorite cut is a sentimental favorite -- "What Am I Doing Hanging 'Round" -- which was first written for the Monkees. It was by far and away my favorite Monkees song for decades and I only just realized it was written by Murph."
Long time Murphey Fans
M. England | 04/14/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I've been a fan of Michael's since Wildfire came out when I was in junior high school - the magical rippling effect from the keyboards always draws me into the song and the music. My favorites on his albums have always been the ones with bluegrass instruments and this CD really showcases some of his best songs of nature and the people who live close to the land. Best part of all, each song has liner notes from Michael describing how the song came to be - that alone would be worth buying this CD, so even though you might own several versions of Carolina in the Pines and Boy from the Country, this definately needs to be a part of your collection. Enjoy!"
Track Listings (11) - Disc #1