Life is Hard. With few exceptions, that's how most people experience the days allotted them, and there are really only two approaches to this sad, sorry truth - defeat and a long, crushing slog towards the abyss or a scrappy, bruised knuckle will to live. Oh sure, there's also denial and all manner of stupors one can knock their head into, but it's the fighters, the ones who see it as it is and keep getting up and going at it, that inspire us. John Murry wears the mantle of working class hero poorly but it suits him, his big, battered lover's heart leading the way into battle, his eyes clear and fists clenched even though he knows in his marrow that the war ain't ever over 'til it's won, and who the hell knows when Victory Day will arrive, if it ever does?
What you will hold in your hands, these four sumptuously rough-hewn gems, is kin to what Springsteen discovered on the dark edge of town, what Johnny Cash understood as the scythe swung near, what Warren Zevon knew in his cantakerous bones - i.e. that one must cry out, "I don't wanna live! I don't wanna die!" and then pour everything in them into making that cracked non-denominational prayer into a breathing reality. It seems simple enough but the barriers to molding such an existence are many, not least the trapdoors and barbed snares that abound in our minds. After embracing corrosive despair, Murry returns - scarred and scared, as a man should be after the roads he's walked - to carve a path through the nightmare blues, knowing how love can torture an orphan one but still holding it as a torch against the shadows, warmth for those willing and able to come close, certain some light is better than no light, knowing we might not get it right but we'll get it done just the same.
- Dennis Cook
credits
released June 13, 2014
Glass Slipper, Golden State and Genius produced by John Murry and Mark Pistel.
Timmy produced by John Murry and Mark Stanley.
Tracks 1-3 recorded and mixed at Room Number 5, San Francisco, CA, by Mark Pistel
Track 4 recorded and mixed at Red Room Studio, Macclesfield, Vic, Australia by mark Stanley.
Musicians: Tracks 1-2: John Murry, Churck Prophet, Mark Pistel, Michael Mullen, Dan Leuring, Mike Carnahan and Carlos Forster.
Track 4: John Murry, Mark Stanley, Robbie Melville, Joseph Doyle, Colin Berwick, Ju Buxton.
supported by 8 fans who also own “Califorlornia EP”
Hard to pick a favorite from this album: Nixonland, Get Off The Stage, Johnny Thunder, Best Shirt On, Marathon…such a great collection of tuned Dave Nemetz
Released in 2001, “The Convincer” is a gentle gem in the Nick Lowe catalog; an anniversary edition provides opportunity for rediscovery. Bandcamp New & Notable Sep 20, 2021
An outpouring of errant, psychedelic experiments from one of the UK's most underrated cosmonauts, texturally rich and sonically deep. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 17, 2019
supported by 8 fans who also own “Califorlornia EP”
amazing live set. I saw RF many times over the years and saw them on the final tour, although not this gig. this is a classic set of songs and a good representation of them live, my favourite was always the epic Western skyline so shame its not here, but loads of classics to enjoy old and new, I love the long atmospheric lost in the trees/willamette. Willy was always very funny with his stories made up and true. I miss them so much. Philip Pepperell