Talking West with Michael Martin Murphey at the Americana Music Assocation Conference

A decade earlier, during the mid-60’s, Murphey had been marginally known as a songwriter since he was first connected with the L.A. music scene. Then,with his friend and fellow Texan, Michael Nesmith, he started a band called, The Trinity River Boys. A few years later Nesmith asked him to write something for an upcoming Monkee’s record, which led to his being established and eventually to a  short stint in a band called, The Lewis & Clark Expedition.  After leaving L.A. in the early 70’s,  he joined Austin’s Outlaw Movement, along with Jerry Jeff Walker and Willie Nelson, where he conceived his classic album, Geronimo’s Cadillac. This led to the recording of”Wildfire,” which he had written in Los Angeles in 1971.  His legacy continued quietly through the decades scoring hit songs during the new traditionalist movement of the 80’s including “What’s Forever For,” and “Long Line of Love.” But, there’ much more to him than the profile of a successful singer-songwriter.

 

According to Murphey there have been minstrels and troubadours since ancient times. They carry our stories and our songs. Throughout human history the storyteller and the wise prophet-poet sage has taken many forms. For Murphey, the cowboy is the troubadour of our times. When he plays he brings with him his own ancestral traditions of the horse, the ranch, the cow and even in these times, the farm. His people were warriors and poets, they were Baptists and ranchers and fiercely independent, freedom loving earth bound souls. He carries them with him in the stories he tells in song and yarn. In fact, Murphey, though he’d be hesitant to admit it, is very much that authentic cowboy he portrays in his songs.

As we walked together along the streets of Nashville on our way to Ryman Auditorium, he was highly recognizable in his Texas cowboy clothes looking like he came from just this side of Lonesome Dove. But, it’s not a costume or even a style. It is who he is deep within. This is what divides the fine line he’s walked between pop music and art that springs from his own spiritual lineage and his love for the American experience and the treasure he finds in the land, the myth and the music of his homeland. Murphey’s songs spring from the well of his own life experience. This is what creates art rather than just pop success. And it’s what makes him at home as a spokesman for Americian music and for the cowboy, ranchers and country musicians of his native Texas.  While Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings rarely saw life from the saddle of a horse, one gets the feeling Murphy would just as soon ride his horse as drive in a car. It’s also his renaissance like knowledge of the history of his family, his state and his country that impresses along with his deep love for the tradition and the values of music that is reflected in his recordings. He has followed his artistic instincts rather than a musically commercial path by focusing his recording career on cowboy songs, old and new. His latest album, Tall Grass and Cool Water, combines familar songs by Bob Nolan like “Cool Water” with original songs like the epic Jesse James trilogy using only the purist of acoustic bluegrass instruments. It is the 6th edition of western songs that started in 1990 with the aptly titled Cowboy Songs, which became the first record of its kind to receive a Gold Album certification since Marty Robbin’s 1959 classic, Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs.

On stage during his showcase in Nashville, Murphey gave a strong, dynamic, fast paced and entertaining 90 minute set, which covered the highlights of his career as well as his new cowboy songs. His band is all acoustic (except for the bass) including lead guitarist, Pat Flynn formerly of New Grass Revival, bass player Gary Roller, Troy Ingle on fiddle, and Michael’s son, Ryan Murphy on mandolin. They form a skilled and fresh sounding bluegrass influenced style with plenty of arrangement space for some intricate and inspired jamming between instruments.  But it’s Murphey who takes the stage like a wagon master, storytelling-gypsy cowboy. If  you’re image of Murphey is restricted to “Wildfire,” then, this show will be quite a revelation of artistic inspiration, entertainment and feelings good enough to make you want to get up and dance. It’s the kind of music that makes you want to breathe a little deeper.  As the following interview shows, Michael Martin Murphey is an articulate artist who loves history, literature, religion, his family and the land as much as he loves the music they inspire.

Terry: So, word  has it the cowboy life is a real thing to you, not just an image.

Murphey: Yeah. I own 4 ranches. Because of the economic times, we’ve had to have a go at growing crops and doing some farming along with the ranching.

Terry: So, you’re a cowboy who sings or singer who is a cowboy.

Murphey: It’s both really. Equal parts. My ranching reinforces my music and makes me sensitive to my environment. It’s really part of my culture there in North Texas. I mostly write my own songs. But, I never turn away a good song. But, I really pay attention to the song and tend to draw my influence from them. There are a lot of songwriters I love, but I  pay attention to the song more than any one writer. Two who have influenced me are Bob Nolan and have you ever heard of Fanny Crosby?

Terry: Yeah, she’s the hymn writer, isn’t she?

Murphey: Yes. I’ve been working on an album of her songs. I’ve been working on it really slowly. It’s about half done.

Terry: Yeah. I grew up Southern Baptist.

Murphey: Fanny Crosby was a Northern Baptist. They were known for being free-thinkers. They fiercely opposed slavery. They were nothing like today’s Baptists. But, Fanny wrote “Blessed Assurance” and “Leaning on The Everlasting Arms.”

Terry: What is Americana Music?  

Murphey:  It’s music that is characteristically and identifiably American. There are two strains or icons I can identify..Blues and Cowboy which came from hillbilly. And cowboy is really a blend of Hispanic, Celtic and gospel.  Most of cowboy music and I think Americana,  are story songs.  The Americana I hear that’s coming out deals with now, today and the lyrics deal with the American experience.

Terry: Who are some Unsung Heroes?  

Murphey: Well, there are some who we’ve forgotten who have influence today, like Gershwin or Hoagy Carmichael. They wrote music that was specifically about the American experience of their day. Delbert McClinton is another one. He can write songs that I can relate to and understand where he was coming from. Some well-known people who get passed by would be Paul Simon. He has a purely American approach to his songs. He shows how important lyrics are, which we sometimes forget. I’d also include Jimmie Dale Gilmore. Joni Mitchell is another one. Oh yeah, two guys who are really important to this music are Harlan Howard and Jerry Jeff Walker. And Cindy Walker!

Terry: How did you come to write “Wildfire?”

Murphey:  The way I write songs, I dream them. “Wildfire” is a dream song. You know, being Baptist we’re raised with all these ideas about prophecy. Well, at the time I was going to U.C.L.A. studying Medieval Literature. I was doing a thesis on ancient minstrels. The real troubadours. I missed my homeland, Texas. It was about 3:00 am. I was not getting any sleep. Somehow around that time I started to sleep and fully dreamed “Wildfire.” But, wasn’t in words, it was all in images. You know, the horse comes out of Greek mythology, the horse being Pegasus. It came to me later where the story came from. It came together. There was this folk legend about this ghost and a horse. It was a story my grandfather used to tell me when I was growing up. About how the horse died and then would come back and carry people away from their problems. Now, I’m not saying I’m psychic or anything like that. But, a few weeks after I wrote it, the 1971 earthquake hit California. That was when I decided to leave L.A.

Terry: Well, it’s been a pleasure. I’m looking forward to seeing your show tonight.

Murphey: Thank you. I appreciate you coming to the show.