Genre: Southern Rock
Rate: 320 kbps CBR / 44100
Time: 00:57:44
Size: 120,11 MB
In 1975, in the mountains of Roanoke, VA, Randy and Chuck Murphy created The Medley Brothers named after a very cheap brand of whiskey they had just completed. The brothers included guitar wizard Milton Swing and, in 1976, Randy Perkins to front the band on vocals and rhythm guitar.
The style of the band began as a kind of tribute to the “country-rock” sounds of the day including Gram Parsons, J.D. Souther, Merle Haggard and others. However, as the quartet began to write songs, the band took on its own very distinct identity. It was southern-rock, to be sure, but the songs offered catchy, accessible hooks. The Medley Brothers (some called them The Deadly Mothers because of their intimidating appearance) soon became local favorites. At one Roanoke show in 1977, a New York music enthusiast became a believer in The Medley Brothers and began bringing the band to New York City and its surrounding New York and New Jersey towns. Randy Perkins remembers, “The more we talked with a southern draw up north, the more we went over. So, when we first started playing New York, we would slow our speech down on purpose. They loved it because they considered us the real McCoy in southern-rock music, and they were right”. The band quickly became popular until they were in the New York area three weeks out of every month. The Red Rail in Nanuet became their “hot spot”, packing the place until they ended their shows at 3:00 or 4:00AM.
Various producers and studios became interested in the band, but it was Quad Studios in Pennsauken, NJ that gelled best and offered the most. In 1978, Quad brought the band in to record demos and produced surprisingly good takes of several songs written by Perkins, Swing and bassist Chuck Murphy. Through Quad’s many contacts with industry “big-wigs”, the demos were used to shop The Medley Brothers to a label. CBS/Columbia Records in New York took a real interest, sending their A&R reps to live shows. In 1978, the band auditioned for CBS in their 52nd Street studios.
Timing is everything, as they say, and The Medley Brothers were turned down because the label correctly felt a shift in what was the current musical trend and the story goes that Cheap Trick was signed, instead. After this let-down, The Medley Brothers continued to play frequently in New York and up and down the Eastern US, but the typical excesses of “the road” began to take their toll and the band dissolved on January 2, 1980 after a New Year’s Eve show. Swing and Perkins still play music regularly, though not together. Brother Chuck Murphy tragically died in a car crash and his brother and Medley Brother drummer, Randy, no longer plays.
Tracklist:
01 - All For You 04:39
02 - Surprise 03:49
03 - Rock Salt (Boy You're Gonna Learn) 04:29
04 - Watch Your Eyes 03:59
05 - It's Alright 04:39
06 - Bad Woman Blues 04:42
07 - Time Will Take It's Toll 04:04
08 - All For You (Alternate Version) 03:15
09 - Surprise (Alternate Version) 03:46
10 - Rock Salt (Boy You're Gonna Learn) (Alternate Version) 04:10
11 - Nobody's Fool (Live) 06:19
12 - Down To Me (Live) 04:06
13 - I'll Be Waiting (Live) 05:47
The Medley Brothers here:
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Thank you.
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteNever heard of these guys before, but they are terrific.
Great songs, great playing.
Any idea where you can buy this CD? I can't find it anywhere.
Many thanks for the share.
Borris
no chance, probably you will only get it used or will have to wait for a reissue.
ReplyDeleteNice to see this. It brings back many memories as Chuck was a friend. He came over to my house back in 1980 or so with the New York demo on reel-to-reel tape and wanted me to transfer it to cassette for him. I did and he let me make a copy for myself. I'm currently transferring it to digital files.
ReplyDeleteTracy Turner