Shaun Murphy

Shaun Murphy - Livin' The Blues - 2009 - Vision Wall Records

"A truly great voice doing a pure blues album. Heaven!" - Bob Seger: "She brings heart and soul everytime she walks on stage and sings!" - Coco Montoya: With a voice that's a gift from the heaven's and a platinum resume, Shaun delivers a soulful package with a pedigree. This is a MUST HAVE CD. - Jimmy Hall: Shaun's one of my favorite singers and she's out in full, soulful force on this one! - Bonnie Raitt
A terrific album from the great soul blues vocalist, and HR by A.O.O.F.C

TRACKS / COMPOSERS

1."Ocean Of Tears" (Wyche, McRea) - 4:16
2."Someone Else Is Steppin' In" (Lasalle) - 4:29
3."It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry" (Bob Dylan) - 5:25
4."Livin' The Blues" (J. Cotton, A. Russell, D. Jones, C. Anderson) - 3:10
5."That's A Pretty Good Love" (B. Lucas, F. Mendelsohn) - 3:53
6."Come To Mama" (Mitchell, Randle) - 5:04
7."Love To Burn" (Gray, Rector, Bud Reneau) - 2:58
8."I Still Believe In The Blues" (Evans) - 3:57
9."You're Taking Up Another Man's Place" (Hayes, Porter) - 6:49
10."Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down" (Farris) - 4:13
11."Hound Dog" (Lieber, Stoller) - 3:15
12."Rock And Roll Everynight" (Bill Payne, Bill Wray, Paul Barrere, Shaun Murphy, Fred Tackett) - 4:31
13."It Feels Like Rain" (John Hiatt) - 6:33

MUSICIANS

Shaun Murphy - lead vocals
Kenne Cramer - guitar, vocals
Randy Coleman - bass, vocals
Larry Van Loon - keyboards, vocals
Mike Caputy - drums
Piero Mariani - percussion on Ocean Of Tears, That's A Pretty Good Love, Come To Mama, Love To Burn, and It Feels Like Rain
Tim Gonzalez - harmonica on Come To Mama

REVIEW

When doing a review, I generally don't get into bio's too much. It's what I'm listening to that needs to impress me. On the other hand, there aren't very many bio's that have awed me as much as the one I just read. Trust me, if you ever hear Shaun Murphy say "been there - done that", bet on it that she has. As if working in bands of such greats as Bob Seger, Bruce Hornsby, Glen Frey, and Joe Walsh, and recording with other greats like Phil Collins, Leon Russell, Ted Nugent, Alice Cooper and many others too numerous to name weren't enough - Shaun's also appeared in several well known hit productions on Broadway. Oh, and let's not forget the opportunities - yes, more than one - of a lifetime that came when she was asked to record and tour with Eric Clapton and later on become a fifteen year member of Little Feat. Very impressive. And by the way, the disc is as well. On "Livin' The Blues", vocalist Shaun Murphy's band consists of Randy Coleman on bass and vocals, Larry Van Loon on keyboards and vocals, Kenne Cramer on guitar and vocals, and Mike Caputy on drums, with special guests Piero Mariani on percussion and Tim Gonzalez on Harmonica. Several of Shaun's vocal talents - her soulful style, voice strength and range - are quickly introduced on "Ocean Of Tears", the discs opening track. Besides the great vocals, this one features some very nice keyboard highlights. Although it was written by Bob Dylan, the way Shaun sings "It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry", the song should have been re-titled "Blues Belting 101". It should also be required listening for any aspiring female blues artists. Being the slow blues burner that it is, the track also features some great lead guitar and piano highlights. Even with the cool background jive talkin', "That's A Pretty Good Love" is all about the rhythm. Randy, Kenne, Mike and Piero are at discs best right here. If this one doesn't get your foot tapping, you might want to check your pulse. "Love To Burn" is another one that should get some.... oh make that all... of your body parts moving. This one features the whole band in a very tight and quite funky groove. The three minutes this track lasted was not nearly enough for this listener... thank goodness for replay buttons. I'm finding it difficult to express how "I Still Believe In The Blues" just made me feel. The song was so smoothly and so perfectly sung and performed. I'm just going to say that you've got to hear this one for yourself, and leave it at that. Excuse me while I go listen a few more times. It's fitting that one of the best songs on the disc - "It Feels Like Rain" - be the longest. Every second of it's six and a half minutes was a pleasure to listen to. The soft, yet piercing guitar riffs, the ever present sound of the keyboards, the relaxing rhythm and the intense and sensitive vocals all bring this one perfectly together. If you thought Buddy did it good, ya gotta hear this version. Other tracks on "Livin' The Blues" include: "Someone Else Is Steppin' In" , "Livin' The Blues", "Come To Mama", "Taking Up Another Man's Place", "Can't No Grave Hold My Body Down", "Hound Dog", and "Rock And Roll Everynight". To get yourself a copy of "Livin' The Blues" - and I highly recommend that you do, and to learn more about the incredible career of Shaun Murphy, just go to www.shaunmurphyband.com. And please, make sure you tell her the Blewzzman sent ya. BY PETER "BLEWZZMAN" LAURO, © October 2009 © Peter "Blewzzman" Lauro Blues Editor @ www.Mary4Music.com © http://www.mary4music.com/CD49.html

ALBUM NOTES

Shaun found her way to the Blues stage in 1969 at the first Ann Arbor Blues Fest, and was completely smitten. Getting to play at such an important milestone festival must have had her head spinning. That was her awakening to the Blues, and she couldn’t have been among a better line-up: Son House, Muddy Waters, BB King, Freddy King, Lightin’ Hopkins, and the list went on and on….Solidified into the Detroit music scene, she found her calling, but it was to be a bit illusive, while she continued her music ‘education’ over the years, starting with such notables as; Bob Seger, in ’73 with the Recording of Katmandu, under the pseudonym, Stoney. She worked with Bob and his band, The Borneo Band, along with some of the Silver Bullet boys, Chris Campbell, Alto Reed, and Drew Abbott, and throw in a couple of Tulsa boys, Jamie Oldaker and Dick Sims. When Bob decided to take a different direction she was free to pursue another of her loves, acting, where she was able to snag two different life changing musical plays: Hair and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band On The Road. Appearing in both of the Broadway productions, as well as a number of other run of the play casts. Having been in Hair afforded her the opportunity to land a recording contract with Motown Records, along with Meatloaf, to record the album Stoney And Meatloaf. Right after the recording of the record, Motown moved out to Los Angeles and Shaun went with them. After a short stay in LA, she then headed back to the music scene she was so familiar with, Detroit. She got back in touch with Seger’s manager, Punch Andrews, and it just so happened, Bob was, again, looking for a singer. She started working with Bob immediately on the road. By then, the Silver Bullet Band was pretty much intact and she’s been touring with Bob constantly since ’78. Taking some time off the road, she was contacted by an old friend, Marcy Levy, (of Leon Russell and Eric Clapton fame) that Eric Clapton was doing a record with Phil Collins producing, and would she be interested in coming to Montserrat to record the BG’s on his Behind The Sun’s album. The experience was thrilling, to get back to her roots, and with the guitar god himself. She, of course, said yes! With the volcano steaming in the background, near the studio, worrisome to say the least, they recorded this great record, and after the second song, Eric asked her is she’d like to do the tour, well, you can only imagine the ‘walking on air’ feelings she must have had. One of her extreme idols was gong to be a band mate…too good to be true. To sit on and off stage for the next three tours and listen to the golden tones that came off his guitar was almost too much. Later there was even another, although short lived tour in Canada. She will always be thankful for the experience, and the grace of Mr. Clapton. Back on the road with Seger, with hardly a couple of weeks off from Clapton, with his ’86 tour, she met up with Bill Payne and Fred Tackett, two of the members of the legendary band Little Feat. As tours go, making friends comes easy and when the tour was over, Bill Payne asked Shaun and Bob to sing some things on their new regrouped band’s CD, Let It Roll. As it happened, Shaun had moved back out to LA, and when Feat recorded their next CD, Representing The Mambo, she was asked to come in for more backgrounds, as well as the next, Shake Me Up. She went on to tour with Seger to the present, with some other tours here and there along the way, with such notables as Bruce Hornsby, Joe Walsh and Glenn Frey with Television appearances with John Hiatt and Herbie Hancock. She found herself back in Feat camp after that the singer, Craig Fuller, left the band, and they asked her to join as a full member, which she did without a bat of the eye. Seeing all of her favorite genres, wrapped into one with these boys, she couldn’t have been happier, and for the next 15 years, it was her home. Till recently parting with her long time cohorts, she then realized, she’d come full circle back to where she started, in the world of the Blues, wanting to take her place along side some of her favorite idols; Koko Taylor, Etta James, Big Mama Thornton, and Big Maybelle, paying special homage to Miss Taylor and Miss James on her new CD. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/shaunmurphy

BIO (WIKIPEDIA)

Shaun Murphy, born Sheryl Murphy and also known as Stoney is an American singer best known for her work with Bob Seger, Eric Clapton and Little Feat. Shaun Murphy was born in Omaha, Nebraska, lived with her family as a child in Omaha and then in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, prior to moving to Detroit, Michigan in high school. She is best described as a blue-eyed soul singer, and arguably, the best of the female genre in that category, living today. She teamed with several other "girl bands" while in Detroit, prior to being noticed by an employee of Motown Records in a local theatre production along with recording artist Meat Loaf. The two were signed by Rare Earth Records, a division of Motown Records as Stoney and Meatloaf. The pairing was short-lived, and became defunct, as a decision of Motown management. Only Murphy was retained under contract after the breakup of the duo. After a period of inactivity with the new division of Motown, she grew impatient and left, and headed back to Detroit to work with Bob Seger for the second of many times to come. Then in '84 &'85 back out to Los Angeles where she soon found herself recording and touring with Eric Clapton. She has sung, toured, and recorded with such notables as The Moody Blues, Bob Seger, Maria Muldaur, Bruce Hornsby, Michael Bolton, Coco Montoya. and Alice Cooper. In the liner notes of Bob Seger's live album Nine Tonight, she is credited for singing backup vocals for the entire tour. Murphy also toured with Bob Seger on his recent 2006–2007 Face the Promise Tour, as well as all tours and studio work with Bob since 1978. In September 1993, Murphy joined Little Feat as a lead singer replacing Craig Fuller. Murphy is quoted as saying that she took no one's place, nor would she, as a lead singer with Little Feat. Murphy left the band at the end of February 2009, after 16 years' tenure and over 1,400 live appearances. She is now pursuing her blues and soul solo project.