Welcome to "Worth Another Spin," a youthful take on vinyl with the only caveat being that the album in question has to be at least 30 years old and should have faded into relative obscurity. In other words, it's worth another spin. Read on.
Morphine, "Good"
Accurate/Distortion, 1992; Rykodisc, 1993
Blues, Fusion, Jazz-Rock
The label “jazz-rock” is so frequently ascribed to such a wide variety of musical efforts that it hardly defines a genre anymore. The cascading, Charles Mingus-inspired solos of King Crimson’s early days are fair examples of jazz-rock. David Axelrod’s fusion-inspired LP Song of Innocence, the early-career works of Frank Zappa (looking at you, Hot Rats), and even the Beach Boys all borrow jazz elements while operating under the rock umbrella. But no band fits the description of jazz-rockers as neatly as Cambridge, Mass.’s very own Morphine.
Formed in 1989, Morphine was a strange band that played surprisingly normal music. Its now-deceased frontman, Mark Sandman, described the music as “low rock,” an apt call given that the band’s instruments operate at the very bottom of human hearing. Morphine’s lineup consisted of the lead singer, Sandman; a bass saxophonist, Dana Colley, and a drummer, Jerome Deupree. Sandman also played a fretless, two-stringed bass with a slide, a hard object held against the strings that allows for intonation similar to the human singing voice.
Its debut album, "Good," was released in 1992 on the Accurate/ Distortion label and re-issued by Rykodisc in 1993. It’d be fair to wonder what makes this a rock album, given the lack of guitar, electric or otherwise. And then, while this wondering unfolds, Colley’s saxophone and Sandman’s thundering bass kick in on the title track, and all doubts are blown out of the water. These guys are playing a sultry, baritone take on the blues. This isn’t Junior Wells or Robert Johnson, though. This is Captain Beefheart on throat relaxant filtered through a thick haze of cigar smoke and complimentary casino drinks.
“Claire” pounds by in a fit of rage, followed shortly thereafter by the discomfiting but brilliant “Have a Lucky Day.” Sandman lays out a snapshot of a gambling addict over klaxon-blaring horns so low you can’t even hum them, bookended by the refrain “Players win and winners play/have a lucky day.” The subsequent “You Look Like Rain” sees Sandman adopting a deep croon over Deupree’s sparse, hi-hat-heavy drum work. “Do Not Go Quietly Into Your Grave” plunges forward into a jazzy swamp of melody and dramatic tension, in keeping with the overall mood of the album.
A standout track, “You Speak My Language,” toys with vocal distortion and heavy reverb over one of the finest horn hooks the band ever produced. This all but cements the Captain Beefheart comparison. Love it or hate it, Morphine proudly displays its reverence for the horn section, with a brief solo from Colley in almost every track.
If you find yourself a fan of seductive horns, pulsing bass, film noir, thunderstorms, cloudy weather, the smell of firewood before or after burning, crisp drums, fall, winter, the month of January, layering, black cats, bad omens, the blues, chiaroscuro, leaves flowing down overflowing gutters, the words “grittiness” or “sultry,” or a velvet bathrobe, a copy of "Good" is a must. And if any of the above aren’t up your alley, do yourself a favor and pick up "Good" anyway.