Michael Martin Murphey
Well, after two [1] [2] references to Michael Martin Murphey, I should mention that my wife LUVVVVVS "Wildfire," while I call it "That Danged Horse Song." But more on Michael:
Michael Murphey, one of the Southwest’s most outspoken and musically gifted performers is featured on the premier program of Austin City Limit’s third season. Now known as Michael Martin Murphey this performer has always stayed true to his Southwest roots....
Murphey grew up in Dallas, Texas, and spent his early years living what he describes as “the standard middle-class life.” He harbored the ambition to become a minister, and when his grandfather gave him his first guitar, Murphey began learning country and gospel songs.
“Until I was 16 or 17,” Murphey said, “I did everything that everyone else my age was doing — getting into football, trying to keep my grades up in school and of course going to church every Sunday. I became radically conservative rather than becoming a rebel as many young people do. Religion became a very big influence in my life. So big, in fact, that I decided that was what I wanted to do with my life — preach.”
After graduating from high school, Murphey enrolled at North Texas State University to study Greek in preparation for his ministerial career. Some of what he was reading in school troubled him and eventually Murphey changed his mind about what he wanted to do with his life.
Leaving North Texas State, Murphey moved to Los Angeles, married, fathered a son and signed on as a nine-to-five songwriter for Screen Gems. During his California stay, he churned out more than 400 songs, one of which George Hamilton took to No. 14 on the country charts. By 1970, Murphey had earned a reputation as one of the most gifted young songwriters in the country, and his songs were recorded by Bobbi Gentry, Roger miller, The Monkees, The First Edition and Flatt and Scruggs.
Murphey signed his first recording contract in 1971; it was produced by Bob Johnson, who had also produced albums for Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Johnny Cash. The first LP, Geronimo’s Cadillac, as well as its successor, Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir, carries traces of strong religious feelings overlaid with the blues and country idioms, which are native to the Southwest.
Murphey recorded his third album, Michael Murphey, in 1973. This was the last of his Austin records, for soon after completing the LP, Murphey investigated the possibility of moving to Colorado. He felt the need for a change in his life and the lyrics to the last song on the Michael Murphey LP, “Southwestern Pilgrimage,” reflect his feelings.
From a busy year touring the United States after the release of his third LP, Murphey moved to Colorado and recorded his most successful album to date, Blue Sky, Nigh Thunder. The album included the song “Wildfire,” which has earned Murphey a sizeable pop following, “Carolina in the Pines” and “Medicine Man”....
And here's an article from last year's Las Vegas Sun:
A cowboy to the bone, Murphey's Web site links to cowboy and cowgirl museums, Western heritage and horse associations. He celebrates the lifestyle at annual cowboy poetry gatherings.
In 1987 founded the WestFest, an annual music festival held in Snowmass Village, Colo., that has featured dozens of country and cowboy singers, including Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, k.d. lang and Willie Nelson.
But don't confuse him with the bulk of today's country musicians, whom he sees merely as posers, not living the true country lifestyle.
"Country music, it has nothing to do with rural areas, nothing to do with the land," Murphey says. "They don't grow up in the country. They don't live in the country. It's kind of like singing trucking songs and never riding behind the wheel of a semi."...
Murphey owns ranches in New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas and Vernon County, Wis. (which claims more organic farms per capita in the United States than any other county), and supports organic farming.
He's elated that Bush (for whom he campaigned) was re-elected, but says he's even more conservative than the president on some issues. And by involving himself in noted cases from Wayne Hage in Northern Nevada to Kit Laney in New Mexico, he takes what he says are bipartisan stands against the government.
"I truly believe that the ranchers and farmers are environmentalists and taking care of their land," Murphey says. "When somebody comes in and says they're not, and can't come up with the science to prove it, then there's something else on their agenda."
Murphey fuels some of this energy into articles about ranching, published in such magazines as Cowboys & Indians and American Cowboy.
Occasionally, he'll write something personal, such as "Clint's Last Ride," a story Murphey had published in Range magazine. The story told of Murphey's friend dying of cancer, who wanted to take his last horse ride. Murphey and another friend rode beside him for half a day....
Murphey's love for wide-open spaces of the West, is poured into his work with the Paragon Foundation, a property rights organization that helps ranchers and American Indians embroiled in legal battles against the federal government.
New Mexico resident Laney, who has been battling the government over grazing rights, had his cattle auctioned and was charged for assaulting federal officers while on his horse. His Diamond Bar Ranch was closed.
"Here's a guy who is a veteran, who has no criminal record, they put him in a federal penitentiary," Murphey says. "They just confiscated his ranch, arrested him because he wouldn't cut his cattle numbers down. They wanted him out of there because the Gila Wilderness is something development is interested in.
"State, local and federal governments are taking land from the public using an environmental agenda, but really hiding behind another agenda. Agriculture doesn't stand a chance against development."
The organization that Murphey works with is also involved with a Shoshone Indian in Nevada whose grazing rights are being challenged and is still involved with Hage's battle.
"With Wayne Hage in Northern Nevada they tried to confiscate his land because they wanted water for Las Vegas," Murphey says. "But a lot of times when it's happening, it's not usually the environment. They take land using regulation."...
By the time "Wildfire" was released in 1975, Murphey had released his first album, "Geronimo's Cadillac," and had a resume that included his 1960s stint in a band with Michael Nesmith, a singer who went on to join the Monkees (a group that later recorded Murphey's song "What Am I Doing Hangin' Around?")
"Wildfire," a song that Murphey dreamed, is written about a ghost horse. It's a favorite among audiences and Murphey says it's something he always performs....
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