Saturday 4 February 2023

By request, Morrissey Mullen in 5 LPs 1977 to 1983










This group, discogged here, starts off in relatively trad. jazz mode in the first and somewhat disappointing LP from 1977 called Up.

Wikipedia has an entry that begins thusly:

Morrissey–Mullen were a British jazz-funk/fusion group of the 1970s and 1980s.

Considered one of the most popular jazz groups in London,[3] the band was led by Dick Morrissey on tenor and soprano saxes and flute, and Jim Mullen on guitar, who joined forces in 1975, playing together for sixteen years, during which they came to be known as "Mr Sax and Captain Axe" because of their hallmark call and response style between guitar and saxophone.

Subsequently the Cape Wrath album from 1979 turned out to be quite interesting. Consider the title track:



It closes out with the sweet Night Song:




Note that the lovely orchestral arrangements were done by this gentleman, Max Middleton, who made a similar sounding fusion record with Robert Ahwai in 1979 called Another Sleeper, which everyone should know and hear and love.

For the always precarious and usually disappointing post 80s transition, I have trouble finding a song that I can really love, predictably the sound becomes really smooth and commercialized even by the time of 1981's Badness esp. with the addition of very radio-friendly vocals by the female...

But the wonderful Cape Wrath, notable too for its beautiful Terminator-like cover art (long before its time), is well worth hearing and thanks for the request!


4 comments:



  1. The following albums in the package: Up (1977) Cape Wrath (1979) Badness (1981) Life on the wire (1982) It's about time (1983)

    https://www108.zippyshare.com/v/LHqEjmfI/file.html

    https://www.sendspace.com/file/w29byw

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  2. Dick Morrissey was already very active in the 60's. A great tenor and reeds player. He sank (probably too often) in the ease after this period, with some exceptions! I have about 20 of his best records. But none of those proposed here (lol) !
    Merci, Julian!

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  3. Thanks for these. Carol Kenyon such an under-rated vocalist.

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