Ballad of The Sad Young Men MARK MURPHY

[@MrCrossbones2008]

Mark Murphy...possibly the best real male jazz singer we've ever had. The things he could do with his voice! The inflections, the colors...the phrasing...just like a great horn player. God I love you Mark! How I wish we could have met...I miss you, brother...

[@KitCotter]

I met him, in '91. The four of us went to Chadney's in San Fernando Valley, after listening to Les McCann @ Vine St... Mark was very quiet, didn't say much at all... but friendly vibe.

[@alanhuber2021]

So glad I found this . This is one of my favorite jazz albums of all time. Ballad of the Sad Young Men ..so poignant to todays disillusionment in certain circles . Too bad can’t find this while album on a streaming service

[@danielmartine1157]

One of my fave songs of all time. Love Mark Murphy's take on this lovely song.

[@terryodonnell589]

Mark. Was. The best

[@allanbowden]

Genius writing---ditto performance. Mark,you were wonderful. Thank you.

[@RADThird1]

I have this LP. Still like to spin it on a night of a certain mood. What a singer Mark was...RIP.

[@Joshualbm]

The greatest version of this song, ever.

[@KarenGallinger]

Heavy sigh.... such a moving singer... A great loss.

[@rogerferns5511]

Beautiful song from the jazz maestro

[@normhall1622]

The same writers also wrote "Spring can Really Hang You Up the Most". Obviously great song writers. Mark just kills this song - no one quite like him.

[@edwardsah3]

I got to see Fran Landesman in the Delaware Watergap, when she was the guest of Al Cohn, many years ago. This is a great tune, and Mark Murphy did kill it.

[@RonZabrocki]

Brilliant.

[@donstuart452]

Great singer,great song.

[@JohnPutney]

Only Mark would pair the reading from “On the Road” with this song written by Tommy Wolf with lyrics by Fran Landesman whose NYT 8/1/2011 obit observed that “Jack Kerouac played bongos outside her window and tried to date her.…her lasting footprint was the mordant, biting, yet strangely tender lyrics she used to chronicle the world’s lovers, lunatics and losers." Very nice job by Richie Cole, Bruce Forman, Bill Mays, Luther Hughes and Jeff Hamilton, too.

[@unCarlFarbmanLike]

my heart still misses those golden kisses before love went out of style.

[@jadezee6316]

@@unCarlFarbmanLike i think it only natural to view the past that way....you wont convince young lovers it is true....though i defend your right to isolate.....human experience.....and even to feel sorry for yourself...but only if you are honest

[@frederickreece4256]

you probably dont care but if you're bored like me atm then you can watch all the new movies on InstaFlixxer. Been binge watching with my girlfriend during the lockdown xD

[@kendrickriver1351]

@Frederick Reece Yup, I've been watching on instaflixxer for since december myself =)

[@MrJakeJazz]

RIP Mark. We loved you so.

[@RafaelHovhannisyanMusic]

Rest in Light, Mentor...

[@donstuart452]

Love this version

[@philipmango7811]

Don Stuart nj

[@bonniedrouillard3963]

Powerful

[@wolfricketts3631]

That last phrase!!!!

[@luizneto3453]

Clássic!

[@jackiedye6980]

Ckeck out Boz Scaggs version.my fav!

[@terrybrocklehurst5907]

Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs, Boz Scaggs.

[@allanbowden]

No adequate superlative-simple as that!

[@paulwickline7434]

Mark is God.

[@philhughes1953]

He is a great singer, bu to call him God is blasphemy.

[@georgehewett6243]

Don’t care for this rendition at all. Drags the tempo and quite a few liberties with the melody. Much prefer to hear the Shirley Bassey, Petula Clark and Ed Ames versions.

[@teadm7258]

Shirley Bassey's version is the best.

[@georgehewett6243]

@@teadm7258 She does a marvelous version, I agree. I also give Ed Ames's version a five-star rating. And Petula Clark's rendition is noteworthy as well.

[@Joshualbm]

You don't seem to have a sense of what a jazz vocalist does. Because the versions you and your to commenters site as more likable, particularly Pet and Ed's versions are straight off the music sheet, fairly predictable and super corny. Shirley's version is overwrought and like watching a bad actor do a scene with manufactured emotion, on cue. And none of them are really believable. Mark breathes a real life's experience into the lyric, drawing from the deeper feelings of the kind of life he lived. What Mark felt from Jack's writing was more on the level of revelation and galvanized Mark's fierce and ever-changing independence as a jazz artist. The worst thing anyone could do with this song is do it like someone else did. If you have nothing new and fresh to bring to a song, find another one. Andy Williams could probably have done a soaring vocal treatment that his fans would have loved but it wouldn't have been close to what a jazz singer would do. Yet this was Mark's turn. And if you know anything about Mak Murphy, he always made a point to shake things up. Not for the sake of creating controversy, but in order to revisit a song freshly with relevance to where his creativity could be expressed fully.

[@georgehewett6243]

@@Joshualbm Was only stating my like and dislike, was not attempting to malign Mark Murphy's style in general. Just my own personal preference. My late mother's generation in general was "passing out in the aisles" of the theaters and music halls over Old Blue Eyes Sinatra and yet my mother wasn't fond of his vocals at all. "To Each His [or Her, of course] Own," to quote the song title. It's not a case of not having any conception of a jazz vocalist; yes, I do have conceptions of jazz vocalists and I don't usually buy their records because I am one who usually likes to hear the song sung as it was written. Again, just my own personal preference and not an attack on anyone's style.

[@Joshualbm]

@@georgehewett6243 Fair enough.

[@owejay7981]

Jack Kerouac only wrote one good book and it wasn't "On the Road." It was the one no one reads, "The Town and the City." I like Mark but this intro is pure cringe.

[@Joshualbm]

Ding dong.

[@amadeopuzzo]

That was his first novel. Not really that good. Traditional in style, but stilted. Read Big Sur if you want to see how he deflated his own image.