La Musica Coolica #61 (Morphine)

Morphine came straight out of Cambridge Mass, in the early 90s. The original group consisted of 3 members, with Mark Sandman as the frontman. The group eventually grew to 4 members before disbanding. The original Morphine “sound” was Sandman on vocals and a two-string bass (played with a slide,  a drummer and a sax player who played the tenor and baritone sax at the same time. From the description, it almost sounds like the stuff of circus sideshows. It was definitely unconventional. But for me personally, the sound worked.

I really got into these guys during high school. I bought both “Cure for Pain” and “Good” albums. I kind of lost track of them, after that. Then recently, I discovered that the the group fell apart after Mark Sandman, had a heart attack and collapsed on stage during a July 1999 show in Italy. So crazy!! Anyway, the song that I’m sharing today is a B-side. I imagine it as more of just a jam, that happened to be recorded. It is mellow and infectious.  I have had it on my commuting playlist for that last little while and I have really been liking it a lot, again lately. The track is called “Bo’s Veranda.” Spin it and enjoy.