MORPHINE

At Your Service (Anthology)

$24.98 CD

Singer Mark Sandman coined the phrase "low rock" to describe the sonorous, languid groove he created with the acclaimed Boston band Morphine. Sadly, the band's time together was cut short in 1999 when Sandman suffered a heart attack in Italy while onstage with Morphine and died on the way to the hospital. A decade later, Rhino pays tribute to Sandman’s ferocious creativity and Morphine’s instantly recognizable sound with a two-disc collection of unreleased studio tracks, alternate takes, and live performances.

AT YOUR SERVICE is a 35-song compilation taking its name from the line Sandman used to kick off most shows, "We are Morphine at your service.” The music spans the group's entire career and features founding member Dana Colley (saxophone), original drummer Jerome Deupree and his successor, Billy Conway. To commemorate the 10-year anniversary of Sandman's passing, the surviving members will play a memorial concert in Pacific Park in Cambridge on September 27.

AT YOUR SERVICE is the result of the group's habit of recording everything. In fact, Conway estimates there are at least 60 unreleased Morphine songs, including those featured in this set. The first disc (subtitled "Shadows") contains unreleased diamonds such as "It's Not Like That Anymore," "Women R Dogs," "Bye Bye Johnny," and "Come Along," which mixes hard-swinging jazz with a New Orleans second-line beat. Both discs include parts four and five of "I Know You," a song that began on the group's 1992 debut, GOOD, and continued on 1997's LIKE SWIMMING.

The final disc (subtitled "Shade") opens with a performance recorded during the tour for GOOD at WMBR-FM in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the band performed five songs, including "Claire," "Shoot 'Em Down," and "Saddest Song." Morphine returned to the radio station a year later during their tour for the album YES, performing five more songs, including "Super Sex" and "Radar." Among the alternate versions of album tracks on the second disc are such standouts as "Buena," "Empty Box," and "The Night," the title track from heir final studio album.

Selection # 520603