Soul singer Mickey Murray recorded only two full-length albums over the course of his career — one for SSS International, 1967’s Shout Bamalama & Super Soul Songs (the label’s first hit for Shelby Singleton), and the other, entitled People are Together, for King subsidiary Federal Records in 1970. People Are Together was produced by Bobby Smith, who had been commissioned earlier by Syd Nathan to build a recording and production facility in Macon, Georgia, the adopted hometown of James Brown.
Album released in US on Federal
Also released in Brazil on Joda
Abstract crowd backdrop –
used for front and back cover images
“Going Back to Alabama” — first of three B-sides issued on Federal for Starday-King — includes some prototypical “rapping” in the James Brown tradition. Note the playful musical references to “Sweet Soul Music” — a song previously celebrated here:
“Going Back to Alabama” by Mickey Murray (1970)
Discogs acknowledges three Federal single releases over the course of three years beginning in 1970:
- “Explosive Population” b/w “Going to Alabama” [1970]
- “People Are Together” b/w “Fat Gal” [1971]
- “I Can’t Tell You” b/w “Ain’t Nothing We Can Do About It” [1972]
For those who wonder why such limited output from a one-time potential hitmaker, NPR reporter Eric Luecking‘s accompanying history piece for “People Are Together” — selected as ‘Song of the Day‘ for February 24, 2012 — suggests that Murray may have been more than a little disillusioned by his experience with the music industry:
Born in South Carolina in the 1930s, Mickey Murray had roots in Georgia and shined shoes to help earn a living early in life. He proved he could sing with gravel and grit, had a million-selling single in the late 1960s, and signed with the King/Federal label. It’s striking how similar Mickey Murray’s story is to that of James Brown, yet while Brown left an indelible mark on soul and popular music, Murray remains a mere blip in the musical cosmos. As the liner notes to his recently reissued lost album tell it, Murray doesn’t believe that People Are Together was ever officially released after it was recorded in 1970.
It was a risky endeavor to push “People Are Together” as the album’s lead single in the South. It was reportedly black DJs who killed the record, labeling it as too progressive and fearing that they’d lose their on-air jobs should they play it. It doesn’t sound remotely controversial today: It’s a call to all of mankind to join together and love one another, in the spirit of “What the World Needs Now Is Love” and many other songs of its time.
Regardless, fame and a longer singing career didn’t follow for Murray, although he’d record later in life. But the defiantly hopeful “People Are Together,” written by Bob Garrett and Calvin Arline, now stands as a virtually unheard gem; whether it was known to the public when it was recorded more than 40 years ago is irrelevant. What is relevant is the song itself, a timeless three-minute sermon which implores us all to give a little more love.
In 2011, Secret Stash Records reissued the album in limited edition (“1200 individually numbered copies”), with extended liner notes, never-before-seen photos, and access code for a free MP3 download of the entire album (“first 250 copies also include a 7″, hand-numbered with the corresponding number.”)
45Cat acknowledges two singles following Murray’s stint with Starday-King — one in 1975 and the other in 1979, which appears to be singer’s final musical statement.
Musical Postscript:
Dept. of Zaniness
Sole Release for NYC’s indie label Pepco …
… later bought out by Potomac Electric Power Company
