The Medley Brothers
In 1975, in the mountains of Roanoke, VA, Randy and Chuck Murphy created The Medley Brothers, named after a very cheap brand of whiskey they had just completed. The brothers included guitar wizard Milton Swing and, in 1976, Randy Perkins, to front the band on vocals and rhythm guitar.
The style of the band began as a kind of tribute to the “county-rock” sounds of the day including Gram Parsons, J.D. Souther, Merle Haggard and others. However, as the quartet began to write songs, the band took on its own very distinct identity. It was southern-rock, to be sure, but the songs offered catchy, accessible hooks.
The Medley Brothers (some called them The Deadly Mothers because of their intimidating appearance) soon became local favorites. At one Roanoke show in 1977, a New York music enthusiast became a believer in The Medley Brothers and began bringing the band to New York City and its surrounding New York and New Jersey towns.
Randy Perkins remembers, “The more we talked with a southern draw up north, the more we went over. So, when we first started playing New York, we would slow our speech down on purpose. They loved it because they considered us the real McCoy in southern-rock music, and they were right.”
The band quickly became popular until they were in the New York area three weeks out of every month. The Red Rail in Nanuet became their “hot spot,” packing the place until they ended their shows at 3:00 or 4:00AM. Various producers and studios became interested in the band, but it was Quad Studios in Pennsauken, NJ that jelled best and offered the most. In 1978, Quad brought the band in to record.
The Medley Brothers continued to play frequently in New York and up and down the Eastern US, but the typical excesses of “the road” began to take their toll and the band dissolved on January 2, 1980 after a New Year’s Eve show.
Swing and Perkins still play music regularly, though not together. Brother Chuck Murphy tragically died in a car crash and his brother and Medley Brother drummer, Randy, no longer plays.
So here, after all these years, Soron Records is proud to release these never before released live recordings of the classic country-rock band, The Medley Brothers.
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