power trio-MorphinE

well it was 1998 when i heard the first morphine track in my life n i really thank Mtv a lot for it...n the first song i heard from them is still one of my fav no. the song was called 'empty box' from the album 'like swimming'
i was really attracted to the lead singer's bassy voice n the bass n preccusion n the sax n something was missing from their music n i kept on hearin the song over n over n EUREKA i found out the missing link there was "absoloutely no aucostic n even lead or evn rythym riffs or chords in tat song" thats when my empty mind started juss hymmin tat song which i heard over n over again n my quest 2 find out about tat band started...


Members
Sandman, a veteran of the Boston underground scene, had been active in several bands, notably Treat Her Right with Conway. Colley was a former member of the Boston band Three Colors, and had occasionally guested with some of Sandman's earlier groups.


Morphine's instrumentation was quite unusual: Sandman's primary instrument was a two-string bass guitar played with a slide (though on the group's records he added touches of guitar, piano, electric organ and other instruments); Colley played primarily baritone saxophone, (along with soprano or tenor saxes, and the rare bass saxophone, and he sometimes played two saxes at once, a la Roland Kirk; he also played occasional percussion, and dobro on a B-side). Drums and percussion were played by Jerome Dupree and later by Billy Conway.
During the Cure for Pain recording sessions in 1992, Deupree was replaced by Conway. It has been reported by Colley that Deupree had to be replaced because he was suffering from a serious illness. Before leaving the sessions and the band he continued drumming in the studio while fighting the illness, completing most of the percussion work heard on the album. Conway would stay on as a permanent member of Morphine while Deupree would later return to perform with the band, both in the studio and on the road. Morphine's final album, The Night, credits both men and includes a photo of both drummers playing with the group simultaneously.


Morphine recorded their debut album, Good, for the Rykodisc label in 1991. The album received positive reviews and established a small but devoted audience.
Their second album, Cure for Pain, was released in 1993. It generated growth of the band's audience outside of New England, and singles like "Thursday" and "Buena" picked up some college radio play. "Sheila" and "In Spite of Me" were prominently featured on the soundtrack of the 1994 film Spanking the Monkey. "Buena" was also prominently featured in a 1999 episode ("Boca") of the hit HBO television series The Sopranos. The music video for this single was also featured in the same episode, a first for the television series.
Sandman introduced the group at every live performance by declaring, "From Boston, Massachusetts we are Morphine at your service." Over the years he developed a reputation for antagonizing certain audiences and even his own road personnel by inviting song requests and then ignoring them. The band would also force encores, even if they were premature, with Sandman declaring the audience had "received [it's] money's worth" before exiting the stage. Other times, the stage lights would be dimmed though the group would never leave the stage; when the lights came back up, Sandman would welcome the audience to the encore.
A more popular feature of Morphine live performances became known as "Poetry Time" - a short beat-inspired spoken word session conducted by Sandman and accompanied by Colley on saxophone. During breaks between songs, audience members would sometimes tease Sandman by shouting, "Play something good!" - a reference to lyrics from the song "Buena". This quickly became an in-joke between dedicated fans and the band.
The band toured extensively in support of the album in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia, bringing an international audience to their next Ryko release in 1995, Yes. In 1996 Morphine signed with Dreamworks Records, becoming the second act signed to the new label. Dreamworks released their major label debut, Like Swimming, the following year. Like Swimming was a critical success but did not break the band into the domestic mainstream as had been hoped. A music video was released by Dreamworks for the single "Early To Bed". Directed by Jamie Caliri and released in March of 1997, the nightmarish yet humourous video became an instant favorite among fans and was later nominated for a Grammy award.
Although Morphine was critically lauded throughout their career, it is much more difficult to measure their level of commercial success. In the United States the band was embraced and promoted by the indie rock community, including college radio stations and MTV's 120 Minutes (which the band once guest-hosted), but received little support from commercial rock radio and other music television programs. This limited their mainstream exposure and success in their home country while internationally they enjoyed mainstream success and support, especially in France and Australia.


Sandman's death
On July 3, 1999, Sandman collapsed on stage at the Giardini del Principe in Palestrina, Latium, Italy (near Rome). He was soon pronounced dead of a heart attack and Morphine immediately disbanded. The band's final studio album, The Night, was completed before Sandman's death and was subsequently released in 2000, becoming the band's most critically-acclaimed album to date. Since then, an "official live bootleg" and a "Best of" collection have also been released under the Morphine name.


well this is my knowlege i have about the power trio band called MORPHINE
n i would as usual request u guyz 2 listen to their music cos their music is something hypnotic n different .....differently obviously cos there is no lead or rythm guitaring guyz try listenin to a few of their songs like i would say
-empty box
-super sex
-candy
-thursday
-swing it low
n i hope u guyz listen 2 them n temme wad do ya think abt their music
sim