Bill Morrissey (November 25, 1951 – July 23, 2011) was a Grammy-nominated American
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
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* Folklore
** Folk art
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Arts, entertainment, and media
* Fo ...
singer-songwriter based in
New Hampshire
New Hampshire ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...
.
Early life
Morrissey was born in
Hartford, Connecticut
Hartford is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The city, located in Hartford County, Connecticut, Hartford County, had a population of 121,054 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ce ...
. Growing up in Connecticut and Massachusetts, he started playing guitar at age 13 and formed a
jug band
A jug band is a musical band, band employing a jug (instrument), jug player and a mix of conventional and homemade instruments. These homemade instruments are ordinary objects adapted to or modified for making sound, like the washtub bass, washbo ...
in high school.
He graduated from
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School
Acton-Boxborough Regional High School (ABRHS or simply AB) is an open-enrollment high school in Acton, Massachusetts, United States. A part of the Acton-Boxborough Regional School District, it serves the Massachusetts towns of Acton and Boxboroug ...
in 1969
and studied literature for a short time at
Plymouth State University
Plymouth State University (abbrevriated PSU), formerly Plymouth State College, is a public university in Plymouth, New Hampshire, United States. As of fall 2020, Plymouth State University enrolls 4,491 students (3,739 undergraduate students and ...
before beginning his musical career.
Morrissey hitch-hiked to Alaska, worked on a fishing boat, then down to California doing odd jobs and trying to get gigs. His travels eventually brought him back to New England, where he found work in a mill in
Newmarket, New Hampshire
Newmarket is a New England town, town in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 9,430 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Some residents are students and employees at the nearby University of New Hampshire ...
.
He was influenced by the American
country blues
Country blues (also folk blues, rural blues, backwoods blues, or downhome blues) is one of the earliest forms of blues music. The mainly solo vocal with acoustic fingerstyle guitar accompaniment developed in the rural Southern United States in t ...
of
Mississippi John Hurt
John Smith Hurt (March 8, 1893 – November 2, 1966), known as Mississippi John Hurt, was an American country blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist.
Biography Early years
John Hurt was born in Teoc,Cohen, Lawrence (1996). Liner notes to ''Av ...
and
Robert Johnson
Robert Leroy Johnson (May 8, 1911August 16, 1938) was an American blues musician and songwriter. His singing, guitar playing and songwriting on his landmark 1936 and 1937 recordings have influenced later generations of musicians. Although his r ...
, the pure country of
Hank Williams
Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...
, the Kansas City jazz of
Count Basie
William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...
and
Lester Young
Lester Willis Young (August 27, 1909 – March 15, 1959), nicknamed "Pres" or "Prez", was an American jazz tenor saxophonist and occasional clarinetist.
Coming to prominence while a member of Count Basie's orchestra, Young was one of the most i ...
, the
folk revival of the 1960s, and his own working-class experiences.
Career
His
eponymous
An eponym is a noun after which or for which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. Adjectives derived from the word ''eponym'' include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''.
Eponyms are commonly used for time periods, places, innovati ...
first album was released in 1984 on the Reckless label, and then re-recorded for the Philo label. It includes the song "Small Town on the River", which, as with much of his work, reflects life in
New England
New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
mill town
A mill town, also known as factory town or mill village, is typically a settlement that developed around one or more List of types of mill#Manufacturing facilities, mills or factories, often cotton mills or factories producing textiles.
Europe
...
s. In this case, it's a song about a small town in New Hampshire after the mill closes.
Over the course of a three-decade career, two of Morrissey's twelve albums received Grammy nominations and several earned 4-star reviews in ''Rolling Stone''. Stephen Holden, for ''The New York Times'', wrote, "Mr. Morrissey's songs have the force of poetry...a terseness, precision of detail and a tone of laconic understatement that relate his lyrics to the stories of writers like Raymond Carver and Richard Ford."
In addition to his song-writing, Morrissey is also the author of two novels: ''Edson'' (1996) and ''Imaginary Runner'' (posthumously published in November 2011). He said that his writing was influenced by
Raymond Carver
Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...
and
Thomas Williams.
Morrissey's last album, ''Come Running'', was co-produced with
Billy Conway of
Morphine
Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
, and released in 2007 on Morrissey's label, Turn and Spin Media. ''Come Running'' features guitar work by
Dave Alvin and the remaining members of Morphine, Billy Conway and
Dana Colley
Dana Colley is an American musician, best known as the baritone and tenor saxophonist in the alternative rock band Morphine.
Early life
Colley was born in Portland, Maine, but he was raised in Hanson, Massachusetts, where he took up the clarin ...
.
While Morrissey was best known for his often dark, literate lyrics, he also occasionally wrote humorous songs, such as "Party at the UN" ("It's such a happy community / Everyone's got diplomatic immunity") and "Grizzly Bear", about a frustrated working-class man dating a wealthy young woman who wants to "dance till we dehydrate," while he just wants to "take her home and dance the grizzly bear."
Personal life
Bill Morrissey was married and divorced twice. His first wife was
Lisa Glines. His second wife was
Ellen Karas. Morrissey continued to work with Ellen Karas professionally after their divorce.
Death
Morrissey died of
heart disease
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs constitute a class of diseases that includes: coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina pectoris, angina, myocardial infarction, heart attack), heart failure, ...
in
Dalton, Georgia
Dalton is a city and the county seat of Whitfield County, Georgia, Whitfield County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. It is also the principal city of the Dalton metropolitan area, Dalton Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encomp ...
on July 23, 2011, during a tour of the Southern US.
Discography
* ''Bill Morrissey'' (1984)
* ''North'' (1986)
* ''Standing Eight'' (1989)
* ''Bill Morrissey'' (re-recording of the 1984 album plus three previously unreleased songs) (1991)
* ''
Inside
Inside may refer to:
Film
* ''Inside'' (1996 film), an American television film directed by Arthur Penn and starring Eric Stoltz
* ''Inside'' (2002 film), a Canadian prison drama film
* ''Inside'' (2006 film), an American thriller film starri ...
'' (1992)
* ''
Friend of Mine'' (with
Greg Brown) (1993)
* ''
Night Train'' (1993)
* ''You'll Never Get to Heaven'' (1996)
* ''Songs of Mississippi John Hurt'' (1999)
* ''Something I Saw Or Thought I Saw'' (2001)
* ''Bill Morrissey: The Essential Collection'' (2004)
* ''Come Running'' (2007)
Bibliography
* Morrissey, Bill (1996). ''Edson''. Knopf. .
* Morrissey, Bill (2011). ''Imaginary Runner''. .
References
External links
Artist SiteFan site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Morrissey, Bill
1951 births
2011 deaths
American male singers
American folk musicians
Songwriters from New Hampshire
Fast Folk artists
Musicians from Hartford, Connecticut
People from Newmarket, New Hampshire
Singers from New Hampshire
Plymouth State University alumni
Songwriters from New York (state)
Songwriters from Connecticut
American male songwriters