Charles Shaar Murray (born Charles Maximillian Murray; 27 June 1951) is an English

music journalist Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on ...

and broadcaster. He has worked on the ''

New Musical Express ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a " rock inkie", the ''NME'' would become a maga ...

'' (''NME'') and many other magazines and newspapers, and has been interviewed for a number of television documentaries and reports on music.

Early life

Murray grew up in

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

, Berkshire, England, where he attended Reading School and learnt to play the harmonica and guitar. His first experience in journalism came in 1970, when he was one of a number of schoolchildren who responded to an invitation to edit the April issue of the satirical magazine '' Oz''. He thus contributed to the notorious Schoolkids OZ issue and was involved in the consequent obscenity trial.

Career

Murray wrote for ''

International Times ''International Times'' (''it'' or ''IT'') is the name of various Underground press, underground newspapers, with the original title founded in London in 1966 and running until October 1973. Editors included John Hopkins (p ...

'', before moving, in 1972, to the ''

'' (''NME'')'','' for which he wrote until around 1986. He subsequently worked for a number of publications including ''

Q magazine ''Q'' was a British popular music magazine. It was founded in 1986 by broadcast journalists Mark Ellen and David Hepworth, who were presenters of the BBC television music series ''The Old Grey Whistle Test''. ''Q'' was published in print in the ...

'', '' Mojo'', '' MacUser'', ''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', '' Prospect'', ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

'', ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'', '' Vogue'' and ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

''. He also began writing a monthly column about his lifelong love affair with guitars in ''

Guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

'' magazine''.'' In 1975, Murray was present at

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in the East Village, Manhattan, East Village in Manhattan, New York City. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for ''Cou ...

, in New York City, when

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter, author, and photographer. Her 1975 debut album '' Horses'' made her an influential member of the New York City-based punk rock movement. Smith has fu ...

and

Television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

began a five-week, four-days-a-week residency at the club. He wrote in ''NME'': “She stands there machine-gunning out her lines, singing a bit and talking a bit, in total control, riding it and steering it with a twist of a shoulder here, a flick of the wrist there...”

Bibliography

In addition to his magazine work, Murray has written a number of books. ;Non-fiction *''David Bowie: An Illustrated Record'' (1981), with

Roy Carr Roy Carr (1945 – 1 July 2018) was an English music journalist, covering pop, rock and jazz. He joined the ''New Musical Express (NME)'' in the late 1960s, and edited ''NME'', '' Vox'' and ''Melody Maker'' magazines. Biography Born in Black ...

, *''Crosstown Traffic: Jimi Hendrix and Post-War Pop'' (1989), a musical biography of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, ; won the Ralph Gleason Music Book Award *''Shots From The Hip'' (1991), , selected writings from his first two decades as a journalist *''Blues on CD: The Essential Guide'' (1993), *''Boogie Man: Adventures of John Lee Hooker in the American 20th Century'' (1999), a biography of

John Lee Hooker John Lee Hooker (August 22, 1912 or 1917 – June 21, 2001) was an American blues singer, songwriter, and guitarist. The son of a sharecropper, he rose to prominence performing an electric guitar-style adaptation of Delta blues that he develo ...

, ; shortlisted for the Gleason award. ;Novels *''The Hellhound Sample'' (2011),

Broadcasting

His broadcasting credits include: *"The Seven Ages of Rock" (BBC2, 2007) as series consultant and interviewee *"The South Bank Show" (ITV, 2006)

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

– interviewee *"Inky Fingers: The NME Story" (BBC2, 2005) – interviewee *"Dancing in the Street" (BBC2) – series consultant *"Jazz From Hell: Frank Zappa" (BBC Radio 3) writer and presenter *"Punk Jazz: Jaco Pastorius" (BBC R3) writer and presenter *"The Life and Crimes of Lenny Bruce" (BBC R3) writer and presenter

Performance

Murray also sang and played guitar and harmonica as Blast Furnace in the band

Blast Furnace and the Heatwaves Blast or The Blast may refer to: *Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner *Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front *A planned explosion in a mine, ...

and currently performs with London blues band Crosstown Lightnin'.

References

External links

Professional biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Charles Shaar 1951 births Living people writers from Reading, Berkshire English blues guitarists English male guitarists Rhythm and blues guitarists English music journalists English music critics Labour Party (UK) people NME writers People educated at Reading School Rock critics