Playing Favorites (Michael Martin Murphey album) explained

Playing Favorites
Type:	Studio
Artist:	Michael Martin Murphey
Cover:	Playing Favorites.jpg
Released:	August 21, 2001
Studio:	Omni Sound, Nashville, Tennessee
Genre:	Country, cowboy music
Label:	Real West Production
Producer:	Joey Miskulin
Prev Title:	Acoustic Christmas Carols
Prev Year:	1999
Next Year:	2002

Playing Favorites is the twenty-third album by American singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey. Released August 21, 2001, the album features completely new recordings of eleven of the artist's country, cowboy, and popular crossover classics, as well as one new song. In his liner notes, Murphey writes that "songs are like children; they grow, evolve, change with time."^[1] The concept behind Playing Favorites was to document the growth and evolution of his best-loved tunes, using many new musicians and modern recording techniques not available when the original recordings were done.^[2]

Critical reception

In his review on the Allmusic web site, Jonathan Widran gave the album four and a half out of five stars, praising the music's "warmth and familiarity" and the way the new recordings capture "the romance and adventurous Western spirit" of Murphey's career.^[2]

Track listing

1. "Carolina in the Pines" (Murphey) – 4:35
2. "Adobe Walls" (Brown, Reed) – 3:43
3. "Cherokee Fiddle" (Murphey) – 4:08
4. "A Long Line of Love" (Overstreet, Schuyler) – 3:25
5. "All The Dancing Horses" (Murphey, Murphey) – 4:21
6. "Fiddlin' Man" (Murphey, Norman, Rains) – 3:57
7. "Cowboy Logic" (Cook, Rains) – 3:40
8. "I'm Gonna Miss You Girl" (Winchester) – 4:09
9. "From The Word Go" (Garvin, Waters) – 3:14
10. "Geronimo's Cadillac" (Murphey, Quarto) – 5:05
11. "What's Forever For" (Van Hoy) – 2:54
12. "Wildfire" (Murphey, Cansler) – 4:59^[2]

Credits

Music

• Michael Martin Murphey – vocals, guitar, producer, liner notes
• Pat Flynn – guitar
• Chris Leuzinger – guitar
• Sonny Garrish – steel guitar
• Richard Bailey – banjo
• Sam Bush – mandolin
• Jonathan Yudkin – fiddle
• Joey Miskulin – accordion, producer
• David Hoffner – piano, synthesizer
• Craig Nelson – bass
• Bob Mater – drums, percussion
• Ryan Murphey – background vocals

Production

• Gary Paczosa – engineer
• Denny Purcell – mastering
• Keith Compton – mixing
• Eric Conn – editing^[2]

Notes and References

1. Playing Favorites . Michael Martin Murphey . 2001 . Michael Martin . Murphey . Michael Martin Murphey . 6 . CD liner notes . Real West Production .
2. Web site: Widran . Jonathan . Playing Favorites . Allmusic . May 26, 2012.