By the time of his fifth full-length album,
Elliott Murphy
had established himself as a club act in the Northeast and in Europe, touring with a tight band consisting of former
Patti Smith
Group keyboard player
Richard Sohl
, former
Modern Lover
Ernie Brooks
, and drummer
Tony Machine
.
Murphy
, with his Stratocaster as the focus, however, was turning out a series of literate rock songs full of allusions to New York City and references to novelists and movie stars. On
Murph the Surf
, he reflected on everything from
"Modern Romance"
to "The Fall of Saigon" (metaphorically, anyway) with his characteristic wit. ~ William Ruhlmann