Neil Murray – Bass

Originally a drummer who started playing bass in 1967, Murray formed his first band with school friends in 1967 (Slap Happy and the Dum-Dums). His musical tastes were heavily influenced by the mid-1960s ‘blues boom’ bands and musicians, especially Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce and later by Motown legend James Jamerson, Tim Bogert of Cactus, Vanilla Fudge and Beck, Bogert and Appice.

During 1973, Neil briefly played in Gilgamesh, a jazz-fusion band led by Alan Gowen. After his departure from Gilgamesh, Murray toured the US with Junior Hanson, following a recommendation from Jeff Beck’s bass player and spent early 1974 supporting the album he recorded with them, Magic Dragon. He followed this up touring with Cozy Powell’s Hammer in 1974 and 1975. The line-up included keyboardist Don Airey and and guitarist Bernie Marsden.

After Hammer folded, Murray and Airey joined a revamped version of the British progressive jazz-rock band Colosseun II. The band’s leader, drummer Jon Hiseman had evolved the band’s sound in preference for a rockier sound courtesy of Gary Moore’s guitar. This line-up of Colosseum II lasted for the first 1976 album Strange New Flesh (a title suggested by Murray, being a snippet of the lyric from their cover of Joni Mitchell’s Down To You).

After Colosseum II, in 1976 Neil teamed up again with ex-Gilgamesh keyboardist Alan Gowen in National Health with whom he recorded in 1977. Murray got the chance to work with Bruford, playing on the rehearsals for Bruford’s 1978 Feels Good To Me debut solo album, standing in for Jeff Berlin who was the actual bassist with the band. Murray also deputised for Berlin on Bruford’s Old Grey Whistle Test appearance in 1978. 

From 1978 until late 1986, Murray helped make Whitesnake one of the most popular bands in Europe and Japan, and later America. He recorded ten albums with Whitesnake. After Whitesnake, there was a string of gigs with Gary Moore and Murray recorded three albums with Moore. Murray played withJeff beck, Eric Clapton, Sting and John Etheridge at two of the Secret Policemean’s Other Ball series of four concerts.

In late 1983, Whitesnake went through one of its many line-ups changes and Murray was back on bass.

Murray continued doing sessions for several artists and recorded four albums with the band Vow Wow between 1987 and 1989. He joined Black Sabbath soon after the release of Headless Cross (1989) and toured with the band in support of the album. Murray stayed with the band until late 1990. Further work with Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody, Brian May, Peter Green’s Splinter Group.

Since April 2002, Murray has been in the band of the London musical We Will Rock You and recorded with the Michael Schenker Group

This is a complete transcription of the Neil Murray bass part for the wonderful ‘Ain’t No Love in the Heart Of The City’ from the 1978 live album ‘Live In The Heart Of The City’. It is a wonderful bass part and really shows why Murray got the gigs. He really was a step above most of his peers at this point in UK Rock history and really deserved whatever successes he had. I wanted to add that I know there are other transcriptions of this tune on line but I assure you that this one is all my own work.

I once played the Hammersmith Odeon supporting Kool and the Gang, you know – 2010. It was downhill from there.