Mark Sandman was an American singer, songwriter, and bassist born on September 24, 1952. He is best known as the founder and creative force behind Morphine, the Boston-based band he formed in 1989 with baritone saxophonist Dana Colley and drummer Jerome Deupree. Sandman's songwriting was built on a deliberately minimalist philosophy, stripping music down to spare arrangements as a reaction against the densely produced rock of the late 1980s. He played a custom two-string bass tuned to a slide, which gave Morphine its dark, low-end sound, and his baritone vocals and noir-inflected lyrics became the band's signature. Before Morphine, Sandman played in Treat Her Right, the Sex Execs, and Three Colors. With Morphine he released five studio albums, including Good, Cure for Pain, Yes, Like Swimming, and The Night, the last of which was completed posthumously with contributions from organist John Medeski. His songs drew on blues, jazz, and rock in equal measure, creating a genre the band sometimes called low rock. Among his many compositions featured on AllSolos are Cure for Pain, You Look Like Rain, Buena, Candy, Whisper, The Night, Souvenir, Scratch, and Slow Numbers. Drummer Billy Conway replaced Deupree in 1993 and remained through the band's final years. Sandman died on July 3, 1999, collapsing onstage during a concert in Palestrina, Italy. His body of work continues to influence artists drawn to atmospheric, stripped-down songwriting.
