Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums including Cowboy Songs, the first album of cowboy music to achieve gold status since Gunfighter Ballads and Trail Songs by Marty Robbins in 1959. He has recorded the hit singles "Wildfire", "Carolina in the Pines", "What's Forever For", "A Long Line of Love", "What She Wants", "Don't Count the Rainy Days", and "Maybe This Time". Murphey is also the author of New Mexico's state ballad, "The Land of Enchantment". He has become a prominent musical voice for the Western horseman, rancher, and cowboy.
Early life
Michael Martin Murphey was born on March 14, 1945, to Pink Lavary Murphey and Lois Murphey, in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas where he grew up. He has a brother, Mark, who is three years younger. When he was six years old, he began riding horses on his grandfather and uncle's ranches. Years later, he recalled sleeping on his grandfather's porch under the stars, listening to his grandfather's stories and cowboy songs.He enjoyed being around these men of the land as they went about their work. These experiences made a deep impression on the young boy. During these early years, he developed a special love for cowboy songs and stories. He was also an avid reader, especially drawn to the books of Mark Twain and William Faulkner. As a youth, he enjoyed writing poetry and loved listening to his uncle's old 78 rpm records, particularly the music of country and folk artists such as Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and Woody Guthrie.
In junior high school, he began performing as an amateur, and later as a counselor at a summer camp called Sky Ranch. At the age of 17, he took his first "professional" music job, playing western songs around a campfire at a Texas ranch. By the early 1960s, Murphey was playing the clubs in Dallas, performing country music, folk music, and rock music. He won over Texas audiences with his charm and talent, and soon formed a band that developed a significant following in the Dallas area.
Songwriting success
After graduating from W. H. Adamson High School. Murphey studied Greek at North Texas State University in Denton. As a member of the institution's Folk Music Club, he befriended Steven Fromholz, Hubbard, Shiva's Headband fiddler Spencer Perskin, and Armadillo World Headquarters co-founder Eddie Wilson. Murphey then moved to California, where he studied creative writing and majored in medieval history and literature at the University of California, Los Angeles. He signed a publishing contract with Sparrow Records, and soon he made a name for himself in the Los Angeles folk-music scene. By 1964, he formed a musical group with an old Texas friend, Michael Nesmith, John London, and John Raines, under the name the Trinity River Boys.Murphey's first big break came through Nesmith, who had become part of the popular television musical group, the Monkees. Nesmith asked Murphey to write them a song for the next Monkees album, and with Owens Castleman, Murphey composed "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round". The album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. sold over five million copies.
Murphey and Castleman formed the Lewis and Clarke Expedition, and recorded one self-titled album for Colgems Records, the company that also released the Monkees' LPs. They had a modest hit with "I Feel Good ". Castleman went on to find success with his controversial song "Judy Mae" and as the writer and producer of the million-selling novelty hit "Telephone Man" for singer Meri Wilson.
In 1968, Murphey moved to Wrightwood, a village in the San Gabriel Mountains adjacent to the Mojave Desert of California, to work on his songwriting. Based on the success of his songs, he signed a contract with the Screen Gems company, the publishing arm of Columbia Pictures. Some of his songs were recorded by Flatt and Scruggs and Bobbie Gentry. Kenny Rogers and the First Edition recorded an entire album of Michael Murphey songs called The Ballad of Calico, about a Mojave Desert ghost town.
Murphey wrote some additional songs for the Monkees, but he grew disillusioned with the poor financial rewards and the Southern California music scene.
Austin years
In 1971, Murphey returned to Texas and played a pivotal role in launching the progressive country genre with a unique sound that combined his country, rock, and folk influences. During this period, Murphey co-wrote "Geronimo's Cadillac" with lyricist Charles John Quarto, a song about Native American rights that later became an unofficial anthem for the American Indian Movement in the early 1970s.In 1971, Murphey was signed to A&M Records by Bob Johnston, who discovered him in a Dallas club, the Rubaiyat. Johnston had produced some of the country's most popular recording artists, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Simon and Garfunkel. In 1972, Johnston produced Murphey's first album Geronimo's Cadillac in Nashville, Tennessee. The sound of the album reflects Murphey's love of country, folk, and blues music. Murphey's early gospel influences are also evident throughout the album. The title track was released as a single, and reached the top 40 on the US pop charts. In addition to the title track, the album included "Boy from the Country", "What Am I Doin' Hangin' Around?", and "Michael Angelo's Blues". Rolling Stone magazine proclaimed, "On the strength of his first album alone, Michael Murphey is the best new songwriter in the country."
In 1973, Murphey followed up with the album Cosmic Cowboy Souvenir, which continued the urban cowboy theme of the first album. The album included "Cosmic Cowboy, Pt. 1", "Alleys of Austin", and "Rolling Hills".
Throughout this period, Murphey's band included Bob Livingston and Gary P. Nunn, the author of "London Homesick Blues". He performed a number of times at the Armadillo World Headquarters, and his photo was even used for the original cover of Jan Reid's book, The Improbable Rise of Redneck Rock. Michael Murphey's musical vision was expanding, though, beyond the confines of the outlaw country sound and moving toward a much more ambitious musical tapestry.
"Wildfire" and the Epic years
In 1973, Murphey signed to Epic Records and released the album Michael Murphey that same year. Produced by Bob Johnston, the album included the orchestra anthem "Nobody's Gonna Tell Me How to Play My Music", and "Southwestern Pilgrimage".In 1975, Murphey released his seminal album, Blue Sky – Night Thunder, also produced by Bob Johnston. The album generated two hit singles: "Carolina in the Pines" and his platinum-certified signature song "Wildfire", a sentimental song about the ghosts of a woman and her horse. As a boy, he first heard from his grandfather the story of a ghost horse rescuing people in the desert. Years later, Murphey had a dream about this ghost horse and wrote the words and music the same day with songwriter Larry Cansler.
In the summer of 1975, "Wildfire" became a chart-topping hit, reaching number two on Cash Box and number three on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, giving Murphey a new level of commercial success and exposure. It immediately sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in July 1975. It eventually surpassed two million in US sales and was awarded a platinum disc by the RIAA in September 2001. The song's harmonies were supplied by Jeff Hanna and Jimmy Ibbotson from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and the piano introduction and ending coda was played by jazz pianist Jac Murphy. The introduction is based on a piece by the Russian classical composer Alexander Scriabin.
During the late 1970s, he recorded four albums: Swans Against the Sun, Flowing Free Forever, Lone Wolf, and Peaks, Valleys, Honky Tonks and Alleys. The album Swans Against the Sun produced his first country hits: "A Mansion on the Hill" and "Cherokee Fiddle", which became a top-10 hit for Johnny Lee. Murphey's friends, John Denver, Willie Nelson, Charlie Daniels, and Steve Weisberg appeared on the album. In 1981, Murphey made his first film appearance in Hard Country, which he co-wrote.
To distinguish himself from actor Michael Murphy, the singer began using his middle name for film and music credits. To this day, he is known as Michael Martin Murphey.
Mainstream success
In 1982, Murphey signed with Liberty Records and produced two original albums, Michael Martin Murphey and The Heart Never Lies, as well as a compilation of rerecorded versions of his A&M, Epic, and Liberty hits called The Best of Michael Martin Murphey.In the early 1980s, Murphey had significant commercial success with hits like "Still Taking Chances", "Disenchanted", "Don't Count the Rainy Days", "Will It Be Love by Morning", "Radio Land", "Maybe This Time", and the number-one hit "What's Forever For", written by Rafe Van Hoy, which also crossed over to number three at AC Radio and number 19 on the Billboard Hot 100 Pop Singles chart. In 1983, Murphey was voted Best New Male Vocalist of the Year by the Academy of Country Music. In 1985, his rerecorded version of "Carolina in the Pines" reached the Top 10.
In 1985, Murphey signed a new recording contract with Warner Bros. Records and continued his streak of successful recordings. In 1986, he released the album Tonight We Ride, which included "Rollin' Nowhere", "Fiddlin' Man", and "Santa Fe Cantina". In 1987, he released the album Americana, which included "Once Upon a Time", "My Darling Wherever You Are", and another number-one country hit with the song "A Long Line of Love". That same album produced the hit single "A Face in the Crowd" with Holly Dunn, which was nominated for a Grammy Award.
In 1988, Murphey released the album River of Time, which produced three hit singles that reached number three on the charts: Jesse Winchester's "I'm Going to Miss You, Girl", his own "From the Word Go", and "Talkin' to the Wrong Man", which featured his son Ryan. In 1989, Murphey closed out a successful decade of recording with the album Land of Enchantment, which contained "Never Givin' Up on Love", "Got to Pay the Fiddler", "Route 66", and "Land of Enchantment", which became New Mexico's state ballad.