Michael Martin Murphey
Michael Martin Murphey | |
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Background information | |
Born | [1] Dallas, Texas, U.S. | March 14, 1945
Genres | Progressive country[2] |
Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, actor, composer, screen-writer |
Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, banjo, piano, harmonica, mandolin |
Years active | 1964–present |
Labels | A&M, Epic, Liberty, Warner Bros., Valley Entertainment, Real West Productions, Rural Rhythm, Western Jubilee Recording, Wildfire Productions |
Spouse(s) | Diana Vero (1967-1974), Caroline Hogue (1973-1978), Mary Maciukas (1980-2001), Karen McCoy (2003-2015) |
Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country.[3] 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". Murphey has become a prominent musical voice for the Western horseman, rancher, and cowboy.[4]
Early life
Michael Martin Murphey was born on March 14, 1945, to Pink Lavary Murphey and Lois (née Corbett) Murphey, in the Oak Cliff section of Dallas, Texas, where he grew up. He has a brother, Mark, who is three years younger.[5] When he was 6 years old, he started riding horses on his grandfather's and uncle's ranches. Years later he would remember sleeping on his grandfather's porch under the stars, listening to the older man'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.
In junior high school he began performing as an amateur, and later as a camp 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.[4]
Songwriting success
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After graduating from
Murphey's first big break came through his friend Michael 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 Murphey composed "What Am I Doing Hangin' Round". The album Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn & Jones Ltd. sold over five million copies.
Murphey formed the Lewis & Clarke Expedition with
In 1968, Murphey moved to
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[3] with a unique sound that combined his country, rock, and folk influences. It was during this period that Murphey co-wrote "Geronimo's Cadillac" with the 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
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.[8] But Michael Murphey's musical vision was expanding 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,
In the summer of 1975, "Wildfire" became a chart-topping hit, reaching No. 2 in
During the late 1970s, he recorded four albums: Swans Against the Sun (1975), Flowing Free Forever (1976), Lone Wolf (1978), and Peaks, Valleys, Honky Tonks & Alleys (1979). The album Swans Against the Sun produced his first country hits "A Mansion on the Hill" and "
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.[12]
Mainstream success
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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 re-recorded 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
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.
Cowboy songs
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Despite the impressive critical and commercial success he achieved throughout the 1980s, Murphey's authentic creativity began to gravitate towards the Western music that appealed to him as a child coming of age in
In 1990, he released the album
Murphey was reluctant to promote the project, but he eventually released "Cowboy Logic" as a single and it quickly became a hit. Soon after, the album caught on and sold much better than expected. Cowboy Songs earned widespread praise from country and folk music critics, such as Jack Hurst from the Chicago Tribune who wrote, "[This is] not only one of the finest albums of [the] year but also one of the finest of the last decade. Its 22 riveting cuts represent a labor of not only love but also scholarship; it raises a cult musical genre to the level of mainstream art. Cowboy Songs went on to achieve Gold status, the first western album to do so since Marty Robbins' No. 1 Cowboy in 1980.
In 1991, Murphey followed up with two additional albums of cowboy songs. His innovative concept album, Cowboy Christmas: Cowboy Songs II, contained versions of traditional and original western
Cowboy Songs and its follow-up albums were so successful that they inspired the formation of
In 1995, Murphey further demonstrated his musical ambitions with the concept album Sagebrush Symphony, recorded live with the
In 1998, Murphey left Warner Bros. Records and started his own record label, WestFest/Real West Productions. That year, he released Cowboy Songs Four, which contained both traditional and original cowboy songs, including "Utah Carroll", "Little Joe, the Wrangler", and Murphey's "Song from Lonesome Dove". In 1999, he released Acoustic Christmas Carols: Cowboy Christmas II, which included Murphey's quiet renditions of traditional Christmas songs, and featured his son Ryan and daughter Laura.
In 2001, Murphey released a compilation of some of his best-loved songs, Playing Favorites, which included rerecorded versions of such songs as "Carolina in the Pines", "Cherokee Fiddle", "Cowboy Logic", "What's Forever For", and "Wildfire". He followed this up in 2002 with Cowboy Classics: Playing Favorites II, which again included re-recorded versions of some of his best-loved cowboy songs. That same year, Murphey released Cowboy Christmas III, which contained a new original song "The Kill Pen", as well as original cowboy poetry written and recited by his daughter Karen. In 2004, Murphey released Live at Billy Bob's Texas, and in 2006, he released Heartland Cowboy: Cowboy Songs, Vol. 5.
Murphey has championed Western cowboy culture and the wilderness. In 1986 he founded WestFest, an annual music festival held at Copper Mountain, Colorado that celebrates western art and culture. Molly Carpenter, writing in the Richmond Times-Dispatch, noted, "Murphey's love for the American West clearly comes through in his songs, painted with vivid images of the rugged mountains and vast deserts of southwest landscapes, all evidence of his travels from his native Texas to California's Mojave Desert, Colorado's Rockies and the wild diversity of New Mexico, his home for the past 10 years."[14]
During the 1990s, in a further effort to preserve the traditions of the West, Murphey led a group of performers—including cowboy poet Waddie Mitchell and western music historian and troubadour Don Edwards — in a series of improvisational concerts called Cowboy Logic, which toured throughout the United States, including such unlikely locations as New York City and Las Vegas. Waddy Mitchell is the co-founder of the National Cowboy Poetry Gathering. Murphey met Mitchell there in 1986, the first such event he had ever attended. He later described the transforming event as "a religious experience ... I'd been collecting cowboy music and performing it among my friends. But when I saw a lot of other guys like me and also women performing this music and enjoying each other's company, it was the most important thing that had happened to me in years in my musical life."[15]
On May 22, 2007, he made a rare appearance in New York City to perform "Wildfire" on the
In December 2007, Murphey released "A Soldier's Christmas" based on a poem by Michael E. Marks, a soldier serving in Iraq. Marks sent the poem to Murphey, who was so moved by the poem he sought permission to set it to music, which he did. He started including the song in all his concerts, including his Cowboy Christmas Ball concerts, to long standing ovations after its performance, which prompted its release in December 2007.
Bluegrass years
In February 2009, Murphey released Buckaroo Blue Grass, which marked a return to his bluegrass musical roots. Murphey's love of Bluegrass music dates back to when he sang lead vocals with the Earl Scruggs Band. Over the years, his songs have been recorded by Bluegrass artists such as Flatt and Scruggs, Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver, the Country Gentlemen, and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
On Buckaroo Bluegrass, Murphey offers new versions of his famous Bluegrass songs, such as "Carolina in the Pines", "Fiddlin' Man", "Lost River", and "What Am I Doing Hanging Around". Murphey also includes new Bluegrass versions of several of his classics, such as "Boy from the Country", "Dancing in the Meadow", and "Healing Spring". The album includes two new songs, "Close to the Land", the theme song of the PBS documentary television series America's Heartland, and "Lone Cowboy", a song that reflects Murphey's experiences as a solo artist performing throughout the West at music festivals, cowboy gatherings, historical theaters, and trail rides. Michael's son, Ryan, produced the album, and added acoustic guitar and vocals.[16]
In February 2010, Murphey released a follow-up album, Buckaroo Blue Grass II – Riding Song, which follows the production approach of the first album.[17]
In May 2011, Murphey gave a benefit concert at the Prairie Rose Chuckwagon Supper near Benton, Kansas to help save the cabin where Brewster Higley wrote the song "Home on the Range", Kansas' state song. "He might have been living anywhere," Murphey noted, "but he was inspired by that place. This song gives focus to the heritage of the American West, to the prairie and its songs, poems and literature." Murphey made his first pilgrimage to the cabin prior to the concert, where he performed the song.[18]
In June 2011, Murphey released Tall Grass & Cool Water, subtitled Cowboy Songs VI and Buckaroo Blue Grass III. The CD includes two classics from the Sons of the Pioneers, "Cool Water" and "Way Out There", as well as other Western classics such as "Texas Cowboy", "Santa Fe Trail", and "The James Gang Trilogy". Murphey closes out the album with a beautiful duet with Carin Mari, "Springtime in the Rockies".[19]
On September 4, 2011, Murphey performed at the wedding of long-time friend David Lauren and Lauren Bush, the niece of former President George W. Bush, at Ralph Lauren's Double RL Ranch near Ridgway, Colorado. The event was called "America's Royal Wedding". Murphey, who helped Ralph Lauren find the ranch they now call home, has been friends with the Lauren family for nearly 30 years. "I go there to write songs from time to time", Murphey noted, "It's the most spectacular ranch in the Rockies." At David Lauren's request, Murphey performed "Vanishing Breed" for the couple's first dance. Murphey wrote the song at a cabin on the Lauren ranch in the 1980s. Murphey and his Rio Grande Band played nearly six hours for the Lauren and Bush families.[20]
In January 2012, Tall Grass & Cool Water became the number 1 album on the Top 20 Western Music Albums Chart of the Western Music Association.[21]
In July 2013, Murphey released Red River Drifter, his first album of all new original songs in 20 years.[22] The album reached number three on the Billboard Top Bluegrass Albums chart.[23] He was named among the top 50 Greatest Country & Western singers by American Cowboy magazine.[24]
Legacy
This poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Michael Martin Murphey" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (July 2023) |
Murphey has had a successful music career that has spanned four decades and included such musical genres as folk, country, rock, popular, western, and cowboy music. As a singer, songwriter, and producer, he has contributed some of the best-loved songs of his generation. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Kenny Rogers, John Denver, Cher, Lyle Lovett, Flatt and Scruggs, Claire Hamill, Hoyt Axton, Roger Miller, Bobbie Gentry, Michael Nesmith, and the Monkees. Murphey is the narrator of the short film Spirit of the Cowgirl at the National Cowgirl Museum and Hall of Fame in Fort Worth, Texas
Murphey was so pivotal to the foundation of progressive country that one of the many names for the genre, "Cosmic Cowboy music", was taken from one of Murphey's songs.[3] Murphey played a major role in the resurrection of the cowboy song genre, recording and producing some of the most successful cowboy music of the past forty years. His album Cowboy Songs inspired a whole series of albums. For his accomplishments in the Western and Cowboy Music field, Murphey received five awards from the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, formerly known as the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City.
Political views
Murphey has long been a champion of the western wilderness and wildlife, and has lent his support to various political causes associated with western culture and ideals. Early in his career, for example, he supported the Native American rights movement, which used his song, "Geronimo's Cadillac", as an anthem. In 1986, he founded an annual festival, WestFest, celebrating western art and culture in an effort to preserve the traditions of the West. He has been a long-time supporter of the conservation movement, attempting to find a middle ground between ranchers and activists on opposite sides of environmental issues.[25]
In the past decade, Murphey has focused his political energies on the issue of private property rights—especially in the western and southwestern United States. In 2006, he released "The Ballad of Kit Laney" in support of the New Mexico rancher's fight with the United States Forest Service over water rights. Laney was imprisoned for assault after standing up to federal agents who seized his ranch in 2004. Murphey helped form the Farmers' Freedom Agriculture Alliance and scheduled a benefit—The Farmers' Freedom Concert—to protest unfair land acquisitions across the western states.[25][26] Murphey's opposition to the political forces threatening the American family farmer and rancher transcends political party affiliation. "I can tell you," Murphey observed, "that politics—doesn't matter whether it's Democrats or Republicans—have been involved with big agribusiness for a long, long time."[27]
Honors and awards
- 2023 Best Original Western Song "Blues for 66" Ryan Murphey and Michael Martin Murphey from the album Road Beyond the View
- 2021 Texas Trail of Fame Induction into the Fort Worth Trail of Fame and placement of marker in from to Billy Bob's Texas
- 2021 Lone Star Film Festival - Stephen Bruton Award Prestigious Lone StarFilm Festival honor for significant impact in film and TV by a musical artist
- 2019 Wrangler AwardInduction into the Cowboy Hall of Fame at the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Awards
- 2009 Grammy AwardNomination for Best Bluegrass Album, for Buckaroo Blue Grass
- 2009 Texas Country Music Hall of Fame
- 2008 National Day of the Cowboy "Cowboy Keeper Award".
- 2007 National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Wrangler Award for Best Song, for "Long and Lonesome Road to Dalhart"
- 2007 Texas Music Award for Best Song, for "Close the Land (America's Heartland)"
- 2007 Letter of Commendation from the President of the United States, for Murphey's involvement producing John Wayne's 100th Birthday Celebration
- 2004 Western Music Association Hall of Fame
- 2000 The New Mexico Distinguished Public Service Lifetime Achievement Award
- 1999 Academy of Western Artists Award for Best Album, for Cowboy Songs Four[28]
- 1998 The Golden Smokey Award for Outstanding Service to the U.S. National Park Service
- 1997 Will Rogers Cowboy Philosopher Award, Will Rogers Memorial Commission
- 1982 Academy of Country Music Top New Male Vocalist
- 1972 Rolling Stone Magazine Best New Singer-Songwriter in the Nation, for the album Geronimo's Cadillac
- American Quarter Horse Association Lifetime Honorary Member
- CMA AwardNominations (three times)
- BMIPlatinum Record, for the song "Wildfire"
- BMI Gold Record, for the album Cowboy Songs, the first Gold album in Cowboy music since Marty Robbins
- RIAA Certified Gold Records for "Blue Sky, Night Thunder" and "Cowboy Songs"
- King of the Cowboys Award for Outstanding Contribution to Western Family Entertainment by the Cody Order of Scouts, State of Nebraska
- Cody Order of Scouts, Nebraska
- Nebraska Country Music Hall of Fame
- Colorado Country Music Hall of Fame
- Western Heritage Awards from the Cowboy Hall of Fame (six-time winner)
- International Charley Russell Western Heritage Society Red Sash Award for Outstanding Service in Preservation of Western Heritage, 1999–2000
Discography
References
- ISBN 978-0-19-992083-9. Retrieved April 4, 2020.
- ^ Moser, Margaret (August 12, 2011). "Michael Martin Murphey, Brad Dunn & Ellis Country, The Duqaines, Wheeler Brothers, Jubal's Lawyer, and T Jarod Bonta". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
a face on Austin's Mount Rushmore of progressive country, the now Colorado-based Murphey is a Western storyteller in the Marty Robbins fashion
- ^ a b c Patterson, Rob (September 1, 2013). "Q&A: MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHEY". Lone Star Magazine. Retrieved July 24, 2023.
And beyond all of Murphey's above achievements, there is also the role he played in launching the Austin progressive country scene in the 1970s. So pivotal a role, in fact, that the Capital City's first local musical movement to have substantial national impact even took its nickname, "Cosmic Cowboy music," from a Murphey song.
- ^ a b c Eder, Bruce. "Michael Martin Murphey". Allmusic. Retrieved November 21, 2007.
- ^ "Pink Lavary Murphey profile". RootsWeb. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Robinson, Lana. "Michael Martin Murphey" in Texas Agriculture (September 2, 2005).
- ^ "Michael Martin Murphey Bio". Michael Martin Murphey Official Website. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ News reports at the time suggested that Murphey was upset that his image was used on the book's cover, and his photo was removed in subsequent editions.
- ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
- ^ Profile Archived January 13, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, westernjubilee.com; accessed March 14, 2017.
- ^ Erickson, Hal. "Hard Country". AllMovie. Retrieved November 28, 2013.
- ^ Michael Murphy the actor co-starred with Woody Allen in several films, including Annie Hall and Manhattan.
- ^ Sikes, O.J. "Michael Martin Murphey profile". Western Music. Archived from the original on April 16, 2013. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Carpenter, Molly. Richmond Times-Dispatch
- ^ Holden, Stephen. "Pop/Jazz; Cowboy Revue in the Sky At Rainbow and Stars" in The New York Times, May 22, 1992.
- ^ Tackett, Travis. "Michael Martin Murphey will release "Buckaroo Blue Grass" on Rural Rhythm". Bluegrass Journal. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Poet, J. "Buckaroo Blue Grass II – Riding Song". Allmusic. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Tanner, Beccy. "Michael Martin Murphey to help save historic cabin". The Wichita Eagle. Retrieved November 8, 2011.
- ^ Jurek, Thom. "Tall Grass & Cool Water". Allmusic. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ "Michael Martin Murphey Special Musical Guest". Country Music News International. Retrieved September 21, 2011.
- ^ "#1 for Michael Martin Murphey's Tall Grass and Cool Water". Cybergrass. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
- ^ Jurek, Thom. "Red River Drifter". AllMusic.com. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
- ^ "Red River Drifter". Billboard. Retrieved November 26, 2013.
- ^ "50 Greatest Country & Western Singers". American Cowboy. Legends Issue: 12–14. 2013.
- ^ a b Johnson, Anne. "Michael Martin Murphey". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ Woodka, Chris. "Murphey settles on spread in Beulah". Chieftain. Retrieved July 27, 2011.
- ^ McGee, David. "Murph Rides Again". The Bluegrass Special. Retrieved November 10, 2011.
- ^ "Western Music Awards". Academy of Western Artists. Retrieved November 12, 2011.