Walter Murphy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (1952-12-19)December 19, 1952 (age 72) New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
|
| Instrument |
|
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Labels | |
| Website | www |
Walter Anthony Murphy Jr. (born December 19, 1952) is an American composer, keyboardist, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for the instrumental "A Fifth of Beethoven", adisco adaptation ofBeethoven'sFifth Symphony which topped the charts in 1976 and was featured on theSaturday Night Fever soundtrack in 1977. Further classical-disco fusions followed, such as "Flight '76", "Toccata and Funk in 'D' Minor" "Bolero", and "Mostly Mozart", but were not as successful.
In a career spanning over five decades, Murphy has written music for numerous films and TV shows, includingThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson,The Savage Bees,Stingray,Wiseguy,The Commish,Profit,Buffy the Vampire Slayer,Looney Tunes, andHow Murray Saved Christmas. He has had a long-running partnership withSeth MacFarlane, composing music for his films and TV shows such asFamily Guy,American Dad,The Cleveland Show,Ted,Ted 2 and theTed television series.
Murphy was born on December 19, 1952, in New York City,[1] and grew up inManhattan. At age four, he attended music lessons hosted byRosa Rio,[2] studying an array of instruments, including the organ[3] and piano.[1][4] Rio frequently opted for him to star in television advertisements for theHammond organ.[1] In high school, Murphy composed for his band class and orchestra.[5]
Against the wishes of his father, who was areal estate agent and wished to pass the business down to his son,[3] Murphy enrolled in theManhattan School of Music under a composition major in 1970.[5] recalling his experiences with his father, Murphy stated "He wanted me to be a doctor or lawyer — or something you can depend on."[3] There, Murphy studied jazz andclassical piano[6] withNicolas Flagello andLudmila Ulehla.[5] His postgraduate studies at the Manhattan School yielded the composition "Chorale and Allegro for Orchestra", which has been performed by orchestras throughout the United States.[5]
From 1970 to 1980, Murphy worked as aManhattan Avenue jingle writer, writing for such clients as Lady Arrow shirts, Revlon, Woolworth's, Viasa Airlines, and Korvette's, as well as arrangements for the popular children's television seriesBig Blue Marble.[3][7][6]
In the early 1970s, Murphy was the leader of the soul/R&Bcover band WAM. They gigged in theNew York tri-state area,[8] often at theNew Rochelle club Pearly's.
During an appointment withBobby Rosengarden, bandleader of theDick Cavett Show orchestra, Murphy convinced the group to play some of his arrangements when he found Rosengarden to be absent.[9] Looking back on the situation, he stated "I still can't believe I did it. I'm not a very forward person."[9] Since the band "wasn't very busy," they performed his arrangements live and enjoyed them, convincing Murphy to write more.[9]
In April 1972, a fellow student from the Manhattan School of Music introduced Murphy toDoc Severinsen, musical director ofThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Murphy presented his arrangements to Severinsen, who liked them enough to haveThe Tonight Show Band play them live. However,The Tonight Show moved production toBurbank, California a month later, and a final year of college prevented Murphy from joining them.[9]
In 1974, Murphy joinedThomas J. Valentino's company Valentino, Inc., composing much of theirlibrary music for film and television over the years.
In 1976, Murphy played piano onPeter Lemongello's second albumDo I Love You.[3]
In college, Murphy's interests had includedrock music, particularly that which was adapted fromclassical music, such as "Joy" byApollo 100 and "A Lover's Concerto" byThe Toys. Later, in 1976, he was writing a disco song for a commercial, when a producer gave him the idea of "updating classical music," which "nobody had done lately."[9] He then recorded a demo tape of four songs: three were ordinary pop songs, while the fourth was adisco rendition ofBeethoven'sFifth Symphony titled "A Fifth of Beethoven"[10]—and mailed it to various record labels in New York City. Response was generally unimpressive, but "Fifth" caught the interest ofPrivate Stock Records ownerLarry Uttal.
Murphy signed on to Private Stock and recorded the albumA Fifth of Beethoven. The first single and title track, "A Fifth of Beethoven", was released on May 29, 1976. It was a hit, starting out at number 80 on theBillboard Hot 100 and eventually reaching number 1 within 19 weeks, where it stayed for one week. The single sold two million copies, while the album sold about 750,000 copies. The second single, a rendition ofNikolai Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee" titled "Flight '76", was less successful, reaching only number 44 on the Hot 100[11] and number 35 inCanada.[12]
The single was initially credited to "Walter Murphy & The Big Apple Band" upon encouragement from Private Stock, who believed it would become a hit if credited to a group rather than an individual. However, two days following the record's release, Private Stock discovered the existence of another Big Apple Band (which promptly changed its name toChic). As result, the record was later re-released and credited to "The Walter Murphy Band", then just "Walter Murphy".[11]
Following the success of "A Fifth of Beethoven", Murphy toured with his band and made guest appearances on shows such asDon Kirshner's Rock Concert,The Midnight Special,Dinah!, andAmerican Bandstand. On the success of the single, he said: "It's really sad that the kids today can only relate to Beethoven via a rock version of his music." He hoped "that maybe if they've heard this much of his symphony, they'll go out and buy the original."[3]
In 1977, "A Fifth of Beethoven" was licensed toRSO Records for inclusion on thesoundtrack to the filmSaturday Night Fever, giving the song a new lease on life.[11] Also that year, Murphy recorded the albumRhapsody in Blue, which contained a similar mix of classical-disco fusion and self-penned pop songs.[13] Two singles were released: a disco treatment ofGeorge Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", and the self-penned instrumental "Uptown Serenade." The former narrowly missed the top 100, but received significant play on easy-listening stations, according toBillboard. (In 2019, it was employed in the openingmise-en-scène ofepisode 8 of the HBOWatchmen series, set in analternate-historicalSaigon on the anniversary of the American victory in theVietnam War.)
In 1978, Murphy recorded the albumPhantom of the Opera, a concept album telling the story ofThe Phantom of the Opera, featuring Gene Pistilli asErik/The Phantom, B.G. Gibson asRaoul, andRenée Geyer asChristine. The album spawned three singles: "Dance Your Face Off"/"Gentle Explosion" (adouble A-side), "Toccata and Funk in 'D' Minor", and "The Music Will Not End". These singles failed to make the Hot 100, club, or radio charts.[14]
Murphy signed on toRCA in 1979, and released the albumWalter Murphy's Discosymphony. The album spawned the singles "Bolero" and "Mostly Mozart"; the latter failed to chart, indicating that Murphy had taken the "classical disco" concept as far as it could go.
Also in 1979, Murphy and Gene Pistilli joined with brothers Eddie and Frank Dillard, forming the band Uncle Louie. They signed on toTK Records and released one album,Uncle Louie's Here, which explored a more aggressive, funk-based angle than Murphy's solo albums. The album spawned three singles: "Full-Tilt Boogie", which reached number 19 on theBillboard R&B chart, "I Like Funky Music", and "Sky High".
Around this time, Murphy and Pistilli wrote and/or produced songs for other artists, including "Something to Hold Onto" (1981) byHarry Belafonte and "What's Wrong With This Picture?" (1980) by Lora Lee Cliff. Murphy also contributed arrangements to Jack Jones'sNobody Does It Better (1979) andPia Zadora'sRock It Out (1984).
In 1982, Murphy signed on toMCA Records and recordedThemes from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and More. The album contained disco- and pop-tinged arrangements of themes to popular movies of the time, such asE.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,Indiana Jones, andPoltergeist. The album spawned one single, amedley of "Themes from ET (The Extra-Terrestrial)", which climbed to number 47 on theBillboard Hot 100.
FollowingThemes from E.T., Murphy largely ceased touring and recording studio albums of original material. He instead began focusing more exclusively on composing for film and television, and producing for other artists, in a more behind-the-scenes role.
Artists that Murphy has recorded and/or produced for includeDolly Parton,Sylvester Stallone,Jennifer Warnes,Siedah Garrett,Tim Schmitt,Richie Havens,Isaac Hayes,Taj Mahal,Paul Williams, andKenny Rankin. He was also a guest conductor for theDallas Symphony Orchestra, during their successful Summer Pops series.[5]
In 1984, Murphy and television composerMike Post co-producedAlabama's "Rock on the Bayou", the B-side to the band's hit single "(There's A) Fire in the Night". "Rock on the Bayou" was featured in the independent filmThe River Rat, which Post also composed the music for.
In 1985, Murphy collaborated with Post,Rick James, and Issac Hayes on scoring music forThe A-Team episode "The Heart of Rock 'N Roll".[15]
In 1997, Murphy composed music for theNorman Lear producedKids' WB animated show,Channel Umptee-3.
Since 1999, Murphy has served as one of the two main composers for the animated seriesFamily Guy, the other beingRon Jones until the 12th season in 2014. He has described his scores forFamily Guy as "a combination of [big-band swing and action-orchestral]."[16] The song "You've Got a Lot to See", composed for the episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows", won the award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics at the 2002Emmy Awards.[17] In 2005, Murphy scored music for the offshoot albumFamily Guy: Live in Vegas.[18]
Since 2005, Murphy is one of the composers for MacFarlane'sAmerican Dad!, the other two beingJoel McNeely andRon Jones, as well as composing the series' theme song "Good Morning USA".[16]
From 2009 to 2013, Murphy composed music for MacFarlane's seriesThe Cleveland Show, including the main title theme.[16]
In 2012, Murphy scored MacFarlane's filmTed, and received anAcademy Award for Best Original Song nomination for co-writing "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" with MacFarlane.
Murphy is also a longtime collaborator with jazz guitarist Thom Rotella, who had played on Murphy's albumsA Fifth of Beethoven andPhantom of the Opera and currently performs with hisFamily Guy orchestra.[19] In 1989, Murphy arranged the song "The Gift" on Rotella's albumHome Again. In 2014, Murphy and Rotella wrote and recorded a four-track big band project, inspired by theWes Montgomery andVerve-eraOliver Nelson records of the 1960s that the two of them had grown up on. The project was recorded inCapitol Studio A with engineerAl Schmitt, and performed by renown Los Angeles session musicians.[20]
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| A Fifth of Beethoven (as The Walter Murphy Band) |
|
| Rhapsody in Blue |
|
| Phantom of the Opera |
|
| Walter Murphy's Discosymphony |
|
| Uncle Louie's Here (with Uncle Louie) | |
| Themes from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and More |
|
| Family Guy: Live in Vegas (as Walter Murphy and His Orchestra) |
|
| Ted: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (with Various Artists) |
|
| Ted 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (with Various Artists) |
|
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| The Best of Walter Murphy: A Fifth of Beethoven |
|
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "Disco Bells" | 1975 | N/A |
| "A Fifth of Beethoven" | 1976 | A Fifth of Beethoven |
| "Flight '76" | 1976 | A Fifth of Beethoven |
| "Rhapsody in Blue" | 1977 | Rhapsody in Blue |
| "Uptown Serenade" | 1977 | Rhapsody in Blue |
| "Dance Your Face Off"/"Gentle Explosion" | 1978 | Phantom of the Opera |
| "Toccata and Funk in 'D' Minor" | 1978 | Phantom of the Opera |
| "The Music Will Not End" | 1978 | Phantom of the Opera |
| "Mostly Mozart" | 1979 | Walter Murphy's Discosymphony |
| "Bolero" | 1979 | Walter Murphy's Discosymhpony |
| "Full-Tilt Boogie" | 1979 | Uncle Louie's Here |
| "I Like Funky Music" | 1979 | Uncle Louie's Here |
| "Sky High" | 1979 | Uncle Louie's Here |
| "Themes from E.T. (the Extra-Terrestrial)" | 1982 | Themes from E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial and More |
