Matt Murphy (blues guitarist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Matt Murphy | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Also known as | "Guitar" |
| Born | December 29, 1927 |
| Genre(s) | Blues |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Cort Signature model | |
Matt "Guitar" Murphy (born 29 December 1927) is an American blues guitarist.
Contents |
[edit] Life & career
Murphy was born Sunflower, Mississippi.[1] He played with Howlin' Wolf as early as 1948 (harpist Little Junior Parker was also in the band at the time).[2]
By 1952, Murphy was in Chicago, where he began his long association with Memphis Slim by playing, remarkedly, on his dates for United Records and Vee Jay Records, including the album, At The Gate of Horn (1959).[3]
He was already a legend among serious guitarists by the 1960s, famed for the incredibly fast and intricate blues riffs that would soon change rock and roll. While white rock and rollers were still playing the slow melodic riffs of "Love One Another" or the slow fuzzy riffs of "Wild Thing," a few (like Eric Clapton, Rick Derringer and Jeff Beck) were listening to the flying fingers of B. B. King and Matt Murphy and trying to emulate them.[citation needed]
Murphy did not have a band of his own until 1982, but played with many famous bands. Among them (more or less chronologically):
- Howlin' Wolf
- Little Junior Parker
- Ike Turner
- Memphis Slim
- James Cotton
- Otis Rush
- Etta James
- Sonny Boy Williamson II
- Chuck Berry
- Joe Louis Walker
- The Blues Brothers
Some of these took a lot of his lifetime (for example, he played with Memphis Slim for 20 years in a row), some were just sessions during his work at the Chess Records (obviously, Otis Rush did not need a full-time guitarist, he could play well himself, unlike piano-player Memphis Slim).
He can be seen in the films The Blues Brothers and Blues Brothers 2000, where he plays Aretha Franklin's hen-pecked husband. Work thereafter with The Blues Brothers turned him into one of the best-known blues guitarists in the United States.[3]
Murphy's signature model guitar is manufactured by Cort Guitars Murphy has been less active since he suffered a stroke on stage while performing in Nashville in 2003. It was noted that he gamely finished his set performing with one hand. A benefit was mounted by notable musicians of Memphis and Nashville.
[edit] See also
- Chicago Blues Festival
- San Francisco Blues Festival
- Long Beach Blues Festival
- Chicago Blues Festival
- List of guitarists
- List of guitarists by genre
- List of Chicago blues musicians
[edit] References
- ^ All Music Guide biography
- ^ All Music Guide biography
- ^ a b Russell, Tony (1997). The Blues: From Robert Johnson to Robert Cray. Dubai: Carlton Books Limited, p. 149. ISBN 1-85868-255-X.
