Michael Martin Murphey - Wikipedia. Michael Martin Murphey. Michael Martin Murphey at the Flying Monkey, Plymouth, NH, October 1. Background information. Born(1. 94. 5- 0. March 1. 4, 1. 94. Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music.Dallas, Texas, U. S. Genres. Western, country, Outlaw country, folk, pop, bluegrass, soft rock. Occupation(s)Singer- songwriter. Instruments. Vocals, guitar, banjo, piano, harmonica, mandolin. Years active. 19. Labels. A& M, Epic, Liberty,Warner Bros. Records,Valley Entertainment,Real West Productions,Rural Rhythm Records,Western Jubilee Recording. Michael Martin Murphey (born March 1. Americansinger- songwriter best known for writing and performing Western music, country music and popular music. 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 1. Porkchop’s Catch of the Week. Brought to you by Go Fish! With three well stocked lakes, Go Fish! is a great place to take the entire family for a day of fishing. Tabtight professional, free when you need it, VPN service. 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.[1][2]Early life[edit]Michael Martin Murphey was born on March 1. 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.[3] When he was six 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.[2]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.[4] 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 7. Hank Williams, Bob Wills, and Woody Guthrie. 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 seventeen, he took his first "professional" music job, playing western songs around a campfire at a Texas ranch. By the early 1. 96. Murphey was playing the clubs in Dallas, performing country music, folk music, and rock music. He won over the conservative Texas audiences with his charm and talent, and soon formed a band that developed a significant following in the Dallas area.[1]Songwriting success[edit]After graduating from W. H. Adamson High School in Oak Cliff, Murphey studied Greek at the University of North Texas and joined the Folk Music Club where he met Steven Fromholz, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Spencer Perskin, and Eddie Wilson— co- founder of Armadillo World Headquarters. Murphey then moved to California, where he studied creative writing at the University of California at Los Angeles, majoring in medieval history and literature. He signed a publishing contract with the Sparrow Music company, and soon he made a name for himself in the Los Angeles folk music scene. By 1. 96. 4, 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 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. Murphey formed the Lewis & Clarke Expedition with Boomer Castleman, 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 (I Feel Bad)". Boomer 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 1. 96. 8, 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 recorded an entire album of Michael Murphey songs called The Ballad of Calico, about a Mojave Desert ghost town.[1]Murphey wrote some additional songs for The Monkees, but he grew disillusioned with the poor financial rewards and the Southern California music scene. Outlaw country years[edit]In 1. Murphey returned to Texas and became part of the so- called Outlaw country movement, playing alongside other maverick performers such as Willie Nelson and Jerry Jeff Walker. He created a unique sound that combined his country, rock, and folk influences.[2] It was during this period that Murphey wrote "Geronimo's Cadillac", a song about Native American rights that later became an unofficial anthem for the American Indian Movement in the early 1. In 1. 97. 1, Murphey was signed to A& M Records by Bob Johnston, who discovered him in a Dallas club, the Rubiayat. Johnston had produced some of the country's most popular recording artists, including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Simon and Garfunkel. In 1. 97. 2, 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 4. 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."[5]In 1. 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. 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.[6] 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[edit]In 1. 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 the beautiful "Southwestern Pilgrimage". In 1. 97. 5, 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 1. Wildfire" became a chart- topping hit, reaching #2 in Cash Box and #3 on the Billboard Hot 1. Adult Contemporary charts, 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 R. I. A. A. in July 1. It eventually surpassed two million in US sales. 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 played by jazz pianist Jac Murphy.[8] The introduction is based on a piece by the Russian classical composer Alexander Scriabin. During the late 1. Swans Against the Sun (1. Flowing Free Forever (1. Lone Wolf (1. 97. Peaks, Valleys, Honky Tonks & Alleys (1. The album Swans Against the Sun produced his first country hits "A Mansion on the Hill", "Flowing Free Forever", and "Cherokee Fiddle", which also became a top ten hit for Johnny Lee.
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