Matt "Guitar" Murphy (born
December 29, 1929, Sunflower
, Mississippi
) is an American
blues guitarist.
Life and career
Murphy played with
Howlin' Wolf in
1948;
harpist Little Junior
Parker was also in the band at the time.
By 1952,
Murphy was in Chicago
, where he
began his long association with Memphis
Slim by playing on his dates for United Records and Vee-Jay Records, including the album, At
The Gate of Horn (1959).
Murphy did not have a band of his own until 1982, but played with
many famous bands. Among them (more or less chronologically):
He played with some of these bands for many years (for example, 20
years in a row with Memphis Slim), while others were just sessions
during his work at
Chess
Records.
Murphy 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.
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
— he finished his set performing with one hand. A benefit was
mounted by notable musicians of Memphis and Nashville.
Murphy now resides in
Miami
, Florida
.
He has
been playing in Florida with two young proteges Tim O'Donnell and
Darrell Raines, and performed with his nephew Floyd in the Florida Keys
during the summer of 2009.
See also
References
External links
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