Jimmy Murphy (musician)
Jimmy Murphy ( born October 11, 1925 in Birmingham, Alabama; † 1 June 1981) was an American country and rockabilly musician, songwriter and guitarist. Murphy was best known for his song Sixteen Tons Rock ' n ' Roll and Electricity.
Life
Childhood and youth
Jimmy Murphy was influenced in his childhood by many different styles of music. His father was a passionate fan of the blues musician Leadbelly and Blind Boy Fuller. While he worked in his father's company, Murphy spent his free time with music. He appeared now and again, but mainly on local radio.
Career
1949 Murphy moved to Knoxville, Tennessee. He also got the chance to perform at the radio stations WROL and WNOX. There he met guitarist Chet Atkins, who opened him the opportunity to record some demo tapes. RCA Victor was aware of the young Murphy and took him under contract in 1951. In January of that year, Murphy held its first session for RCA, resulting in the Single Electricity arose. His releases on RCA, however, were not very successful and his contract was terminated.
He continued to perform on radio until 1955, producer Don Law Murphy gave a contract with Columbia Records. The publications from his first Columbia session took place in the public no attention, probably because of the minimalist style, which was more like the hillbilly pieces of the 1940s. In his second session at Columbia he recorded several rockabilly tracks, including Sixteen Tons Rock ' n' Roll, Grandpaw 's a Cat and My Gal Dottie, with Onie Wheeler on harmonica. But these plates seemed Murphy not to bring the desired success, in spite of the rockabilly style. 1956, the contract ran out at Columbia and Murphy came back on the radio. In the 1960s, he took on various small labels on some plates, without success.
When his song was re-released Electricity in the 1970s, Murphy was in the public far more attention. His self-titled album was even able to place on the Billboard charts. A tour and a new album were in the planning stage, as Jimmy Murphy died in 1981. 1989 brought Bear Family Records a CD of his collected works out.
Discography
- Gonna Throw My Suitcase Away
- Holy Ghost Millionaire
- You May Have A Million
- God's getting Worried
- Half A Loaf Of Bread
- The Warning Song
- Put Some Meat On Them Bones
- Sweet Sweet Lips