Born in Syracuse, New York, in 1932, Murphy was raised in a musical family, his parents having met as members of the local Methodist Church choir. He grew up in the nearby small town of Fulton, New York, where his grandmother and then his aunt were the church organists. Opera was also a presence in the Murphy home. He started piano lessons at the age of seven.
Murphy joined his brother's jazz dance band as the singer when a teenager, citing influences from Nat "King" Cole, June Christy, Anita O'Day, and Ella Fitzgerald. The Jazz pianist Art Tatum was also an influence.
Murphy graduated from Syracuse University in 1953, majoring in Music and Drama. University life included performing on campus and also in a club – playing piano and singing.
In 1954, Murphy moved to New York City, working part-time as an actor and singer. He appeared in productions for the Gilbert and Sullivan Light Opera Company and a musical version for television of Casey at the Bat. Also, he twice took second place at the Apollo Theatre amateur contests.
Murphy was eventually introduced to record producer Milt Gabler, who was an artist and repertoire director (A & R) for Decca. His resulting debut recording was Meet Mark Murphy (1956), followed closely by Let Yourself Go (1957).
In 1958 Murphy moved to Los Angeles and recorded for Capitol, but returned to New York in the early '60s and recorded the album Rah! (1961) on Riverside Records, performing "Angel Eyes", a version of Horace Silver's "Doodlin'", and "Green Dolphin Street", featuring Bill Evans, Clark Terry, Urbie Green, Blue Mitchell and Wynton Kelly as accompanists. His favorite recording to date, That's How I Love the Blues, soon followed. In 1963, Murphy hit the charts across the country with his single of "Fly Me to the Moon" and was voted New Star of the Year in Down Beat Magazine's Reader's Poll.[citation needed]
In the late 1960s Murphy moved to London, England, where he worked primarily as an actor. He continued however, to cultivate his jazz audiences in Europe. He returned to the States in 1972 and began recording an average of an album a year for more than fourteen years on the Muse label. These projects - including the albums Nat King Cole Songbook Vol. I and II, Bop for Kerouac, Kerouac Then And Now, Living Room, Satisfaction Guaranteed, Beauty And the Beast and, Stolen Moments - gained numerous Grammy nominations.[citation needed] This last album contains Oliver Nelson's "Stolen Moments" with lyrics by Murphy.
In 1984 together with Viva Brasil he recorded the album Brazil Song (Cancões do Brasil), which featured original material written by Brazilian songwriters including work by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Milton Nascimento.
In 1987, Murphy recorded Night Mood, an album of songs by Brazilian composer Ivan Lins, followed by the Grammy-nominated September Ballads on Milestone Records. Murphy has also appeared on U.F.O.'s last two releases (for Polydor Records), in which he wrote and rapped lyrics on songs composed with the group. This collaboration opened up further new audiences in the acid-jazz and hip-hop genres, demonstrating jazz's timelessness while transcending generations and styles.
In August 1997, BMG/RCA Victor released Song For The Geese, for which he has received his sixth Grammy nomination. Also in August 1997, the 32 Records label Joel Dorn and Michael Bourne released a double CD anthology Stolen and Other Moments, which features some of his recordings for the now defunct Muse label. The CD features material from the two "Kerouac" albums and a selection of "the best of Mark Murphy".
Murphy’s release Once to Every Heart (2005), on the Verve label, features sensuous ballads, where the listener can capture him singing in top form, with superb musicians and sounding better than ever. In 2007 Love is What Stays was released on Verve. Both albums were produced by German trumpeter Till Brönner.
Murphy has also collaborated with Five Corners Quintet, a modern Finnish jazz band. He appears on their albums Chasin' the Jazz Gone By (2005) and Hot Corner (2008).
In 2010 he released the independently produced CD, Never Let Me Go, on which he is supported by pianist Misha Piatigorsky, bassist Danton Boller and drummer Chris Wabich. A limited edition EP/MP3, "Beautiful Friendship: Remembering Shirley Horn" on Gearbox Records was released in 2013.
Murphy continued to tour internationally into his 80s, appearing at festivals, concerts, in jazz clubs and on television programs, throughout the U.S., Europe, Australia and Japan, as well as other places. John Bush at AllMusic.com described Murphy as "a major name in vocal jazz." A longtime resident of the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, he died there on October 22, 2015.
Give It Back To The Indians
Mark Murphy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
For twenty-six dollars and a bottle of booze and they threw in the Bronx and Staten
Pete thought that he had the best of the bargin but the poor red man just grinned,
And he grunted "ugh!" meaning okay in his jargon for he knew poor Pete was skinned.
We`ve tried to run the city....but the city ran away...
And now Peter Minuet
We can`t continue it...
Champagne Charlie`s drinking gin,
Old New York is new and phony
Give it back to the Indians!
Two cents more to smoke a Lucky,
Dodging buses keep you thin,
Now New York is simply ducky,
Give it back to the Indians!
Take all the reds, on the boxes made for soap
Whites on Fifth Avenue
Blues down in Wall Street losing hope..
Big bargain today...Chief take it away!
Come you busted city slickers,
Better take it on the chin
Father Nick has lost his knickers
Give it back to the Indians!
Take all the reds, on the boxes made for soap
Whites on Fifth Avenue
Blues down in Wall Street losing hope..
Big bargain today... Chief take it away!
Come you busted city slickers,
Better take it on the chin
Father Nick has lost his knickers
Give it back to the Indians!
The song "Give It Back To The Indians" speaks to the idea that the white settlers in America stole land from the indigenous people who originally inhabited it. The lyrics describe the ironic situation of Peter Minuet, who bought the island of Manhattan from the Lenape Indians for a mere 26 dollars and a bottle of liquor. The singer implies that the Native Americans knew they were getting the better end of the bargain, as they accepted the trade (and said "ugh!" to indicate their agreement), fully aware that Minuet was taking advantage of them. The chorus then adds a call to action, asserting that modern-day Americans should give back the land they stole and return it to its rightful owners.
In later verses, the song describes the ways in which New York City has lost its way, with Broadway becoming just another amusement park and the city losing its authentic character. The chorus repeats the refrain to reinforce the idea that the current state of the city is a result of its wrongful acquisition. The second half of the song introduces an interesting twist, with the singer targeting both wealthy whites on Wall Street and the Catholic Church. The lyrics suggest that even those who didn't directly participate in stealing Native American land are still benefiting from the unjust system that was put in place. The chorus concludes the song with a final plea to return what was taken and give it back to those who rightfully owned it.
Line by Line Meaning
Old Peter Minuet had nothing to lose when he bought the isle of Manhattan
Old Peter Minuet didn't have much to lose when he bought Manhattan
For twenty-six dollars and a bottle of booze and they threw in the Bronx and Staten
He got a pretty good deal, only paying twenty-six dollars and a bottle of booze, plus they threw in the Bronx and Staten
Pete thought that he had the best of the bargin but the poor red man just grinned,
Peter thought he had won in the deal, but the Native Americans knew he was actually the loser
And he grunted "ugh!" meaning okay in his jargon for he knew poor Pete was skinned.
The Native American simply grunted, which meant okay in his language, because he knew Peter had been taken advantage of.
We've tried to run the city....but the city ran away...
We've tried to control the city but it's proven to be too difficult.
And now Peter Minuet
And now, referring back to Peter Minuet and the previous lyrics.
We can't continue it...
We can't keep trying to control the city.
Broadway's turning into Coney,
Broadway is losing its glamour and turning into Coney, a place of lower class entertainment.
Champagne Charlie's drinking gin,
Even the higher class people have resorted to drinking cheaper alcohol, like gin.
Old New York is new and phony
The old New York that was once genuine is now fake and inauthentic.
Give it back to the Indians!
The solution to this problem is to give the land back to its original owners, the Native Americans.
Two cents more to smoke a Lucky,
Even the smallest things, like buying cigarettes, have gotten more expensive.
Dodging buses keep you thin,
Dodging buses while walking is necessary to stay in shape and avoid accidents.
Now New York is simply ducky,
Now New York is simply alright, nothing special anymore.
Take all the reds, on the boxes made for soap
Take all the Native Americans on soap packaging as a representation of how they have been trivialized and exploited.
Whites on Fifth Avenue
Meanwhile, white people continue to enjoy shopping on Fifth Avenue.
Blues down in Wall Street losing hope..
People of color in poorer areas like Wall Street have lost hope for improvement or success in their lives.
Big bargain today...Chief take it away!
This is a reference back to the original bargain that Peter Minuet made with the Native Americans, saying that now in the present day, the Native American Chief should take it away.
Come you busted city slickers,
A call out to the city-dwellers who have been unable to improve the city's situation.
Better take it on the chin
Better just accept the fact that the city is not going to get better, at least not without drastic changes.
Father Nick has lost his knickers
Even Church officials like Father Nick have lost their grip on the city and its situation.
Give it back to the Indians!
The solution remains to give the land back to the Native Americans as a way to right the wrongs of the past and move towards a better future.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind