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.
I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry
Mark Murphy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's worth its heartache in ransom
And when the twilight steals
I know how the lady in the harbor feels
When I want rain, I get sunny weather
I'm just as blue as the sky
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry
Friends ask me out, and I tell them I'm busy
Must get a new alibi
I stay at home, and ask myself "Where is she?"
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry
Dry little tear drops, my little tear drops
Hanging on a stream of dreams
Fly, little mem'ries, my little mem'ries
Remind her of our crazy schemes
Yes, somebody said "Just forget about her"
So I gave that treatment a try
And strangely enough, I got along without her
Then one day she passed me right by
Oh well
I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry
Mark Murphy's song "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry" is about a man who is heartbroken and trying to move on from a failed relationship. He speaks about how his torch is handsome and worth its heartache in ransom. This torch is a metaphor for his burning love which has become burdensome, just like it has become worth its ransom to carry his torch, which is now left to smolder into ash. He wants to move on but is unable to do so, and even the instance when he wants rain, the sun shines brightly, and he continues to be unhappy.
He talks about how he turns down his friends' invitations with a white lie, trying to mask his true feelings, and instead, he stays home, avoiding any chance to remind him of her. He then decides that it's finally time to try and forget her but finds out that it's not as easy as it seems. He eventually sees her after moving on, and although he's still wrapped up in his sadness, he manages to carry on with his life.
The lyrics take on a mournful and reflective tone, with the recurring theme of hanging out tears to dry, a poetic and poignant way to describe the blues experience. The song, which was written by Jule Styne and Sammy Cahn, portrays a character who is struggling to cope with the end of a relationship and trying to come to terms with the grief and loss that it brings.
Line by Line Meaning
The torch I carry is handsome
The love that I hold dear is precious and valuable.
It's worth its heartache in ransom
The pain that comes with loving someone is a high price to pay, but worth it for the beauty of the love.
And when the twilight steals
As the day fades into darkness,
I know how the lady in the harbor feels
I understand the feeling of the Statue of Liberty standing in New York Harbor and holding her torch aloft.
When I want rain, I get sunny weather
Even when I'm feeling low and want to cry, life goes on as normal and the sun continues to shine.
I'm just as blue as the sky
Despite the sunny weather, I feel just as sad as can be.
Since love is gone, can't pull myself together
Since love has left me, I am unable to control my emotions and gather myself together.
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry
I will let my tears flow freely and will not attempt to hide them or push them down.
Friends ask me out, and I tell them I'm busy
When my friends invite me out, I say I am busy, but really I am just avoiding confronting my feelings.
Must get a new alibi
I need to come up with a new excuse to keep my friends from realizing I am hurting.
I stay at home, and ask myself "Where is she?"
I spend my time alone at home, wondering where the person I love has gone and why they left.
Guess I'll hang my tears out to dry
Since I am unable to move on from my love, I will let my tears flow and express my emotions.
Dry little tear drops, my little tear drops
These tears may be small, but they are significant and important to me.
Hanging on a stream of dreams
My tears are flowing from me and onto the endless stream of dreams and hopes that I once had for our future.
Fly, little mem'ries, my little mem'ries
My memories of our past together are small but significant, and I want them to fly free and be remembered always.
Remind her of our crazy schemes
My memories of us are important, and I hope that they will bring to mind the happy times and the wild ideas we shared together.
Yes, somebody said "Just forget about her"
Others have advised me to let go and forget the person I love.
So I gave that treatment a try
I attempted to follow their advice and forget my love.
And strangely enough, I got along without her
To my surprise, I was able to function and live without this person in my life.
Then one day she passed me right by
But seeing her again brought back all the feelings and emotions I had tried to suppress.
Oh well
But I know that I cannot control other people's actions and must accept the way things are.
I guess I'll hang my tears out to dry
So, once again, I will allow myself to cry and express my feelings openly.
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Danny Barrett
The great Mark Murphy,was First..A Great Singer secondly, if you want to claim him as a Jazz Singer..fine....But, first..He was a great singer.....Which sets his standards much higher then the rest of the many so called ..Jazz/singers..
JACQUILLO2
GREAT
ANU NAN
thank you 4 the post