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 Know You From Somewhere
Mark Murphy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I hope I'm not intruding
You seemed alone and lost and thought
Would you like a cocktail
Or a glass of white wine?
I know you from somewhere
Could be that day in Greenage Village
Sometime last year?
Ooh...
We were both travellers
In that age we're just lost
Mmm... I know you from somewhere
Now, we share a different time
A frightened world gone mad
The good thing is I recognize
The feeling lingering between us
From you to me, from me to you
Like love
Scuse me, I hope I'm not too pushy
It happens to everyone, so many times
I thought I knew you from somewhere
And I still think I do
(Trumpet solo)
Now, we share a different time
A frightened world gone mad
The good thing is I recognize
The feeling lingering between us
From you to me, from me to you
Like love
The lyrics to Mark Murphy's "I Know You From Somewhere" tell the story of a chance encounter between two strangers who recognize each other from somewhere in their past. The first verse opens with the singer offering a drink to the addressee, who appears lost and alone. The refrain repeats "I know you from somewhere" several times, insinuating a familiarity that cannot readily be explained. However, the second verse develops this theme by offering possible scenarios for how the two could have met, citing a day in Greenage Village or a visit to Santa Fe last year. This implies a sense of nostalgia or longing for a time when they were not so isolated.
The song takes on a more somber tone in the bridge, where the singer acknowledges that they share a different time, in which the world is "frightened" and "gone mad." However, the feeling that exists between them is still recognizable, described as "like love." The final verse echoes the first, as the singer asks if they are being too forward by insisting that they know the other person. The song ends with a trumpet solo evocative of the jazz age, leaving the closing lines to linger in the listener's mind.
Overall, the song is imbued with a sense of mystery and nostalgia, as well as a wistful optimism that hints at the possibility of connection and love in spite of the turbulent times.
Line by Line Meaning
Scuse me
I apologize for the interruption
I hope I'm not intruding
I'm hoping that my presence is welcome
You seemed alone and lost and thought
I noticed you looked unsure of where to go
Would you like a cocktail
Or a glass of white wine?
May I interest you in a drink?
I know you from somewhere
I feel like we've met before
Could be that day in Greenage Village
Or was in Santa Fe
Sometime last year?
Maybe we crossed paths in Greenage Village or Santa Fe last year
Ooh...
We were both travellers
In that age we're just lost
Mmm... I know you from somewhere
We were both aimlessly wandering in our youth and I have a strong feeling that we've met before
Now, we share a different time
A frightened world gone mad
The good thing is I recognize
The feeling lingering between us
From you to me, from me to you
Like love
Now we're living in a different time with a chaotic world, but I can still sense a strong connection between us that feels like love
Scuse me, I hope I'm not too pushy
It happens to everyone, so many times
I thought I knew you from somewhere
And I still think I do
I don't want to be too forward, but I often feel like I recognize people I've never met before and I still feel like I know you from somewhere
(Trumpet solo)
Instrumental break in the song
Writer(s): MARK H. MURPHY
Contributed by Cameron A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.