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.
On Green Dolphin Street
Mark Murphy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A man, a maid, a kiss, and then goodbye
Romance was the theme
And we were the players
I never think of this without a sigh
Lover, one lovely day
Love came, planning to stay
The setting for nights beyond forgetting
And through these moments apart memories live in my heart
When I recall the love I found on
I could kiss the ground on Green Dolphin Street
Lover, one lovely day
Love came, planning to stay
Green Dolphin Street supplied the setting
The setting for nights beyond forgetting
And through these moments apart memories live in my heart
When I recall the love I found on
On Green Dolphin Street
The lyrics of Mark Murphy's "On Green Dolphin Street" evoke a bittersweet memory of a past love affair. The opening lines "It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened / A man, a maid, a kiss, and then goodbye" suggest that the singer is reminiscing about a fleeting romance that has since ended. The lines "Romance was the theme / And we were the players" create a sense of nostalgia and regret, as if the singer is replaying the events of the past and wondering what could have been. The repeated refrain "Green Dolphin Street" reinforces the idea that the setting of the romance was a significant part of the experience and invokes a sense of wistfulness for a time that can never be recaptured.
The second stanza begins with the repeated line "Lover, one lovely day / Love came, planning to stay," which establishes a sense of hopefulness and anticipation, suggesting that the relationship had the potential to be something more. The lines "Green Dolphin Street supplied the setting / The setting for nights beyond forgetting" reinforce the idea that the location was instrumental in creating a sense of magic and nostalgia around the relationship. The final lines "And through these moments apart memories live in my heart / When I recall the love I found on / On Green Dolphin Street" create a sense of closure and acceptance of the fact that the relationship is in the past but will always hold a special place in the singer's heart.
Overall, "On Green Dolphin Street" is a poignant and evocative reflection on lost love and the power of memory to keep the past alive.
Line by Line Meaning
It seems like a dream, yet I know it happened
Although it feels like a figment of my imagination, I am certain it was real
A man, a maid, a kiss, and then goodbye
The memory involves two people, a romantic gesture, and an eventual farewell
Romance was the theme
The relationship was founded on love and passion
And we were the players
We were the actors in our own love story
I never think of this without a sigh
Recalling the memory always elicits a wistful or longing reaction
Lover, one lovely day
Addressing the object of affection and reflecting on a significant occasion
Love came, planning to stay
The feeling of love arrived and intended to remain in the heart
Green Dolphin Street supplied the setting
The location, Green Dolphin Street, provided the backdrop for the experience
The setting for nights beyond forgetting
The emotional intensity of the experience made it unforgettable
And through these moments apart memories live in my heart
Despite time and distance, the memory remains vivid and meaningful
When I recall the love I found on
Reflecting on the love and passion that was discovered
I could kiss the ground on Green Dolphin Street
Expressing intense gratitude and appreciation for the location where this memory was made
Lyrics © Kanjian Music, BMG Rights Management, Tratore
Written by: BRONISLAW KAPER, NED WASHINGTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind