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.
bye bye blackbird
Mark Murphy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
The lyrics of Mark Murphy's "Bye Bye Blackbird" speak of resignation and moving on from a place where one cannot find love or understanding. The opening lines suggest a sense of isolation and rejection: "No one here can love or understand me / Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me." The singer seems to have experienced disappointment and disillusionment, and is ready to leave behind all their troubles, as indicated in the next lines: "Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low / Bye, bye, blackbird."
The reference to the blackbird in the title and chorus of the song is a metaphor for the desire to fly away, to find a new beginning, and to leave behind the past. The blackbird may also represent a symbol of hope, as it is traditionally seen as a bird of good omen. The singer is hopeful of finding someone who will love and understand them in the future, as suggested in the lines "Where somebody waits for me / Sugar's sweet, so is she / Bye, bye, blackbird."
The final lines of the song reinforce the sense of determination and purpose that characterize the singer's attitude: "Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight / Blackbird, bye, bye." The singer is not going to be held back by their past disappointments, and is ready to move forward into a brighter future.
Line by Line Meaning
No one here can love or understand me
I feel alone and misunderstood in this place
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
People keep feeding me tales of bad fortune
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
I'm leaving all my problems behind as I set off on my journey
Bye, bye, blackbird
I'm saying goodbye to this place and the people who brought me down
Where somebody waits for me
I have hope that there is someone out there who will understand and love me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
My ideal partner is sweet and kind, just like sugar
No one here can love or understand me
Again, I reiterate my sense of loneliness and isolation in this current place
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
People keep feeding me tales of bad fortune
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
I'm requesting someone to prepare my bed and wait up for my arrival tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
Once again, I'm bidding farewell to all that keeps me unhappy
Bye, bye, blackbird
Repeating my farewell as I make my departure
Where somebody waits for me
Reiterating my hope to find someone who will love me for who I am
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Reiterating my ideal qualities for a partner
Bye, bye, blackbird
Final farewell to this place before I embark on my journey
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind