Elliott Murphy - Biography

Biography

Elliott James Murphy, Jr. was born in Rockville Centre, New York, to a show business family. His mother Josephine was a former actress while his father was a well-known impresario, whose multi-faceted Aquashow ran all through the 1950s on the site of the 1939 New York World's Fair. The show was staged in an Art Deco outdoor theatre and featured diving clowns, ballet swimmers, jugglers, comedians and The Duke Ellington Orchestra. Later, Elliott Sr. opened the Sky Club in Roosevelt Field, Long Island not far from where Charles Lindbergh took off for his historic flight to Europe. The Sky Club was a politically connected restaurant/private club hosting such famous politicians of the time as Bobby Kennedy and Nelson Rockefeller. But more impressive to the young Elliott were the Sky Club's dance soirees, which featured The Ronettes, Jay and the Americans and The Seeds.

Elliott grew up in nearby Garden City with two siblings and started playing the guitar at 12 years old. His band The Rapscallions he won the 1966 New York State Battle of the Bands. He began writing songs while singing on the streets of Europe in 1971 (where he had a bit part in Fellini's Roma) and returned to New York after a brief stay in San Francisco to secure a record contract with Polydor Records after being discovered by legendary rock critic Paul Nelson.

His debut album Aquashow (1973) was a critical success landing on many "best of" lists for the year and feature stories on Murphy appeared in Rolling Stone, Newsweek and The New Yorker. Aquashow was reviewed in Rolling Stone by Paul Nelson along with Bruce Springsteen's second album The Wild, the Innocent & the E Street Shuffle where they were proclaimed "The Best Dylan since 1968" and beginning the "New Dylan" tag that both cursed and blessed many prominent singer-songwriters of the 1970s. Follow up albums Lost Generation (1975) produced by Doors Producer Paul A. Rothchild, Night Lights (1976) and Just a Story from America (1977) received equal acclaim. Special guests on Murphy's album have included Bruce Springsteen, Mick Taylor, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, Sonny Landreth, David Johansen, The Violent Femmes, Cindy Bullens and Shawn Colvin. His music was post-Bob Dylan poetic rock heavily influenced by New York's Velvet Underground and propelled by Murphy's driving electric guitar, harmonica and,occasionally, keyboards. After four albums on major labels Murphy was one of the first American artists to go independent (by both choice and necessity) with the release of the EP Affairs (1980) that sold well in Europe and set the stage for the successful Murph the Surf (1982) and an appearance at the prestigious Montreux Jazz Festival.

In 1985 the Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads)-produced Milwaukee began his long relationship with New Rose Records in France. By this time Murphy was touring Europe constantly and finally moved to Paris in 1989 where he continues to live with his wife, actress Françoise Viallon-Murphy and son Gaspard. Selling the Gold (1995) featured a duet with Bruce Springsteen, who often has invited him on stage during his European shows.

The following albums Beauregard, Rainy Season, Soul Surfing and La Terre Commune (a duo with Iain Matthews) marked a renaissance in his recording career, with many critics calling his double album Strings of the Storm his finest up to this point. With French guitar wizard Olivier Durand he tours constantly, playing well over 100 shows a year all over Europe and to sum up their 10 years together, Never Say Never...The Best of 1995-2005, a CD + bonus DVD package of performances, videos and a discography showing all 26 album covers was released in 2005. The year ended with Murphy Gets Muddy, an album of 9 classic blues covers and 5 Murphy blues originals, accompanied by a bonus DVD honoring blues songsmith Willy Dixon with 5 live interpretations. In early 2007 the album Coming Home Again was released in Europe and on iTunes. Murphy's 30th studio album, Notes from the Underground, came out in 2008 and received 4 stars on the prestigious All Music Guide, In fact, 18 of Murphy's albums have received 4 or 5 stars on All Music Guide. 2008/2009 saw Murphy back in the United States for a duo and a band tour. A live CD/DVD-set documenting a Paris concert is scheduled for release in fall 2009.

"Rock'n roll is my addiction and literature is my religion", Murphy likes to confess in interviews and articles. In addition to his music and song lyrics Murphy has written for Rolling Stone, Spin, Mucchio Selvaggio, Jam and various European magazines and has published Cold & Electric, a semi-autobiographical novel, in French, German and Spanish editions, as well as two short story collections (The Lion Sleeps Tonight and Where the Women Are Naked And The Men Are Rich) and in 2003 Café Notes (Hachette, France). In 2005 his neo-western novel Poetic Justice (Hachette, France) came out in a French translation. English and Italian editions are in preparation.

In 2008 The Mayor of the 6th Arrondisement in Paris celebrated Elliott Murphy's career with a month long exhibition "Elliott Murphy - Last of the Rock Stars" featuring hundreds of items from his career including posters, lyric notes, rare photographs and reviews and a personal letter from Federico Fellini. The Exhibition culminated with a concert in the ornate "Salle de Fete" of the town hall and was captured on the CD/DVD "Alive in Paris" released one year later.

Murphy's son, Gaspard Murphy, who produced Elliott's last album and has his own French band Duplex who has signed a recording contract with Atmospherique Records with their first album due out in 2013.

Murphy's maternal grandfather was born and raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Presley's hometown.

On 1 October 2012 Elliott Murphy was awarded the prestigious Medaille de Vermeil de Ville de Paris in a ceremony at Hotel de Ville presided by Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë for recognition of his career as a musician and author.