Murphy, Ralph

Websites:  No
Origin: Saffron Walden, England, UK → Wallaceburg, Ontario → Salt Spring Island, British Columbia, 🇨🇦 → Los Angeles, California → New York, NY, 🇺🇸 → London, England, UK → New York, NY → Nashville, TN, 🇺🇸
Biography:

Ralph Murphy was born in 1944 in Saffron Walden, Essex, England, and moved with his mother to Wallaceburg, Ontario at the age of six. There he taught himself to play guitar and by his teens was already performing locally, developing the restless curiosity that would carry him across continents. By seventeen he was drifting between Los Angeles and New York, playing coffeehouses by night while working odd jobs by day, before deciding to try his luck back in England at the height of the British Invasion. With Jack Klaysen he formed a duo that performed under names such as the Guardsmen and later the Slade Brothers, finding themselves on bills with the Kinks, the Byrds, the Walker Brothers, the Pretty Things and many others. A chance meeting led them to sign with Pye Records, where they released a handful of singles and caught their first taste of international airplay.

Murphy’s career as a songwriter quickly followed. In 1965 he signed a publishing deal with Mills Music and by the next year had a hit with “Call My Name” for James Royal. He began producing records for labels such as Parlophone, Decca, and Fontana, and penned songs for artists like Billy Fury and the Casuals. Ever adaptable, he moved into new projects including Harper and Rowe, who released several singles and an album in the late sixties, and even joined the Israeli group the High Windows under the name Raffi Murphy. By the end of the decade he had relocated to New York, where he became Director of Production for Belwin/Mills Publishing, producing demos for Broadway musicals while also launching labels of his own. He produced acts such as April Wine, Mashmakhan, and Shooter, and under the pseudonym Roadhouse had a Canadian hit with “Good Times (and Loving You).”

A turning point came when Jeannie C. Riley scored a country hit in 1971 with “Good Enough to Be Your Wife,” a Murphy composition. Drawn to Nashville, he finally moved there in 1976 and became part of the city’s creative fabric. With his old friend Roger Cook he co-founded Pic-A-Lic Music Publishing, which grew into one of Nashville’s most successful independent publishers. Together they were behind more than twenty Number One hits, including Crystal Gayle’s “Talking in Your Sleep,” Ronnie Milsap’s “He Got You,” and songs recorded by Mickey Gilley, Kathy Mattea, Travis Tritt, and even Shania Twain. At the same time Murphy continued to champion Canadian artists, producing, writing, and mentoring wherever he could.

Over the years he became as well known for his generosity of spirit as for his catalogue of songs. He served as president of both the Nashville Songwriters Association International and the Nashville chapter of the Recording Academy, and later joined ASCAP as Vice President of International Membership. His seminars and workshops, often distilled into his wry and practical book Murphy’s Laws of Songwriting, influenced generations of aspiring writers. In recognition of his achievements he was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012, and in 2019 received SOCAN’s Special Achievement Award.

Ralph Murphy passed away in Nashville on May 28, 2019, at the age of 75. He left behind a career that stretched from Wallaceburg to London, New York, and Nashville, one that spanned the British beat boom, Canadian rock, and the golden age of country songwriting. More than a hitmaker, he was a connector, a teacher, and a believer in the craft of song, remembered equally for his success and his kindness.
-Robert Williston