Rest in Peace - Matt "guitar" Murphy

It's sad to see living legends pass on to history. We're all destined to leave the second we arrive, but when people that shared, and gave so much are gone, it's still not easy.

With a heavy heart, I'm sad to report that Matt "guitar" Murphy has left the building at the age of 88.

I'm not a blues fan, in the truest sense. I have seen Buddy Guy multiple times, BB King once, and once I did see Matt "guitar" Murphy live at Harper's Ferry. Hell of a guitar player, no nonsense, no tricks. He laid it all out on the stage. He's best known for the blues brothers. The praise I could heap on to the movie "The Blues Brothers" would be a dissertation, not a blog post.

Every Musician in that movie held their own, on their instruments, and as actors. At no point in the film, do you cringe at the delivery of the lines. There were no long deliveries given to them, just the sharp punctuation and jabs that is inherent in a musician's DNA. The music was their dialogue. 

Strangely enough, in my early teens, it was on TV, and scrolling through channels, my Dad, said to stop and watch this. I thought it was one of those deep 1980's movies where two comedic actors did a serious film that didn't perform as well as a blockbuster. I was so wrong. A comedic musical journey, complete with nuns, ex-girlfriends that have a penchant for explosives, cheese whiz, orange whips, a shitbox Dodge traded for a microphone, and of course, Nazis. The band was smoking, and guitar wise, had Steve "The Colonel" Cropper. If you're gonna do a blues themed movie, it's a good choice. Add in a guy that backed up Ike Turner, Otis Rush, Muddy Waters, and it's a one two punch that leaves you speechless. That guy was Matt "guitar" Murphy.

There have been several albums released around the time of The Blues Brother's movie, and the soundtrack is cooler than liquid nitrogen. Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Cab Calloway. If you're gonna be on a record (or in a movie) with those greats, you're in great company.

There are several movies that I can quote, line for line, beat for beat. The Blues Brothers is one of them. It's a movie my Dad introduced me to, and gave me a dip in the pool of a music that's truly American. He's was a legend before the Blues Brothers, He was a legend in The Blues Brothers, and he'll always be Matt "guitar" Murphy.