RIP Brian Murphy

[ollie]

Just got the news from a co-worker. I can't find an online link but it was mentioned in Chez 106's Rock Journal mailing list. Here's a copy of the text:

IN MEMORIAM Brian Murphy

CHEZ 106 sadly announces the passing of one of Ottawa's most original people. Brian Murphy, host of "The Source" "Blues 106," "Jazz 106" and other programs on CHEZ died this morning at the Civic hospital.

Brian will be remembered by his friends at CHEZ and most importantly, the listeners he touched during his years at the station. His encyclopedic knowledge of music is the stuff of local legend, as was his fierce devotion to the ideals and optimism of the 60's.

Brian was truly a one-of-a-kind, and his passing marks the end of an era. He will be greatly missed. Heaven has just welcomed it's new music director. Rock on 'Murph.

This is quite sad news for longtime Ottawa music fans. I grew up listening to Murphy every Sunday afternoon. Truth be told I was too young to appreciate his show, and I remember my mom always complaining about his voice, but he's a big, big part of my childhood memories.

Many years later I got to know Brian a little bit whenever I'd run into him at the old Crosstown Traffic location on Richmond Road. He'd always be sitting on the steps, holding court and he usually had on a big Looney Tunes t-shirt and sported several buttons of the cartoon characters. He looked like he was in rough shape and he'd always take Mike's offer of a ride home. I thought it was sad that he had to start selling off his collection to support himself. I don't recall ever hearing him on the radio again after one of Chez's infamous purges in the very early '90s. I knew this day was not far off for Brian and I only hope he didn't suffer much pain at the end.

Rest in Peace Big Murph!

[StoneMtn]

Wow! That's terrible.

He was the first guy to really turn me on to Grisman, when he did a show called "Jazz for People Who Hate Jazz". (I didn't actually hate jazz at the time, but I still listened, and he turned me on to that Dawg Jazz sound.)

Terrible loss.

RIP Brian.

[thatpatguy]

wow man.. that's sad.

I, like you ollie, have many childhood memories of Brian.

I actually have the last Jazz 106 christmas show on cassette to this day. I really need to transfer it over to CD.

I have never forgiven CHEZ for canning him. I got the feeling it really sucked the wind from his sails.

I got to know him a bit from playing in countless blues and r&b bands around town. He could really talk your ear off if you let him.

I have to say, it gets me a bit worked up to see CHEZ post something like that in their news. They were ones who canned him, who took such a great resource off the air, someone who no doubt introduced blues, jazz, soul and roots rock to a generation or two during his time at CHEZ.

They cut him because they were chasing that almighty dollar..

ok.. I'm getting worked up now.. I'll stop..

Bye Brian, thanks for the music, the knowledge and the time out of your day to share all that you had!

[Rob Not Bob]

It's always been my opinion that CHEZ officially jumped the shark (as the kids say) when they canned Brian Murphy. This is really sad news

[ollie]

I found this Brian Murphy page:

BRIAN MURPHY, T H E S 0 U R C E, TAPE LIST

Many of us have enjoyed Brian's special programming sytle over the years from his Freeform Radio show in the 1970's to his programs, The Source, Blues 106 and Jazz 106 on "What WAS that station?" before it changed its offering.

Brian says music as a whole is a part of all our lives. It can change your mood, lift your spirits, or just make you feel good to be alive.

He's compiled many cassette tapes following his particular approach at programming for demo purposes. These are some of the tapes Brian may have available. The descriptions are Brian's and are reproduced here for the benefit of anyone who might be interested in having any of the special compilations he's done over time to illustrate his programming skills.

These tapes can be obtained through Brian by calling him at: 722-2898.

Brian's address is:

1161 Wellington St.

#1105

Ottawa, ON K1Y 2Z1

CHRISTMAS

Woke Up Xmas Morning with The Blues 1991.

Lets Put The Soul Back into Christmas 1993.

A Soulful Bleusy Christmas.

A Classic Rock Christmas.

JAZZ

Chippers Jazz - Great Jazz Grooves #1.

More Great Grooves - Jazz For Beginners #2.

Jazz: Spacey and/or Electric - Q. Jones, Mangione, Corea.

In Search Of The Perfect Groove - Chipper's Jazz #4.

The Jimmy Smith Tape - Verve and Blue Note Recordings.

Still Searching for The Groove - Great Grooves #6.

The Portable Charlie Parker - Bird with Strings & Bird Plays The Blues.

The Joy Of The Blues - Johnny Hodges & Friends Inc. D. Ellington, Coleman Hawkins, Lawrence Brown.

The Jeep is Jumpin' - Johnny Hodges #2

Bird Songs - The Portable Charlie Parker # 2 - A compilation of Bird's singles 1944 - 1953.

Jammin' with The Bird - 110 minutes of Charlie Parker jamming live and in the studio with many jazz greats.

Ballads and Blues - Ben Webster, one of the great tenor players.

Gerry Mulligan and Friends - Highlights of the great baritone saxaphonist's career - 1949 - 1983.

Bop 'n' the Blues - Great Bop and Post Bop musicians play the blues, featuring Miles Davis, Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Cannonball Adderley, Charlie Parker, Herbie Mann, Thelonious Monk and others.

Jumpin' Bean - A Collection of Great Performances by the Man Who Made the Saxaphone a Real Instrument, Coleman Hawkins.

The Urbane Benny Carter - Music from One of the Three Greatest Alto Players.

Basic Basie - The Count basie Orchestra - 1937 - 1962.

Lady Day - Billie Holliday - 1933 - 1957. (2 C-90's)

BLUES

The Meaning Of The Blues - Basic Blues # 1

Further Definitions Of The Blues - Basic Blues #2 Compiled February 1995

Can Blue Men Sing The Whites? - Definitions Of The Blues: Part 3.

The Blues Greatest Hits - A Mini History of the Blues 1940 to 1990.

A Taste of Taj - Taj Mahal 1968 - 1969.

King of the Blues - B.B. King - 1949 - 1989.

Jumpin' and Jivin'with Louis Jordan & Cab Calloway 30 minutes of Each (C-60)

SOUL

Sam Cooke Live In Miami 1963.

Atlantic & Memphis Soul Classics from 1962-71 ) - Compiled 1994.

More Atlantic & Memphis Soul from 1962-72) - Compiled 1994.

Big Band Blues: The Genius And the Doctor - Ray Charles & Dr John sing with big bands.

Esther Phillips/Etta James - 30 Minutes of The Essence Of "From A Whisper To A Scream" Plus 30 Minutes of the very soulful Etta James.Recorded between 1966 and 1992 (C60).

The Soul of Love - Falling in and Out of Love - Soul Classics Series.

Soulful and Bluesy.

The Cassette of JB - The Best of James Brown - 1956 - 1976.

Great Soul Singers - 30 Minutes each of Gladys Knight & The Pips and Mavis Staples with the Staples Singers.

The Soul Man - Otis Redding.

Blue Eyed Soul - Great Soul Recordings by Performers of the Caucasian Persuasion - Vol 1 - 3 (3 separate CD's).

The Funky New Orleans Soul of Dr. John - Mac Rebennack aka The Mac Pack (2 C-60's).

The Soulful and Bluesy Voive of Bobby Blue Bland (C-60).

The Pocket Genius - The Soul of Ray Charles - The Singles - 1956 - 1972.

The Soul of Van Morrison.

Sly and Stylish - One Side of Sly & The Family Stone's Best plus 45 minutes of Recordings Highly Influenced by Sly.

The Texas Soul of Delbert McClinton.

The Love of Men - 45 minutes each by Al Green & Marvin Gaye.

Lady Soul - The Glory Years of Aretha Franklin.

The Heart of Memphis Soul - The Best of Booker T. & The MG's

All Above Are On C-90 EXCEPT WHERE NOTED.

[Cosmic ChrisC]

Ah man, I'm sad. I haven't seen Brian in quite a few years now, but when I used to see him more regularly, I'd think how unfortunate it was that his knowledge of music and his radio skills weren't in high demand. I was sad to see him wasting away...he was poor and unhealthy. He'd slowly start selling off his record collection for money, which was probably really difficult for him to do, an act of desperation. Anyway, here's an article from the Ottawa Citizen:

'Heaven has just welcomed its new music director'

Chris Cobb

The Ottawa Citizen

November 1, 2005

After Brian Murphy was made redundant from his treasured job at CHEZ-FM in the summer of 1993, we regularly spoke on the phone about music and musicians. Brian was The Source, the font of all musical knowledge. Music wasn't simply his life; it was his body and soul.

Murph was 64 when he died at the Civic campus of the Ottawa Hospital yesterday. He was proud to have been born on the same day as Bob Dylan, May 24, 1941.

The cruel loss of his CHEZ job in that early 90s recession marked the start of a slow decline in Brian's health. He was lonely, sometimes grumpy, but never a person with whom you could have a quick conversation about music. You didn't call Brian unless you had at least the next hour to spare. You didn't call before noon.

He spent some of his spare time mixing compilation tapes for the lucky few. He made several for me, including a fabulous mix of the incomparable Little Feat and a mix he called Christmas Blues, which gets pride of musical place at my house from Christmas through New Year. All he ever asked in return was a pack of blank tapes.

Brian was an artist, says George Pollard, his friend and colleague for 40 years.

"I have never encountered anyone with such a vast range of knowledge about so many aspects of music," says Mr. Pollard. "And with Brian, it wasn't superficial. He knew how things fitted together -- rock, pop, blues, jazz, ragtime -- he could put together different styles so they sounded as one. He was a wonderful guy, if you could overlook his eccentricities, which not everyone was able to do."

Brian started in the music business at record retailer Treble Clef with owner Harvey Glatt.

"His body and being were music," says Mr. Glatt. "I first met him almost 50 years ago, when he was a 16-year-old, buying records. I remember him being in one of the listening booths, moving around to the point that he almost caused a disturbance with other customers."

When Mr. Glatt launched CHEZ in 1977, the Murphy style had already been well honed during his overnight weekend show, Free Form Radio, on CKBY. His musical mixes, the seamless blending of diverse album cuts, were where his skill and knowledge met. He perfected the slow, methodical way of speaking that was very hip in the early FM days, and while he might have enjoyed his audience thinking otherwise, the deliberate, risque-sounding intakes of breath were not the inhalation of some illegal substance, but more likely Brian attempting to suppress the adverse effects of too much Diet Coke, which he drank copiously.

At CHEZ-FM, he was the staple of weekends, hosting and choosing music for The Source, Blues-FM and Jazz-FM. Listeners either loved him or didn't understand him, but he made a big enough impression to become one of the best known area radio personalities of his day.

Steve Colwill, current CHEZ music director and only one of two original staff members at the station, was closer to Brian than most.

"It was a privilege to know him," he says. "Brian was a pretty intimidating guy, and could be overwhelming when he talked about music, but music was all he was. At his house, there were albums everywhere. His basement was floor to ceiling records. They were on his stairs and in hallways. I've never seen so many albums in my life."

(He sold most of his record collection in dribs and drabs in recent years, because he needed the money).

One of Mr. Colwill's more vivid memories is of Brian backstage at a Steve Miller concert, lecturing the mesmerized star about the Grateful Dead. Brian knew more about the Dead than the Dead knew about themselves. They were his favourite band.

He loved jazz, but it irked him that the purists -- jazz ayatollahs or weasels, he called them -- didn't take him seriously. They didn't appreciate that he considered jazz pop music.

"Nothing makes me angrier than the jazz ayatollahs," he told the Citizen's Jay Stone. "They are people who are so structured in their musical taste. I've always gotten from certain people in the Ottawa jazz scene -- the ayatollahs, the weasels -- the feeling that they really can't take me seriously when it comes to jazz. Why? Because I like rock 'n' roll."

A few years ago, before the Internet became so smart, I called Brian looking for a song I had loved for years, but had never been able to find. The song is called The Blues Run the Game and it was written and performed by an obscure 60s folkie named Jackson C. Frank.

Brian was aghast that he had never heard of the song and at first refused to believe I had it right. I forgot about it, but Brian didn't. It ate at him and it was about nine months later that a tape arrived in the mail with the song recorded on both sides and a small magazine clipping he had found updating Frank's career. He never said where he got the song, and I didn't ask.

I last saw him about a month ago while I was driving along Wellington Street. He was shuffling a little; wearing the same rumpled outfit he always wore, but generally looked healthier than he had in a while. I was going to stop, but couldn't find a parking spot. I made a mental note to call him, but I waited too long.

A note posted on the CHEZ-FM website last evening says "Heaven has just welcomed its new music director." Undoubtedly, the heavenly entity will now be in deep conversation with Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Jerry Garcia and, with all the time in the world, enjoying himself immensely.

Obituary of Brian Murphy

© The Ottawa Citizen 2005

[ollie]

One of Mr. Colwill's more vivid memories is of Brian backstage at a Steve Miller concert, lecturing the mesmerized star about the Grateful Dead. Brian knew more about the Dead than the Dead knew about themselves. They were his favourite band.

Cool.

[thatpatguy]

I have to say.. I'm still a fair bit choked up

[Sunshine]

Chez played some Dead this morning in memory of Brian, and have been talking about him a lot today.

[ollie]

Did Chez mention, or does anyone know, if there's going to be a service open to the public for Brian?

[thatpatguy]

I'd go to that..

I have to say, the fact that CHEZ is really representing him as one of their own is driving me nuts.. but I have to get over that

[Cosmic ChrisC]

Did Chez mention, or does anyone know, if there's going to be a service open to the public for Brian?

His obituary was in the Citizen today. There will be no funeral but friends are invited to gather at Sala San Marco on Preston Street, at 7pm, on Friday November 4th to remember Brian.

[SteveThe Owl]

Did anyone go? How as it?

I couldn't make it because of work, but I really did want to.

Like everything else in my life, my memories of Brian are more literary than musical. He used to show up at the Book Market on Dalhousie before going to air on Thursday nights, which is when I would be there and he'd tell me obscure things about Harlan Ellison, Kurt Vonnegut, guys like that. This would've been in the late '80s, probably '88 or '89.

His being canned is one of the top fifty-five things I will never forgive CHEEZ 106 for.

I began missing him twelve years ago, but now there's just no going back at all.