Tributes
Willie Murphy Celebration of Life · Augsburg Chapel, Minneapolis
By Friends of Willie | February 16, 2019
A Celebration of Willie Murphy's life was held on February 16, 2019 at Hoversten Chapel, Augsburg University ~ on the West Bank of Minneapolis.
“Fairytales” Musical Tribute at the Cabooze
By Friends of Willie | February 17, 2019
February 17, 2019 · The Cabooze, Minneapolis The Fairytales tribute at the Cabooze was an amazing night of love and music, more than seven hours of acts Willie would have loved. The Cabooze was packed. At the height of the evening emcee Bobby Vandell read the following tribute from Willie's friend Bonnie Raitt: "Hello from…
Giving Dirtball Some Love
By Steve Mayer | February 16, 2019
[Presented at the Celebration of Life for William J. Murphy at Augsburg University’s Hoversten Chapel, Minneapolis.] I don’t usually listen to lyrics, don’t even hear them. When I try to sing along, the lyrics are all the same. Babadabadabum… Maybe with better melody – maybe, on a good day. But with Willie’s songs I do…
Bonnie Raitt: In Memory of Willie Murphy
By Bonnie Raitt | January 15, 2019
Along with producing my first album in 1971, he was one of the most brilliant, unique and prolific musicians I’ve ever known. His enduring contribution to one of America's funkiest and most flavorful music scenes, the West Bank of Minneapolis, where I first fell in love with his band, Willie and and the Bees, will…
Time will show Murphy as one of the best songwriters America’s ever produced
By Maurice Jacox | July 23, 2021
Bill and I go back a long way. “Willie” didn’t come along until 1968 or so, but anyone who knew him in high school, and I did, still knows him as Bill. How do I hope Murphy will be remembered? As a songwriter. Murphy was a great songwriter. I think time will tell he was…
A Propos Piano – and ZZ Top
By Steve Tibbetts | October 4, 2022
I called up 3-4 "name" producers I knew to ask about microphone placement for a beautiful piano I had just purchased in 2004. Nothing they suggested worked very well. I called Willie Murphy, a local music legend who had produced Bonnie Raitt's first album. Willie said in his gravely voice, "Tibbs, pull off the bottom…
In memory of my brother Willie
By Andrea “Lupo” Lupi | December 8, 2021
I could tell a thousand episodes, intense, exciting, ironic, sad, moving and many incredible adventures together on-the-road, of what he taught me and what I taught him (yes, because beyond the rude character, he could also be humble and above all curious)... But I want to talk about his heritage, his legacy. I believe that…
Independent Spirit
By Dan Emerson | April 29, 1988
You hear Murphy before you see him. His gravel-throated singing and the rumbling beat of his piano pounding drift out of the bar and over Cedar Avenue. The sound inside reverberates in the crowded room as Murphy's melismatic growl bends and twists the lyrics of Roy Brown's 1948 rhythm-and-blues hit: "Heard the news, there's good…
Willie Murphy, Film Aesthete
By Bob Cowgill | August 16, 2021
Like anyone else who heard him perform over the years, I always found that Willie Murphy’s soul passion, his rocking energy, blew away my mental cobwebs. The flame of his charismatic talent drew me to the Caboose, to the Viking, to the Cedar Cultural Center. But I got to know him personally not as the…
Willie and the Bees · Honey from the Bee
By Martin Keller | July 26, 2019
On the best nights at the Triangle Bar—when oxygen and elbow room were scarce and a tall black man dressed in a Harlem Globetrotter’s uniform played his big sax while walking atop the length of the bar where patrons drank and bopped in place—you could feel like there was no better place to be. As…
Tribute from Joe Demko
By Joe Demko | June 30, 2021
My first encounter with Willie Murphy was in front of the Marigold Ballroom in 1973. I was trying to get into the Bonnie Raitt show. Only problem was I didn’t have any money. Willie comes down the sidewalk with Sylvia Ray and said “hey man, you need a ticket? Hands me one. Must have saw…
Love Buzz Forever
By Scott Snyder | July 21, 2021
A serendipitous meeting and playing with Rex Beach got me in the Explodo Boys with his son, ex Bees John Beach, and Jerome Broughton. I found out about the Bees auditioning for a new trumpet player, and got the gig in late ‘79’ I think. They were just releasing “Out of the Woods”, and that…
Willie on the battleground of love
By Tim Campbell | July 17, 2021
When I was a kid in south Minneapolis, my brother had a 45 of “Magazine Lady,” from Willie’s album with John Koerner, “Running Jumping Standing Still.” I loved the way the song moved, and that Elektra disc was in heavy rotation whenever I racked up singles on our old Garrard changer — Willie and Koerner…
Willie Murphy remembrance
By Phil Heywood | June 4, 2021
In the early 1970s I was a teenager who had just discovered the country blues and was staying up late learning to play some of that music on guitar. I’d become a fan and student of the recordings of Koerner, Ray and Glover, and while perusing their vinyl in a record store in Iowa City…
Minneapolis Blues Great Willie Murphy Dies at 75
By Jim Walsh | January 13, 2019
Sad though his passing may be, Murphy’s fans got to say an unintended goodbye at a listening party for Dirtball at the Minneapolis Eagles Club #34 in November. “It was a great success, there were a lot of people there,” Murphy told City Pages in December. “Remarkably, I felt pretty good that night. Tons of…
It’s the end of the world as Willie Murphy knows it, and, well, he’s felt better
By Jim Walsh | January 1, 2019
[Note: We’re pretty sure this is the last interview Willie conducted.] “I still believe in love. I’m still a hippie, I suppose. Although it’s hard when you’re depressed, but that’s the kind of thing you have to keep remembering. You might think you believe something, but you don’t act on it. For instance, if I…
Remembering the revolutionary Willie Murphy
By Timothy Ogren | March 31, 2021
By far the most successful fundraiser we had back then was a boogie featuring Willie and the Bumblebees playing at the old Firehouse (Mixed Blood Theater for you newbies). The Tenants’ Union fronted from its meager funds the Firehouse rental and beer kegs from Zipps. We charged $5 a head (get it?) and a buck…
John Kolstad: Willie Murphy died
By John Kolstad | February 12, 2019
I first met Willie in the late 1960s. We were both performing at the famed Triangle Bar on the West Bank (along with Dave Ray, John Koerner, Lazy Bill Lucas and others). I watched and listened to Willie in awe and amazement. Not just his playing, but his depth and knowledge of the music. I…
Remembering Willie Murphy: Musician. Raconteur. Ringleader.
By Jessie Roelofs | March 13, 2019
Includes videos and interview with Joe Demko. A force to be reckoned with in the Minnesota music scene, Willie Murphy’s songs were political, bombastic, loud, edgy – but he could also write a memorable love song. Murphy learned to play piano by banging on the one at St. Stevens Church in Minneapolis. He admired Little…
‘Heart and soul of Minneapolis music scene’ Willie Murphy dies at 75
By Chris Riemenschneider | January 16, 2019
He excelled at the blues, and suffered from it, too, but Willie Murphy was best known for consistently bringing joy to Twin Cities audiences for five decades whether he was fronting the sprawling R&B band Willie & the Bees or playing solo piano at the 400 Bar. “He was one of the most brilliant, unique…
Remembering Willie Murphy: ‘Defiant maverick’ who was funky to the bone
By Jon Bream | January 13, 2019
He was a hipster and a hippie, opinionated and open-minded musically, a leader and a loner, knowledgeable and cranky. Willie Murphy was the kingpin of Minneapolis music scene before Prince. The West Bank was the hub. Dylan had gone to New York City. Koerner, Ray & Glover were off playing folk festivals.
Tribute from Curtiss A
By Curtiss A | March 20, 2021
Bill and I were spawned in the Phillps 'hood, and for a brief moment, we both attended Minneapolis Central High. I was aware of his prowess on the bass, but try as I might, I can't conjure up his image with "Dave Brady and the Stars," probably because he hadn't yet developed his trademark beard.…
Honey From the Bee — a salute to Willie Murphy
By Paul Metsa | January 24, 2019
Real heroes are in short supply these days, and Murphy always remained one of mine. Willie the man was complex, inquisitive, well read, a huge fan of foreign films, a jazz buff, a contrarian, obstinate, and on a good day, a total sweetheart.