Background
Murphy grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in an Irish Catholic working-class family.
Murphy grew up in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in an Irish Catholic working-class family.
He is best known as a singer and pianist for the blues band Willie and the Bees and his work with Bonnie Raitt and John Koerner. He began piano lessons at the age of 4. His early musical influences were Little Richard, Fats Domino, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Ray Charles.
Murphy played on the folk circuit with John Koerner, and the duo recorded Running, Jumping, Standing Still in 1969.
The album received positive reviews, Crawdaddy! calling it "one of the most unique and underrated albums of the folk boom, perhaps the only psychedelic ragtime blues album ever made." The duo eventually split up, and Koerner pursued an unsuccessful career in filmmaking, temporarily retiring from the music business and moving to Copenhagen, Denmark. Murphy was offered a full-time job with Elektra Records as an in-house producer but declined, choosing to remain in the Minneapolis area.
He produced Bonnie Raitt"s 1971 debut album for Warner Brothers Records. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Murphy led the Rhythm & Blues, blues and rock group Willie and the Bees.
Murphy performed on piano, bass, guitar and other instruments as a session musician for Raitt, Koerner, Greg Brown, Prudence Johnson, Little Milton, and many others
He formed the Atomic Theory Records label in 1985 and released albums by himself, Philosophy Heywood, Boiled in Lead, Larry Long, and various world music artists. The Minnesota Music Hall of Fame inducted Murphy along with Bob Dylan and Prince in its charter class in 1990. In 2008, Murphy was inducted into the Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame.
In 2010, Saint Paul, Minnesota, mayor Chris Coleman declared July 2 "Willie Murphy Day".
Murphy"s double-Civil Defense release A Shot of Love in a Time of Need/Autobiographical Notes reached number 14 in Billboard"s Top Blues Albums chart in 2010.