The Steel Guitar Forum

Does anyone have any biography info and/or photos of Big Jim Murphy? Only have a couple samples of his playing and they're mindblowing - I'd like to know more and don't see much on the Internets...

Thanks!
Joel

Big Jim put some recordings out with Vassar Clements, the great fiddle player. He did an album I believe was called down out at the barnyard that had a song called barnyard down at the barnyard or barnyard boogie. He also plays a nasty sax that is just incredible and has Jimmy Colvard on guitar and Chris York on drums.

He also played with the great western swing band Asleep At The Wheel. They do have a video out with Jim live that is a great one. Other than that there is not much out there. Google his name along with steel guitar and see what you come up with. Good luck and enjoy your day. Keep jazzin! Neal Yeagley

Didn't "Big" JIM MURPHY play for JOHNNY PAYCHECK back in the late 70's? I think that they performed in New Hampshire, at The Lone Star Ranch; the oldest outdoor country entertainment facility in America. My good buddy, Russ Bennett, would know the finer details of that show.

The Lone Star Ranch, located in Reeds Ferry, New Hampshire, was opened in 1938 by country radio singer, Baron West. Baron and his friends built the ranch and opened it, featuring country bands and entertainers.
In 1940, "Sagebrush" Jim Marshall and his band operated the ranch. In the early days, Elton Britt, Georgia Mae and other New England performers appeared on Sunday afternoons during the summer months. Jim Marshall featured acts from the Grand Ole Opry (www.opry.com, natch), movie stars including the Hoosier Hotshots, and the Sons of the Pioneers. Jim Marshall died in a car accident. In 1942, Ken Lane and his band from Lynn, Mass. and Ken McKenzie of Portland, Maine kept the ranch open.
In 1944, the Bar X Boys from Gardner, Mass. and the Circle C Boys and others helped to run the ranch. In 1945, the ranch closed due to World War II. [Evidently in 1946,] Gene LaVerne, popular radio personality and country entertainer, took charge of the Lone Star Ranch. His band was known as The Lone Star Ranch Gang. Under Gene's guidance, the ranch grew in popularity. It featured two concerts plus an open jamboree show every Sunday afternoon. Featured performers included acts such as Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells, and Ernest Tubbs from the Grand Ole Opry, as well as WWVA Jamboree U.S.A. acts from Wheeling, W. Va. Favorites were Yodeling Kenny Roberts, Doc Williams and Chickie, Dusty Owens, and Yodeling Slim Clark." Local performers included Dwight Davis and the Linemen, Dave Miller, Doug Garron, and Clyde Joy and his band.
In 1956, Buzz Whittaker purchased the ranch and continued to present top country shows. According to Steve Ashland, a former employee of WMUR-TV, Buzz Whittaker had a weekly television program on WMUR-TV, Channel 9 in the late 1950's. In 1983, Buzz announced that he could no longer continue to keep the ranch open. The Lone Star Ranch closed in October 1983.

I also forgot to mention that Big Jim did a live recording with Johnny Paycheck in New York. What a recording! Jim was at the top of his game on E9th with this recording. Songs like Slide off Your Satin Sheets, Take This Job & Shove It, New York, New York, Etc. If you can find it, grab it! You will not be disappointed, believe me! Thanks. Neal Yeagley

Oh Neal, thanks so much!! really cool! I'll go a'huntin!

Find the Redd Volkaert Telewacker album. Jimmy Murphy plays steel on i believe all of the tracks, (at least some for sure), and it is killer!

That live album is called "New York Town", and it is great.

I have Redds Telewacker C.D. and yes it is a killer.
I new Redd when he first came to the states in Nashville playing at The stagecoach Inn. Great Picker
He and Murphy go great together. Also a kid by the name of Clinton Gregory played fiddle with him then.
I think that Jim Murphy also was a Carl Smith band man and did some recording with him. Jim's younger brother Wally is also a great picker and I think he is the one that played with The Wheel.?? I could be wrong on that, have been knowed to be before. J.R.

You're right about Wally.

I think there was a studio album of Paycheck's in the late 70's where Murph played some of the steel and Weldon played some. I saw him live a total of 4 times - once with Hank III (playing non-pedal), once with the Wheel, once at the Continental in Austin with Redd, and once at the "Long Hollow Jamboree" near Nashville. Every time was amazing. And he was, in my experience, the nicest guy you could ever hope to meet. I think a lot of us would be interested in anything you find out there.

A little memo from the past.........

When I left Merl Lindsay's Ozark Jubilee Band in 1964 for a career with the Oklahoma City Fire Department, Jim replaced me, (a tremendous upgrade for the band). Jim was kind of headstrong and soon got crossways with Merl, who was also short tempered. Jim told me that Merl would fire him in a second if he could find anyone with enough chops to replace him.

Jim worked with Merl about a year before going on to "bigger and better" things and I returned on a part-time basis to help finish the band's bookings while Merl was dying from cancer.

Also Jim was in a band with Redd Volkart. There was a great video on Austin Music network of them playing at the airport. He played with Haybale with Redd too until he passed away. There are at least 2 live 70's Johnny Paycheck audio concerts on Wolfgang's Vault with Jim. Although you have to pay to be a member now.

When Jim lived here in Oklahoma for a while, he had a music store in Broken Arrow, OK. At that time he was also working with Hank Thompson for a short stint. He was playing a loaded out ZB Custom and played killer sax. Super talent, very heavy Chalker style of playing C6th.
John Buffington

Jim Murphy was the best. I saw him the first time at a concert here in town with Paycheck sometime early 80's, I think. Elvin Bishop was the other act. Honestly, I don't remember much about JP's show as Bishop tore the house down.

Anyway, my buds and I saw him a few times at Gabe's in Nashville playing steel and sax. What a player.

He played the ISGC one year at least late 90's or early 00's on sax and maybe steel. I can't remember who he was on with when he played sax but it was great.

Besides the other things mentioned, there might be some audio or videos somewhere of some of these shows.

Telewacker is a must have fer sure. Redd kicks major butt and couldn't have had a better complement on that work than Murph.

Jim played all the steel & sax on the Telewacker CD with Redd. He also did a stint with The Wheel. I saw Jim playing with Redd at the Continental Club in Austin a few years ago. He was such a nice guy that he came to our table and talked with us during the entire break just like he had known us for years.

really nice to hear all this stuff! thanks for sharing!

Here's a video of them doing "I'm Ragged but I'm Right" at the New York show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OxK6xLOD6U

Here's a few more

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOGKI6Aic0I

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v9H_9Gm4i4

Here's a clip of Big Jim playing Sax and steel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6uSEKxUGro

There's more on youtube. These video's are a quite a treasure I would have loved to been in that club for that show. Johnny was on fire. Hell, the whole band was on fire!

Here's another record besides "New York Town" that's got Big Jim Murphey live. Paycheck's "Live at the Palomino". Another good one.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/live-a ... d490058029

Murph also recorded Carl Smith's Tunesmiths album..I have a video with Clinton Gregory..He is on Maybellene with Jones & Paycheck..Carl Smith's Anniversary album...The Earl Scruggs Revue live from Austin City Limits..Our family misses him...

I was in a band in the late 70's that opened for Paycheck twice in south-central PA. I remember talking with Murph before their 1st set. He was very friendly and approachable. Paycheck, on the other hand, looked like he hadn,t bathed in days, and his eyes were, well, not "quite right". I also saw his brother, Wally, play with AATW outside of Hershey, PA, and he was also very friendly. In fact, after the crowd thinned out enough after the show, he showed me how to play a few things that I asked him about. He was playing a ZB then. Jim was playing the Sho-Bud with the pot leaf inlaid on the front panel. Another cd to look for with Jim playing with Pacheck is called Live at Gilley's.

Joel,
Sent you a private message.

Mike Weaver

Hi Larry, and thank you for your inquiry about Dubert Dobson, the high-register trumpet player on Hank Thompson's records. Since you worked with Hank I want to update you on what I know about Dubert to answer your question:

Me and Gar (Dubert's nickname) both joined the Oklahoma City Fire Department in the 1960's. I worked off-duty with the house band at the Diamond Ballroom and he came by occasionally to set-in, and we also worked a few music jobs together.

Sadly, he died from cancer soon after retirement.
Gen

Back in 1983, my band was in Nashville for a week, and near our hotel was another hotel and Jim was playing in the house band. I believe it might have been a Rodeway Inn. We found them by accident, and checked them out. I introduced myself and he explained the band is made up of whatever road players were in town. Mostly headed by members of Mel McDaniels' band. They invited us to bring our guitars in on another night and they would let us play half a set or so. So, we came back a night or 2 later and played. He was such a neat guy. He let me putz around on his Sho~Bud a little. He really liked my Kline.

A total sax geek question, did any of you who got to see Big Jim play sax and steel notice if he kept his finger picks on?...it appears he does in one of the videos,...I have tried this, but metal on pearl key buttons is very slippery, accurate fingering a bit difficult on the right hand, 'tho it didn't seem to faze him at all! Such a great player on both instruments
Thank Bill

Big Jim & his bro. Wally are from St.Charles ,Mo. I think.I've know Wally for several yrs.,he's in FL. pickin',he was playing at Disney World for awhile but I think he's doing other stuff now.He has a website called Steel.com.I don't have the URL but I'm sure a search will turn it up.

I was in OKC in the early 80's & went to Henson Cargill's club one night to see Wally play with Ray Benson & AATW,good time that night,met Larry Franklin,great guy as well.Henson is a nice guy also.