Rose Murphy

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Rose Murphy (born May 7, 1913 in Xenia , Ohio , † November 16, 1989 in New York City ) was an American rhythm and blues and jazz singer and pianist.

Live and act

Murphy, nicknamed "the chee chee girl" (after the phrase "chee chee" in many of her songs) because of her high-pitched voice, began her career in the late 1930s as an intermittent pianist for artists like Count Basie . She became known as a singer in the United States and Great Britain in the late 1940s, incorporating elements of scat singing , giggles, and percussive sound effects. In 1947 she played a version of the standard " I Can't Give You Anything but Love " for Majestic Records , which hit the R&B charts . In her best-known song “Busy Line” she used the “brrp, brrrp” of a telephone ring. In 1990 a version of the song was used by British Telecom in one of their television commercials; the great success of the jingle led RCA to re-release Rose Murphy's original recording of the song. In the film The Artist (2012), the version of the song Pennies from Heaven sung by her is part of the soundtrack.

From the 1950s to the 1980s Murphy performed in well-known New York nightclubs such as Cookery , Michael's Pub and Upstairs at the Downstairs , where she was mostly accompanied by Slam Stewart or Morris Edwards . In addition, she had engagements in London and toured the continent. She fell ill in June 1989 after a two-week stint at the Hollywooder Roosevelts Cinegrill and returned to New York, where she died in November.

Discographic notes

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b biography of Scott Yanow at Allmusic
personal data
SURNAME Murphy, rose
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rhythm and blues and jazz singer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH May 7, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Xenia
DATE OF DEATH November 16, 1989
Place of death New York City