Donald Ray Murray (November 8, 1945 – March 22, 1996) was an American

drummer A drummer is a percussionist who creates music using drums. Most contemporary western music ensemble, bands that play Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, or Contemporary R&B, R&B music include a drummer for purposes including timekeepi ...

and

Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...

animator, best known for his work with

the Turtles The Turtles are an America, American Band (rock and pop), rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1965. The band achieved several Top 40 hits throughout the latter half of the 1960s, including "It Ain't Me Babe" (1965), "You Baby (song), ...

. After leaving the group, Murray played with

Paul Williams Paul Williams may refer to: Authors * Paul Williams (Crawdaddy) (1948–2013), American music and science fiction journalist; founder of ''Crawdaddy'' and the Philip K. Dick Society * Paul Williams (Irish journalist) (born 1964), Irish journalis ...

's psychedelic folk group the Holy Mackerel. In the 1980s he went on to perform with the newly formed Surfaris.

Early life

Murray grew up in

Inglewood, California Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...

and started playing drums at the age of 15. He became popular playing high school dances with the band the Crossfires.

Career

The Turtles

The Crossfires released one album, Out Of Control, in 1963. By 1965, the Crossfires became

, but the band had troubles playing at most Southern California venues such as the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed The Whisky) is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boulev ...

and the

Troubadour A troubadour (, ; ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle Ages (1100–1350). Since the word ''troubadour'' is etymologically masculine, a female equivalent is usually called a ''trobairitz''. The tr ...

, because all members of the band were under 21. As the band went from high school band "Don Murray And The Crossfires" to "The Turtles", they signed to

White Whale Records White Whale Records was an American independent record label, founded in 1965 by Ted Feigin and Lee Lasseff in Los Angeles, California, and probably best known as the record label of the Turtles and a handful of one-hit wonder bands. White Whale, ...

in 1965. As a member of the Turtles, he played on their debut and second album;

It Ain't Me Babe "It Ain't Me Babe" is a song by Bob Dylan that originally appeared on his fourth album '' Another Side of Bob Dylan'', which was released in 1964 by Columbia Records. According to music critic Oliver Trager, this song, along with others on the al ...

(1965) and You Baby (1966). After appearances on ''Shindig''!, '' Where the Action Is'', and ''Hullabaloo'', as well as a cameo in the 1966 film ''Out of Sight'', Turtles frontman

Howard Kaylan Howard Kaylan (born Howard Lawrence Kaplan; June 22, 1947) is an American retired musician and songwriter, who was a founding member and lead singer of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, with bandmate and friend Mark Volman, a member of the 1 ...

and the other band members tossed Murray out of The Turtles after their first gig in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, saying "Don thought it was still his high school band". Murray was interviewed along with former Turtle members

Mark Volman Mark Randall Volman (born April 19, 1947) is an American vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter, best known as a founding member of the 1960s rock band The Turtles, and, along with his bandmate and friend Howard Kaylan, a member of the 1970s rock ...

, Jim Tucker, Chuck Portz,

Jim Pons Jim Pons (born March 14, 1943) is an American bassist, author, singer, and video director who most notably played for the Leaves (1964–1967), the Turtles (1967–1970), and the Mothers of Invention (1970–1971), and Flo & Eddie (1971-1973). A ...

, and

Johnny Barbata John Barbata (April 1, 1945 – May 8, 2024) was an American drummer who was active especially in pop and rock bands in the 1960s and 1970s, both as a band member and as a session musician, session drummer. Barbata served as the drummer for The ...

in the 1991 documentary “''The Turtles: Happy Together''”.

The Holy Mackerel

In 1968,

, who was still a struggling musician trying to make it big in the music industry, recruited Murray to join his

Psychedelic folk Psychedelic folk (sometimes acid folk or freak folk) is a loosely defined form of psychedelic music that originated in the 1960s. It retains the largely acoustic instrumentation of contemporary folk music, folk, but adds musical elements common ...

group The Holy Mackerel. In March 1968, the Holy Mackerel began work on their self-titled album at

Sunset Sound Studios Sunset Sound Recorders is a recording studio in Hollywood, California, United States, located at 6650 Sunset Boulevard. Background The Sunset Sound Recorders complex was created by Walt Disney's Director of Recording, Tutti Camarata, from a co ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. During process on the album, Murray left to continue performing independently, and was replaced by Dewey Martin, previously of

Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a Canadian-American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1966 by Canadians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin (musician), Dewey Martin and Americans Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely know ...

The Sufaris

In 1981, Murray was a member of the reformed version of the surf rock group

The Surfaris The Surfaris are an American surf music band formed in Glendora, California, in 1962. They are best known for two songs that hit the record chart, charts in the Los Angeles area, and nationally by May 1963: "Surfer Joe" and "Wipe Out (instrume ...

. His only credit with the band is a 1983 live album.

Later life

In the 1970s Murray was an art director for ''Skateboarder'' magazine, and also for ''Hot Rod'' magazine. By the 1980s, he was working as an animator for

Death

Murray was admitted to a hospital in January 1996 for

ulcer An ulcer is a discontinuity or break in a bodily membrane that impedes normal function of the affected organ. According to Robbins's pathology, "ulcer is the breach of the continuity of skin, epithelium or mucous membrane caused by sloughin ...

surgery, and died two months later in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast (California), South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 United Sta ...

on March 22 from complications of the surgery aged 50.

Discography

The Turtles

Studio albums

Singles

The Holy Mackerel

Albums

The Surfaris

Albums

References

External links

Don Murray memorial at Surfrider.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murray, Don 1945 births 1996 deaths The Turtles members 20th-century American drummers American male drummers 20th-century American male musicians Hanna-Barbera people Drummers from California