Rose Murphy (April 28, 1913 – November 16, 1989) was an American jazz pianist and singer, famous for the song "Busy Line" and her unique vocal style.Brethour, Ross, sleevenotes to ''Busy Line'', a Rose Murphy best of compilation, Body and Soul, BS2418, 2003

Music career

She was born in

Xenia, Ohio Xenia ( ) is a city in Greene County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located in southwestern Ohio, it is east of Dayton, Ohio, Dayton and is part of the Greater Dayton, Dayton metropolitan area as well as the Miami Valley region. As o ...

, United States. Described by ''AllMusic'' Scott Yanow as having "a unique place in music history", Murphy was known as "the chee chee girl" because of her habit of singing "chee chee" in many of her numbers. She was also known as "the girl with the pale pink voice". Murphy began her musical career in the late 1930s, playing intermission piano for such performers as

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

, and became popular in the United States and United Kingdom in the late 1940s. She is best known for her high-pitched singing style, which incorporated

scat singing Originating in vocal jazz, scat singing or scatting is vocal Musical improvisation, improvisation with Non-lexical vocables in music, wordless vocables, Pseudoword#Nonsense syllables, nonsense syllables or without words at all. In scat singing, t ...

, giggling, and percussive sound effects. "Busy Line", one of her most well-known songs, made use of perhaps her most famous vocal sound effect: the 'brrp, brrrp' of a telephone ring. A version of the song by

Peter Skellern Peter Skellern (14 March 1947 – 17 February 2017) was an English singer-songwriter and pianist who rose to fame in the 1970s. He had two Hit song, top twenty hits on the UK Singles Chart – "You're a Lady" (1972), which typifies his signature ...

was later used in 1990 by BT Cellnet in a television commercial which was such a success that RCA reissued the original recording.

Princess Margaret Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon (Margaret Rose; 21 August 1930 – 9 February 2002) was the younger daughter of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. She was the younger sister and only sibling of Queen Elizabeth II. ...

became a fan after "Busy Line" became a hit in the United Kingdom. She attended Murphy's concerts in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, imitated her while playing the piano and sang "Busy Line" at parties. From the 1950s to the 1980s, Murphy continued to play at many of the top clubs in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, such as the Cookery, Michael's Pub and Upstairs At the Downstairs. She was normally accompanied by bassist

Slam Stewart Leroy Eliot "Slam" Stewart (September 21, 1914December 10, 1987) was an American jazz double-bass player whose trademark style was his ability to bow the bass (arco) and simultaneously hum or sing an octave higher. He was a violinist before swit ...

or Morris Edwards. These were interspersed with engagements in London and tours of Europe.

Personal life and death

During a two-week engagement at Hollywood Roosevelt's Cinegrill in June 1989, Murphy became ill and returned to New York City. She died in New York aged 76 on November 16, 1989, and, though married four times, left no direct descendants. Her final marriage, from 1950 to 1977, was to Eddie Matthews, a businessman who, from 1928 to 1933, had been married to

Ethel Waters Ethel Waters (October 31, 1896 – September 1, 1977) was an American singer and actress. Waters frequently performed jazz, swing, and pop music on the Broadway stage and in concerts. She began her career in the 1920s singing blues. Her no ...

. Rose Murphy and her radio broadcasts in the UK are referred to in the novel, ''Under the Pink Light'', by the British author Brian Hurst.

Selected discography

*''Rose Murphy and Quartette'' (1955)
Rose Murphy and Quartette
Royale
*''Not Cha-Cha, but Chi-Chi'' (1957)
Rose Murphy

Verve Records Verve Records is an active American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Ca ...

*''Jazz, Joy and Happiness'' (1962)
Rose Murphy

United Artists United Artists (UA) is an American film production and film distribution, distribution company owned by Amazon MGM Studios. In its original operating period, it was founded in February 1919 by Charlie Chaplin, D. W. Griffith, Mary Pickford an ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Rose 1913 births 1989 deaths American women jazz singers American jazz singers RCA Victor artists People from Xenia, Ohio 20th-century American women pianists 20th-century American pianists 20th-century American women singers Black & Blue Records artists 20th-century American singers