Mike Murphy (1946—2006) was an American professional musician. He worked with the band

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Yanni Yiannis Chryssomallis ( el, Γιάννης Χρυσομάλλης; born November 14, 1954), known professionally as Yanni ( ), is a Greek-American composer, keyboardist, pianist, and music producer. Yanni continues to use the musical shorthan ...

and Manhattan Transfer as well as the Bee Gees.

Early life

Michael James Murphy was born 5 February 1946 in Aurora, Illinois, the son of James Owen Murphy and Mary Donna Gilman. His father was a musician and his mother was a singer and dancer with the Red Stocking Review. He began making music as a youngster with his father's band (The Jimmy Murphy Band). During high school he was a drummer in the Vaqueros Drum and Bugle Corps. The Vaqueros disbanded in 1963 but he was a major influence in their drum section. He was in the band at East Aurora High School and was a quarterback on their football team, graduating in 1964. After a year at Doan College in Nebraska, he joined the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

and served as an instructor in the Navy School of Music. He returned to Aurora in the early 1970s, married, had three children and became an instructor at the Fox Valley Raiders Drum And Bugle Corps and was on their board of directors

Career

He was a professional musician in both

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and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

as a studio drummer, jingle producer, educator, live performer, and manufacturer, serving as Operations Director for

DW drums Drum Workshop, Inc. (also known as DW Drums or DW) is an American drum kit and hardware manufacturing company based in Oxnard, California. Current products by DW include drum sets, snare drums, and hardware. History Drum Workshop was founde ...

. He toured five years with the Grammy Award-winning band

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as a drum and computer technician, bridging the gap into digital technology, developing protocol for use of sequencing in live performance; executing the same for

and Manhattan Transfer.

Bee Gees

In 1989, Murphy was the drummer for the Bee Gees in their concerts in Australia, supporting their 1989 One for All World Tour promoting their album '' One''. They performed on four continents for a total of twenty-five concerts (eleven in Europe, six in Australia, two in Japan, and six in the U.S. He also performed with them on their four-CD box set, ''

Tales from the Brothers Gibb ''Tales from the Brothers Gibb: A History in Song'' is a box set compilation released by the Bee Gees in 1990. Originally released on four cassettes and four compact discs, ''Tales'' is a summary of the Bee Gees output from their third album, ...

''. He appears on the " One for All Tour concert film". He later married one of the backing vocalists/percussionists from the Bee Gees' One For All tour, Tampa Lann. He continued to live in California for many years. Murphy also recorded additional drums with the Bee Gees on their 1992 American hit single " When He's Gone" wherein future

Eagles Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, jus ...

backup drummer and percussionist

Scott Crago Scott Francis Crago (born July 26, 1963) is an American session drummer, songwriter, and producer. He has worked with the Eagles as their backup and touring drummer since 1994. Other artists he has played with include Venice, Sheryl Crow, Bo ...

played the mainline drums. Trevor Murrell became the Bee Gees' drummer in 1992.

Later life and death

Murphy moved to Cleveland, Ohio in 1994, to support his wife as caregiver for her mother. He became a custom integrator of audio, video, lighting, and security systems. He died from a lung complication on April 11, 2006. He was buried at

Knollwood Cemetery Knollwood Cemetery is a cemetery located at 1678 SOM Center Road in Mayfield Heights, Ohio. Established in 1908, it is one of the largest cemeteries in Cuyahoga County. A mausoleum was completed in 1926, and an expansion finished in 1959. The ceme ...

Mayfield Heights, Ohio Mayfield Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States, and is an east-side suburb of Cleveland. The population was 18,827 at the 2010 census. History Mayfield Heights was initially built up as a streetcar suburb of Cleveland. It was ...

, on April 18, 2006.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Mike 1946 births 2006 deaths Burials at Knollwood Cemetery