Tonight on the '50s R&B Show

Authored by: 
Published on: June 19th, 2018

906 Matt "Guitar" Murphy

Matt
Matt "Guitar" Murphy

Two more music legends have recently passed, and there will be tributes to both on tonight's edition of The '50s R&B Show, 7-10p. 

Dominic Joseph "D. J." Fontana, a native of Shreveport, La., was likely the first drummer to join the staff of the Louisiana Hayride. There, he backed the likes of Faron Young, Merle Kilgore, Webb Pierce and countless others before eventually meeting up with a trio of up-and-comers from Memphis -- Elvis Presley, Scotty Moore and Bill Black. After agreeing to do a few dates with the group, he soon became a regular member of the band and would go on to record on every Elvis session from 1956 to 1968 (with the lone exception of the Love Me Tender soundtrack session). Fontana passed away in Nashville on June 13 at age 87.

Matt "Guitar" Murphy's stinging, lightning-fingered guitar work helped add flavor to beloved blues and R&B recordings by Little Junior Parker, Sonny Boy Williamson, James Cotton, Koko Taylor, J.T. Brown and Memphis Slim, to name just a few. He would gain mainstream notoriety in the late '70s and early '80s as part of the Blues Brothers band. Murphy passed away on June 15 at age 88. You can see and hear a prime example of Matt's guitar magic in this clip from 1963 below.

Topic tags: 

WWOZ
Get the 'OZone monthly newsletter
facebook logo
Like us on Facebook
Volunteer
Volunteer at WWOZ
WWOZ
Hear it here!