Been a Long Time: May 17,2008
It has been a long time since I have came on here. I am
sorry to have let the site go. I have went through and deleted messages of
spam and banned members who posted them. I am going to try and
get over here to re-do pages and such.
Thanks to everyone who has stuck through the site.
Tammy
CLUB 3C NEWSLETTER
06 August 2004
DAVID LEE MURPHY, "Inspiration" - Our 3C Hitbound Sound for the week is going to be David Lee's next US single. We're getting an early start on this one, which sure sounds like a hit to us! You can judge for yourself as it gets its first spins this weekend on World's Best Country.
Charlotte Observer
Posted on Thu, Apr. 22, 2004
Overtaxed? Murphy is free
David Lee Murphy may not be a household name among country fans, but they'd definitely recognize several of his songs.
"Dust on the Bottle," for instance, remains a radio standard nearly 10 years after its release; and "Party Crowd" has become a party anthem played at least once a night in every country bar across the nation.
Both will figure prominently Friday night when Murphy puts on a free "Tax Relief Concert" at Coyote Joe's, a title that refers to last week's federal income tax deadline.
The show, which includes hit-maker Lee Roy Parnell, is also a celebration of the CD "Tryin' to Get There," Murphy's first album since 1997.
In a recent phone interview, Murphy said it was his own choice to hold off seven years between albums, because he felt country had changed.
"I guess you could say there was a period of time where what I did wasn't the kind of thing the industry wanted, that kind of raw-edged, rocking stuff," Murphy said.
"Country music had gotten a little too polished ... a little pop. The industry was taking for granted the blue-collar people who are the real country supporters. But it has come full circle now, closer to what I do."
Proof of that shift is the recent success of acts such as Toby Keith, Kenny Chesney and Alan Jackson, all of whom have hit No. 1 with blue-collar party songs.
In fact, Murphy's current single "Loco" sounds as if it were written for Chesney, with lyrics about firing up the backyard grill, breaking out the tequila and pretending to be on Key West time.
"Loco" currently is in the Top 30, suggesting Murphy has another hit on his hands. It's a song he wrote three years ago and stashed away in anticipation of a change in the musical climate.
"I've been making a living as a songwriter in Nashville for a long time, writing songs for other acts. I could have kept on doing it, but there's just something about when you're singing your own songs. It gets in your blood," Murphy said.
"I remember this show last year in Switzerland, and I was having a hard time communicating with the crowd. But when I started singing `Dust on the Bottle,' they all started singing along in Swiss, German and French accents. It was just so cool." PREVIEW
David Lee Murphy and Lee Roy Parnell
David Lee Murphy, whose hits include "Dust on the Bottle" and "Party Crowd," celebrates release of first album in seven years at Tax Relief Concert.
From the Benton, (Arkansas), Courier, 4-20-04:
Published on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 11:43 AM CDT
Organizer: Family Fest 2004 bigger, better
By Ann Blackburn
Courier Staff
BRYANT - "This will be the year that puts us on the map," James Ballew,
director of Bryant Family Fest, said.
Ballew announced the dates and unveiled posters and entertainment for
Family Fest at the Parks Commission meeting Monday at the Bryant
Municipal Building courtroom.
"Family Fest is already big, but this year we will be bigger than ever
and better," Ballew said.
According to Ballew, Family Fest will be May 21-23 at Mills Park.
Admission will be $3 per day, or $5 for the weekend. Games, food, rides
and concerts will be held throughout the weekend, with nationally known
entertainers performing each evening. The event has been held July 4 in
the past.
"We've got David Lee Murphy and Lee Roy Parnell coming, along with the
17th Floor, the hottest college-event band in the country," Ballew
said.
The festival will begin at noon Friday, May 21, with events honoring
high school students and new graduates. Armbands will be available for
the students, allowing them unlimited rides. The band XCLR8 (pronounced
"accelerate") will perform that night.
Country singers David Lee Murphy and Lee Roy Parnell will perform on
Saturday night, with Chris Wyatt opening for them.
"This is the first time we've had a national act come to Bryant,"
Ballew
said.
The 17th Floor will perform late Sunday afternoon, and Family Fest will
conclude with a huge fireworks show just after sunset on Sunday night,
Ballew said.
The festival will be promoted heavily in the coming weeks, Ballew said,
with radio, television, newspaper ads and fliers. Proceeds from the
festival are used to purchase toys for distribution at Christmas. The
Parks Commission passed a motion to provide $4,000 toward advertising
expenses.
David Lee Murphy and COCA-COLA Announce
a NASCAR Vending Machine Fundraiser Herrin, IL
David Lee Murphy, along with Central States Coca-Cola, have announced that they are jointly sponsoring a NASCAR vending machine fundraiser to benefit the Dr. Jack Murphy Foundation. The Foundation was founded in memory of David Lee Murphy's father, a long time school administrator and civic leader in Southern Illinois. It is not-for-profit and funds various regional civic projects in the Southern Illinois area. The vending machine is being donated by Central States Coca-Cola and is NASCAR themed. Tickets are $2.00 each and are available now thru May 28th 2004 in Southern Illinois area Kroger stores only. The drawing for the winner of the vending machine will be held Sunday May 30th, 2:00 pm at the Kroger store in Herrin, IL.
CMT 4/7/04
David Lee Murphy Gets "Loco" With New Album Singer Co-Wrote CD's Title Track With the Late Waylon Jennings
Calvin Gilbert CMT
Although he's always had a knack for getting his songs recorded by others, David Lee Murphy is happy to have written another hit for himself. With "Loco" continuing to climb the country singles chart, the Illinois native is back on the radio.
The truth is, however, that Murphy hasn't really been off the radio. In addition to his 1995 chart-topping single "Dust on the Bottle," Murphy continues to receive airplay for other hits, most notably "Party Crowd." And if you've heard Trick Pony's "On a Mission" or Aaron Tippin's "People Like Us," you've heard Murphy's work as a songwriter.
In recent years, Hank Williams Jr., Brooks & Dunn, Montgomery Gentry and Chris LeDoux have also recorded Murphy's songs. When it's suggested Murphy must be receiving plenty of songwriter royalty checks, he laughs, "Well, I haven't gotten them yet. I know they're supposed to be coming. They tell me I'm going to get a check one of these days."
Murphy's new Audium/Koch album, Tryin' to Get There, is his first since 1997's We Can't All Be Angels on MCA Nashville. "It's hard hittin'," Murphy says in describing the new album. "It's got a few hard hittin', rockin' songs, and it definitely nods to the traditional as well. I would always be one of the biggest supporters of traditional country music because I grew up on it, but I am also probably going to be one of the first guys to turn the amp up to 11 and crank it. ... Guys like Waylon, you know, started out in rock 'n' roll, and they didn't have any shyness about turning it up and playing it loud."
Prior to his death in 2002, Waylon Jennings and Murphy wrote four songs together, including the title track to Tryin' to Get There. The two first met during the mid '90s, but Murphy was still in awe when they began co-writing songs a few years later. "Being a Waylon nut, sitting down there across from a legend and one of your all-time heroes, I thought, man, this is really going to be tough," Murphy says. "But Waylon was so cool and made me feel so welcome and comfortable, I just felt like he was somebody I had known my entire life. You hear people say they don't want to meet their heroes. When I met Waylon, it was better than I thought it would be. He just went up in my book." Referring to the title track, Murphy says, "It's just a song that's about how we're all going to make a few mistakes here and there. There's some hills you gotta go up, and there's some curves you gotta take. That's not the words to the song, but it's basically that we're all looking for the same thing, and we're all just trying to get there the best we can."
Having toured in 2003 with John Berry and Lee Roy Parnell, Murphy is already having a good time performing his new material on the road this year. "My band has a good time, too," he says. "They can't wait to go back out on the road. If the bus is supposed to leave at midnight, we're there at 11 o'clock -- waiting to go. We've got a really good bunch of people. We go out there and just play as hard as we can play and have as much fun playing for a little bitty fair as we do if we're playing in an arena.
" Even without the new songs, Murphy attracts a devoted audience he began cultivating a decade ago. Unlike many other acts, Murphy somehow managed to make some records that appear to be holding up well after repeated listens. "It's like a radio guy said, 'It might have appeared that you've been out of the scene, but we've still been playing the heck out of your records.' And 'Dust on the Bottle' is still getting somewhere around 600 spins a week [nationally]. If you look on the charts, 600 spins will get you a No. 30-something record. So we've had the equivalent of about a No. 30 record since 1995."
Murphy And Otto Perform At CMA Reception The Country Music Association recently hosted a cocktail reception previewing the 2004 CMA Music Festival/Fan Fair. The reception was for a contingent of travel journalists touring Nashville at the invitation of the Nashville Convention and Visitor's Bureau. Koch Nashville recording artist David Lee Murphy and Mercury Nashville recording artist James Otto recreated CMA's annual summer event by giving acoustic performances, signing autographs and posing for pictures with all the writers in attendance. The two artists also shared memories from their past performances at "Country Music's Biggest Party." Pictured (l-r): Koch Nashville recording artist David Lee Murphy; CMA Executive Director Ed Benson; and Mercury Nashville recording artist James Otto.
BILLBOARD REVIEW
Tryin' To Get There - David Lee Murphy / Reviewed by Billboard Magazine Though a proven hitmaker, David Lee Murphy inexplicably fell off the mainstream country map several years ago. This Audium debut proves that was a mistake. Murphy wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks here, and it's all good. Highlights include the easy-rollin' title cut (with a Waylon Jennings co-write) and party fare like the breezy "Loco" and "I Like It Already," both of which are tailor-made for today's country radio. "Mama's Last" is a Paycheck-styled hard-charger, and "Beggin' for Affection" is the kind of cut that Murphy has previously taken to the top of the charts. Elsewhere, "Killin' the Pain" is solid country gold, and the powerhouse "Ghost in the Jukebox" is a no-brainer crowd-pleaser that has "hit" written all over it.
PEOPLE MAGAZINE 4/5/04
Tryin' To Get There - David Lee Murphy / Reviewed by Ralph Novak After a brief but successful run as a country singer in the mid-90s, Murphy stopped to smell the royalties from songs he wrote for artists such as Hank Williams Jr., Montgomery Gentry and Trick Pony. But he is back recording with this gently rocking set of 12 songs. Happily, Murphy shows a sense of musical history. He cowrote the title track with the late Waylon Jennings, and the tune reflects the unwavering musicality and brazen individuality that was Jennings. Meanwhile, "Ghost in the Jukebox" neatly salutes Hank Williams the Elder and Charlie Rich. All in all, it's good to have this country-rocker back.
USA TODAY PAPER 3/5/04
Country: David Lee Murphy, Tryin' to Get There (* * ½) Murphy, who topped the country charts in 1995 with Dust on the Bible, has put himself back on the radio by copping a little of Jimmy Buffett's attitude for his single Loco. The rest of Murphy's first album in seven years mixes in a little Waylon, a little Merle and a little Rolling Stones, and sometimes makes you wonder why he's been gone so long. The answer is that Murphy's songs never leave the impression that his heroes made, though they're good for as long as they last. -Brian Mansfield
