Dee Murray
| Dee Murray | |
|---|---|
Murray in 1971
|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | David Murray Oates |
| Born |
3 April 1946 Gillingham, Kent, England |
| Died | 15 January 1992 (aged 45) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. |
| Genres | Rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, songwriter |
| Instruments | Bass guitar |
| Years active | 1960s–1992 |
| Associated acts | The Mirage, Spencer Davis Group, Elton John, Procol Harum, Alice Cooper |
| Notable instruments | |
|
Fender Precision Bass Fender Jazz Bass Steinberger L2 |
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Dee Murray (born David Murray Oates; 3 April 1946 – 15 January 1992) was an English bass guitarist, best known as a member of Elton John's band.
Murray was born in Gillingham, Kent, England on 3 April 1946. Before joining Elton John as his touring sidemen, Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson were members of the Spencer Davis Group in 1969. In Murray's musician bio in the programme book for 1982's "Jump Up!" tour, Murray recalled when he first took up the bass guitar during his high school years: "Someone put this heavy thing over my shoulder and said, 'Here, you play this!'" Murray quickly established a solid reputation on the instrument. In the Classic Albums documentary on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, producer Gus Dudgeon lauded Murray's musical ability, and said he hadn't heard a bassist quite as good as him.
Murray and Olsson joined John as his road sidemen in 1970, and first appeared on disc with John on "Amoreena" from the 1970 album Tumbleweed Connection, though they were first featured on the live album 17-11-70. While they were John's constant touring band mates, his record company only allowed them to play on just one track per studio album. As of Honky Château in 1972, however, John exerted some of his skyrocketing popularity at the time, and convinced his record company to allow Murray and Olsson to also become full-time recording members of his band. Along with fellow new recruit Davey Johnstone on guitar, Murray and Olsson played on John's hit albums, including the milestone album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, singles, and world tours for several years. In 1975, after recording Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Murray and Olsson were released from the band because John wanted to achieve a different sound. He said at the time "The band always rattled along. I want it to chug".
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