Keith O'Conner Murphy

Keith O’Conner Murphy
Keith with guitar, 2013
Background information
Birth name	Keith Edward Murphy
Born	(1944-11-09)November 9, 1944 (age 71) Peru, Indiana, United States
Genres	Rockabilly, rock and roll, country rock
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, tambourine, harmonica
Years active	1961–present
Labels	King, Polydor (UK), Stacy
Associated acts	The Torkays, The Daze

Keith O'Conner Murphy (Keith Murphy) is an American songwriter, singer and recording artist. His contributions to the rockabilly genre of rock and roll music were recognized in 2002 when he was inducted into the Rockabilly Hall of Fame. He is a voting member of the Recording Academy, the organization which awards the Grammys, and a voting member of the CMA Country Music Association.

Keith Edward Murphy was born on November 9, 1944 in Peru, Indiana, to Edward William and Vivian Marcella (Martin) Murphy. He and his brother Brent, 20 years younger, were the only two children in the family. At the time of his birth, his father was serving in the US Army Air Corps in World War II.

As a child, Murphy loved music, and sang in church and school choirs. His primary family musical influence was his grandmother, Dora Collins Martin, who played piano professionally in local clubs, mostly honky tonk and popular music. His father, Ed, sometimes played harmonica for his own enjoyment, and his mother, Marcella, sang in school and church.

Murphy's formative years were spent in the Indiana towns of Peru, Wabash and Sweetser, all in adjoining counties. He graduated from Oak Hill High School, Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University) and Indiana University, where he earned an MBA.

When Murphy was in the 4th grade, his family moved to Wabash, Indiana. His first instrument was an Arthur Godfrey plastic ukulele with a plastic box on the fretboard that allowed a chord to be played by pushing one button. Murphy took it off and figured out which strings to push to play his own chords. When he was in junior high at Chippewa school in 1958, he saved his newspaper money and bought a $25 tangerine and white Harmony Caribbean H-1005 flat top from the local music store. It had a strip of aluminum cabinet trim to divide the colors on the front and the strings were not the easiest to press down, but it was a start.

When he was a sophomore, the family moved to Sweetser in Grant County, close to the larger city of Marion, where his father worked at the local Fisher Body plant. He began to take guitar lessons at Butler's music store from an old vaudeville performer, Art Oliver, and later Sy Cantrell, a local barber by trade. Murphy started playing rhythm guitar and was lead singer in a rock and roll band he helped form, and later used his guitar for song writing.