William Thomas Murray (May 25, 1877 – August 17, 1954) was an American singer and voice actor. He was one of the most popular singers in the United States in the early 20th century. While he received star billing in Vaudeville, he was best known for his prolific work in the recording studio, making records for almost every record label of the era. Murray was the best-selling recording artist of the first quarter of the 20th century, selling over 300 million records during the phonograph era.

Life and career

Billy Murray was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Patrick and Julia (Kelleher) Murray, immigrants from County Kerry, Ireland. His parents moved to Denver, Colorado, in 1882, where he grew up. He became fascinated with the theater and joined a traveling vaudeville troupe in 1893. He also performed in minstrel shows early in his career. In 1897, Murray made his first recordings for Peter Bacigalupi, the owner of a phonograph company in San Francisco. As of 2025, none of Murray's cylinder records with Bacigalupi are known to have survived. He also did radio work. In 1929, Murray and Walter Scanlon provided the voices for the Fleischer short animated film Finding His Voice, produced by Western Electric.

Murray made his last recordings for Beacon Records on February 11, 1943, with Jewish dialect comedian Monroe Silver. He retired the next year to Freeport, Long Island, New York because of heart problems.

Variety estimated he made between 6,000 and 10,000 recordings in 45 years under a range of different pseudonyms, selling up to 300 million records, a record at the time.

He died at nearby Jones Beach of a heart attack in 1954 at the age of 77. Murray had married three times; the first two marriages ended in divorce. He was survived by his third wife, Madeleine, and is buried in the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury, New York.

  • "Come Josephine in My Flying Machine" with Ada Jones
  • "Cordelia Malone"
  • "Cuddle up a Little Closer, Lovey Mine" with Ada Jones
  • "Daddy, Come Home"
  • "Dear Sing Sing"
  • "Dixie" with Frank Stanley, Ada Jones
  • "Don't Bring Lulu"
  • "Everybody Works But Father"
  • "Forty-five Minutes from Broadway"
  • "Gasoline Gus And His Jitney Bus"
  • "Give My Regards to Broadway"
  • "Harrigan"
  • "He'd Have to Get Under — Get Out and Get Under (to Fix Up His Automobile)"
  • "He Goes to Church on Sunday"
  • "He May Be Old, But He's Got Young Ideas"
  • "Hello, Hawaii, How Are You?"
  • "I'll See You in C-U-B-A"
  • "I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark"
  • "In My Merry Oldsmobile"
  • "In the Good Old Summer Time"
  • "In the Land of the Buffalo"
  • "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree"
  • "It's a Long Way to Tipperary"
  • "It's the Same Old Shillelagh"
  • "It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch"
  • "I've Been Floating Down the Old Green River"
  • "I've Got My Captain Working for Me Now"
  • "I've Got Rings On My Fingers"
  • "I Want to Go Back to Michigan"
  • "I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now"
  • "K-K-K-Katy"
  • ”Low Bridge”
  • "Oh! By Jingo"
  • "Oh, You Beautiful Doll"
  • "On Moonlight Bay"
  • "On the 5:15"
  • ¨If it wasn´t for you¨ with Ada Jones
  • "On the Old Fall River Line" from 1913
  • "Over There"
  • "Play a Simple Melody with Elsie Baker
  • "Pretty Baby"
  • "Pride of the Prairie"
  • "School Days" with Ada Jones
  • "Shine On, Harvest Moon" with Ada Jones
  • "Some Sunday Morning" with Ada Jones
  • "Tessie"
  • "Tipperary"
  • "Under the Anheuser Bush"
  • "When We Were Two Little Boys"
  • "The Whistler and His Dog" (as one of two whistlers)
  • "The Worst Is Yet to Come"
  • "The Yankee Doodle Boy"
  • "You'd Be Surprised"
  • "The Grand Old Rag (Flag)"

See also

  • "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"

References

  • The Official Website of Billy Murray: The Legendary Denver Nightingale
  • The Billy Murray Pages: Articles, Photographs and Discographies
  • Billy Murray recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
  • Billy Murray 1877–1954 Red Hot Jazz Archive
  • Billy Murray recording of "The Grand Old Rag" (later retitled "The Grand Old Flag")
  • Billy Murray recording of "He'd Have to Get Out and Get Under to Fix up His Automobile"
  • Billy Murray cylinder recordings, from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
  • In search of Billy Murray – interview with Sam Herman, Peter Dilg & Lew Green Jr. on Thomas Edison's Attic radio program, WFMU, May 4, 2004.
  • List of best-selling recordings with chart entries
  • Billy Murray, Anthology: The Denver Nightingale (Archeophone Records 5501)