Elliott Murphy’s “Night Surfing” Music Video

 

Filmed along the Beach and City of Le Havre, France

Elliott Murphy’s stunning video “Night Surfing” from his current “Infinity” album (2025), is now available on YouTube:  https://youtu.be/UpCeqz00zHE?si=SXhHhbhnCy4z_T7D     Directed by acclaimed French cinematographer Matthieu Hiebel (Résistance), this evocative black and white video was filmed entirely in and around the French port of “Le Havre.” Elliott calls the city of Le Havre “The Liverpool of France” due to its historical role introducing American rock‘n’roll, blues and jazz to the French public, as sailors would often disembark with records bought in the USA.   Le Havre is also the hometown of Elliott’s long-time musical partner and virtuoso guitarist Olivier Durand, a relationship that began twenty-nine years ago and continues to this day. With Olivier by his side Elliott has performed thousands of shows all over Europe and the USA and recorded dozens of albums.   “Let’s go down to the beach – where everything is slightly out of reach.” Catch a spiritual wave and go “Night Surfing” with Elliott Murphy.   “Infinity,” the 52nd album by internationally acclaimed American rock singer-songwriter (and long-time Paris resident) Elliott Murphy, contains nine musically eclectic songs with the kind of provocative lyrics long associated with Elliott since his ground-breaking debut album “Aquashow” (1973). “Night Surfing” and the album “Infinity” were produced by Gaspard Murphy, son of Elliott and a gold record winning producer in the French pop music world, at Murmure Studio in Paris with Olivier along with Murphy stalwarts Melissa Cox (violin) and Alan Fatras (cajon and percussion).

NIGHT SURFING (Elliott Murphy)   Let’s go down to the beach Everything is slightly out of reach We’ll be riding high tonight Underneath that sad starry light   And there ain’t nothing you can do anyhow There ain’t nothing you can do   Bring your sleeping bag along While you listen to my song You’ll find it so satisfying You just won’t think about dying   And there ain’t nothing you can do anyhow There ain’t nothing you can do   Let’s go swimming in the rain Even if you don’t feel the same I don’t feel anything at all Bouncing like a bouncing beach ball   And there ain’t nothing you can do anyhow There ain’t nothing you can do   Night surfing my life is flying by Night surfing my life is flying by Night surfing my life is flying by Night surfing under moonlit skies   Something’s pushing me along A power that’s very very strong It’s a force I can’t describe Just a ride on a good vibe And there ain’t nothing you can do anyhow There ain’t nothing you can do   C 2025 Elliott Murphy/Murphyland SACEM/BMI ######

Elliott Murphy “Old-Timer”

 

In celebration of turning seventy-five last March and in conjunction with his “50 years on the road” anniversary (with over forty albums and three-thousand shows all around the world), rock ‘n roll legend Elliott Murphy has released a new single "Old-Timer" on all streaming platforms.

OLD TIMER WAS inspired by Elliott’s annual “Birthday Shows” in Paris (where he has lived for the last 35 years).  As he tells it: “Last March, I received a splendid birthday blast-off during my annual sold-out two-night soiree at the fabled New Morning club in my adopted hometown of Paris and I wanted to write and perform a song especially for that momentous occasion. New Morning is my home away from home as I’ve been playing there steadily for over thirty years now (joining the ranks of such notables as Nina Simone, Miles Davis, Chet Baker and even Prince who have graced its historic stage). I was inspired to write “Old-Timer” just a week before my shows, as a kind of self-congratulatory birthday song from me to myself. It was my last song of the night, and the audience reaction was so heartwarming that I went right into my son Gaspard Murphy’s studio to record it the following week.”

The introduction to the song is an energetic acoustic guitar riff slowing down, and then the lyrics begin.  Elliott says the arrangement reflects the lyrics. “I wanted the song to represent ageing as a visceral function of slowing down so I asked my producer Gaspard to take my finger picked nylon string guitar and speed it up to warp speed at the intro and then slow it down. Just like life …”

Elliott Murphy - Vocals, Guitars

Gaspard Murphy - Moog

Produced by Gaspard Murphy

OLD-TIMER (Elliott Murphy)

When most of who you are walks behind you - And your days are growing short and passing fast

And your memory plays tricks to protect you now - Well you know … you just can’t change the past

 

And I say this is something to be proud of - To have done it all and lived to tell the tale

I’m a stone-cold rock and roll survivor now - An old timer who’s not taking down his sail

 

I’m cruising toward a hundred that’s my goal - And I’d love to take you with me heart and soul

We'll be heading round the corner - Maybe move someplace warmer - And with you I’ll never be alone

 

And I say this is something to be proud of - To have done it all and lived to tell the tale

I’m a stone-cold rock and roll survivor now - An old timer who’s not taking down his sail

 

Did I tell you about the time - When I was twenty-nine - And Paris was waiting for me

 

And I say this is something to be proud of - To have done it all and lived to tell the tale

I’m a stone-cold rock and roll survivor now - An old timer who’s not taking down his sail

 

And if I can be so bold - Let me last words be foretold - I’m telling you I just don’t feel that old

            © 2024 Elliott Murphy, All Rights Reserved (Murphyland / SACEM)

ELLIOTT MURPHY’s new album: “PRODIGAL SON”

American Appearances on July 26 at Stony Brook Film Festival and August 1 at the Rockwood Music Hall

Elliott Murphy’s thirty-fifth album - PRODIGAL SON - is now available in North America on CD and Vinyl LP (Traffic distribution) as well as on Amazon, iTunes, streaming sites and other online stores. PRODIGAL SON is also out in Europe where it has received rave reviews including the prestigious French cultural mag Telerama.

PRODIGAL SON is Elliott’s first album of all new original songs in over three years and marks a daring step forward in both musical and lyrical terms from one of the most original and classic American rock singer-songwriters. Recorded in Paris’ Question de Son Studio (where artists such as Kanye West and Beck have worked while in Paris) Elliott is backed by his long-time backing band The Normandy All Stars (Alan Fatras, Laurent Pardo and guitar virtuoso Olivier Durand). Sadly, Laurent Pardo passed away just after the album was completed - in Elliott’s liner notes there is a heartfelt dedication. 

PRODIGAL SON was produced, mixed and arranged by Elliott’s son Gaspard Murphy, an up and coming producer in his own right (Superbus / Warner Music France). The album features “Leon Russell-styled” keyboard work by Leo Cotton and evocative violin playing by Australian Melissa Cox. PRODIGAL SON was conceived and written with the idea of incorporating a gospel choir and the blend of these majestically soaring voices along with Murphy’s own on tracks such as “Wit’s End” is monumental. 

Highlights from PRODIGAL SON include the anthem “Chelsea Boots,” the poignant love song “Let Me In,” and the touching story of a young girls coming of age “Hey Little Sister.” The album ends with Elliott Murphy’s longest song to date “Absalom, Davy & Jacky O” – a virtual film noir within a song – that clocks in at just over eleven minutes. 

PRODIGAL SON follows the release of the film THE SECOND ACT OF ELLIOTT MURPHY featuring interviews with Bruce Springsteen (who says of Elliott Murphy: I don’t think he’s ever written a bad song” and Billy Joel (who says “I thought he was good as soon as I saw him”). PRODIGAL SON will surely go down as one of the amazing highlights of a storied musical career that began with AQUASHOW. (1973).    

Elliott is available for interviews via SKYPE or email and also phoners.  He will be in the States, doing in-person interviews with the media on July 25-August 1. Along with THE SECOND ACT OF ELLIOTT MURPHY director Jorge Arenillas, he will make an appearance at the Stony Brook Film Festival on July 26 where the film will be shown. On Tuesday, August 1, Elliott performs an intimate solo show at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall.

iTunes links: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/prodigal-son/id1229906436 

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Prodigal-Son-MURPHY-ELLIOTT/dp/B06XP8KJYM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495851381&sr=8-1&keywords=Elliott+Murphy+prodigal+son    

www.ElliottMurphy.com

“PRODIGAL SON” by ELLIOTT MURPHY: TRACK LISTING:

1. CHELSEA BOOTS   
2. ALONE IN MY CHAIR  
3. HEY LITTLE SISTER  
4. LET ME IN  
5. THE PRODIGAL SON  
6. KAREN WHERE ARE YOU
   GOING  
7. WIT’S END  
8. YOU’LL COME BACK TO ME  
9. ABSALOM, DAVY & JACKIE O  

ELLIOTT MURPHY TOURS DEC. 2010, THE MISTER LUCKY TOUR

http://www.elliottmurphy.com

Rock troubadour Elliott Murphy will be performing The Mister Lucky Tour this December 4 through the 12 with dates in New York City, Amagansett, NY, Bordentown, NJ, Piermont and Larchmont, NY. His band The Normandy All-Stars (guitarist Olivier Durand, drummer Alan Fatras, bassist Laurent Pardo will be on hand to rock).

Elliott Murphy first came to prominence over 35 years ago with the release of the now-more-relevant-than-ever album, AQUASHOW. That, along with NIGHT LIGHTS, LOST GENERATION, and JUST A STORY FROM AMERICA were played on mainstream radio throughout the United States. These albums were also picked up internationally, especially in Japan and Europe, where Elliott has found international stardom. 20 years ago he moved to France. At that point he last played the United States in 2000 at New York City's Bottom Line, and his last west coast dates were in 1996. In 2008, December, when his son Gaspard started studying at SUNY Purchase in New York, Elliott was invited to start performing in the States again.

Elliott has released 30 albums, his latest is NOTES FROM THE UNDERGROUND, which has received 5 stars on the prestigious music site, ALL MUSIC.COM. In 2011, look for his album, ELLIOTT MURPHY, which was produced by Gaspard Murphy.

Some of the musicians who've collaborated with Elliott on his recordings are Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Phil Collins, and the Rolling Stones' Mick Taylor. Elliott was also honored with a monumental exposition, LAST OF THE ROCK STARS-RETROSPECTIVE at Paris' Town Hall, and has been cited in literature in the work, SAVAGE DETECTIVES by the late Roberto Bolano, who now has a best-seller book called, 2666.

Elliott, who is already played on Sirius-XM's the LOFT, and was the subject of a story on an upcoming Bob Edwards' show on the satellite station. Recently he acted in the French movie "La Ligne Blanche."

Daily Variety's Stephen Mirkin writes that Elliott accompanied by guitarist Olivier Durand, performs "with an energetic intimacy. " THE WASHINGTON POST'S Christopher Porter notes, "Murphy engaged his campfire crowd with direct eye contact, making the evening's intimacy even more intense. His textured voice -- as with his songwriting, it's equal parts Bob Dylan, Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen -- also exhibited tonal strength and beauty."

The Schenectady Gazette's Brian McElhiney says, "Murphy gives hungry cadre of stateside fans what they came for." Indeed the fans also are receiving more than their money's worth. One Boston fan blogged, "Murphy sang with the resilience of a survivor who will always continue to grow and change. His performance let us in on a taste of what his journey has been like. I know I felt changed by it. Murphy's show was a true rock 'n' roll baptism."

December 2010 Elliott Murphy Shows

Dec. 4: Stephen Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY
Dec. 8: Turning Point, Piermont, NY
Dec. 9: Record Collector, Bordentown, NJ
Dec. 11: Rockwood Stage 2, New York, NY
Dec. 12: Watercolor Cafe, Larchmont, NY

http://www.elliottmurphy.com