History
Walter Anthony Murphy, Jr. (born December 19, 1952), also known as Uncle Louie, is an American pianist, composer, and arranger best known for his 1976 disco adaptation of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, titled "A Fifth of Beethoven."
Early Life and Education
Born and raised in Manhattan, New York City, Murphy attended the Manhattan School of Music, where he honed his skills in both jazz and classical piano.
Career Beginnings
Following his studies, Murphy worked as an arranger for Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Band. He later transitioned into jingle writing. In the early 1970s, he led a band called WAM, which performed R&B and soul covers in the New York City tristate area.
"A Fifth of Beethoven" and Disco Success
Inspired by the success of previous classical music adaptations like Apollo 100's "Joy" and The Toys' "A Lover's Concerto," Murphy began experimenting with disco arrangements of classical pieces. He created a demo tape featuring several such adaptations and sent it to New York record labels. While most showed little interest, his disco rendition of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5 in C Minor" caught the attention of Larry Uttal, owner of Private Stock Records.
Despite Murphy performing most of the instrumentation himself, the record company decided to credit the release to "Walter Murphy and The Big Apple Band" for broader appeal. A naming dispute led to the credit being changed to "The Walter Murphy Band," and finally, simply "Walter Murphy."
"A Fifth of Beethoven" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 in May 1976 and climbed to number one, remaining there for one week. In early 1977, the track was licensed for the soundtrack of the film Saturday Night Fever.
Subsequent Releases and Career Evolution
Murphy's follow-up single, "Flight '76," a disco version of Rimsky-Korsakov's "Flight of the Bumblebee," reached number 44 on the Hot 100. His 1977 single "Rhapsody in Blue," with "A Fifth of Beethoven" on the B-side, garnered significant airplay on easy-listening stations and narrowly missed the Top 100.
Further releases, including "Gentle Explosion" (1978) and "Mostly Mozart" (1979), did not achieve significant chart success. Under the moniker Uncle Louie, Murphy released the funk-oriented album Uncle Louie's Here in 1979.
His last chart appearance was in 1982 with a medley of themes from the film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which reached number 47 on the Hot 100.
Later Work
Since his charting success, Murphy has returned to writing jingles and has composed music for numerous television shows and cartoons, including Family Guy, The Cleveland Show, and American Dad!. His composition "You've Got A Lot To See" for the Family Guy episode "Brian Wallows and Peter's Swallows" earned him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics in 2002.
