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Rose Murphy the Chee-Chee Girl
| Rose Murphy |
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| The Chee-Chee Girl | |
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The Chi Chi Girl |
Rose "Chee-Chee" Murphy (April 28, 1913 – November 16, 1989) known as "The Chee-Chee Girl"[1] was a well-known American jazz pianist and vocalist who gained popularity with the song "Busy Line" and her distinctive "baby-talk" voice.
Murphy started her musical career in the late 1930s, providing intermission piano for artists like Count Basie. In the late 1940s, she rose to fame in both the US and the UK.
Murphy's singing style was similar to that of the "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" girl, Helen Kane.
In 1950, Murphy recorded the "Boop-Boop-a-Doop" song "I Wanna Be Loved By You". In her version, she scats "Chee-Boop-Chee-Boop" and "Pallee-Wallee-Pallee-Wallee". She also recorded "Button Up Your Overcoat".
She was most recognized for her high-pitched singing, which included giggling, scat-singing, and percussion sounds. One of her most well-known tracks, "Busy Line," features what is arguably her most well-known voice effect—the "brrp, brrrp" of a telephone ringing.
In 1956, both Murphy[2] and Helen Kane were added to Ed Sullivan's guest list when it saluted ASCAP. The episode was titled The History of ASCAP, and also featured stars such as Margaret Whiting, Barbara Whiting, Billy Daniels, John Raitt and Pat Rooney.
Murphy's last marriage, which lasted from 1950 to 1977, was to businessman Eddie Matthews, who had previously married Ethel Waters from 1928 to 1933.
Quotes
- Rose Murphy: "Count Basie and the boys used to laugh like crazy, said they'd never heard anything like it." (1987)
- Rose Murphy: "It started in Cleveland." (1988)
- Rose Murphy: "Chee-Chee, and those little things, they just came to me." (1988)
Death
- On November 16, 1989, she passed away in New York at the age of 76.
Trivia
- In the United States, Xenia, Ohio, is where she was born.
- Despite her four marriages, she had no living children or descendants.
- She was deemed the "Betty Boop"[3] jazz in the 1950s.
- In 1957, the famous Ella Fitzgerald did an imitation of Murphy in Brussels, Belgium.
- American actress Brittany Murphy was a huge fan of Rose Murphy.
- Compared to someone like Gertrude Saunders, who had used similar style and scatting technique to Murphy as of 1921, Murphy's appeal was more akin to that of "Betty Boop". Saunders later dropped the "high-pitched soprano" singing style for a more "strong contralto" Bessie Smith vocal style.