Reflections
Ah, yes...
I remember it well
Let me take you on a journey through the past and present with some interesting and amusing stories. You may laugh right out loud, or learn something new as we travel through my time machine.
Maybe some of you have shared in my experiences and may wish to recall something from your vantage point.
My interests are eclectic and won't always be about music, so get on board, and let's go!
"All fisherman are liars except you and me, and sometimes, I'm not so sure about you!"
From a wooden sign that was hanging in my Aunt Tressie's outhouse at Scopan Lake (Formerly known as Squa Pan) in Aroostok County, Maine. We always had so much fun taking our vacations in Northern Maine. Uncle Charlie would play his fiddle, my cousin Joye would play either the piano or her guitar, Mom would play her guitar, and Joy and I would sing all the latest hits on the current hit parade. Sometimes Uncle Charlie would sing some of his favorite songs like, In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree. I can just hear him singing with that twinkle in his eye. He was always so expressive! (Click here for Lyrics). Vacations in Maine was a time we got to visit our relatives and catch up with everyone. Read more...
From Freshwater Little Fish to the Ocean and a Big Blue Marlin
From the time I was a very young child, I used to love to go fishing in the brooks near our house or up in Maine at the camp when we were on vacation. I had always fished fresh water, but that changed after marrying my husband, Gary.
We were living off the north coast of Long Island, NY in a quaint little town called Northport. So lucky to be on the water, we could fish from our dock if we wanted to and look across the harbor and see Connecticut. Three clam boats would go out of the harbor every day and the activity on the water between the sail boats, swans, geese and gulls was always peaceful to watch. Read more...
Middi, The General and The Peruvian Ambassador
Anyone that knows or has met my mother, Middi, knows she stood 4ft-8in and was bigger than life. She always had a mischievous twinkle in her eye, a big winning smile which was always a bit flirtatious and was up for anything you wanted to do. She had an avid sense of adventure and was ready to go at the drop of a hat.
Gary and I had business in London in the 1980's and asked her if she would like to come with us for fun. Of course, she would, and we stayed at what was then The Grosvenor House on Park Lane in prestigious Mayfair, London close to Hyde Park. Those were my days of posh and rubbing elbows with the elites. (Didn't learn a thing!) Read more...
Does It Have To Be Perfect?
Throughout my career, I have needed to take time off from music, take a break from touring and get back into a normal family life. I recall one such time in particular. We lived in Chicago. I was coming off a long tour, the band dropped me off at home around 3:00am and continued on with the bus back to their home. I went inside, and there on the table was a dozen salmon pink long stem roses with a hand written note from Gary that said, "Welcome home, Star!" He has always been the most romantic and thoughtful person throughout our lives and after all these years still brings me flowers. Read more...
Maverick and Goose Ain't Got Nothin' Over Sidewinder 2 and Sidewinder 3
My husband, Gary, did two tours in Vietnam flying Huey gunships. War affects people in many different ways. The way a person views life after going to war is forever changed. When you're living at the edge of death's door every moment, life takes on a new meaning.
One thing I noticed about Gary was that he has a very different sense of humor. He never got bogged down with the minutia of life. When I worried over every little thing, he would say to look at the bigger picture. He found positives when I saw negatives. In solving problems that seemed overwhelming to me, he would tell me to pick up the rock, look at it from one angle, then put it down and think about it. Then, pick it up again and look at it from a different angle. It would cause me to think and solving the problem became clearer.
Gary finds humor in the oddest things. He refuses to quit at anything and seems to always find a way to solve a problem. But that humor can put him at odds with people sometimes. Read more...
The Agent, The Hotel And The Sheikh
As some of you may know from a previous article ("Does It Have To Be Perfect"), I would get off the road for periods of time to be with my family, refresh and rest. After the gig at the Holiday Inn near Palwaukee Airport had been such an enormous success, we got a call from a Chicago agent by the name of Hal Monroe who was interested in meeting us. Hal said he had Musician's Union card number one, and represented acts like Frank Sinatra, Gladys Knight, and others, as well as very prominent groups around the Chicago area. Read more...
The Murphy Sisters
When Roxie and I were in our pre-teens, Roxie also learned how to harmonize, and we started singing together even winning a 1st place trophy from a 4-H competition. We sang together all the time, even while doing dishes. Not to be left behind was sister Shari who wanted to be a part of our group, and The Murphy Sisters Trio was born. Read more...
Off to Brazil
In 1996, Gary booked the Bonnie Leigh Show with my band, Freedom, at an event in São Paulo, Brazil. Since Gary was flying back to the U.S. from Singapore, I met him in San Francisco so we could fly to São Paulo together. The band flew down from Nashville.
The farthest I had ever been south of the border was Cabo San Lucas in Mexico where we would go fishing with a group of friends, so this was to be quite an adventure. Read more...
Christmas Past
In 1997, I decided to put together a booklet of stories about our favorite Christmas memories as children and our years growing up in the Murphy household. We were a family of six children: 5 girls and 1 boy: Bonnie, Roxie, Shari, Vickie, Kelly, and Gordon. Everyone sent their favorite memories, recipes, and we all had a good laugh at the memories each of us had shared. My sister, Roxie who is now with the angles, submitted a poem that she had written for our parents in 1979 called Christmas Past. It captured the feeling of our past holidays on Indian Lane and I could just picture everything as she described it. It was a happy time for all of us back then. Please enjoy. Read more...
God Bless James Lewis
I’m posting something a little different today. This is a story as told to me by my husband about a little being who brought a lot of joy and happiness to a group of Army pilots and Special Forces during the days of the Vietnam conflict. This is the story of James Lewis.
It was the summer of 1965, the Beatles were raging, Winston Churchhill passed, the Twist was at its height of popularity, and the Vietnam war was rapidly escalating where people were blowing up things and shooting each other. My husband, Gary, was, of course, making his living flying UH1 (Huey) helicopter gunships amidst the mayhem in Vietnam’s central highlands. Read more...
Mom always said, "The Show Must Go On!"
One important lesson I learned from her was that the show must go on. It didn't matter if you were tired, didn't feel good, had a cold, or anything. If you could walk, you were expected to give your performance. No whiny babies here and no excuses! Read more...