Unless you are one of the Rat Race Choir fans who came to see us play in 1968,1969, and part of 1970, you are probably wondering "who is this guy?"......Well, I will answer that question, and will also add, that this page, honoring this man, is way overdue on the Rat Race Choir Website.

I met Chris Murphy in high school, Chris was a year ahead of me, a senior, but we were both taking Earth Science, and we sat next to each other. Though Chris was a couple years older than the rest of us, Chris and I hit it off right away as friends, and discovered we were both interested in music. Chris told me he owned a Fender Stratocaster guitar, and was looking to get a band started. It wasn't long before Steve Luongo and myself took a day to go over to Chris's house to play to see if this line-up could be the basis on which to start a band. Our keyboard player at this time was Joe (Peppy) Ficaretta. But with Peppy about to go off to college, Larry McGowan had been already sitting in and was interested in taking over on keyboards, which soon became the case. We also had a lead vocalist, his name was Chris Peck.

After the first night at Chris's house, we knew we had all the pieces. It wasn't really Chris's guitar playing ability that was his strength, as much as it was his ideas, his approach to playing music, his foresight, and his intelligence. He was a bit of a cynic, with a great sense of humor and a vivid imagination. Chris was an innovator, not afraid to experiment, and create. It was his direction, in the beginning, that took Rat Race Choir on a different path than most other bands. He steered us away from being another Top 40's dance band, and taught us how to raise our consciousness through exploration of our collective musical efforts to find out whowe really were  as a band.

Chris played us songs by the more "underground" artists. It was through him that I learned about Bob Dylan, the power of his lyrics, (listen closely to "Its Alright Ma, Im Only Bleeding" off "Bringing It All Back Home"), John Mayall, Electric Flag, Sun Ra, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Bob Marley, before anyone in the U.S. knew of the great Reggae star. Chris was also not afraid to be controversial. When confronted by Heads of Entertainment committee members at certain dances we played and were asked to calm down our act, Chris would always stand up for the band. A couple of times he had us pack up and leave, instead of compromising our performance. Chris taught us to "be ourselves," and to stick to it.

He also had some unique ways of bringing creativity out, in all of us. One example would be our rehearsals............. We would quickly learn the new Cream song on the radio, and then Chris would initiate a "jam session," where he would grab a mic, put on some echo, and "invent" some imaginary dialog, and we would spontaneously create background music, or more accurately, alliterate his words or moods, musically, on the fly. Sometimes this led to total musical chaos, or an abstract approach to one's instrument. One day, I remember us doing "The Beginning of the Universe," (which is on tape... somewhere) We ran a tape, and followed his words, starting from the lightest musical interpretation of space, and "nothingness." This music was not in any "key," we tried to paint the picture with sounds. Steve was lightly tapping random cymbal bells, then grabbed his mallets for soft swells. Larry had some sound coming from his Hammond B-3 that I never knew could come from an organ. I was hitting harmonics with a fuzz tone and bending the bass neck... this was cool!

He went on to the "creation of the universe," he took us into "the age of man" and, later in the story, Chris was literally screaming about wars where "machines had taken over the earth!"

At this point we were basically using our instruments to create horrific noises, and very scary moods. It even went so far as "musical warfare" between each other... The effect when we played back the 40 minute tape was quite dramatic, and very satisfying for a bunch of 16 and 17 year-old musicians. We were already exploring the depths of our imagination, through our instruments, lead by Chris's ideas. We all readily picked up on his concepts, and began to come up with our own. There were even nights at a dead high school dance when we whispered across the stage "hey....wanna play Beginning of the Universe?" A few years later, when we heard abstract things like Hendrix's "1983... A Merman I Should Turn to Be" or King Crimson's "Moon Child," we said "hey...we can do that!"

Our live performances also reflected this kind of thought as well, we had more than one argument with our booking agents because of the material we chose to play. Forty-five minute long versions of "Light My Fire" gave us the opportunity to "stretch out"... Don't forget, those were the days of "Make Love, Not War," and Psychedelic Acid Trip Music... Steve got to play a 10 minute solo each night where he could go wherever he wanted musically. We all had a chance to "experiment and entertain" in front of a live audience. Chris would stir the crowd by kneeling and straddling his Stratocaster, guitar neck sticking out in a "suggestive manner" while his amp was on ten, playing the tremolo bar by rocking up and down on the guitar, wildly modulating feedback ala' Hendrix at Woodstock. This would cause quite a response at some Catholic Schools. I must say that in Rat Race Choir's history, though we played a few, we NEVER WON a "Battle of the Bands," and were thrown out of a few dances. But, the young crowds identified with our statement, and we became the band everyone was talking about. We never used profanity, never brought "sex" into it, but we caught people's attention by playing things like Procol Harum's "Repent Walpurgis," The Band's "Chest Fever," Lee Michaels' "Hello," the entire "Tommy" and a bunch of originals. One being called "Dinosaurs and Ugly Monsters" and another called "You or Me."

This mind set carried on. After Chris's departure, we always looked for the great underground tune, by an obscure artist, and did the song "our way." As our playing skills increased, we fell naturally into the progressive fusion style that has become our signature. Rat Race Choir always did things a bit differently from the rest, and that all started with Chris Murphy. Chris left Rat Race Choir in 1970, under good terms, progressive fusion just wasn't his forte'. But he continued his involvement for a number of years, as a friend and advisor and always had an interest in helping out. He later moved out west and worked for a guitar company.

We had a great friendship... There are hundreds of great stories I could tell you about Chris. I talked briefly to him a few months ago, and that started a flurry of mail correspondences which we are both enjoying. He is living in Colorado and is currently writing a book about Miles Davis, who he had the distinction of Road Managing during Mile's last years.

Chris had a great effect on all of us. He did not "teach" me my bass playing style, or Steve his drumming style. But he created a musical environment where we had the freedom to develop our own styles... and we did, through experimentation. This is true for all of us that played with Chris.

Simply put, Chris Murphy showed us the way to our own identity as a creative band, while we were still very young. It is this identity that still exists today, some 32 years later. 

Chris was our leader and he made us all believe in ourselves as a band. He watched proudly, from the audience, as we continued on years later........

That is the kind of guy that Chris Murphy is.

We All Thank You Chris.

                                                         --Dave Chmela