Ruby Murray ~ Let Him Go,
Let Him Tarry
Ruby Murray - When Irish
Eyes Are Smiling {with Lyrics}
Ruby Murray - Galway Bay
From
Wikipedia
Child star[edit]
Ruby
Florence Murray was born on the Donegall Road in
south Belfast, Northern Ireland.[4] Her voice's distinctive sound was partly the result of an
operation on her throat in early childhood.[5] She toured as
a child singer and first appeared ontelevision at
the age of 12, having been spotted by producer Richard Afton.[1] Owing
to laws governing children performing, Murray had to delay her start in the
entertainment industry.[1] She
returned to Belfast and full-time education until she was 14.
Chart success[edit]
Again
spotted by Afton, Murray was signed to Columbia and her first single, "Heartbeat", reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart in
December 1954.[3] Afton
had offered her the position of resident singer on the BBC's Quite
Contrary televisionshow, to replace Joan Regan.[6] "Softly, Softly",
her second single, reached number one in
early 1955.[3] That
same year Murray set a pop-chart record by having five hits in the Top Twenty
in one week, a feat unmatched for many years.[1][2]
The
1950s was a busy period for Murray, during which she had her own television
show, starred at the London Palladiumwith Norman Wisdom, appeared in a Royal Command Performance (1955),[7] and toured the
world.[1] In a
period of 52 weeks, starting in 1955, Murray constantly had at least one single
in the UK charts —
this at a time when only a Top 20 was listed.
Murray
appeared with Frankie Howerd and Dennis Price, in her only film role, as "Ruby" in a 1956
farce, A Touch
of the Sun.[1] A
couple of hits followed later in the decade; "Goodbye Jimmy,
Goodbye", a No. 10 hit in 1959, was her final appearance in the charts.[1] EMI put together a compilation album of
her hits on CD in
1989, including songs that regularly featured in her act;
"Mr. Wonderful",
"Scarlet
Ribbons" and "It's the Irish in Me".[1] They
updated this with the release of EMI
Presents The Magic Of Ruby Murray in
1997 and a triple album, Anthology
— The Golden Anniversary Collection, in 2005, the 50th anniversary of her
peak successes on the charts.[1]
The
name "Ruby Murray" lives on in rhyming slang, quite often in Only Fools And Horses, as the
rhyme for "curry".[8]
A play
about Murray's life, Ruby,
written by the Belfast playwright Marie Jones, opened at the Group Theatre in Belfast
in April 2000.[1]
Personal life[edit]
In
1957, while working in Blackpool, Murray met Bernie Burgess, a member of a
successful Television and Recording Vocal Quartet The 4 Jones Boys. Shortly
afterwards she left Northern Ireland to marry him and live with him in England.[1] Burgess
contrary to press reports didn't become her manager, his role was that of a
supporting husband. The couple included a song and dance segment in Ruby's act
during the 1960s. After their marriage failed in 1974, she was granted a
divorce in 1976. She married an old friend, Ray Lamar, in 1993 and lived in Torquay, Devon.
She had two children from her marriage to Burgess.[1]
Although
her days as a major star gradually diminished, Murray continued performing
until close to the end of her life. She died of liver cancer,
aged 61, in December 1996 in Torquay after a long struggle with alcoholism.[1]
Spending
her last couple of years in Aspreys Nursing Home, she often delighted her
carers with a song and was visited by her special friend, Max Bygraves.
