Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame songwriter and Wallaceburg's own Ralph Murphy died on Tuesday in Nashville.
Murphy was born in England before moving to Canada at the age of six. On May 28, 2019, he died of pneumonia while he was recovering from radiation therapy associated with cancer treatment.
Murphy was 75.
Canadian country music artist Jamie Warren said Murphy's death was a surprise because he was at a celebration that was held in Wallaceburg earlier this month on May 12.
"I knew Ralph wasn't well at the CCMA's, and I could tell. He was a little thinner and he had a little trouble talking, but I thought that maybe he was on the other side of whatever illness he was going through. It sounded like he had a couple years left, and so it was a surprise. It did not expect Ralph to pass that quickly," said Warren.
He had served on the Southern Regional Writers Advisory Board of American Society of Composers Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), as well as the Songwriters Guild of America regional advisory board.
Murphy moved to Tennessee in 1978 where he started a production/publishing company. Years later, Murphy went on to win awards for his work including the Jo Walker-Meador International Achievement Award, in 2011, and the SOCAN Special Achievement Award in 2019. Murphy was also inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in 2012.
"I didn't know this till years later that he was was Wallaceburg because he had a thick American accent," said Warren. "I knew he was Canadian, but it was just sort of interesting that he had a great way of telling stories because of this low resonant voice he had, combined with this Southern accent."
He had his first big hit with James Royal's "Call My Name" in 1966. Shortly after, Murphy started producing records in 1966 for record labels Carnaby and Decca. Some of his other hits included Billy Fury's "Beyond a Shadow of a Doubt."
Warren described Murphy as a "cool uncle".
"Ralph ran ASCAP for many many years, and obviously he had a lot of success as a songwriter in the 70s and early 80s. But the thing was, when you went to Nashville, if you were Canadian, Ralph would give you the skinny on the city and help you out," said Warren.