If the pandemic has taught us anything, it is to stay hopeful, be thankful, know who you are, and keep living in God’s grace. Shirley Murdock, writer, singer, actress, and pastor, is no stranger to walking by faith and giving God the praises that He deserves, and the blessings have shown most abundantly throughout her career and life. From the beginning of her career to now, Shirley has toured, wrote, and acted in many songs and shows that we still love to this day, and Shirley shows no sign of stopping. So, of course, FEMI Magazine has to know what Mrs. Shirley has been up to as she has graced us with her time and definitely gave what was supposed to be given!
Shirley, your music career history has been a mixture between Gospel and R&B; talk to me about the beginnings of your career and how exactly the transition happened between the two?
I grew up in Toledo, Ohio, just a young girl on Saturday mornings watching black and white matinées with the curly hair white girl by the name of Shirley Temple; her name was Shirley, so that I could relate to that. She was young, and she could sing and dance; I said one day that is going to be me, I saw myself. When God gives us a gift, He gives us a glimpse of our future. So, I saw myself in the future. I was already singing like a grown woman all my life and singing in the church choir. Like any young girl who desires to be a singer, I sang in the mirror with the hairbrush microphone. I was singing Dr. Feel Good by Aretha Franklin like I knew what I was talking about. My momma said, baby, I see you don’t know what you’re talking about, but you sound like you do, so I will just leave that alone until you get grown. So, fast forward, I am growing in my relationship with God, and I think this is the direction that will take me into gospel music. I got many opportunities to sing R&B, and I turned them down because I think I am supposed to sing Gospel. But when I finally met Roger Troutman, I said thank you but no, thank you too, he didn’t have any contacts in Gospel, but he said we want to help you if you ever want to give us a try. I left there thinking, why is this the only door opening up for me? Could this be the door for me? So, I walked by faith through the open door.
The transition was not hard for me from going to Gospel to R&B. It was more of a culture shock because of the environment, but God placed me in an environment like a safe haven. Being with the Troutman brothers, they knew who I was and whose I was and what I represented. They were a family organization and looked after me and taught me so much. The actual transition was when I met Bishop T.D Jakes, I told him my life and history I wanted to sing Gospel but never had the opportunity, and he said maybe we could do some things together. He started inviting me to be a part of Woman Thou Art Loosed Conferences, and I was singing on his church albums and things like that. So, I finally had the opportunity to sing Gospel and started my record label, and you know you can’t do both, so I went to Roger. I said Rog, I finally have an opportunity to sing Gospel, and I was signed to Warner Brothers and was working on another R&B record, and I said I want to be released from Warner Brothers. I was released in Dec of ’98, and Roger passed away in April of ’99, and he was so happy for me; he said, baby, that is what you were doing before you met me! So, the transition was not for me because I never separated my spiritual life from my everyday life, and I always put a gospel song on my R&B records. The transition was for everybody else who did not know my backstory and did not know that God was using me in the mainstream arena. I stayed away from the mainstream for seven years and strictly done Gospel, but the doors were slowly opening back up for me to go back out and be able to share good news for people who followed me through R&B, Go With You, Husband, Spend My Whole Life, In Your Eyes, Computer Love. So, to sing those songs again and put out a good message, and share the good news has been a wonderful journey.
” Faith is Stepping out on Nothing and Landing on Something”
How did acting come into play with your music career?
Again, I walk by faith through the open door, so when you walk through an open door, one thing leads to another. At that time, the Urban Play Circuit started inviting mainstream singers to make guest appearances in Gospel plays because that would bring more people into the venue or theatre. So, you might come in to do a song and a couple of lines, and you will be auntie somebody or momma somebody quick and be in and out. But, remember I was Shirley Temple Black, remember I saw myself, so the singing opened the door for the acting, and I walked by faith into that arena. I knew that I was not an actor yet; I was a singer with an opportunity. But if I do this thing right, I can learn how to be an actor, so it was such a blessing. See the way I spent my time learning to be a singer, and these people did the same thing to learn how to act, so to me, it would be an insult to giddy-up and jump in there and call myself an actor. But if I can watch, learn, and study the way I did singing; Aretha Franklin, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, momma Shirley Cesar, and the Clark Sisters, everyone I love, then I would be close. Many of the actors that I saw on the big screen and Tv, I ended up being in plays with; Big actors like Billie D. Williams, Clifton Powell, Jackée Harry, Robin Given, Malik Yoba, and so many others. I remember Clifton Powell said to me, Ms. Shirley, stop saying you’re not an actor; you are an actor, so when the actors declare that you are an actor, I felt okay with calling myself an actor. Eventually, I was in lead roles and played in Urban films for a long time, and eventually, it became into acting in films. I have a new movie coming out called the Match Maker, and it is going to be on Netflix coming out in the Fall, and I am very excited about that, so I have indeed walked by faith through an open door.
In an interview in 2020, you created a redemption of Winter Wonder Land and quoted a better way to navigate the pandemic to spread holiday cheer. With the spring and summer coming up, what would be the best way to navigate the pandemic through song?
I have a new song called People Get Ready, and it is a remake of Curtis Mayfield, and The Impressions classic People Get Ready. It is a song that says there is a train of change coming, and faith is the key to hear the diesel coming because of everything that was going on in 2020. We have to talk about the pandemic because it played a role in deciding to do this song. We are dealing with social unrest, social injustice, the George Floyd murder, Breonna Taylor, and way too many to name, the election, and the whole world being shut down because of this pandemic. Loss of jobs, loss of people, loss of careers, loss of business. Loss of loved ones and not being able to have that homegoing celebration that we usually do. Artists back then, their music always reflected the time. Marvin Gaye had a song of What’s Going On, which was during the war. James Brown, I’m Black, and I’m Proud when we try to find ourselves and learn to embrace our blackness and uniqueness. We wanted to put something in the atmosphere that would create healing, unity, and hope. We just felt like that was a perfect time for something like this, we didn’t stray too much from the beginning, but in the revamp, you know we had to go to church, right? It is an amazing song and available on all digital outlets, and make sure to check out my brand-new YouTube channel!
Ms. Shirley took us to church in this interview and has blessed the readers with some updates in her life and little nuggets for living life and simply walking by faith through the open doors. Follow Ms. Shirley for more on IG and Twitter @Shirleymurdock4real, YouTube @Shirley Murdock, her and her husbands online ministry; praying4you.org, Shirley’s website is shirleymurdocklifesongs.com, and People Get Ready is the first project of that website.
