Wrote 26 books on composing and orchestrating, including "Spud Murphy's Swing Arranging Method" (1937).
In 1938 he formed his own band, and later played trombone with the Charlie Barnet orchestra.
He was the arranger of the nursery rhyme "Three Blind Mice", used as the theme tune for The Three Stooges.
(1954 - 1957) He recorded three music LPs in the 1950s - "Four Saxophones in Twelve Tones"(1954), "New Orbits in Sound"(1957) and "Gone With The Woodwinds: 12-Tone Compositions and Arrangements by Lyle Murphy"(1955).