EXTRA: Matt "Guitar" Murphy gets to "Think" about consequences of his life

Matt "Guitar" Murphy was a long-time studio session blues guitar player, appearing with such legends as Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Memphis Slim, Etta James and James Cotton.

Yet let's be honest -- the reason most people would ever have heard him play was because he was one of the guitar players sought out by John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd when they put together their parody of a blues band, The Blues Brothers. And the memory most of us would have of ever seeing him?

HE WAS THE "husband" to Aretha Franklin's Maxwell Street diner operator who was told (in song) to "Think" about the consequences of his actions. A scene from "The Blues Brothers" 1980 film that may well be played over and over on that future date when Franklin departs this realm of existence, but which wouldn't have been complete without Matt's presence.

And now, it's all over. Murphy died this week at age 88. In more recent years, he had put together his own self-named band. But a stroke had essentially pushed him into retirement. And now, he gets that eternal rest, where he can "Think!" about the lifetime he had, perhaps engage in a few afterlife guitar riffs with Jimi Hendrix, and maybe have Belushi himself doing that goofy little "fat man" dance of his while listening to the beautiful music being made.

  -30-