tour, Murray recalled when he first took up the bass guitar during his high school years: "Someone put this heavy thing over my shoulder and said, 'Here, you play this!'"

In the Classic Albums documentary on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, producer Gus Dudgeon lauded Murray's musical ability and said he "hadn't heard a bassist quite as good as him".

In 1975, after recording Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Murray and Olsson were released from the band because John wanted to achieve a different sound.

In 1977, Murray briefly joined Procol Harum on a North America tour promoting their last 1970s album, Something Magic, although he never recorded with the group.

Other artists he worked with during the 1970s and early 1980s include Yvonne Elliman, England Dan & John Ford Coley, Shaun Cassidy, Allan Clarke, Bernie Taupin, Kiki Dee, Stefanie Gaines, Barbi Benton, and Jimmy Webb.

He and Olsson backed John during his landmark concert in New York City's Central Park before more than 400,000 fans on the Great Lawn on 13 September 1980, and appeared on The Fox in 1981.

In the 1980s, Murray played on numerous Nashville sessions for artists such as Michael Brown, Lewis Storey, Beth Nielsen Chapman, and John Prine, amongst others.