associated_acts years_active notable_instruments birth_place label name background birth_date instrument genre article_title birth_name occupation
'' lemongello the walter murphy band thom rotella mike post alabama the seth macfarlane norah jones tonight show band '' doc severinsen peter 1972 -- present hammond organ fender rhodes hohner clavinet new york city amour geffen major private stock rso reprise tk rca mca walter murphy non_performing_personnel 19 december 1952 piano organ keyboard backing vocals film r & b soul soft rock swing score big band classical disco funk jazz pop walter murphy
 walter anthony murphy , jr. composer arranger pianist musician songwriter record producer
walter murphy

walter anthony murphy , jr. -lrb- born december 19 , 1952 -rrb- is an american composer , arranger , pianist , musician , songwriter , and record producer .
he is best known for the instrumental `` a fifth of beethoven '' , a disco adaptation of beethoven 's fifth symphony which topped the charts in 1976 and was featured on the `` saturday night fever '' soundtrack .
further classical -- disco fusions followed , such as `` flight ' 76 '' , `` rhapsody in blue '' , `` toccata and funk in 'd ' minor '' , `` bolero '' , and `` mostly mozart '' , but were not as successful .
in a career spanning over four decades , murphy has written music for numerous films and tv shows , including `` the tonight show starring johnny carson '' , `` the savage bees '' , `` stingray '' , `` wiseguy '' , `` the commish '' , `` profit '' , `` buffy the vampire slayer '' , `` looney tunes '' , and `` how murray saved christmas '' .
he has had a long-running partnership with seth macfarlane , composing music for his films and tv shows such as `` family guy '' , `` the cleveland show '' , `` american dad ! ''
, and `` ted '' .
