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Anne
Murray
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b. 20 June 1946, Springhill, Nova
Scotia, Canada.
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Sometimes known as 'The Singing
Sweetheart Of Canada', Murray graduated from the University
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of New Brunswick with a degree in
physical education, and then spent a year as a teacher.
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After singing simply for pleasure
for a time, in 1964 she was persuaded to audition for Sing Along
Jubilee,
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a regional television show, but
was selected instead for the same network's Let's Go, hosted by Bill
Langstroth
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(her future husband). Income from
a residency on the programme and solo concerts was sufficient
for
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Murray to begin entertaining
professionally in a vaguely folk/country rock style, though she
could
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also acquit herself admirably with
both R&B and mainstream pop material. Like Linda Ronstadt
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seen by some as her US opposite
number - she was mainly an interpreter of songs written by
others.
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Issued by Arc Records, What About
Me (1968) created sufficient impact to interest Capitol
Records,
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who signed her to a long-term
contract. Two years later, her version of Gene MacLellan's
remarkable
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'Snowbird', taken from the album
This Was My Way, soared into Billboard 's Top 10. Despite
regular
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appearances on Glen Campbell 's
Goodtime Hour television series, subsequent releases - including the title
track to
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Talk It Over In The Morning - sold
only moderately until 1973 when she scored another smash hit
with
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'Danny's Song', composed by Kenny
Loggins (with whom she duetted 11 years later on 'Nobody Loves Me Like You
Do',
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a country chart-topper). She was
rated Billboard 's second most successful female artist in
1976,
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but family commitments
necessitated a brief period of domesticity before 'You Needed Me' won
her
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a Grammy award for best female pop
vocal performance in 1978. While revivals of Bobby Darin 's
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'Things' and the Monkees'
'Daydream Believer' were aimed directly at the pop market, it was with
the
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country audience that she proved
most popular. 'He Thinks I Still Care' (originally a b-side) became
her
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first country number 1. However,
along with 'Just Another Woman In Love', 'Could I Have This
Dance'
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(from the film Urban Cowboy ), the
bold 'A Little Good News' (1983) and other country hits, she had
also
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recorded a collection of
children's ditties ( Hippo In My Tub ), commensurate with her executive
involvement
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with Canada's Save The Children
Fund. In 1989 Springhill's Anne Murray Center was opened in
recognition
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of her tireless work for this
charity. Three years later she played Las Vegas, with a show that amply
demonstrated
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her excellent delivery and
superior choice of songs. These strengths were consistently reflected in
her
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recorded output during the
90s.
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Photograph of Anne Murray in 1973
by John Robert Rowlands
