Friday, March 26, 2010

Voice Like An Angel - No. 9: Anne Murray


Like me, all you know about Anne Murray can probably be written on the back of a piece of Lovedean no-nut granola.

She's Canadian, she's a little bit country, and her only hit in this country is the moving but slightly too long You Needed Me. You might also know the superfast metallic-sounding two-minute singalong Snowbird. If not, here it is:



But as I've discovered over the years, there's so much more to Anne than that. Despite looking like a cross between Nancy Reagan, Angela Rippon, a washed-up cocktail waitress from Arizone who's had a very hard life and our old next door neighbour Mrs Tilbury, she's had many more US Top Ten hits and she really does have a gorgeous voice. It's represented no more beautifully than here:



I think there are perception problems with Anne. The name for a start. It's so plain isn't it. Anne. It's no name for a singer. At least there's an E on the end of it. She's also considered a bit bland and middle of the road. Obvioulsy I embrace that, but I think if you dig a little deeper you'll be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

So as it's Friday, give Anne a whirl. You won't be disappointed

19 comments:

A Kitten in a Brandy Glass said...

My mum used to have The Very Best of Anne Murray (as advertised on TV at the time) on vinyl and thus my ears were bludgeoned with it from an early age. I didn't enjoy it at all then, but perhaps it's time for a reappraisal. Still don't like Danny's Song, though - it's the line "Think I'm gonna have a son", which sounded to my childish ears like "I'm about to give birth this moment!" But I do quite like Broken Hearted Me and her version of Tennessee Waltz.

Matthew Rudd said...

Well known enough for someone to impersonate her on Stars In Their Eyes once, though. Never before has the timed applause after five seconds of performance seemed so misplaced - nobody had a clue what they were looking or listening out for.

Chris Hughes said...

We need to know more about Mrs Tilbury.

Jon Peake said...

Mrs Tilbury. She actually lived behind us and to the side. Our cat used to go there all the time and we'd always be rummaging in her woodpile to find him. And I once him on her kitchen windowsill getting caught in her nets and nearly strangling him, but luckily he managed to free himself.

Her house was a Sixties concretey blocky low level thing on different levels. Quite groovy really. I never saw any other occupants of the house but her in five years and that was in spite of forever sneaking round the house and garden after dark. She was only in her thirties. And she was a cow.

Cocktails said...

Like Kitten, Anne Murray reminds me of my Mum. She also had a very best which we were all forced to listen to.

Mum also liked American 'songstress' Jane Olivor who I actually prefer - so much so that I nicked mum's copy of First Night when I left home and still play it regularly. I'd recommend her if you're not familar.

Clair said...

I've seen the Anne Murray Centre in Nova Scotia, I have.

Jon Peake said...

Wow, a whole centre devoted to Anne Murray. What's there?

Mondo said...

I always thought she'd be dark haired and sort of Lena Martell looking. When did Music for Mums die out, and what was the last album/performer of the genre?

I've got Elvis doing Snowbird, I've also got him covering Roger Whittaker's Last Farewell

Jon Peake said...

I looked it up. It has a website. It has award-winning dioramas of Anne memorabilia.

It's on my to do list.

Jon Peake said...

I think music for mums has simply moved on. My mum loved The Carpenters when I was a boy (still does), but they don't get played ever. They've been replaced by Boyzone.

Mondo said...

Yes that's the sum of it. I probably play that sort of stuff now while my mum's onto Norah Jones and recent Rod Stewart albums.

She was always playing The Carpenters - have you tried Diana Ross Touch Me In The Morning album (another maternal fave) - it's the perfect Mum Rock album

Cocktails said...

Diana Ross is mum rock, Mondo?! You recommended this to me and I love it. What are you saying?!

Will Young is pretty good Mum Rock.

Jon Peake said...

That's true, Mondo. My mum had the Diana & Marvin album as well as numerous Motown Chartbusters. It soundtracked their parties. And Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Matthew Rudd said...

I too have Elvis doing The Last Farewell. The irony of him longing for "old England" will never be lost.

A Kitten in a Brandy Glass said...

My mum's other fave raves were Manilow Magic (a shoo-in for mothers everywhere), Barbra Streisand's "Guilty" (I still hate Woman In Love to this day), anything by Johnny Mathis or Neil Diamond, and that "Best Friends" country hits album that was always being advertised on TV, with the boy and girl on a rocking horse on the cover - naff sleeve but some decent songs, including Bobbie Gentry's Ode To Billy Joe.

A Kitten in a Brandy Glass said...

And by the way, FC, have you considered that it may be time for a John Denver reappraisal?

Jon Peake said...

I think we share the same mother, Kitten.

She also had John Denver's album with Grandma's Feather Bed and Annie's Song on a loop. As far as I'm concerned John Denver never went away.

Try Calypso. Not an Eighties cocktail bar wannabe but a great song about a boat.

Matthew Rudd said...

Ah, Manilow Magic. Yep, that was regularly in the tapedeck of an early 1980s Sunday morning at ours. Along with Country Legends and anything by Tony Christie and Charley Pride.

Mondo said...

I'm all for Mum Rock Cocktails when it's The Carpenters, Diana Ross and The Best of Bread. But not Robson and Jerome, Westlife or Leona Lewis.

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