(3 / 5)
Anne Murray has sold more than 55 million records in her sparkling career – opening the door for other female Canadian singers such as Shania twain, k.d. lang, Celine Dion and Alanis Morissette to have international success.
Now 71, Anne is a country music icon, but her five decade career has seen her tackle many genres and styles and make those songs her own.
One of the most successful female country-pop crossover artists of all time, Morna Anne Murray, known as Anne, she was arguably Canada’s first popular musical artist whose fame transcended the country’s national borders.
She was the first Canadian female solo singer to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts, and also the first to earn a Gold record for one of her signature songs, “Snowbird” in 1970. The first woman and the first Canadian to win “Album of the Year” at the 1984 Country Music Association Awards for her Gold-plus 1983 album A Little Good News.
She has her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. In 2011, Billboard ranked her 10th on their list of the 50 Biggest Adult Contemporary Artists Ever.
Her unique voice and signature songs have been woven into the soundtracks of the lives of several generations of music fans beginning way back in 1970 with “Snowbird” and continuing with such familiar songs as “You Needed Me”, “Daydream Believer”, “I Just Fall In Love Again”, and “You Won’t See Me”.
This three CD set delivers 54 tracks in total, 18 on each CD and was compiled by Music Republic Magazine’s esteemed columnist Alan Cackett, the UK’s foremost expert on country music. Alan also penned the extensive liner notes.
Anne’s version of the classic James Taylor song, “Fire And Rain” is a real joy, on CD # 1, track five and she almost makes it her own. Her covers of the EBrely Brothers’ cuts “(Till) I Kissed You” and “Walk Right Back” are a good fit.
Plenty of decent country here, lots of passionate ballads but nicely balanced with many up-tempo more rockin’ tracks. It is a very nice job and will please the four-times Grammy winner’s stalwart fans, but should be heard by any female who call themselves a singer; as a lesson in how to lift the words off the page and sing it like you have lived it.
By Christopher Weston
(1 / 5) ‘Dull Zone’
(2 / 5) ‘OK Zone’ (3 / 5) ‘Decent Zone’
(4 / 5) ‘Super Zone’
(5 / 5) ‘Awesome Zone’
