EMI MUSIC CANADA
Anne Murray visits Moncton
Coliseum hosts Canadian songbird tonight
by dwayne tingley
times & transcript staff Published Tuesday April 15th, 2008
Fifty years later, Anne Murray's voice still quivers as she recalls the tears, horrified faces of her friends and neighbours and the infinite pall that draped her hometown.
In the chilled, damp days of late fall 1958, an underground earthquake at the Springhill, N.S. Coal Field led to a week of heart-wrenching rescue attempts. Of the 174 miners trapped in the darkness nearly three miles underground, 74 were killed and 100 were rescued.
Murray, Canada's most celebrated female singer who still charms devinely in song and in conversation, remembers the town was still mourning 39 miners who were killed in an explosion just two years before the big "bump" of 1958.
"It was terrible," Murray said during a lengthy telephone interview from her home in Toronto. I was 12 years-old and I can remember being at the pit head, waiting to hear whether the news was good or bad every day," said Murray, whose father was a doctor and mother a registered nurse.
"I had a lot of girl friends who had family members killed and it's something I'll never forget. When you're from Springhill, you never forget those days and the sadness of the funerals in the days afterward."
The small Nova Scotia town, just an hour's drive southeast of Moncton, also taught Murray a lesson in resiliency and it's something she's held close to her heart since her childhood.
"At first, I didn't think those horrible feelings would ever go away," she explained. "It seemed like too much to handle, but the people of Springhill bounced back. They stuck together to rebuild their lives.
"People relied on each other and they believed in each other. They showed a lot of inner-strength to bounce back in the face of such a tragedy."
Those lessons of determination have served Anne Murray well.
Her career has been highlighted by the sale of 54 million albums, dozens of chart-topping hit singles, pop, country and adult contemporary awards in Canada and internationally and hundreds of world-wide television appearances.
When John Lennon saw Murray at the 1974 Grammy Awards, he said her hit You Won't See Me was his favourite version of the classic Beatles song.
"You could say my career has had a few ups and downs, but I always managed to bounce back and feel good about myself," Murray said.
"I've been very lucky. I always received lots of encouragement and good help from people close to me. There were times when I've been able to revitalize my career and that's largely because I've had people there to encourage me."
The encouragement started at home, where she heard her father singing while he was shaving and her mother singing around the house. Her five brothers also sang together so that inspired her to take voice lessons once a week, an hour's bus drive away in Tatamagouche.
"I think it was Grade 11, at her graduation, that she sang Ave Maria," her mother is quoted as saying in an online article. "Anne noticed people were crying in the audience. That's when she knew that her voice must be good."
Later, at the University of New Brunswick, where she was studying physical education, friends talked her into auditioning for the popular CBC television show Singalong Jubilee. She took her ukulele along for the audition and although she wasn't offered a job, she made an impression.
Two years later, in 1966, the show's co-host, Bill Langstroth, called and she got the job. She was signed to a contract that paid her $71.50 per show as a singer or $99 per show as a soloist.
By 1970, she was the first Canadian female singer to reach No. 1 in the American charts with Snowbird.
Since then, the chart-toppers haven't stopped, but her down-to-earth approach to life remains unchanged.
She just completed an American tour, where she sold out 25 of 29 shows.
"You want to hear about my glamorous life on the road? Murray asked with a chuckle.
"I don't have any complaints because I've got it good and the bus is comfortable, but this is what happens. I have a show, get off stage for a quick drink, watch a taped show of Law and Order, then I go to bed."
She begins, what she insists is her final cross-Canada tour, Tuesday night at the Moncton Coliseum.
"I will still have shows, but it's too hard to go coast-to-coast like this," Murray said. "I love touring the Maritimes and it's nice to begin there.
"I still spend three months of the year (in Nova Scotia) and there's no better feeling than going home. In the summers, I'm in and out of the Moncton airport all of the time. All of the people there know me well and it's perfect for me because it's so central.
"I'll retire in a few years so I'm not sure how many more times I'll get to play concerts in the Maritimes. I always enjoy the nostalgia of going back to the Maritimes."
The tour supports the current album, Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends, which has hit triple platinum status in Canada since being released last November. It was just released in the United States and has reached the top 10 country album Billboard charts.
Many say the disc is as soothing and welcoming as bringing a life-long friend into your home. It inspires smiles as the listener recalls wonderful events of the past as Murray sings many of her hits with today's contemporary stars, including stirring rendition of Somebody's Always Saying Goodbye with Jann Arden.
Murray also weaves her vocal magic with the likes of Martina McBride, Dusty Springfield, Nelly Furtado, Carole King, Shania Twain Sarah Brightman and k.d. Lang among others. All 17 tracks are unforgettable treats.
Murray admits she's surprised by the album's success.
"I figured the last thing anyone wanted was another Anne Murray album. To see it on the charts and see the sales figures, is a bit of a shock. I enjoyed singing with all of these talented people so it's all gravy to me."
n The show starts tonight at 7:30 p.m. For more information, contact the Coliseum box office at 857-4100.
Anne Murray visits Moncton
