CMT Blog: Anne Murray

When I was at Telluride, I posed this question to my friend and fellow festivarian: “If you could book your own festival, who would you get?” Almost instantly, she decided on a ’80s country music theme, and I was immediately interested. Since we were just sitting around waiting for a band to start, we decided to go ahead and build the schedule. Here’s what we came up with:

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I didn’t see any of Keith Urban’s co-headlining dates with Carrie Underwood, but it appears after reading numerous reviews, they missed an opportunity to slip the same title into their set lists. Urban released “I Told You So” a year ago (April 17), and I remember at the time thinking when I first saw the title that maybe he was covering Randy Travis.

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Who says there aren’t many albums coming out in January? Thanks to the abundance of independent labels out there, my relentless hours in rental cars this month have been put to good use. Here’s a playlist of songs that are worth sharing. Some of these artists are new faces in the field, but I just had to include Ricky Nelson’s “Poor Little Fool” (oh yeah), since it showed up on a compilation of his love songs a few weeks ago. Let me cut to the chase — Willie Nelson’s new song is really cool too. I’ve been told that there’s a duet album with Shelby Lynne and Willie Nelson in a vault somewhere, and if it ever surfaces, I will be a very happy fellow. But in the meantime, I have Shelby’s fantastic new CD, Just a Little Lovin’, which I have been listening to pretty much every day since I received it. Ironic, then, that I chose the song I did.

Here’s the playlist:

Ray Bonneville – “So Long Blues”
Drive By Truckers – “Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife”
Andy Hall – “The Chase”
Malcolm Holcomb – “Baby Likes a Love Song”
Patty Larkin – “Waterside”
Shelby Lynne – “I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore”
Anne Murray and Jann Arden – “Somebody’s Always Saying Goodbye”
Ricky Nelson – ”Poor Little Fool”
Willie Nelson – “Always Now”
Jason Ringenberg – “One Less Heartache”
The SteelDrivers – “Heaven Sent”
Owen Temple – “Rivers Run From Many Waters”
IIIrd Tyme Out – “New Faces in the Field”
Rhonda Vincent – “Who’s Cryin’ Baby”
The Wrights – “Rewind”

Other artists may hide behind cloaks, masks or other facades, but I always believed in the honesty of singer-songwriter John Stewart’s music. I felt like I truly knew the guy through his recordings, and I know I’m not the only one who feels that way. Maybe it was the forcefulness of his songs and his ragged voice, but the music always rang true. So when he died Saturday (Jan. 19), I felt sad that we’ve lost yet another true American artist — an artist a lot of people never heard beyond his ‘70s pop hit, “Gold,” and the most famous song he wrote, “Daydream Believer.”

Having launched his solo career in the mid ‘60s after a tenure in the Kingston Trio, Stewart’s music evolved from the polite, somewhat academic attitude of the folk revival to a vibrant and uncompromising portrayal of the things he experienced and felt. His most memorable songs were about America and the spirit that has been handed down through many generations. Mixing folk, rock and country music, he really was one of the founders of what became known three decades later as Americana music.

I have to admit that I lost track of Stewart’s career after the mid ‘80s, but the albums he did in the ‘70s for RCA and Warner Bros. are worth seeking out for songs such as “Wild Horse Road,” “Josie” and “Hung on the Heart.” And even his lesser material is worth hearing. A good introduction to his work is The Phoenix Concerts, which includes live versions of classics such as “California Bloodlines” and “July, You’re a Woman.”

But even if only song he ever wrote was “Daydream Believer,” John Stewart made the world a better place. Whether it’s the version by The Monkees or Anne Murray, you can’t help smiling when you hear it. How many songs can you say that about?

More than any other time of the year, the holidays are about tradition. Many country stars also have at least one thing they revisit every season that makes the holidays special — a food, a song, a visit to a special friend, you name it.
 
Jack Ingram has a classic gift-giving tradition: “On Christmas Eve, I listen to ‘Pretty Paper’ by Willie Nelson and wrap all the presents that should have been wrapped before Christmas Eve but aren’t,” he says. “Then I wait up all night to see if Santa Claus will come down the chimney. Then I wake up all the kids at 5 in the morning and ask, ‘Is it time yet?’”
 
Blake Shelton shares his holiday with a longtime country favorite. “About 15 years ago, I moved to Nashville and worked for Anne Murray’s publishing company,” he remembers. “While I was there I ‘borrowed’ one of her Christmas albums. It has become a Christmas tradition that I play the album every year. I don’t listen to a lot of Christmas albums, but Anne Murray tops my list every year.”

Sunny Sweeney remembers learning about giving during the Christmas seasons of her childhood. “When I was little, Momma and I would go deliver meals on wheels to people who couldn’t leave their houses,” she says. “We did that for years when it was just the two of us.”
 
Friends are a big part of the holidays for some artists. “It’s a tradition back home in North Carolina that, on every Christmas Eve, my family and I go to a close friend’s house, have dinner, and gather up all the kids — even the young ones — and play a game of hide-and-go-seek,” says Jimmy Wayne. “Sometimes it last for a few hours.”
 
Says singer-songwriter Lori McKenna, “My husband and the kids and I walk to my neighbors house every year for New Year’s. We like staying home on New Years Eve — and this is perfect because it’s a party where the kids are welcome and it is within walking distance, even in the snow.”
 
“When I get home to Georgia for Christmas and Thanksgiving, I go see a lot of buddies,” says Luke Bryan. “My dad has some land, and we’ll get a jeep and ride around and quail-hunt and talk and visit and hang out. It’s more of a social thing than hunting.”
 
That’s nice — just don’t shoot any reindeer!
 

At one of my neighborhood bars, you’ll find a bartender that looks just like Anne Murray. It freaks me out! I can’t bring myself to say something like, “You know who you remind me of?” Because she’s kind of a tough-looking Anne Murray. I always try not to be “over-served” there, for fear of muttering something stupid. Like, if she asks me if I need something, I might reply, “Could I have… this dance for the rest of my life?” Or, “Just another… woman in love, a kid out of school …” I like this bar a lot and I would hate to get thrown out of there. The experience of getting whupped by Anne Murray is something I could never, ever live down.

One of my earliest childhood memories is riding in my family’s station wagon and listening to Anne Murray on the radio singing “You Needed Me.” You know the part where she sings, “You put me high, upon a pedestal.” In my little kid brain, I wondered, “What in the world is a pedestal? And why did he put her up there?” I’m listening to that song again as I write; it strikes me that she sings these lyrics without sounding ridiculous. If it was remade today, you’d probably have somebody like Martina McBride screaming, just so you got the point: “So hiiiiiiiiiiiigh that I could almost see eternity-eee-EEEEE!” As it is, Anne Murray’s warmth is ultimately what sells the song.

A few years ago I decided I needed to pick up an Anne Murray CD, so I bought The Best… So Far. I can tell you without hesitation that I cannot get through “Snowbird.” One song I had never heard was “Broken Hearted Me.” Whoa, sad! I try not to think of her as a former P.E. teacher when she’s baring her soul like this. Maybe I should quit listening to Anne Murray and see what’s happening in my neighborhood. Maybe the bartender will tell me a little good news: “Nobody fired a shot in anger, nobody had to die in vain…”