Songbird Anne Murray entertains media at suburban home for preview of duets disc
6 hours ago
TORONTO - Canada's beloved songbird Anne Murray says she'll head out on one last cross-Canada tour next spring to mark her 40th year in the music business.
The veteran performer said Wednesday she's planning a U.S. tour in February and March and a cross-Canada tour in April and May.
"It's my last kick at the can," Murray said after holding a listening session for her upcoming duets CD, "Friends and Legends," at her home.
"And I don't like to say it because here I am doing an album when I said I wasn't going to do another one. But it is 40 years next year so it makes perfect sense."
Murray's first album was "What About Me," recorded in 1968. Her new one, due Nov. 13, is a collection of duets with female stars including Nelly Furtado, Shania Twain and Martina McBride, as well as a posthumous pairing with Dusty Springfield.
Although she regularly tours each winter, Murray notes it has been years since she's embarked on a full-fledged cross-country tour.
Murray announced her plans as she hosted about two dozen media and music industry friends in her sprawling home north of Toronto, offering drinks, nosh and an advance listen of the new disc.
It's an unusual move for a high-profile entertainer and even Murray seemed momentarily struck by the novelty of it all as the event began with a label rep announcing her entrance to the living room.
"It's awfully strange to be introduced in my own home," Murray joked as she scanned a collection of strange faces assembled on her couch and occasional chairs.
"Welcome."
Looking poised but casual in a sharp, black denim suit, Murray stood next to her daughter Dawn Langstroth as a handful of songs were played from a home stereo and their nine-year-old white highland terrier, Mikey, wandered the room.
Guests lounged on comfy green velour couches in front of the stereo and a big screen TV, next to a brick fireplace and billiards table.
Honey-toned wood bookcases lined one wall, filled with DVDs.
Langstroth's paintings decorated another wall, while the piano featured photographs of Murray with celebrities.
In one black-and-white shot, she is seen posing with music stars Micky Dolenz, Alice Cooper, Harry Nilsson and John Lennon hovering in the background.
It was taken at the Troubadour in Los Angeles in the mid-70s, right after she had performed for a celeb-packed house, Murray recalls.
"It was a night to remember, I tell you," says Murray, of Springhill, N.S. "I was the only sober one in that picture."
Murray said her favourite day recording the duets disc involved a French version of "If I Ever See You Again" with Quebec pop singer Isabelle Boulay.
"It turned out so well as we were doing it, we said, 'Oh we need a choir,' " recalled Murray, 62.
"And (producer) Phil (Ramone) says, 'Oh, I can get a gospel choir in New York, no problem, I'll put them together. And I said, 'No, let's get it done today.' So we grabbed...everybody. We had engineers, anybody we could find, we had makeup people and everybody we could find and we called them the 'whoever you can find choir.' "
