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this one
By GINA VIVINETTO
© St. Petersburg Times, published February 18, 2001
Anne Murray is one of those famous people who is exactly what she seems. The Canadian singer, best known for smooth, easygoing favorites such as Songbird and You Needed Me, is warm, friendly and funny.
Yes, funny. This is the lady who, while onstage in Canada, recently read from a scathing review of one of her own performances:
"It's surprising she could even sing' -- that's the first line," Murray, 55, read, pausing after each bitter sentence, allowing fans to laugh. The review's vitriol grew more biting, culminating with the writer's insisting that Murray had had a face lift.
To the audience, Murray quipped, "My friend said, "If you had a face lift, get a refund.' "
Recently, during a 9 a.m. phone call from Toronto, Murray displayed the same heart and humor, discussing her three-decade career, her daughter Dawn's struggle with anorexia nervosa, even the throngs of lesbians who adore her. And, though you'd never detect it from her mellifluous singing, her accent is decidedly Canadian.
Yes, folks, Anne Murray says,"Eh?"
Throughout the 1970s Murray was of Canada's few recognizable pop stars. In fact, once upon a time, "Canadian pop star" was sort of an oxymoron, good for a giggle. That's hard to imagine now in this era of superstar Canadian divas that include Celine Dion, Shania Twain, Alanis Morissette, K.D. Lang and Sarah MacLaughlin.
Does Murray take credit?
"Of course I do," she says, laughing. Murray's joking, but maybe she shouldn't be. In the 1970s she played no small role in breaking down the barriers between pop and country music, allowing room for crossover artists such as Twain and Lang.
"No, I can't take credit," Murray says, "but I proved it could be done. Shania, I know, was weaned on my music. How much of an influence I was on her, I don't know. But the pattern is the same; Shania just took it and ran with it."
Murray says she has met most of those young women. Famous for her remarkably natural vocal delivery and fluid phrasing, she says she enjoys their music, even that of the ranting, raving Morissette, her vocal polar opposite. Murray says her musical taste is eclectic because her kids Will, 24, and Dawn, 21, share their music with her.
Okay, so Murray adores prickly Alanis. She's humble and kind, even first thing in the morning, and without coffee. ("It gives me heart palpitations," she says.) Certainly something must tick her off, like, say, the acerbic reference to her in the song Blame Canada, featured in the South Park motion picture. Will and Dawn, huge South Park fans, played Mom the tune, which bashes all things Canadian and includes this line:
All the hockey hullabaloo
and that b-- Anne Murray too
"I thought it was hilarious," Murray says.
But, the mean South Park people called the world's nicest woman, Anne Murray, a b--.
"That's the joke of it," Murray says. "It's like saying Julie Andrews is b--. Give us a break. But, so many people didn't get it."
Murray then confirms the rumor: She is, in fact, as nice as she seems. Murray is the exact opposite of a diva.
"In 33 years of performing, I've canceled five shows," she says. "There's not a mean bone in my body. It has served me well. I wouldn't be around this long if I were different.
"Put it this way: The person who has been with me (professionally) the least amount of time has been with me for 18 years."
Surely she has a dark side, a secret, some glitch. Perhaps Anne Murray gets drunk and makes prank calls?
Murray laughs. "Oh, I might get drunk, but I never prank call people."
For several years now Murray's daughter, Dawn, has been struggling with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Since Murray learned about the problem when Dawn was 17, the two have discovered the disease is not as simple as some people think.
It's not entirely about body image and wanting to be thin, Murray says. It's more involved than succumbing to cultural pressure to be skinny.
"Those are triggers," Murray says, "but the illness is deep-seated. The pressure to look a certain way looms large. Even for me, I don't want to get fat, you know? But this is taking it to an extreme. It has nothing to do with food. It has to do with issues, with baggage that has to be gotten rid of."
"I've learned a lot, but I don't like it all. It's the worst thing in the world to watch someone you love in so much anguish. It's not like a broken leg that will heal right away."
Mother and daughter recorded a duet on Murray's most recent album, What a Wonderful World, her 31st. Dawn has since become interested in a recording career.
"She's doing well. She's still recovering, but it's a long process."
Murray grew up with five brothers in a household where sports was a big deal. Murray herself was a physical education instructor before launching her singing career. She still keeps active, cross country skiing and obsessively playing golf.
Has Murray ever played with rock 'n' roll's most notorious golf freak, shock rocker Alice Cooper?
"I never have," she says, "but I did stay at his house for a week in the '70s."
She stayed with Alice Cooper?
"Well, he wasn't there," Murray explains. Murray stayed with her family. The two singers shared a manager and knew each other vaguely. "Alice offered me his house and his Rolls Royce for a week."
The obvious question: Did Murray go through creepy Cooper's cabinets?
"No, of course not," Murray says, laughing. "But I did sleep in his bed. Alice is a great guy actually. He's really very normal."
Attend an Anne Murray concert and you're sure to see many female couples. Murray acknowledges that she has always had a large lesbian following.
"Women in general like what I do. And I like that a lot," Murray says. "Whether or not they are lesbian matters not to me." But, it wasn't always so.
"Early in my career it freaked me out a little that there were all these lesbians at the shows. Then I got a wonderful letter from a lesbian fan. She said, "Don't worry about it. We just like what you do and the way you do it. We admire you.' It made perfect sense to me."
Many of Murray's fellow Canadian chanteuses also have lesbian followings: obviously, the openly gay K.D. Lang, also Morissette. And Sarah MacLaughlin? Ever been to a Lilith Fair performance? Rainbow beads galore.
Maybe lesbians just dig the Canadian ladies, eh?
Murray laughs. "No, no. If you talk to Peggy Lee, if you talk to any woman performer, they will tell you they all have lesbian followings. I'm happy to have them there. Early on, certainly, they were the only people there. I appreciated that. I still do."
Fans: Do not believe the plastic surgery allegations made in that bitter review.
Q: For the record now, you haven't had a face lift?
A: Of course not! And I have no intention to.
Murray says she embarked on a recent hourlong shopping spree on tony Worth Avenue in Palm Beach with Dawn.
"In one hour I saw 30 face lifts," Murray says. "But that's not for me. I'd rather look like an old me than look like somebody else," Besides, Murray says she has figured out her own way to deal with aging. "I'll get a top knot in my hair and pull it up." she says, laughing. "I'll tighten my face that way."
But Murray isn't too worried. "I've got good genes," she says. "My mother is 87 and she looks fabulous."
Preview: Anne Murray performs at 8 p.m. Monday at Ruth Eckerd Hall, 1111 McMullen-Booth Road, Clearwater. Tickets are $42.75-$47.75. Call (727) 791-7400.