[Faith-talk] FW: [tbcf] Anne Murray. "Go Tell it on the Mountain"

Tue Sep 6 01:32:36 UTC 2011

This is really nice to read. I still am a fan of Ann Murray.
This was quite enjoyable.

Ron

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Eric Calhoun" <eric at pmpmail.com>
To: <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Monday, August 15, 2011 3:54 PM
Subject: [Faith-talk] FW: [tbcf] Anne Murray. "Go Tell it on the Mountain"

>
>
> Original Message:
> From: "Artie." <anolden at tampabay.rr.com>
> To: "TBCF" <tbcfamilyroom at yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: [tbcf] Anne Murray.    "Go Tell it on the Mountain"
> Date:
> Sun, 14 Aug 2011 18:50:46 -0400
>
>
>
>
>
> Go tell it on the mountain
> Over the hills and everywhere
> Go tell it on the mountain
> That Jesus Christ was born.
>
> Down in the lowly manger
> The humble Christ was born
> And God sent out salvation
> That blessed Christmas morn.
>
> Go tell it on the mountain
> Over the hills and everywhere
> Go tell it on the mountain
> That Jesus Christ was born.
>
> While shepherds kept their watch
> O'er silent flocks by night
> Behold throughout the Heavens
> There shone a holy light.
>
> Go tell it on the mountain
> Over the hills and everywhere
> Go tell it on the mountain
> That Jesus Christ was born.
>
> Go tell it on the mountain
> Over the hills and everywhere
> Go tell it on the mountain
> That Jesus Christ was born.
>
> That Jesus Christ was born.
>
>
>  Canadian singer Anne Murray (born 1945) was the first Canadian female
> singer to reach the top spot on the American music charts as well as being
> the first to earn a gold record, for 1970's "Snowbird." During her long
> career she has sold over 50 million albums. Her alto voice has garnered 
> her
> fans and accolades from many different genres, including pop, country, and
> adult contemporary as well as winning her dozens of music awards.
>
> A Childhood of Song
> Born Morna Anne Murray on June 20, 1945, singer Anne Murray is the only
> daughter of James Carson Murray, a doctor, and Marion (Burke) Murray, a
> registered nurse and homemaker. The Murray family lived in Springhill, 
> Nova
> Scotia, a town of only a few thousand people centered around the coal
> mining industry. One of six children, Murray grew up with five active
> brothers. On her website Murray noted that "I often think that perhaps the
> reason I became a successful singer was that, as a kid, I could never do
> anything as well as my brothers. I wanted to do something better than they
> did." With that inspiration coupled with her love of music, Murray first
> studied piano and then, from the age of 15, voice. One of Murray's 
> earliest
> performances was of the religious song "Ave Maria" at her high school
> graduation in 1962.
>
> Murray studied at Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax briefly, then
> transferred to the University of New Brunswick at Fredericton to study
> physical education. She completed her degree in 1966. However, she did not
> forget her love of music during those studies. She unsuccessfully
> auditioned for a Canadian network television series, Singalong Jubilee , 
> in
> 1964; in 1966, she again auditioned for the same series, and this time was
> cast. She worked on the show during the summer following her graduation
> from the University of New Brunswick before turning to a more stable 
> career
> as a physical education instructor at a high school on Prince Edward
> Island.
>
>
>
>
> Became a "Snowbird"
> Her career as a teacher never progressed beyond that first year. Murray
> returned to Singalong Jubilee as a featured soloist during the summer of
> 1967 and also accepted a spot on another television show, Let's Go , aimed
> at teenagers. After appearing on the cast recording for Singalong Jubilee 
> ,
> Murray received an offer from the show's musical director, Brian Ahern, to
> record a solo album. In 1968 Murray released her first album, What About 
> Me
> . She made her major label debut the following fall with the Capitol
> Records release This Way Is My Way . Not a songwriter herself, Murray
> performed and interpreted the songs of others, including a track called
> "Snowbird" penned by novice Canadian songwriter Gene MacLellan.
>
> Although not selected as a single from This Way Is My Way , "Snowbird"
> appeared on the b-side of the album's second single, "Biding My Time."
> Radio stations began playing the song and it quickly became a hit. The 
> song
> was one of the most played selections in North America in 1970 and 
> garnered
> Murray an American gold record (meaning that the single had sold over
> 500,000 copies), a first for a Canadian female solo artist. Murray's song
> became both a pop and country standard. Speaking to an interviewer for
> Canada's Globe and Mail in 2006, Murray recalled, "I definitely fought
> against being labeled country at a very early stage in my career because I
> wanted to do everything. I didn't want to be labeled. I love all the music
> and was influenced by so many different kinds of music that I should be
> able to do any of it if I chose to." Murray's fans included even John
> Lennon, who told Murray at the 1974 Grammy Awards that her version of "You
> Won't Tell Me" was his favorite Beatles' cover. At that same awards
> ceremony, Murray received her first Grammy for Best Country Vocal
> Performance, for her hit "Love Song." However, this was not Murray's first
> major award-her first was the Juno award (the Canadian equivalent of the
> Grammy) for Best Female Vocalist in 1971.
>
> With the success of "Snowbird" and other songs, Murray began appearing
> regularly on The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour and other popular variety
> shows of the time, including such major programs as American Bandstand, 
> The
> Muppet Show , and Saturday Night Live . Both Murray's professional and
> personal lives blossomed during the 1970s. In 1975 Murray married Bill
> Langstroth, and the following year the couple had their first child,
> William. In 1979 Murray gave birth to a daughter, Dawn. For a few years
> after her marriage, Murray essentially dropped out of the music world to
> focus on her family.
>
> Murray returned to record more diverse material in the late 1970s,
> including a children's album called There's a Hippo in My Tub in 1977. 
> This
> album won the Juno for Best Children's Album in 1979; that same year,
> Murray again received the Juno for Best Female Vocalist. In 1978 she 
> scored
> a major country and pop hit with the song "You Needed Me." This track
> earned Murray her second Grammy Award.
>
>
>
> A Prolific Artist
> Murray continued to record and perform extensively during the 1980s,
> releasing at least one album every year except 1985. In 1980 Murray
> received her third Grammy Award in the Best Country Vocal Performance
> category for the song "Could I Have This Dance." That same year, she was
> honored with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame. In 1983 Murray's song "A
> Little Good News" garnered her a fourth Grammy, again for Best Country
> Vocal Performance.
>
> In July of 1989 Murray opened the Anne Murray Centre in her hometown of
> Springhill, Nova Scotia. The community's coal mining industry unexpectedly
> shut down in the 1958 after a series of mining accidents, and Murray 
> wanted
> to promote a new industry for the struggling area. The Anne Murray Centre
> displays artifacts from Murray's career and aims to promote music
> appreciation in the Nova Scotia region. Shortly after the opening of the
> center, Maclean's magazine noted that Murray "herself is coming to terms
> with the idea that she is a Canadian institution."
>
> In 1984 Murray became a Companion of the Order of Canada, Canada's
> highest civilian honor. From the mid-1980s on, Murray's commercial appeal
> declined somewhat. In the late 1980s country music listeners' tastes
> shifted considerably from softer, more adult contemporary-influenced 
> sounds
> to harder, more traditional rock-country bands. Despite this shift,
> Murray's albums continued to be commercially and critically acclaimed.
>
>
>
> A Long and Celebrated Career
> In 1993 Murray was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. After
> the death of her longtime friend and manager, she signed with a new 
> manager
> and her career took a different turn. During this transitional phase 
> Murray
> did not release any material; the period between 1993 and 1996 remains her
> longest musical hiatus. In 1997 Murray released her first live album, and
> two years later she again explored a new style with an album of
> inspirational songs, What a Wonderful World . This album went platinum in
> both the United States and Canada, showing Murray's continued commercial
> appeal. The following year, Murray became one of the charter inductees on
> the Canadian Walk of Fame.
>
> Murray entered another new genre in 2001 with the release of her album
> What a Wonderful Christmas . Achieving gold status in Canada-an unusual
> feat for a seasonal album- What a Wonderful Christmas became one of the
> more successful Christmas albums of all time. In 2002 Murray released an
> album of classic country songs entitled Country Croonin' . The album went
> platinum in Canada and Murray embarked on a tour to support it. Three 
> years
> later Murray released her 33rd studio album, All of Me , to critical
> praise. Writing in People magazine, Ralph Novak commented that "All in 
> all,
> this excellent album makes for an ideal companion piece to Murray's 2002
> collection of country standards, Country Croonin' ."
>
> In a rare crossover between Murray's personal and professional life, she
> and her daughter Dawn set out in the late 1990s to promote awareness of 
> the
> eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Dawn suffered from the disease for
> several years before seeking treatment, and mother and daughter appeared 
> on
> television talk shows in the hopes of preventing other young women from
> experiencing the same problem.
>
> During her career, Murray has sought to put her talents to use for many
> good causes. After a tsunami devastated southeast Asia in late 2005, 
> Murray
> joined a contingent of Canadian performers to appear in the massive 
> benefit
> Canada for Asia, sponsored by the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation).
> In 2006 Murray received a Legacy Award from the Canadian Songwriters' Hall
> of Fame, acknowledging her long career as a premiere interpreter of songs.
> During her career, Murray has performed more than 80 songs written by
> Canadian songwriters, showing her dedication to the arts of her native
> country. Unlike many successful Canadian performers, Murray has lived in
> Canada her entire life, mostly in the Toronto area.
>
> To date, Murray has sold over 50 million albums. In addition to her four
> Grammy awards, she has received nearly 25 Juno awards, three American 
> Music
> awards, three Country Music Association awards, and three Canadian Country
> Music Association awards. In addition to these wins, she has been 
> nominated
> for many other awards. With a career spanning 40 years, Murray's storied
> alto seems guaranteed to please fans for years to come.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

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