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Old 11-02-2009, 07:43 AM   #1
Jesse Joe
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Default Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.co...article/843457


Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

Published Monday November 2nd, 2009

Singer's new book talks about retirement, drugs, divorce

By Nick Patch
THE CANADIAN PRESS


TORONTO - Anne Murray says she decided to write her tell-all memoir because it was the last item remaining on her career to-do list.




Anne Murray

She had no idea how difficult it was going to be.
"All of Me," which hit stores this week, indeed covers everything -- her dizzyingly swift ascent to becoming America's Canadian sweetheart, her lengthy affair with a married man, her divorce from that same man and the series of personal hardships that have marked the past two decades of her life.

And the 64-year-old says she wouldn't go through this painful process of reliving the past again.
"You have no choice but to go through it, but to write about it was awful," Murray told The Canadian Press over the line from her Toronto-area home.

"It was just very painful for me and I had no idea. I had no idea how I would be affected. And so, you know, to be truthful, there was a point where I didn't know whether I could get through the book, because it hurt so much."

She did complete the project -- "I have to do everything 100 per cent, and I have to finish," she said -- and fans have accordingly been afforded an otherwise unseen look at the Canadian songbird's enduring career.
Beginning with her "mostly untroubled" childhood in Springhill, N.S., Murray and writer Michael Posner track the twists and turns of a 45-year music career.

Murray -- she of the squeaky-clean, freshly scrubbed image -- shares plenty of eyebrow-raising anecdotes, including the details of her years-long affair with Bill Langstroth, a television producer who was married with children when he and Murray began an affair while working together on CBC-TV's "Singalong Jubilee."

The relationship began during a trip to Charlottetown, when Murray and Langstroth smoked marijuana together and kissed. Murray wrote that the early years of their affair were difficult.

"However unhappy he might have been in his marriage, he was still married (with two young children), almost 15 years my senior and also my boss," Murray writes. "But I was falling in love, fast, and powerless to do anything about it."

For years and years, they had to keep relationship hidden while Langstroth remained married.
That Murray had to be secretive about her relationship fuelled speculation about her own sexuality, she says, and might have contributed to the "legion of gay fans" she writes about.

By 1975, after Langstroth had finally divorced his wife, he married Murray.
Writing about the affair, Murray said, was easy. It was ancient history. But delving into her 1998 divorce from Langstroth and a recent onslaught of tragic developments -- her daughter Dawn's struggles with anorexia, the downturn in her career that began in the mid-80s, the guilt she felt over being away from her family for extended periods of time, and the deaths of her mother, her close friend Cynthia McReynolds and her longtime manager Leonard Rambeau, to whom the book is dedicated -- was much more trying.

"It's the divorce and all of that that's uncomfortable," she said. "Going through all of that again ... that was hard to re-live that. It's typical. Everybody's lives are full of good things, some tragic things, and nobody escapes these things."

Of course, there's also plenty of more breezy material covered in the book.
Murray writes of brushes with John Lennon, Frank Sinatra and the Queen, whom Murray accidentally offended following a performance at Canada's 125th birthday party in 1992.

In the early '80s, she gave comedian Jerry Seinfeld -- then a little-known comic working the club circuit -- an opening spot on a series of high-profile shows.

She earned praise from a list of luminaries as long as it was diverse, including former U.S. presidents Richard Nixon and George Bush, Sammy Davis Jr., and Wayne Gretzky (and yet Kiss bassist Gene Simmons, when he stumbled into her backstage at the Grammys one year, said: "Oh, my God, it's Ann-Margret.")

She also writes of late British soul singer Dusty Springfield, who made a clumsy, drunken pass at Murray and after being rebuffed, attacked her husband with her fingernails ("Dusty was a lovely person -- when she was sober, she was great," Murray says now).

Murray also engaged in an "extended flirtation" with American actor Burt Reynolds. He sent her flowers, turned up at several of her performances and arranged for Murray to be his musical guest in an episode of "Saturday Night Live."

"Nothing ever came of it," she says now with a laugh.
"He just loved the music, he loved my voice."
Murray also writes about her brushes with drugs -- while seemingly everyone around her in music spent the '70s in drug-induced delirium, Murray more or less stayed away from using anything.

"I was never much interested in the drugs," Murray said.
"I certainly smoked dope like everybody else the odd time, but you know, I did very little of it. ... I had to have my wits about me. I was the one out on stage, I was the one doing these shows, so I couldn't get involved in that stuff.

"I took my job seriously. I wanted to do it well."
And Murray, judging by her record-setting sales and endless award tally, certainly did.

She was the first Canadian female solo singer to reach No. 1 on the U.S. charts, and also the first to earn a gold record. She's sold 54 million records and has won four Grammy Awards, 24 Juno Awards, three American Music Awards and three CMA Awards.

Yet she says she has permanently closed that chapter of her life. She has retired from music and says she "doesn't particularly want to" sing in public again.

"I haven't sung in a year and a half," she said. "I don't miss it."
But what about her aforementioned list?
"I don't have anything more on the list," she said. "So maybe that's the perfect time to retire, what do you think?"

And yet, Murray says that looking back on her life for "All of Me," tormenting as it was, did ultimately yield a positive result.

"Maybe once and for all, I'll be able to put this stuff to bed, and not have to deal with it again," she said.

"Because boy, some of it is tough."

Last edited by Jesse Joe; 11-02-2009 at 02:27 PM.
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Old 11-02-2009, 10:38 AM   #2
charlene
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

as far as I could tell there are no pics of Lightfoot in the book. She does mention that one time in Vegas (I think) back in the 70's she went backstage to say hello to Lightfoot. Somebody told Gord who was in another room, that Anne Murray was there to see him and he said something to the effect of "I don't give a f..k who it is I'm not seeing anybody!"..
When Anne later reminded him of that occasion he laffed and said "sounds like something I'd have said back then."
That's the gist of it from my very bad recollection of a few moments reading it in the bookstore a couple of weeks ago..
The other mentions are when she and Lightfoot were up for Junos and her boycott of the Juno award shows because of their shoddy production values and that Lightfoot and others deserved better.

Anne on The Hour with my boyfriend:
http://www.cbc.ca/thehour/videos.html?id=740044771
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Old 11-02-2009, 12:39 PM   #3
Jesse Joe
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

lol ! Lightfoot must have been a funny guy in those days.

I did watched her last week with your boyfriend on The Hour.

My sister told me she will be in Moncton tomorrow for the book I guess. I have not heard anything about it myself
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Old 11-04-2009, 08:10 AM   #4
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.co...article/846203

Meeting a legend

Canadian singing legend Anne Murray signs a copy of her autobiography, ‘All of Me,’ yesterday for young fans Clara-Jean Campbell, 3, Will Campbell, 6, and Katie Campbell, 8, of Salisbury.


RON WARD/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

Murray was at Wal-Mart in Champlain Place promoting her book and a crowd of hundreds of people showed up, waiting in line for hours for a chance to meet her.
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Old 11-04-2009, 08:17 AM   #5
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

http://timestranscript.canadaeast.co...article/846207


Anne Murray book signing draws hundreds

Published Wednesday November 4th, 2009


Times & Transcript staff


From retired teachers, to store clerks, to teens buying her book for their mother or grandmother, Nova Scotia's own songbird Anne Murray autographed each copy of "All of Me" with the same personal touch she is equally famous for. At times, the lineup at the Dieppe Wal-Mart book signing booth looked like it could on and on last night. Some fans said they started lining up for a chance to meet Murray early in the afternoon.


RON WARD/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

LEFT: Anne Murray smiles for a photo with Faye Tremblay and her son Craig Tremblay after getting their copy of the book signed. RIGHT: Hundreds of Anne Murray fans stood in line for hours to meet her last night.


RON WARD/TIMES & TRANSCRIPT

Murray obliged with her usual grace and stayed at her post long after her appointed time.

Retired school teacher Mary Lou Lewis of Petitcodiac said she was thrilled at meeting Anne and getting the opportunity to "thank her for her years of entertainment." Lewis was at the Teachers' College in Fredericton at the same time as Anne was studying physical education and remembers her singing in small productions in 1966.

"I have all her records (LPs) and DVDs," said Lewis.
The multi-Juno and Grammy award winner remains the same down-to-earth, nice girl next door, despite her fame, she said.
Maureen Murphy of Moncton was clutching three signed autobiographies.

"She is a major icon ... and yet she looked right at you, talked to you, made you feel at ease," said Murphy.

Hundreds of books were signed during last night's event.
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Old 11-04-2009, 09:52 AM   #6
charlene
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

she's always seemed like a very personable and friendly person who loves to talk and certainly has some great stories to tell!
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Old 11-04-2009, 10:38 AM   #7
Jesse Joe
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

And I will add to that,

I dont think she can ever have a bad picture taken of her. The camera seems to like her.
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Old 12-14-2009, 12:33 PM   #8
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Default Anne Murray bio- "All of Me"

I was perusing the bookstore over the weekend and found a copy. I did the "Hollywood Lookup" and found Lightfoot was in the index. The most lengthy mention is the funniest and also available on line in the chapter four excerpt:
Amazon.com: All of Me (9780307398444): Anne...Amazon.com: All of Me (9780307398444): Anne...
Unfortunately the search for a second hit single remained elusive; "Robbie's Song for Jesus," the single chosen from the album, did no better than the five previous releases. Nor did the next sone, "Cotton Jenny," a song written by Gordon Lightfoot. I'd long been an admirer of his songwriting skills and decided to let him know, going backstage after one of his appearances in Saint John. His assistant announced my presence outside his door, saying, "Anne Murray is here and would like to say hello."

And then Gordon barked, "I don't care who the f**K it is, I'm not seeing 'em."

I bid a hasty retreat. Years later I told that story to Gordon at an awards show and he laughed. "Yup, back then I probably would have said exactly that."
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Old 12-14-2009, 03:00 PM   #9
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

Sorry I guess I missed the previous topics...
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Old 12-14-2009, 08:46 PM   #10
Auburn Annie
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

Check out her reminiscing with Merv Griffin (p146) nerves, and, er, bodily fluids, lol.
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Old 12-15-2009, 09:47 AM   #11
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

As some of you, or all of you know, Gordons drummer Barry Keane is her studio drummer on most all her LPs and Cds. I was wondering if there is mention of him in the book?
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Old 12-27-2009, 05:34 PM   #12
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Default Re: Anne Murray calls memoir 'painful'

After having read the article, I now feel the need to find a copy of the book have have a peek at it. It looks to be really interesting.
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