Anne Murray's last tour to hit Vancouver in May
Amy O'Brian, Vancouver Sun
Published: Wednesday, December 05, 2007
What does a songbird do when she retires? Apparently, she keeps singing - but on her own terms.
And she spends so much time on the golf course she becomes the world's best female celebrity golfer.
That's Anne Murray's version of retirement, at least.
The 62-year-old announced this week that she is heading out in the spring for her last coast-to-coast tour to promote what might - or might not - be her last album.
The tour hits Vancouver's Queen Elizabeth Theatre on May 5 and tickets go on sale Friday.
Her most recent album is a collection of duets with an impressive range of female singers - a testament to Murray's reputation as a musical legend.
To convince superstars such as Emmylou Harris, Nelly Furtado, Olivia Newton-John, k.d. lang, Celine Dion and Shania Twain to join her on the album, all she had to do was ask.
"It was so much fun to do," Murray said earlier this fall over the phone from her home north of Toronto.
"I was able to do it live - singing across from somebody. We recorded it in four cities. We did it in L.A., New York, Nashville and Toronto. There was lots of travel involved. It's taken me the whole year."
Until Murray's label approached her with the idea of a duets album, the singer was thinking she'd put her recording days behind her.
"I thought I had done my last album," she said.
That's why she called her 2004 recording, I'll Be Seeing You.
But when she started thinking about the possibility of working with a great producer on an album of duets with great female singers, she started to get excited about it.
"They wanted a high-profile producer. They wanted to make some noise with it."
And they did.
The album debuted at #4 on Canada's Top-200 Soundscan Chart, making it her highest debut in more than 20 years.
The album's producer, Phil Ramone, had worked on some seriously successful projects, giving Murray confidence he would guide her in the right direction.
"I knew he'd done the Sinatra duets project. I knew he was well versed in duets, and that's what I needed."
At their first meeting, Murray suggested the duets all be with women.
Her management team initially said 'No,' but had a change of heart soon after.
All the songs on the album are hers, but figuring out who was going to join her on which song was a bit of a puzzle.
"That was the trick - was to try to match the song with the right person," she said. "Jann Arden loves those tear-jerkers. There's nobody who loves a sad song more than Jann."
So Murray chose Somebody's Always Saying Goodbye for her.
Nelly Furtado joins her for the always-bubbly Daydream Believer, and she manages a posthumous duet with Dusty Springfield on I Just Fall in Love Again.
The spring tour will include songs from the Duets album, but obviously not the women with whom she recorded the songs.
"Debbie, my backing singer, is perfectly capable of doing duets," she said matter-of-factly. "And in some places we may be able to get people to come on as guests."
As for what the legendary songbird - and former gym teacher - will do after the tour, she's not quite sure.
"Next year is my 40th year. It makes sense to tie that 40th year in with perhaps a final album, a final Canadian tour. It's just all kind of falling into place," she said.
"I don't know what will happen after that. That's pretty much how I'm doing my career these day. A year in advance, maybe."
There will undoubtedly be plenty of golf.
She would like to keep her title of Golf for Women magazine's top female celebrity player, after all.
She will continue to spend time with her two adult children and is considering writing an autobiography. But as for whether she will retire in the traditional sense, she's not so sure.
"I've been busy for so long, I don't know whether I could. I might go a bit wingy."
Whatever happens though, she's not fretting about it. She's confident opportunities will present themselves at the right time.
"When I can't sing to my satisfaction any more, I will no longer do it. And I'll know when that time comes because I'm such a perfectionist. It's hard to settle for less. So we'll see. We'll see."
aobrian@png.canwest.com
AT A GLANCE
ANNE MURRAY
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
May 5
Tickets on sale Friday at Ticketmaster
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