My Annie

When I went to Japan to teach English, I figured that being from the “land of Anne” would be my trump card. When I said I was from PEI people usually knew exactly where that was. What also surprised me, however, was when people (usually middle-aged women) found out I was from Canada, they also frequently referenced the other Anne – specifically Anne Murray’s “Snowbird.” It surprised me that “the other” Canadian Anne had also reached the far flung shores of Japan.

If you grew up in Canada you of course knew Anne Murray. I certainly did. She was and continues to be one of my Dad’s favourite singers. So much so, he still affectionately refers to her as “My Annie.” In 2001, I attended the East Coast Music Awards (ECMAs) in Charlottetown with my fiddle teacher Timothy Chaisson and his family. That evening Anne Murray was awarded with the board of directors’ special achievement award. The speech she made that night left a lasting impression on me. I had seen her interviewed before and thought she was kind of full of herself. But that night she was humble and appreciative of all her PEI connections that had helped shape the early years of her career. Islander Gene MacLellan, for example, wrote the infamous “Snowbird.” Owner of the Prince Edward Room in Charlottetown, Johnny Reid had given Anne one of her first professional singing engagement. She recognized them all and in doing so, my impression of her started to shift.

In 2008 Anne Murray retired and in the following year, her autobiography All of Me was published. This past year, I purchased the audio book for my Father as part of his Christmas present. Before doing so, I listened to the first chapter online – and was hooked. So much so, I purchased it on my e-reader after Christmas. I of course was surprised and delighted at how often she mentioned her PEI connections. Anne’s first job after graduating from her undergraduate degree at the University of New Brunswick was teaching physical education and health at the Athena Regional High School in Summerside, PEI:

I loved teaching and I loved the kids, most of whom were from rural PEI, and had to be bused to school. The vast majority had an innate sense of respect for teachers that sadly, seems to have gone out of fashion. There were no discipline problems and we got on famously...

One day in 1969, Bill Langstroth called, raving about a singer-songwriter guest on the Don Messer show that week. His name was Gene MacLellan. Bill arranged for me to meet him in a small conference room in the CBC Studios in Bell Road in Halifax. He'd only started writing songs a year earlier,, and we sat there while he played and sang a few of them, including "Snowbird." I couldn't believe my ears. Even then it had that signature five-note trill at the end, the rising notes corresponding to the ascending flight path of a bird. He said he'd written it in twenty-five minutes and had sung it at political rallies in PEI, but it had never been recorded and wasn't widely known. Here was a fresh new song and I knew instantly it was a good one, though I would never have predicted the impact it would have on my career....At the end of our meeting he said, "If you like the songs, you can have them" - so typical of Gene, who was generous to a fault.

This book was a captivating read and the dry humor that was woven throughout the book was a welcomed surprise. Especially amusing and unexpected was all her stories concerning her band members drug use:

Our next stop was the Bitter End in New York, the basement coffee-shop-turned-celebrated-nightclub.....Considering that I was hissed at by a few Hippies and considering that Pat Riccio, my new keyboard player, was enjoying his first acid trip on opening night, we did okay eliciting a strong notice in the New York Times.

I have a newfound respect and admiration for Anne Murray after reading this book. If you have the chance, I highly recommend it. And if you want to hear the book in her voice, the audio version is a nice alternative. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a video of Anne singing Snowbird in 1970, the year before I was born.