Snowbird: The Story of Anne Murray

Desmond Maley is the music librarian at the J.W. Tate Library,
Huntington College, Laurentian University and editor of the Newsletter
of the Canadian Association of Music Libraries, Archives, and
Documentation Centres.

It is unfortunate that Anne Murray declined to be interviewed for this
book. Perhaps it was the right time, now that she’s over 50, for her
to reflect on her musical career. After all, she is Canada’s first
female pop–country superstar; the winner of numerous Juno, Grammy, and
Country Music Association awards; and a Companion of the Order of Canada
appointee. Murray could have talked about what has given her the
greatest satisfaction and what she might have done differently. It would
have been interesting to know how she goes about selecting and preparing
her material, what she thinks of the musicians she has worked with, and
the state of the musical art form in general. It would also have been
interesting if she had talked about the dark side of life as a celebrity
(she was stalked for a number of years by a Saskatchewan farmer who
became obsessed with her after Murray sent him an autographed photo).

Barry Grills writes well, and Snowbird is abundantly illustrated with
black-and-white photographs, in addition to having a discography and
bibliography. But not only did he not talk with Murray, he does not seem
to have interviewed anyone who is close to her either personally or
professionally.

Instead, he recounts his visit to the Anne Murray Centre in Murray’s
home town of Spring-hill, N.S., and takes us through the pile of
Murray-related news clippings and articles he has assembled, from which
he often quotes and comments. The results reflect this
scissors-and-paste approach, and Grills’s quasi-philosophical musings
about Murray’s roots as a Maritimer and Canadian don’t add much to
the discussion. Snowbird rates as a disappointment.