Ironically, veteran singer Anne Murray — who is known in some circles as being a country/pop crossover artist — never listened to country music while she was growing up.
"I listened to what my parents listened to," Murray said during a telephone interview from a hotel room in Santa Rosa, Calif. "Which means I listened to Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Perry Como. Then came Patti Page. I also went through the folk and the whole rock 'n' roll thing. But I didn't listen to country music. Isn't that funny?"
Anne Murray, the woman whose voice graced the radio waves in the '70s with "Snowbird," "You Needed Me" and "Could I Have This Dance," will perform in Abravanel Hall on Tuesday, Oct. 9. Show time is 8 p.m. Tickets are available through all Ticketmaster outlets or by calling 325-SEAT.
"While it's true that songs like 'Snowbird' and 'You Needed Me' are more pop than country, 'Could I Have This Dance' is definitely on the country side," Murray said. "But I guess I do have a lot of country-sounding songs. But I chose the music because it sounded good to me. The categorizations came later."
For 33 years, Murray has been singing songs she wanted to sing. And for 33 years, fans — old and young — have bought her albums and attended her concerts.
Ten of her singles have peaked at the No. 1 spot on the country charts. And four of her singles have hit the Top 10 pop charts. But these days, radio doesn't seem to want Anne Murray songs.
"That's the problem with being a veteran in this business," Murray explained. "A lot of us who have been around throughout the '70s are no longer heard. We don't get played on the radio. So it's a distinct challenge to let people know we are still recording and traveling.
"It's a given that if you don't get radio play, people don't know you're still making music. So you look for alternative means. I did take a year off to reassess myself and my career. And that was in 2000. But that was the only time I ever took a break from recording and touring."
Murray turned to TV and did some specials, as well as some concert-length videos. "It was nice to be able to put a new album out and, through TV, get back into people's minds," she said. "There was a time, when I took the time off, that I really doubted whether or not I would go back to recording and touring. But my last album sold well and people were still interested in coming to the shows. As long as they want to hear me sing and want to buy my albums, then I'll be there."
Murray's last album, 1999's "It's a Wonderful World," was a collection of inspirational songs from well-known artists — Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now," Don Williams' "Lord I Hope This Day is Good" and Bill Withers' "Lean on Me," among them. And it was a success.
"But it took a little effort to get this album out," Murray said with a chuckle. Her record label had actually been after her to do an inspirational album for years, but what they wanted was an album of hymns. "But that didn't feel honest to me, because they wanted me to do Protestant hymns and I grew up a Catholic. So I went into the studio and cut a demo of inspirational songs and gave it to them."
After hearing the tape, the label officials finally understood what Murray wanted to do and immediately gave their approval. "My friend told me that it was a sure-fire project," Murray said. "He said a lot of people wanted to hear my voice singing familiar songs. And they are great songs."
In keeping with that, Murray decided to release yet another Christmas album. She had recorded two holiday albums — "Christmas Wishes" (1981) and "Anne Murray Christmas" (1988). "Those were single albums each," Murray said. "The new album ('What a Wonderful Christmas') is a collection of some of the best songs from those albums and nine newly recorded Christmas favorites, which include children's Christmas songs. I'm very happy with it."
As for her future, Murray said she'll soon be going back into the studio to record another album. "I'm not sure of the title yet, but it's going to be an album of classic country covers. You know — Jim Reeves, Patsy Cline. Those types of country classics."
E-mail: scott@desnews.com