Anne Murray : Elvis Presley's favourite female singer

[Steve G]

Sam Thompson, Linda's brother and Elvis' bodyguard, said in an interview about Elvis earlier this month:

He listened to Jackie Wilson, The Temptations, Tom Jones, Liberace, Don Ho, Bill Medley, Gordon Lightfoot and Anne Murray.

“He had eight tracks of Anne Murray everywhere,” Sam says.

Linda had revealed to the world in a 1979 interview that Elvis was a big fan of the pride of Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was her signature warm, rich voice in the 1970 hit song Snowbird that launched her career and caught Elvis' ear.

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It was a year after Elvis' death that Anne had the most succesful of her many hits, hitting #1 on the Billboard pop chart with You Needed Me, and winning her the Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal over Carly Simon, Barbra Streisand, Olivia Newton-John and Donna Summer

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Anne wrote in her 2008 autobiography that she never got to meet Elvis - they were never playing in Vegas at the same time. She referred to Linda's interview and says that Elvis' endorsement meant a lot to her then, and still does now.

She won another Grammy in 1980 for Country Vocal Performance for this, also a perennial wedding reception favourite:

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[Steve G]

Elton John once said, "There are only two things I know about Canada: hockey and Anne Murray."

John Lennon knocked on Anne's dressing room door backstage at the 1974 Grammy Awards to tell her that her version of You Won't See Me was the best cover of a Beatles song that he'd ever heard.

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[drjohncarpenter]

Nice post! I do wonder if Murray was his favourite, though. What about Vicki Carr, Della Reese, LaVerne Baker, Ketty Lester, Timi Yuro, Patti Page or Joni James?

[elvisjock]

Anne was his favorite, for the period.

[drjohncarpenter]

Anne was his favorite, for the period.

What about Olivia Newton-John? Two of her hits were mainstays in his set during this time.

[midnightx]

Anne was his favorite, for the period.

What about Olivia Newton-John? Two of her hits were mainstays in his set during this time.

Good point.

[drjohncarpenter]

Anne was his favorite, for the period.

What about Olivia Newton-John? Two of her hits were mainstays in his set during this time.

Good point.

Plus, she's way hotter.

[Steve G]

And here is the King's version of Snowbird:

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[drjohncarpenter]

And here is the King's version of Snowbird:

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You know Elvis really liked a song if he taped his own harmony overdub, as you hear on his 1970 recording of "Snowbird."

[Steve G]

Linda Thompson's interview was from 1979 but I only became aware of Elvis being an Anne fan when I saw the American Music Awards in early 1987 - Elvis was awarded the Award of Merit (the first time this was done posthumously). Mac Davis did the career summation and then said the award would be accepted on Elvis' behalf by his favourite female singer (and I waited with baited breath)...as Mac announced, "Miss Anne Murray" and she came out from backstage to accept the award and read the inscription. Since I love Anne and am also Canadian, I was thrilled (I was expecting the singer to be much older and perhaps unfamiliar to me).

I have the presentation on video but don't know how to put it on Youtube. Does anyone remember this? The Judds sang a cover of Don't Be Cruel as part of the tribute. Huey Lewis and Cyndi Lauper also spoke about Elvis' influence.

He probably did have different favourites at different periods. In 1957 he said his favourite female singers were Kay Starr and Patti Page (the latter is interesting as Anne's rich alto has been compared to Patti's, and Anne recorded a CD of standards titled Croonin' in 1993, including songs by both aforementioned women).

When a list of Elvis' record collection was published in 2003, the article about it said, "There are relatively few female singers in the record collection, but Elvis' friends say his favorites included Anne Murray (for her "clear and distinctive voice"), Vicki Carr ("It Must Be Him"), Mahalia Jackson, Della Reese, Dionne Warwick, Bobbie Gentry, Leslie Uggams, Timi Yuro, the Andrews Sisters, the McGuire Sisters and his former backup group, The Sweet Inspirations.

(http://www.elvis.com.au/presley/news/elvisnews_elvisrecordcollection.shtml)

Olivia must be on the list somewhere too.

Sonny West wrote in about Elvis' favouriites in Elvis: Still Taking Care of Business (2007). Paperback edition, page 353: "Q: What female artists did Elvis enjoy listening to? Male artists? A: Timi Yuro, Connie Francis, Olivia Newton-John, Tom Jones, Jackie Wilson, Roy Orbison, to name but a few".

He speculates about whose music Elvis would've enjoyed, were he still living, at page 342: "I think Celine Dion would probably be his favorite female singer. He would have admired Mariah Carey's vocal range and absolutely loved Shania Twain's sexiness and voice." More Canadian ladies!

So yeah, I guess there is an argument to made that Anne might not have remained Elvis' favourite if he were still alive and keeping up with the currents in popular music.

And since I share Elvis' fondness for Anne and Olivia I can't resist posting this:

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[Steve G]

It could be argued that Elvis covered a second Murray track, Put Your Hand in the Hand, written by Gene MacLellan, who also wrote Snowbird.

Anne was the first to record the song. She wanted to release it as a single, but her record label refused. The group Ocean soon after released it as a single (a weaker version, IMO) and had a huge hit with it. Needless to say Anne was pretty angry with her label.

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Elvis reportedly telephoned Gene MacLellan at his Prince Edward Island home in 1970 to congratulate him on writing that "pretty little love song", Snowbird, and to ask his permission to record it.

I have a family friend who knew the late MacLellan...I'm trying to imagine what it would've been like to get that call. "Hello, this is Elvis...."

[drjohncarpenter]

It could be argued that Elvis covered a second Murray track, Put Your Hand in the Hand, written by Gene MacLellan, who also wrote Snowbird.

That's kind of a stretch. Ocean's single was the radio hit, and still the one played on oldies radio today. Presley's arrangement is also patterned after their single, one reason it's pretty dull.

Elvis reportedly telephoned Gene MacLellan at his Prince Edward Island home in 1970 to congratulate him on writing that "pretty little love song", Snowbird, and to ask his permission to record it.

This is also highly unlikely. Elvis almost never called songwriters, and he was pretty busy in September 1970.

[Steve G]

Ocean's is so poor that I can't bear to listen to it over Anne's.

Gene didn't make the quote about the phone call himself so I don't know for sure. Gene has been gone since 1995. I've just emailed his daughter to ask. I will post her answer if I hear back.

Does no one else remember the American Music Awards presentation of 1987? I might have to see if someone else has a youtube account and can post the footage online since apparently it is doubted that Anne was Elvis' favourite.

She also mentions in her autobiography, "In Vegas it was not uncommon for visiting celebrities to come backstage after the show and say hello. They didn't always come back - Frank Sinatra dropped in one night and apparently instructed handlers not to mention he had been there. But usually they did, just as a courtesy. These visits typically involved little more than brief pleasantries, but occasionally one caught glimpses of the essential character. For example, Colonel Tom Parker, the Svengali who managed the career of Elvis Presley, generously brought me teddy bears for my kids and, thought I hadn't asked for it, an autographed photograph of himself."

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

John Lennon knocked on Anne's dressing room door backstage at the 1974 Grammy Awards to tell her that her version of You Won't See Me was the best cover of a Beatles song that he'd ever heard.

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I agree with John! that version is bloody brilliant!!!! WOW!

[KiwiAlan]

Elvis did not require anyone's permission to record "Snowbird".

It's a matter of law thoughtfully instigated by publishers to increase their income.

[promiseland]

Elvis' version of "Snowbird" is hands down the best version .. done by a male performer.

[Swingin-Little-Guitar-Man]

Elvis' version of "Snowbird" is hands down the best version .. done by a male performer.

His voice is sublime and the band are perfect. It's the best version of Snowbird by anyone MALE or FEMALE.

[greystoke]

Good thread - I also like Anne Murray's singing, and if she wasn't Elvis's favourite female singer, she was surely a hot contender.

Elvis's own version of Snowbird is quite charming and captivating. A fine vocal and jaunty backing really keeps it moving from the get-go. And I actually like it as the opening track on Elvis Country, having thought it to be misplaced for a long time.

[greystoke]

Good thread - I also like Anne Murray's singing, and if she wasn't Elvis's favourite female singer, she was surely a hot contender.

Elvis's own version of Snowbird is quite charming and captivating. A fine vocal and jaunty backing really keeps it moving from the get-go. And I actually like it as the opening track on Elvis Country, having thought it to be misplaced for a long time.

[tupelo_boy]

You know Elvis really liked a song if he taped his own harmony overdub, as you hear on his 1970 recording of "Snowbird."

Good call Doc. I'd never noticed this and I've been listening to this for years. I've always accepted it as light on inspiration, but beautifully sung.

It was my Dad's favourite Elvis song, so I pretty much grew up with from the age of eleven (Dad wore out two vinyl copies before CD's saved the day). Des O'Conner's version left him incandescent.

Best wishes

Geoff

[stevelecher]

Elvis' version of "Snowbird" is hands down the best version .. done by a male performer.

His voice is sublime and the band are perfect. It's the best version of Snowbird by anyone MALE or FEMALE.

Elvis' version is a cover of Anne's and is only a pale imitation of her excellent version. He brought nothing new to it. He sings in too low a key and struggles with the low notes on the song. No one but regular readers of this MB would pick his version over hers. I consider it, by far, the weakest track on Elvis Country.

Elvis' use of two Newton John songs in his shows may be due to the arrangement of these similar songs and the prominent bass parts which he could showcase JD Sumner's voice, which he seemed to like to do.

[ekenee]

Anne was his favorite, for the period.

What about Olivia Newton-John? Two of her hits were mainstays in his set during this time.

Good point.

Not exactly.

The reason:

Look at the music that you yourself listen to.

Do you like the songs or the singer or both?

I myself have stated that I do NOT like Bob Dylan as a singer, but

I do recognize his songs as being excellant, so if I included them in my "Set",

that would not mean I like Bob Dylan, it would mean, more accurately, I like the songs.

And that is true of half of the music I listen to. It's the song, not necessarily the singer.

I am not saying Elvis didn't like Olivia's singing, but he did like her songs, we know that.

And this has me now thinking about any of the various covers that Elvis did over the years.

B.J. Thomas---"I just can't help believin'"
Arthur Crudup----"That's all right"
Chuck Berry------"memphis tenn."
Red Foley-------"Old shep"
Eddy Arnold-----"I really don't want to know"
Ray Charles-----"I got a woman" "What'd I say"
Lloyd Price----"Lawdy miss Clawdy"
Junior Parker----"Mystery train"
The ink spots----"That's when your heartaches begin"
Bill Haley-----"Rock around the clock"
Jerry Reed----"Guitar man"
Hank Snow---"Movin' on"
Ned Miller---"From a jack to a king"
I. humberdink----"Release me"
Neil Diamond--"Sweet caroline"
Tony Joe white---"Polk Salad annie"
The bee gees ----"Words"
The statler brothers---"Susan when she tried"
Willie Nelson----"Blue eyes cryin in the rain"

That is just a sprinkling of the covers he has done.
And of course there is dozens of songs he recorded that were recorded by dozens of artists.

So, just glancing at this incomplete list or thinking about the many songs Elvis cut, or put into his live show,
does it show he liked the singer or that he simply liked the song?

We can speculate on this for a long time, but I think in most instances he liked a little bit of both.

[drjohncarpenter]

... does it show he liked the singer or that he simply liked the song?

We can speculate on this for a long time, but I think in most instances he liked a little bit of both.

Not in the case of John and her two big 70s hits.

"Let Me Be There" = ~178 performances, 1974-76
"If You Love Me (Let Me Know)" = ~222 performances, 1974-77

In the above examples, Olivia ruled the Presley set list. Elvis liked the song and the singer; bad singer, he'd avoid the song.

[stevelecher]

Must have been quite a project, Doc, counting those performances. I'll take your word for it. How could any man not have been in love with ONJ in the mid 70's? I sure was.

I think EP's best performances of Let Me Be There are more entertaining than IYLMLMK. I'm just glad Elvis didn't cover Please Mister Please.

[Juan Luis]

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