Customer Reviews

All of Me

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A couple of years ago while on a trip to Nova Scotia my wife and I happened upon the little mining town of Spring Hill. Much to our surprise and delight this little berg turned out to be the hometown of none other than one of the most popular Canadian recording artists of all-time, Anne Murray. And smack dab in the middle of town we came upon the Anne Murray Center. Staffed by local townspeople, the Anne Murray Centre offers visitors a unique opportunity to view an impressive array of awards, photographs, memorabilia as well as audio and visual highlights of Anne Murrays remarkable career. If you are ever in that area I would heartily recommend it! We had seen Anne perform in our area just a few years earlier and were thoroughly impressed with her performance. She is the consummate pro. If you are a big fan like we are you might be wondering just what is the best available collection of the music of this talented lady. In my judgement "All of Me" would easily get the nod.

"All of Me" features 16 of Anne's all-time greatest hits. These are the original Capitol recordings that you would remember from the radio. The fact that they have been digitally remastered will only enhance your enjoyment of memorable tunes like "A Love Song", "Broken Hearted Me", her spirited remake of the Monkees "Daydream Believer" as well as her very first hit record "Snowbird" from all the way back in 1970. Anne Murray would be a fixture on both the pop and country music charts during the entire decade of the 1970's and for much of the 1980's as well. Among the dozen other hit singles included in this collection are "Just Another Woman In Love", "You Won't See Me" and the moving "Can I Have This Dance". And what Anne Murray package would be complete without her memorable 1973 hit "Danny's Song" which as you might recall was written by Kenny Loggins.

Now if that were not enough, Straight Way records has also included a seperate disc containing Anne's interpretation of 15 of the most beloved songs of all-time. I have to say I loved each and every one of them. Enjoy once again brand new versions of perennial favorites like "My Buddy", "As Time Goes By", "Over The Rainbow" and of course "All of Me". When my wife and I saw Anne Murray in concert several years ago she performed a number of standards. Her love for this music was quite apparent and it comes through quite clearly in these recordings.

And so to sum up, I can do nothing less than heartily recommend this 2 disc set. The sound quality is wonderful and the choice of material is superb. Add to that the fact that the price is quite reasonable and what you have here is a terrific collection that is also a great value.

You can safely ignore the Amazon Editorial Review. This CD is one of my very favorites. Not only does it include many of the songs that I grew up with and recall fondly to this day, but they are arranged in what I'd consider an almost perfect balance to both the lyrics and to Anne's presentation, complementing but not overpowering her singing. Very professional and creative arrangements. In fact, I listen to this CD as much for the arrangements as for Anne's performance. I hope she'll do another one like it, with some more of the old classics on it.

This collection of Tin Pan alley favourites is a beautiful tribute from Anne to one of her late friends that recently passed away from cancer. Her vocals are very strong, the arrangements magical and her version of "Over the Rainbow" would rival any other out there. "All of Me" is a great upbeat number, as is the brilliant "After You've Gone". Anne particularly shines on "My Buddy" which is the emotional climax of the album, as well as poignant moments in "What'll I Do" , "Smile" and the tearjerker "I'll be Seeing You Again" . The album ends in great Patsy Cline-type fashion with "We'll meet Again". Any critic who pans this album has got to be deaf. You need to give this album time to realize how great it is. It is the beauty of simplicity. And of course, Anne's greatest hits on disc 2 are still as fresh as the day they were released. Great job, Anne !

Most vocalists treat pop classics with such deference and reverence that they end up sounding self-conscious, but not Anne Murray. This is no ordinary tribute to the chestnuts of the early 20th century, but an update by a confident recording artist who somehow takes risks while sticking to the basics.

The fiddle introduction and swaying rhythm of the opening track signal that this is a western swing album, reminiscent of Bob Wills' heyday. The band is a curious blend of piano-centered rhythms with clarinet, flugelhorn, and accordian flourishes that evoke a cabaret setting while staying grounded in the western idiom. This is dance hall music at its best. She and Tommy West are savvy producers.

Anne's reading of All of Me is simple and melodious - as if she'd just discovered the original sheet music. After that, Anne and the band settle in to swing gently in As Time Goes By and Dream a Little Dream.

The ballads linger in your memory like an aural addiction. What'll I Do is framed in a lovely music box arrangement. I'll Be Seeing You, the title track of the Canadian release, is one of this songbook's highlights - every syllable exquisitely phrased. And if you thought that Over the Rainbow is a Judy Garland song, you're in for a very pleasant surprise.

But the showstoppers are the uptempo numbers. Murray delivers an inspired vocal on the honky tonk, Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter. Her perfect pitch and clarity on Twilight Time elevate this minor classic to a higher level. After You've Gone, drenched in New Orleans jubilation, is possibly the best track of all. And Duke Ellington would be proud to hear how comfortably Anne transcends musical genres with Don't Get Around Much Anymore.

Anne shrugs off previous covers of You Made Me Love You with a mid-tempo version that is as good as it gets. Finally, there's the perfect closing number, We'll Meet Again, with a shuffling rhythm that recalls Owen Bradley's best work with Patsy Cline.

Anne Murray is at the peak of her interpretive ability. I don't think it's a stretch to say that she is the Sinatra of her generation. She respects the integrity of a song and eschews vocal excess, thereby re-affirming what is classic in classic pop. You will always be able to listen to these songs without tiring of them. Her phrasing is peerless: the vibrato sustains the melody, her perfect pitch nails each note, and her vocal punctuation pushes the rhythm forward.

This is a well-crafted album, from start to finish. Though fans will find the second disc of hits superfluous, others will surely find it interesting to compare the progression from Nashville packaging to self-directed artistry. Buy it and enjoy!

Anne is the tops and there are no others who can compare to this lady. She does everything to perfection. She can take a song and wrap her voice around it and make it a gem, no matter what....This album is full of wonderful suprises and the instrumentals are just out of this world. Anne is full of emotion on every note, what a tribute to a best buddy.
We love her and hope to hear more of her over the years to come...do yourself a favor and buy one of these albums for everyone you know......and when Anne guys on tour, make sure you catch her there too, because it is something you will never forget....
Anne, You go with your bad self............
We love ya....
Stace

Straight Way and EMI Music present "All Of Me", featuring the latest release from Anne Murray on a deluxe two CD set for fans and music lovers alike...this is a compilation of extremely high quality concentrating on some of the very best from her repertoire and early music of the decades.

Let's take a look at disc one..."AFTER YOU'VE GONE", "ALL OF ME", "AS TIME GOES BY", "DON'T GET AROUND MUCH ANYMORE", "DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF ME", "I WONDER WHO'S KISSING HIM NOW", "I'LL BE SEEING YOU", "I'M GONNA SIT RIGHT DOWN AND WRITE MYSELF A LETTER", "MY BUDDY", "OVER THE RAINBOW", "SMILE", "TWILIGHT TIME", "WE'LL MEET AGAIN", "WHAT'LL I DO", "YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU"...this is an overall blanket to any serious music collection...one gem after another with top notch arrangements, much more than just a toe tapper...each track represents Murray's incredible success in this business of entertainment through song.

Murray's career travels back to the early '70s and continues right up to the present...she has covered every genre from Country, Easy Listening, Contemporary Christian, Folk and Pop Rock...with one of the most recognizable voices and styles in music today...her records and albums have hit the Billboard Charts and sold millions from the very beginning "A LOVE SONG" (1973), "YOU WON'T SEE ME" (1974), "I JUST FALL IN LOVE AGAIN" (1979), "DAYDREAM BELIEVER" (1979), "BROKEN HEARTED ME" (1979), "SHADOWS IN THE MOONLIGHT" (1979), "COULD I HAVE THIS DANCE" (1980), "ANOTHER SLEEPLESS NIGHT" (1981), "A LITTLE GOOD NEWS" (1983), "JUST ANOTHER WOMAN IN LOVE" (1983), "TIME DON'T RUN OUT ON ME" (1984), "NOBODY LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO" (1984), "NOW AND FOREVER (YOU AND ME)" (1986), "SNOWBIRD" (1994), "DANNY'S SONG" (1994), "YOU NEEDED ME" (1994)...and that my friend is the second disc of 16 tracks that distinguished Anne Murray from the rest of the pack...brought her to the forefront and in the stream of the international scene.

Total Time: 2-CD-Set ~ Straight Way 63231 ~ (1/25/2005)

By now (2005) many "old-school" artists have released albums of "standards", those great songs from largely our parents generation. It might be Rod, or Cindi, or Linda, or Carly, or others releasing CD's of these songs, but the fact remains, for as good as these songs are, they are not the songs that made any of these artists stars in the first place.

Now we have Anne Murray releasing a collection of some great standards, but as the appropriatly named CD suggests, she also gives us a disk of her own songs, and reminds us why she became a star in the first place.

Disk 1 includes a great mix of upbeat (Dream a Little Dream of Me, Smile, Over The Rainbow) classics, and the more meloncoly
(After Your Gone, What'll I Do, I'll Be Seeing You), and Anne's golden, velvetly pipes give all of these tracks a fresh vibe.

Disk 2 gives us a great career spanning collection of Anne's best known songs. I never tire of hearing such gems as Snowbird, You Won't See Me, Shawdows In The Moonlight, etc.
However some of her ballads included here are what really allow her to shine. The simple beauty of Could I Have This Dance, and You Needed Me, while made for the romantic in all of us, yeild to songs like A Little Good News (still a VERY revelant song today), Broken Hearted Me, and Time Don't Run Out On Me.

This excellent 2 disk collection is a great way to discover, or re-discover Anne Murray!

I Love the Ol' Standards and Anne puts her stamp on TWILIGHT TIME
and MY BUDDY (the latter dedicated to the memory of one of her dear friends). On the second disc are all the greatest hits and then some, some popular concert favorites, and award winners which ever continent or country you're in. ALL OF ME is a wonderfull get if this is the only Anne Murray CD you'll ever own! Well, maybe CROONIN' too...Neither lets me down!!

Dan in San Diego

I have been a hugh fan of Anne Murray ever since I was a teenager. This CD not only has all of my personal favorites, but I love the songs on Disc One which are older songs. She captures the magic of those songs with a sophisticated style. I particularly enjoyed her rendition of "Over the Rainbow" and "I'll Be Seeing You". This is a classic edition of recordings which captures the whole personality and values of Anne Murray. I highly recommend purchasing this CD.

As a jazz pianist, and player of the original "All of Me" song, I am more acquainted with the albums by Oscar Peterson, Gene Harris, Bill Evans, George Shearing, etc...

I didnt know Anne Murray. In fact I discovered her CD seeking for the "All of Me" song.

My opinion: This album has beautiful music, very well arranged. Listen some tracks to verify.