Murray River

Anne Murray's time with Capitol Records was running out when she recorded "Croonin." Her singles were no long charting and her album sales had dropped off significantly. The public was no longer buying the pop-rock-country formula that had served her so well for twenty-five years. What to do? Record an album of American standards. Why not? "Old Cape Cod," "Secret Love," Hey There," "The Wayward Wind" "Teach Me Tonight" – these were the tunes she listened to on the radio while growing up in Nova Scotia. They fit her middle-register voice like a glove. They were in her DNA. In a way, "Croonin" is the answer to "Where Do You Go When You Dream" (the title of an earlier an album). You sing the songs you truly love. And sings them she does, with all the dignity, sincerity, polish, and professionalism that distinguished her long career. Anne Murray was always a class act.