What About Me

Personnel: Anne Murray (vocals).
Liner Note Author: Bill Langstroth.
Recording information: Bay Studios, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
What About Me is Anne Murray's first album, originally released in 1968 on Canada's tiny Arc label. After Murray signed with Capitol in 1969 and began making hits, Pickwick reissued her Arc recordings for the American market. The folk arrangements bring the acoustic guitar to the foreground, and Murray's confident vocals show that she was already fully developed as a singer. "There Goes My Everything" ventures into folk-rock territory, but most of the music, which includes songs by Tom Paxton and Joni Mitchell, is in the tradition of the Canadian folk scene associated with Gordon Lightfoot and Ian & Sylvia. Murray looks even younger in the cover photos than she would have been when this album was made, but her mature performances make her debut nearly as appealing as her better-known major-label recordings. ~ Greg Adams