- Murray McLauchlan
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Murray McLauchlan 
Murray McLauchlan performing at Winterlude 2009 in Ottawa, Ontario Canada.Background information Born June 30, 1948 Origin Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland Genres Country, folk Occupations Singer-songwriter Years active 1972–present Labels True North
CapitolMurray McLauchlan, CM (born June 30, 1948) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player.
Contents
Biography
Born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland, he emigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old. At 17, he began playing at coffeehouses in Toronto's Yorkville area and later attended Central Tech as an art student before deciding to become a full-time musician. He is best known in Canada for his Canadian smash hits "The Farmer's Song" and "Down by the Henry Moore", which was about a sculpture in front of Toronto's city hall, where students met in the '60s and early 1970s. McLauchlan has had success in the pop, adult contemporary, country, and folk-music fields, with such songs as "Child's Song," the Juno Award-winning "The Farmer's Song" (1973), "Hurricane of Change" (also 1973), "Do You Dream of Being Somebody" (1975), and "Whispering Rain" (1979).
In 1987, Murray appeared on the children's television show, Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show singing his Juno-Award-Winning The Farmer's Song. He appeared in Season 4 of The Elephant Show on the "Urban Cowboy" episode.
Murray holds a commercial licence with instrument rating and endorsements for multi-engine aircraft and seaplanes. In the late 1990s Murray was flying commercial airplanes as a "bush pilot" in Northern Canada. He starred in a television special called Floating over Canada, in which he piloted a Cessna 185 float plane across Canada. This special was broadcast on U.S. public television on PBS, as well as in Canada on CBC.
In 2004 Murray helped form a group known as "Lunch At Allen's" featuring Murray, Marc Jordan, Cindy Church and Ian Thomas. Formed as a result of meeting in Toronto for lunch at Allen's restaurant after Murray's heart bypass surgery. Two CDs have been released as a result of this collaboration: Lunch at Allens (2004) and Catch the Moon (2007).
Awards
He has won 10 Juno Awards throughout the 1970s and 1980s, and been nominated for a total of 23 JUNO Awards.
In 1993, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.
In 1998, Pengiun (Viking Books) released his autobiography The Ballad of Murray McLauchlan: Getting Out of Here Alive.
Family
He is married to Denise Donlon and they have a son, Duncan.
Discography
Albums
Year Album Chart Positions CRIA Label CAN Country CAN 1971 Song from the Street 38 True North 1972 Murray McLauchlan 38 1973 Day to Day Dust 13 1974 Sweeping the Spotlight Away 34 1975 Only the Silence Remains 39 1976 Boulevard 14 Gold 1977 Hard Rock Town 33 1978 Greatest Hits 57 Gold Live at the Orpheum (promo only) Columbia 1979 Whispering Rain 14 42 Gold True North 1980 Into a Mystery 18 61 1981 Storm Warning 45 1982 Windows 1983 Timberline 22 1984 Heroes 1985 Midnight Break 94 1988 Swinging on a Star 24 Capitol 1991 The Modern Age 1996 Gulliver's Taxi True North 2004 Lunch at Allens Capitol/EMI 2006 The Songbook: New Arrivals 2007 Catch the Moon: Lunch at Allens Songs from the Street: Best of Murray McLauchlan True North 2010 More Lunch at Allens Linus 2011 Human Writes True North Singles
Year Single Chart Positions Album CAN Country CAN CAN AC 1972 "Jesus Please Don't Save Me" 44 Song from the Street 1973 "Lose We" 13 Murray McLauchlan "The Farmer's Song" 8 6 3 "Hurricane of Change" 9 Day to Day Dust 1974 "Linda, Won't You Take Me In" 28 15 12 "Shoeshine Workin' Song" 15 59 13 Sweeping the Spotlight Away 1975 "Do You Dream of Being Somebody" 16 9 "Maybe Tonight" 10 "Down by the Henry Moore" 1 12 1 "Little Dreamer" 15 Single only 1976 "On the Boulevard" 25 45 4 Boulevard 1977 "Love Comes and Goes" 77 Hard Rock Town 1978 "Straight Outa Midnight" 88 1979 "Whispering Rain" 27 24 15 Whispering Rain "You Can't Win" 89 "Somebody's Long Lonely Tonight" 41 1980 "Don't Put Your Faith in Men" 24 Into a Mystery "Try Walkin' Away" 53 11 1981 "If the Wind Could Blow My Troubles Away" 45 26 Storm Warning 1983 "Never Did Like That Train" 18 20 Timberline 1984 "Red River Flood" 18 "On the Subject of Loneliness" 26 "Everything Reminds Me of Loving You" 37 "Sayonara Maverick" 60 Heroes "Railroad Man" 19 1985 "Song for Captain Keast" 32 "I'm Best at Loving You" 13 Midnight Break "When You Become a Memory" 16 1986 "Me and Joey/Golden Fields" 34 1989 "Love with a Capital "L"" 12 Swinging on a Star "Please Don't Call It Runnin' Away" 35 1990 "Swinging on a Star" 23 1991 "The Modern Age" 75 63 21 The Modern Age "So I Lost Your Love" 26 1996 "Secrets in Your Heart" 38 Gulliver's Taxi 1997 "No Change in Me" 48 See also
Further reading
- Adria, Marco, "The Importance of Being Murray," Music of Our Times: Eight Canadian Singer-Songwriters (Toronto, Lorimer, 1990), pp. 103–20.
- Murrary McLauchlan, Getting Out Of Here Alive-The Ballad Of Murray McLauchlan (Viking 1998) ISBN 0-670-87659-3
- Murray McLauchlan Biography at Maple Music
External links
Categories:- 1948 births
- Living people
- Canadian country singers
- Canadian male singers
- Canadian folk singers
- Canadian singer-songwriters
- Juno Award winners
- Members of the Order of Canada
- People from Paisley
- Scottish emigrants to Canada
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