Murray McLauchlan
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Template:Infobox musical artist Murray Edward McLauchlan, Template:Post-nominals (born 30 June 1948) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and harmonica player. He is best known for his Canadian hits "The Farmer's Song," "Whispering Rain," and "Down by the Henry Moore".
Early life[edit | edit source]
McLauchlan was born in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland;[1][2] he immigrated to Canada with his family when he was five years old. He grew up in suburban Toronto.[3] 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.
Career[edit | edit source]
In the 1960s, McLauchlan moved to New York City, but had little success in promoting his musical career there.[4] In 1970, McLauchlan returned to Toronto and signed with True North Records; he released an album, Songs from the Street in 1971.[5] Over the next several years he 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), and "Hurricane of Change" (also 1973).[6]
In 1974 McLauchlan embarked on a long tour in the United States.[7] He later released "Do You Dream of Being Somebody" (1975), and "Whispering Rain" (1979).
In 1980, McLauchlan released the album Into a Mystery, with backing vocals by Carole Pope.[6]
In 1987, McLauchlan appeared on the children's television show, Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show singing his The Farmer's Song. He appeared in Season 4 of The Elephant Show on the "Urban Cowboy" episode.
McLauchlan hosted the highly rated CBC Radio program Swinging On a Star from 1989 to 1994.[8][9]
McLauchlan has held a commercial pilot license (CPL) with Instrument flight rating (IFR) and endorsements for multi-engine aircraft and seaplanes for decades. During a performance in the 1980s, McLauchlan commented to audiences, half-jokingly, of "giving this music thing a little more time"[10] before giving it up and returning to flying for a living.
In the late 1990s, McLauchlan was flying commercial airplanes as a "bush pilot" in Northern Canada. In 1984 he starred in a television special called Floating over Canada, in which he piloted a Cessna 185 float plane across Canada.[8] This special was broadcast in Canada on CBC as well as in the U.S. on public television (PBS). This TV special featured several songs from Murray's then current album, "Heroes" and featured a number of special musical guests: Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ian Tyson, Gordon Lightfoot, Sylvie Tremblay, Levon Helm (of The Band), and Edith Butler, all of them representing different aspects and/or regions of Canada.
In 1998, Penguin (Viking Books) released his autobiography The Ballad of Murray McLauchlan: Getting Out of Here Alive.[4]
In 2004 McLauchlan helped form a group known as "Lunch At Allen's" featuring McLauchlan, Marc Jordan, Cindy Church and Ian Thomas. The group formed as a result of meeting in Toronto for lunch at Allen's restaurant after McLauchlan's heart bypass surgery. Three CDs have been released as a result of this collaboration: Lunch at Allens (2004), Catch the Moon (2007) and More Lunch at Allens (2010).
During the summer of 2016, he was performing in Lunch at Allen's in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[11]
Awards[edit | edit source]
McLauchlan has won 11 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 2001, McLauchlan was the recipient of the National Achievement Award at the annual SOCAN Awards held in Toronto.[12][1][13]
McLauchlan was chosen to be inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame in September 2016.[14]
In 2018, McLauchlan received a Governor General's Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement https://www.gg.ca/en/media/news/2018/governor-generals-performing-arts-awards
In 2022 Murray was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame, presented to him by Gordon Lightfoot https://www.cshf.ca/songwriter/murray-mclauchlan
Family[edit | edit source]
He is married to Denise Donlon, and they have a son, Duncan (b. March 1992).
Discography[edit | edit source]
Murray McLauchlan solo career (1971–2021)[edit | edit source]
Albums[edit | edit source]
| 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 | |||
| 2006 | The Songbook...New Arrivals (Songs From The Musical "Eddie") | Capitol/EMI | |||
| 2007 | Songs from the Street: The Best of Murray McLauchlan | True North | |||
| 2011 | Human Writes | True North | |||
| 2017 | Love Can't Tell Time | True North | |||
| 2021 | Hourglass | True North | |||
With Lunch at Allen's (2004–present)[edit | edit source]
Albums[edit | edit source]
| Year | Album | Chart Positions | CRIA | Label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN Country | CAN | ||||
| 2004 | Lunch at Allen's | Capitol/EMI | |||
| 2007 | Catch the Moon | Capitol/EMI | |||
| 2010 | More Lunch at Allen's | Linus | |||
| 2012 | Zuzu’s Petals - A Lunch At Allen’s Christmas | ||||
| 2017 | If It Feels Right | ||||
Singles[edit | edit source]
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAN | CAN AC | CAN Country | |||
| 1972 | "I Just Get Older" | -- | -- | -- | Song from the Street |
| "Jesus Please Don't Save Me (Till I Die)" | 44 | -- | -- | ||
| 1973 | "Lose We" / "The Farmer's Song" |
-- 8 |
13 3 |
-- 8 |
Murray McLauchlan |
| "Hurricane of Change" | 9 | -- | -- | Day to Day Dust | |
| 1974 | "Linda, Won't You Take Me In" | 15 | 12 | 28 | |
| "Shoeshine Workin' Song" | 59 | 13 | 15 | Sweeping the Spotlight Away | |
| 1975 | "Do You Dream of Being Somebody" / "Maybe Tonight" |
16 -- |
9 -- |
-- 10 | |
| "Down by the Henry Moore" | 12 | 1 | 1 | ||
| "Little Dreamer" | 15 | -- | -- | Single only | |
| 1976 | "On the Boulevard" | 45 | 4 | 25 | Boulevard |
| "Slingback Shoes" | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1977 | "Love Comes and Goes" | 77 | -- | -- | Hard Rock Town |
| 1978 | "Straight Outa Midnight" | 88 | -- | -- | |
| 1979 | "Whispering Rain" | 24 | 15 | 27 | Whispering Rain |
| "You Can't Win" / "Somebody's Long Lonely Tonight" |
89 -- |
-- -- |
-- 41 | ||
| "You've Got No Time" | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1980 | "Try Walkin' Away" / "Don't Put Your Faith in Men" |
53 -- |
11 -- |
-- 24 |
Into a Mystery |
| "Into a Mystery" | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1981 | "If the Wind Could Blow My Troubles Away" | 45 | 26 | -- | Storm Warning |
| "Wouldn't Take Another Chance On Love" | -- | -- | -- | ||
| 1982 | "Happiness" | -- | -- | -- | Windows |
| 1983 | "Jealousy" | -- | -- | -- | |
| "Animals" | -- | -- | -- | ||
| "Never Did Like That Train" | -- | 20 | 18 | Timberline | |
| 1984 | "Red River Flood" / "On the Subject of Loneliness" |
-- -- |
-- 26 |
18 -- | |
| "Everything Reminds Me of Loving You" | -- | -- | 37 | ||
| "Railroad Man" / "Sayonara Maverick" |
-- -- |
-- -- |
19 60 |
Heroes | |
| 1985 | "Song for Captain Keast" | -- | -- | 32 | |
| "When You Become a Memory" / "I'm Best at Loving You" |
-- -- |
16 -- |
11 13 |
Midnight Break | |
| 1986 | "Me and Joey" | -- | -- | 34 | |
| 1988 | "My Imaginary Tree" | -- | -- | -- | Swinging on a Star |
| 1989 | "Love with a Capital "L"" | -- | -- | 12 | |
| "Please Don't Call It Runnin' Away" | -- | -- | 35 | ||
| 1990 | "Swinging on a Star" | -- | -- | 23 | |
| 1991 | "The Modern Age" | 63 | 21 | 75 | 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[edit | edit source]
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References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
- ↑ [Barney Bentall "Weathering change 25 years on, Murray McLauchlan toils happily in relative solitude"]. Toronto Star - Toronto, Ont. Mitch Potter 14 December 1996 Page: SW.15
- ↑
- ↑ 4.0 4.1
- ↑
- ↑ 6.0 6.1
- ↑
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Murray McLauchlan – The Canadian Encyclopedia
- ↑
- ↑ Festival of Friends concert at Gage Park, Hamilton, Ontario
- ↑ Lunch At Allen's brings talented musicians back to Barrie. Susan Doolan. (10 June 2016) Retrieved 13 June 2016 from Barrie Examiner
- ↑ 2001 SOCAN Awards. Retrieved 25 August 2016 from link
- ↑ "Award recognizes McLauchlan's career" . The Record – Kitchener, Ont. 21 November 2001, B.06
- ↑
Further reading[edit | edit source]
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- 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) <templatestyles src="Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css"></templatestyles>ISBN 0-670-87659-3
- Murray McLauchlan Biography at Maple Music Archived 8 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
External links[edit | edit source]
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- 1948 births
- Living people
- Canadian country singer-songwriters
- Canadian male singer-songwriters
- Canadian folk singer-songwriters
- Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year winners
- Members of the Order of Canada
- Musicians from Paisley, Renfrewshire
- Scottish emigrants to Canada
- Commercial aviators
- Governor General's Award winners
- Singers from Toronto