AMG Review of Talk It Over in the Morning

Greg Adams
All Music Guide

Anne Murray's third Capitol album contains her hit version of "Cotton Jenny," written by fellow Canadian Gordon Lightfoot. Although the song charted much higher on the country than the pop charts, Murray continued to ply her singer/songwriter sound that had more in common with Judy Collins, Jim Croce, or Carole King than mainstream country singers. Unlike Collins et al., Murray is mainly an interpreter of songs instead of a writer. On Talk It Over in the Morning she draws from mostly pop sources, revamping the melody of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend" and tackling another song associated with James Taylor, the funky "Night Owl." Her remake of the 1962 R&B hit "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" shows again how catholic Murray's tastes are. Unlike many of the other pop-folk-country artists record labels couldn't figure out how to market in the early '70s, Murray was embraced by the country audience -- in part because of her appearances on Glen Campbell's television show -- and enjoyed strong sales in that market even if her music didn't sound very "country."