Posted: 07/04/08 09:46 PM
Author: Linda Berrian
Location: Canada
Posts: 3
[Reply]
| lyrics to Anna Marie - Susan Jacks - Poppy Family
Hello. I personally knew the writer, Bruce Miller, who was about 20 yrs old when he wrote the song; Either it was written just before we got together, or was completed at that time. The lyrics were originally "Oh, Anna Marie..." not "I'm Anna Marie", written by a young man in (unrequited) love. He must have changed it (amazingly easy to do under the circumstances) for Susan Jacks to sing it from a female perspective. We we close for about 6 months, during 1972. He was studying Violin at the Victoria Music Conservatory, Victoria BC Canada. His instructor there, Sydney Humphries, said Bruce was his "most unusual student". Bruce was an amazing guitarist, with incredible technique, and extremely versatile, style-wise. While in Victoria, he composed unique music for a professional experimental drama group, under intensive time demands. He was born in the San Francisco area to American parents, with a father who played guitar (prefered country music) & a mother who loved classical music. Bruce moved to Canada in the mid-1960's as a teenager, with his mother, who remarried a Canadian (Vancouver). While still in Californa, at the age of 12, Bruce became obsessed with the guitar after hearing a friend's father, of Mexican descent, play the it with great passion. Bruce was going through a difficult time (parents' divorce) and the guitar became his emotional outlet. In Victoria he would practice 8 hours a day, and after that find other musicians to jam with, or play a gig. He was a committed musician. After Victoria, he sang in a group doing 4-part harmony, paid by a city grant in Vancouver, and then started touring, both Canada & the States. He opened frequently for "Valdy", a Canadian acoustic guitarist and songwriter. Bruce's father was a lawyer in San Francisco, who offered to help him join the musicians' union. I understand that he ultimately opted to be a songwriter rather than a singer, although he was a great performer. I cannot remember a concert where people did not give him a standing ovation. This is a man who is well worth finding, and I wish you luck. I DO know that he did an album called "Rude Awakening", not sure if it was before or after "Anna Marie" became popular. I was living in Europe the latter half of the seventies, so lost contact with many friends.
Is this any help to you? Sincerely, Linda |
