Kate McGarrigle (February 6, 1946 – January 18, 2010) and Anna McGarrigle (born December 4, 1944) were a duo of Canadian singer-songwriters (and sisters) from
Quebec, who performed until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.
Their songs have been covered by a variety of artists including
Linda Ronstadt,[1]Emmylou Harris,[1]Judy Collins,[1] and others. These covers led to the McGarrigles getting their first recording contract in 1974. They released their eponymous debut album in 1976,[note 1] and created nine more albums through 2008.[1]
Although associated with Quebec's
anglophone community, they also recorded and performed many songs in French. Two of their albums, Entre la jeunesse et la sagesse and La vache qui pleure, are entirely in French.
They continued to write, record and perform music into the 21st century, with assorted accompanying artists including
Gerry Conway,
Pat Donaldson, Ken Pearson, Michel Pépin, Chaim Tannenbaum and
Joel Zifkin.[3]
Personal lives
Anna and
Kate McGarrigle were born in
Montreal of mixed Irish- and French-Canadian background. They grew up in
Saint-Sauveur, where they learned piano from nuns. In 1971 Kate married the singer-songwriter
Loudon Wainwright III. Their children,
Rufus and
Martha, are also both singers. The two divorced in 1976. Kate McGarrigle died in 2010, aged 63, of
sarcoma, a rare form of cancer.[8][9]
Anna McGarrigle was married to Canadian journalist and author
Dane Lanken until his death on March 3, 2023. The couple had two children, Lily Lanken and Sylvan Lanken, and lived in
North Glengarry, Ontario, just west of the Quebec border. Dane appeared as a vocalist on several of the sisters' albums and in 2007 wrote their career biography. Another sister,
Jane McGarrigle (born April 26, 1941), is a film and television composer who acted as business manager for Kate and Anna, and also wrote and performed several songs with the duo.[3]: 114
They received the 2010
Mojo Roots Award, which was presented by Emmylou Harris. The award was accepted by Anna and Kate's children Rufus and Martha Wainwright, as Kate had died early that year on January 18.[12]
All I Intended to Be by Emmylou Harris (2008) – "Moon Song", "Sailing 'Round The Room", "How She Could Sing the Wildwood Flower"[14]
I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too by Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle – keyboard, synths and background vocals (12), Kate McGarrigle – hand claps (2), Wurlitzer (12), backing vocals (12)
Ring Them Bells by
Joan Baez – "Willie Moore" (Traditional) Baez, Kate, and Anna McGarrigle vocals; Baez guitar, Kate McGarrigle banjo, Anna McGarrigle accordion.
Filmography
DVDs
The McGarrigle Hour (1999) – with Rufus Wainwright, Martha Wainwright, Loudon Wainwright, Chaim Tannenbaum, Jane McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt and Lily Lanken).
2009 – A Not So Silent Night (2009) – with Rufus and Martha Wainwright.
Lanken, Dane (2007). Thirty-three Kate and Anna McGarrigle Songs. Canada: Penumbra Press.
ISBN978-1-897323-05-2.
McGarrigle, Anna; McGarrigle, Jane (2015). Mountain City Girls. Canada: Penguin Random House.
ISBN978-0-345-81402-9.
Notes
^
abVarious sources use the album's recording date of '1975'[2]: 315
also as the release date,
but several reliable sources in books[3]: 30–31 [4]: 316 [5]: 162 and newspaper articles, both in the US[6][7] and the UK,[8] indicate or cite '1976' and 'January 1976' as the release date.
References
^
abcd"McGarrigle sisters writing a memoir". Toronto Daily Star, April 14, 2014, E2.
^McGarrigle, Anna & Jane (2015). Mountain City Girls. Canada: Penguin Random House.
ISBN978-0-345-81402-9. We began recording in New York City in late 1974 and finished nine months later in LA, with Joe [Boyd] and Greg [Prestopino] co-producing.
^
abcLanken, Dane (2007). Kate and Anna McGarrigle Songs and Stories. Canada: Penumbra Press.
ISBN978-1-897323-04-5. Kate & Anna McGarrigle January 1976
^McGarrigle, Anna & Jane (2015). Mountain City Girls. Canada: Penguin Random House.
ISBN978-0-345-81402-9. In preparation for the tour to support our new record, which was due out in January 1976, Kate and I began rehearsals with a band in NYC.
^Women Who Are Making Music, by John Rockwell in The New York Times, January 15, 1976. (See Lanken, Dane (2007), page 30)
^Kate & Anna McGarrigle, in Billboard, January 17, 1976. (See Lanken, Dane (2007), page 31)
^
abRussell, Tony (January 19, 2010).
"Kate McGarrigle obituary". theguardian.com. Retrieved February 22, 2016. Their first album, [...] simply titled Kate & Anna McGarrigle (1976), ...