Any June Christy fans on here?

Have just recently discovered this marvelously "cool jazz" vocalist. I started, of course, with her signature Something Cool album and am quickly adding more recordings from her 50's and 60's catalog to my collection.

My latest acquisition is the recently released two-fer of her 1960 albums The Cool School and Do-Re-Mi. I like The Cool School especially, but I noticed something interesting about her outstanding rendition of "Swinging on a Star." She actually flubbed the lyrics in the line where's she's supposed sing, "You might grow up to be a pig." Instead she sings, "You might grow up to be a fish." I was really surprised that they let that go, so it made me wonder: Is it possible they picked up an alternate version of this song for the CD release, or is this the way it appeared on the original vinyl? Or was that perhaps the best take and they had to live with it? I figured if anybody out there knows the story behind this, it would be somebody on here.

At any rate, I look forward to adding more titles by this fine singer to my collection.

 

Yep, I just played "This Time Of Year" the other night. I have these CD's which I enjoy very much:

The Misty Miss Christy
Something Cool
Ballads for Night People/The Intimate Miss Christy
Gone for the Day/Fairer and Warmer
The Song Is June/Offbeat
Complete Capitol Small Group Transcriptions
Duet

I also have her 1977 album "Impromptu" on vinyl.

One of my favorite singers.


See also--

Thoughts, please: June Christy & Anita O'Day...

 

Ah, I missed that thread when I did a quick search. Thanks! On this board it seems Anita is the clear favorite between the two. I love her music as well, but I appreciate Anita and June as two completely different singers, vocally and stylistically. I went through a big Anita craze not too long ago.

This Time of Year is great for...well, this time of year!

 

I have developed an appetite for these 50s divas, and have included June Christie among my acquisitions. I have Ballads for Night People, Intimate Miss Christy and a GH collection. In her case, it seems she performed many songs that are not 'standards' (to me,that means recorded too often), which adds value to my listening.

 

I like June and always pick up her albums.. I think I have most of them... but I do think that the words William Somerset Maugham unjustly used to describe himself are apt and she is "in the very front row of the second rate..."...

I wouldn't include her, for example, with say a Helen Merrill....

 

June Christy =

 

My dad turned me on to June in the early 60s. Rediscovered her in the early 80s. Wonderful talent!

 

June Christy is sublime. And I'm proud to count a good number of her albums among my CD collection. I can't say exactly what attracts me to her music, though. As others have stated, her voice definitely isn't as flexible or "pretty" as other female artists in the 50s and 60s. In fact, "cool" as her singing might have been, her vocals where often "hard" or "forced" sounding; throaty and pushed. But, perhaps that's precisely what I find so intriguing. June was able to express so much with a voice that often sounded like it would fall, or rather break, apart at any given moment. But that was simply her style and man, is it GREAT!

 

Really enjoy her singing , have a bunch of her lp's in my collection , great stuff !!

 

Oh I've plugged her here many a-time. Partly influenced by Anita O'Day, June Christy's singular, idiosyncratic and imperfect style was in turn influential among female vocalists from the start and a number of them, including Chris Connor and Keely Smith, based their vocal styles upon hers. At a time when effortlessness was highly valued, she deliberately incorporated effort into her expressive syntax. Many point to her sometimes obvious limitations (which tended to become more of an issue as time went on) and one has to be willing to accept them. Naturally this, together with her partnership and associations with Stan Kenton and Pete Rugolo, music men considered to lean a bit more towards art than universal appeal, contributed to making her relatively controversial and divisive.

Originally a "band canary" largely associated with the Stan Kenton band, in her solo career at Capitol she went on to carve another distinctive niche as the esoteric side of classic pop. June was a dangerous gun to take to the range whether the label was shooting for commercial or creative hits, but between backfires, misfires and scattered shots, she could strike a more whimsically personal spot few if any aimed at and did so many times before she pretty much fizzled out in the early '60s. In the process she made some of the finest classic pop of the era. Something Cool was the highest profile while Gone for the Day, a sadly under-appreciated jewel, is perhaps her finest and a masterpiece of its kind.

 

I've known about Something Cool for a few years but somehow stumbled onto Ballads for Night People... Wow! The opener, Bewitched, is simply stunning and there's lots more to enjoy. Never knew about Gone for the Day so I'll have to search that out...

 

The Capitol Jazz CD of Gone for the Day sounds fine and pairs it with another of her albums, Fair and Warmer.

 

Count me as a huge fan. Have all the Capitol albums, love 'em all. Her reading of "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" from THE SONG IS JUNE just slays me - brings a tear, every time. There's just something indescribable about her voice and approach - one might grasp at an explanation by combining the adjectives girlish, sexy, wise, playful, melancholy, and (of course) cool - but that ends up not coming even close to capturing it. Complex, indeed (which I find ironic since I have heard many people who don't like her casually write her off as "just another one of those 50s/60s 'cool school' vocalists, they all sound the same." Ahem, no.).

She was great almost right from the start, even quite early in her career (before the classic run of LPs for Capitol during her mature period, which are justifiably celebrated), as this release (with material from the 1947-50 period) shows:


If you want to go back even further, this Mosaic box of radio transcriptions is very enjoyable - Christy's contributions, from 1945-6 (just before the stuff in the DAY DREAMS compilation), show her to just be finding her way - it's not "prime" Christy - but I still really enjoy the stuff and the Lee contributions ARE primo:

 

One last Christy favorite (can you tell I'm sort of a nut for her?):



I freely admit this is NOT prime Christy - the unconverted/uninitiated should definitely NOT start here - but if you end up being smitten by her music and style as I am, you may well want to pick this 1977 "swan song" up. Here's the All Music summary:

"After a long series of recordings for Capitol during 1952-65, June Christy gradually retired from singing. She only returned to the studios once, for this Discovery LP. Assisted by the Lou Levy sextet (which consisted of the leader-pianist, trumpeter Jack Sheldon, trombonist Frank Rosolino, tenorman Bob Cooper, bassist Bob Daugherty and drummer Shelly Manne), Christy avoided revisiting her hits and instead mixed in some newer material (such as "Once Upon a Summertime," "Everything Must Change" and "Sometime Ago") with a few older standards. A little rusty during this final effort, June Christy's sincerity and swing will win over listeners."

And for once All Music gets it just about right (though their assignment of 2 stars is sort of a disconnect - I'd say a solid 3-3.5)...she DOES sound undeniably rusty, and the quality of the voice has taken some hits, and yet as is the case with many fine artists who have their own thing going, the essence of her art still comes through in spades and, for a big fan like me, that carries the day - one can overlook the technical flaws - in fact the impact ends up being, if anything, even greater BECAUSE she's plugging on and communicating at a deep level despite the limitations. And how about that band, huh? A West Coaster couldn't do much better than that lineup.

 

Beautifully stated.

In short, Miss Christy had SOUL. From what I've read, her life wasn't all smooth sailing... she apparently had a drinking problem and suffered other personal issues. But in her 1950s prime, she was something really special.

In an industry where image is perhaps more important than talent, she was not a conventionally beautiful woman, but she was cute as a button and she had wonderful style. In other words, she sends me!

 

^^^^ Cute as a button indeed, could not agree more.

 

Great thread!

I've only Something Cool and Gone For the Day on vinyl, glad to find out there's more of her music to explore.

If I only have those two LPs, what should I get next?

 

"The Misty Miss Christy" from 1956 is a nice moody follow-up to "Something Cool."

 

She really fit in with the Kenton Sound - that chalky voice of hers is almost a woodwind section by itself.





Now playing on http://www.arielstream.com/]Ariel Stream[/URL]: Carrie Newcomer - Hush

 

I don't like her. I find her voice too cold/detached/impersonal. That being said, I'm so glad to see other folks out there who love this type of music. I couldn't bear the weekend without hearing Blossom Dearie, Mildred Bailey, Keely Smith, Doris Day (primarily her Les Brown discs), Helen Forest, and all those gals who sweeten up my Sunday morning. By Sunday afternoon, its The Ramones, The Jam, Velvet Underground, et cetera!

 

Thanks for that! I just scored a ULN copy on the Bay... Btw, I also have The Misty Miss Christy & June's Got Rhythm (In addition to Something Cool & Night People (my personal favourite!))... If there's anything else I should be on the lookout for, I'd appreciate someone letting me know!