Any June Christy fans on here?

Oh, yeah. On vinyl, her stuff is pretty easy to find. I got both the mono and stereo of Something Cool from the discount bins. They just tend to be in rough shape. Or the jackets do. My stereo copy of SC was pristine after a deep clean, but the mono copy is totally shot.

 

This maaaay have been covered before, but is the stereo of Something Cool worth picking up on its own? I have the Cisco mono reissue, and I've seen the stereo a few times in the bins. I know it's a re-recorded session, but somehow have never felt bothered to pick it up... Should I, next time we cross paths?

 

100% yes! Definitely.

The stereo version, in my eyes, may as well be another entity all its own. Some of the songs are more upbeat and bright. June changed the way she delivered some of them as well. "I'll Take Romance" and "This Time the Dream's On Me" are the best examples of this. The mono version is good for quiet moods and the stereo version is better when you want something with more bite.

 

Yes get the stereo. I picked up a pristine original and it's all tubey and her singing the songs about five or so years later from the mono, she seemed more weathered for the lyrics.

 

Does this still exist?

 

+1. I need this. I've seen her 1959 performance on Playboy Penthouse, but I'd need to see this. Especially if the color version has survived.

 

Rephrase that as, "Should I pick up one of the most significant recordings by one of the greatest singers in history?"

 

I know the above comment is 3 years old, but it couldn't be further from the truth. Second rate?

 

- I honestly think June Christy could sing rings around Helen Merrill.

 

- Bobby Troup hosting Stars of Jazz, with June Christy performing (video is a bit rough, but still enjoyable!)

 

- On the Nat King Cole Show (1957)

 

- On the Peter Cook and Dudley Moore series "Not Only, But Also" (1965)

 

- 1950

 

- Tampico, one of her biggest early hits (with Stan Kenton!)

 

- Just A Sittin' and A-Rockin' (with Stan Kenton)

 

- Playboy's Penthouse Party (1959) (previously shared earlier in this thread, but just to add it to the rest of these videos)

 

- With Mel Torme and Nat King Cole

 

The stereo Something Cool sounds great. Her voice had aged for the main title and I think she sings it with more emotion because it was about 5 years or so later when the mono came out

 

Why would anyone NOT get the stereo of Something Cool? Her entire catalog is legendary. She is among the greatest ever.

 

- I think given the fact that she literally re-recorded the entire thing for stereo (and it's supposed to sound very similar, but there have to be small differences, right?) you should own them both. I know I do!

 

It's a very, very obscure item, but copies must still exist. The Library of Congress could have one, for instance, and ditto for some industry people. However, this is not something that you are going to find in YouTube or most anywhere else in the net, nor does it even seem to be known or easily obtainable through sellers/collectors. (At least, such has been my belief for many years; I haven't checked for copies in ages ... Would be thrilled to be proven wrong!...)

We are talking about a 1955 eighteen-minute Universal short called A World of Beauty. It's actually a showcase of contestants from the 1954 Miss Universe Beauty Pageant. Here is the poster:



Pianist-singer Rose Murphy also makes an appearance. (Images of both June and Rose can be seen in the lower part of the poster. As far as as my opinion is concerned, Miss Misty and Miss Chi Chi are the winners of this contest. A tie, of course!)

Now, this short gives you an edited version of June's performance. I think that I saw the whole performance, thanks to an industry person who posted it in a private webpage and shared the webpage's address with some lucky few. After a few months, the page was taken down. (This was some 15 or 20 years ago. Since so many years have passed, I could be misremembering: it could have been the edited version instead.)

In 1999, there was a week-long Newport Beach symposium celebrating West Coast jazz music. Those who attended its film presentations were able to see this short. Here is a description, from a viewer:

"... a revelation to me: a COLOR Universal short by Will Cowan called A World of Beauty, a campy 1955 Miss Universe spectacle for which Pete Rugolo was music supervisor. Midway through the presentation, June Christy lip-synchs a staged (albeit truncated) treatment of Something Cool. June is shown seated at the bar of a make-believe lounge -- tastefully made-up and bejeweled, and elegantly dressed in a powder-blue gown -- singing to a white-tuxedoed gent. The editing suggests that the entire song might have been filmed: the performance opens with a full shot of June, then cuts to a close-up which ends at the line I'm so terribly far from home," which then jumps to another body shot of June (now with a cigarette) where she begins the song's middle section (I bet you couldn't imagine) ..."

As I re-read this viewer's comments, I am feeling more certain that what I saw was the full performance, not this truncated version.

 

It's her voice and phrasing, among the best in jazz history. No question.