June Christy (L) and Peggy Lee
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger (Re-posted by popular request from 2012)
We don’t need to reproduce the lyrics when posting a song from the 1940’s. The big bands all had vocalists who valued clear pronunciation. Frank Sinatra had to lose his Hoboken accent and he took diction lessons. He took great pride in the presentation of clear lyrics, and so did June Christy who sang with the Stan Kenton Orchestra.
Kenton performed big band jazz arrangements, and Ms. Christy was known as a jazz singer. As a college student in the 1960’s, I played in the FDU jazz band, and, although we were about done with the big bands, we loved to play those Stan Kenton charts.
June Christy (1925-1990) was from Decatur, Illinois. She started out as a band singer when she was 29 years old. This song is from the album “Ladies of the 1940’s.” And, all kisses aside, I decided on this song because it’s been a long, long time since we had a ’40’s era tune on Blogfinger.
Note the precision in Kenton’s sax section: 5 musicians sounding like one.
Kenton was the best, really demanding trumpet book, probably the most difficult book out there.
Harvey requested “Willow Weep for Me’ by June Christy. We posted it.
It reminded me of a quartet I was in many years ago. I played sax. Our pianist was a young lady—very thin with long black hair all the way down her back. She was Italian, and her name was Bunny!! I don’t remember her real name. We played down the shore one summer in Lavalette. Some people called it “Love a lot.”
Anyhow, Bunny could only sing one song, and it was “Willow Weep for Me.” She pulled the mike up to her lips and sort of whispered the lyrics. It was a very provocative rendition from where I was standing, but in that noisy bar, I don’t think anyone even knew that she was singing. It is kind of dreary song, but I did like it when Bunny did it. PG
Thanks for this one. I heard her perform in person at Manhattan College in about 1958 or 1959… I’ll never forget it!
My recollection of Stan Kenton is of his big band orchestrations, not his vocalists. At the time of the Glen Miller, Dorsey Bros., Harry James, Charley Spivak, etc… the 40’s swing bands, I was fascinated by Kenton’s very different Capitol Records. I still have the 78s of Artistry Jumps, Painted Rhythm, and my favorite, Artistry in Rhythm. His Jazz and Latin music was so unique.
What about Christy singing–Willow Weep for Me–one of the best