Carol continued to sing in small bars and clubs until she met the road manager of the Les and Larry Elgart Orchestra, which was touring the amusement park ballrooms in the southern New England area. She auditioned for Larry Elgart, who then asked her to come to New York with his band. The brothers had recently split the organization, Les taking the territory west of Chicago, Larry to handle everything east of Chicago. Larry Elgart suggested she change her name to Carol Sloane.
The "road years" with the Larry Elgart band continued until 1960, when the road simply became too boring and too difficult for her. After two years on the road, she was still unknown, and there were no singing engagements to be had. She took various secretarial jobs booked through Manhattan temp agencies. She continued her working relationship with the former road manager of the Elgart band, who had become an agent in the office of the legendary Willard Alexander. This man, Bob Bonis, arranged for Carol to sing at a jazz festival in Pittsburgh in 1960, at which time she met Lambert, Hendricks and Ross.
Jon Hendricks asked Carol if she could learn the LH&R book in order to be prepared to take Annie Ross' place if that ever became necessary. Carol agreed to study the group's exacting material, and continued her secretarial gigs. Then, one night in early 1961, when attending a performance of LH&R at the Village Vanguard, Jon asked Carol to sing a couple of tunes on her own, after which the legendary proprietor Max Gordon asked her if she'd like to sing at the club the following August as opening act for Oscar Peterson.
Another auspicious move was quietly being made for Carol in 1961, without her knowledge: Jon Hendricks made a very persuasive argument to the producers that Carol should be included in that year's Newport Jazz Festival as part of the "New Stars" program. On the afternoon of that presentation, Carol had the use of the Ike Isaacs Trio which backed LH&R. The pianist, Gildo Mahones, didn't know the verse to the Rodgers & Hart song "Little Girl Blue" so Carol blithely suggested she would sing it a cappella, and did so. The New York press unanimously praised the young woman's talent, exceptional intonation and pitch, and she was also heard by a representative of Columbia Records. Her first album,"Out of the Blue" was recorded a few short months later, with arrangements by the legendary Bill Finegan, and an orchestra boasting Clark Terry and Bob Brookmeyer among the soloists.
In the 1960's, Carol Sloane sang in major clubs such as Mr. Kelly's in Chicago where she opened for Jackie Mason and the Smothers Brothers; at the hungry I in San Francisco where she opened for Bill Cosby, Godfrey Cambridge and Richard Pryor; she also opened for Phyllis Diller, Stiller and Meara and Jackie Vernon at the Blue Angel in New York; she appeared regularly on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and became a regular member of the radio cast on Arthur Godfrey's CBS weekly program. She continued to record and make club and concert appearances during this decade until the Beatles and rock 'n roll began to consume the popular culture, forcing some jazz venues to the edge of ruin. In 1969, Carol accepted an offer to sing in a club in Raleigh, North Carolina, found the atmosphere in that city very much less hectic than New York, with an audience eager to hear and support jazz artists. She relocated to the south at the beginning of 1970.
Carol worked both as a singer and a legal secretary for the next several years, eventually returning to New York to begin a turbulent relationship with a legendary jazz pianist, Jimmy Rowles. Jimmy's reputation as a master accompanist and soloist was solid and undisputed, but his alcoholism made their situation often stormy. He did, however, pull himself together long enough to play for Ella Fitzgerald when Tommy Flanagan left after almost twenty years of accompanying the great singer. Jimmy's tenure was much shorter: only two years at the outside. He then decided to return to Los Angeles, and did so at the end of 1980. Carol also left New York, this time returning to her beloved New England.
She arrived in Boston in January, 1981, accepted a job in a prestigious law firm, and promptly threw away the idea of an "ordinary" life when a friend asked her to return to N.C. to help him in his new supper club recently opened in Chapel Hill. The venue was beautiful, comfortable and truly a perfect setting for any artist, and Carol booked her friends into the club: Shirley Horn, Joe Williams, George Shearing, Marian McPartland, Anita O'Day, Jackie & Roy, and of course, the great Carmen McRae. This club managed to last all of two years, a remarkable accomplishment. Carol also hosted a radio show at the NPR affiliate in Chapel Hill. In 1984, while singing in a Boston club, she met the man whom she would eventually marry.
Her marriage to Buck Spurr took place in November, 1986, and Carol has lived in the Boston area since that time. She recorded two albums for Contemporary in 1988 and 1989, then signed with Concord Jazz in 1991, recording six solo albums and touring Japan many times as part of the Concord-Fujitsu Festival. Carol stayed busy making her debut with the Boston Pops Orchestra at Symphony Hall, Boston in 1998, then with the New York Pops Orchestra in 1999, and recorded a tribute album to Duke Ellington on the DRG label that same year. In March 2000, she began a second career in radio, hosting The Jazz Matinee, a four-hour jazz program, five days a week on WICN-FM, the NPR affiliate in Worcester, Mass. This jazz show took a full year's time to produce, until, in the spring of 2001, a heavy performance schedule made it necessary for Carol to leave WICN to resume touring and also record a new CD. In 2001, Carol signed a contract with the famous HighNote Jazz label which issued the first cd titled "I Never Went Away." This has been followed by "Whisper Sweet."
Carol's most recent recording, "Dearest Duke", was released in April of 2007 on the Arbors label. Featuring Brad Hatfield on piano and Ken Peplowski on tenor sax and clarinet, this cd contains 15 tunes of Ellington material plus Billy Strayhorn's "Day Dream."
Carol Sloane's website: www.carolsloane.com
Misty
Carol Sloane Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I feel like I'm hanging from a cloud, I can't understand
I get misty, just holding your hand, walk my way
And a thousand violins begin to play
Or it might be the sound of your hello
This magic I hear, I get misty the moment you're near
You could say that you're leading me on, but it's just what I want you to do
Can't you see just how hopelessly I'm drawn, that's why I'm following you
Never knowing my right foot from my left, my hat from my glove
I get misty, and too much in love on my own
Would I wander through this wonderland alone
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat and my glove, I get misty and too much in love
Look at me
, I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree' is the opening line of Carol Sloane's song Misty. The first verse is a metaphorical expression of the singer's emotional state. Here, the singer compares herself to a helpless kitten, stuck on a tree, she is hanging in mid-air, a metaphorical representation of her emotional confusion. The second line further emphasizes the singer's disorientation as she feels like she is hanging from a cloud, indicating she is in a dream-like state. The singer then goes on to describe how she gets misty and feels like she is holding onto a cloud the moment her crush holds her hand.
The second verse begins with a violin accompaniment, triggered by the magic of her crush's presence. The singer emphasizes that her misty feeling could be the sound of her crush's hello or the thousand violins that are playing. She then admits that her crush may be leading her on, but she is happy to follow. The singer confesses that she is hopelessly drawn to her crush, which is why she is following him. The final lines of the song express the singer's fear of losing her crush when she is on her own.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at me, I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree
I am vulnerable and in need of assistance, like a small cat stuck in a tree.
And I feel like I'm hanging from a cloud, I can't understand
I am in a state of confusion and disorientation that makes me feel like I am floating in the air.
I get misty, just holding your hand, walk my way
I become overcome with emotions of joy and enchantment when I am near you and holding your hand.
And a thousand violins begin to play or it might be the sound of your hello
When I am near you, I feel like I am surrounded by a beautiful orchestra or it could just be the sound of your voice that makes me feel this way.
This magic I hear, I get misty the moment you're near
The feeling I get when I'm close to you is indescribable and makes me feel like I'm in a magical realm.
You could say that you're leading me on, but it's just what I want you to do
You may be giving me false hope, but I willingly choose to follow you because of my feelings for you.
Can't you see just how hopelessly I'm drawn, that's why I'm following you
I am completely under your spell and can't resist your charm which causes me to pursue you.
On my own, would I wander through this wonderland alone
Without you, I would be lost and wandering aimlessly in this beautiful world around me.
Never knowing my right foot from my left, my hat from my glove
I would be so lost without you that I would even forget the difference between my body parts and clothing.
I get misty and too much in love on my own
My emotions become overwhelming and I feel like I am drowning in love, especially when I am on my own without you by my side.
Would I wander through this wonderland alone, never knowing my right foot from my left
I would be lost and confused, with no sense of direction or control over my surroundings.
My hat and my glove, I get misty and too much in love
Even the simplest things, like my hat and glove, become overwhelming and insignificant compared to the immense feelings of love I have for you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Tratore, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Spirit Music Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Erroll Garner, Johnny Burke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind