London's 35-year acting career began in films in 1944 and included playing opposite Gary Cooper in Man of the West (1958) and Robert Mitchum in The Wonderful Country (1959). She achieved continuing success in the TV medical drama Emergency! (1972–1979), co-starring her real-life husband, Bobby Troup, and produced by her ex-husband, Jack Webb, in which London played the female lead role of nurse Dixie McCall. She and Randolph Mantooth, who played one-half of her medical students, a paramedic, in the series, were very close to her family, until her death in 2000.
Born in Santa Rosa, California, she was the daughter of Jack and Josephine Peck, who were a vaudeville song-and-dance team. When she was fourteen the family moved to Los Angeles. Shortly after that, she began appearing in movies. She graduated from the Hollywood Professional High School in 1945.
London began singing under the name Gayle Peck in public in her teens before appearing in a film. She was discovered by talent agent Sue Carol (wife of actor Alan Ladd), while working as an elevator operator. Her early film career, however, did not include any singing roles.
London recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. She was the subject of a 1957 Life cover article in which she was quoted as saying, "It's only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate."
London's debut recordings were for the Bethlehem Records label. While shopping for a record deal, she recorded four tracks that would later be included on the compilation album Bethlehem's Girlfriends in 1955. Bobby Troup backed London on the album, for which London recorded the standards "Don't Worry About Me", "Motherless Child", "A Foggy Day", and "You're Blasé".
London's most famous single, "Cry Me a River", was written by her high-school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by Troup. The recording became a million-seller after its release in December 1955 and also sold on reissue in April 1983 from the attention brought by a Mari Wilson cover. London performed the song in the film The Girl Can't Help It (1956), and her recording gained later attention in the films Passion of Mind (2000) and V for Vendetta (2006). The song "Yummy Yummy Yummy" was featured on the HBO television series Six Feet Under and appears on its soundtrack album. London's "Must Be Catchin'" was featured in the 2011 premiere episode of the ABC series Pan Am. Her last recording was "My Funny Valentine" for the soundtrack of the Burt Reynolds film Sharky's Machine (1981).
Other popular singles include "Hot Toddy", "Daddy", and "Desafinado". Recordings such as "Go Slow" epitomized her career style: her voice is slow, smoky, and playfully sensual.
She was married to Jack Webb, of Dragnet fame. Her obvious beauty and self-poise (she was a pinup girl prized by GIs during World War II) contrasted with his pedestrian appearance and stiff-as-a-board acting technique (much parodied by impersonators). This unlikely pairing arose from his and her love for jazz; their marriage lasted from July 1947 to November 1953. They had two daughters, one who was killed in a traffic accident in the 1990s and one who survived London. In 1954, having become somewhat reclusive after her divorce from Jack Webb, she met jazz composer and musician Bobby Troup at a club on La Brea Blvd. They married on December 31, 1959 and remained married until Troup's death in February 1999. Together, they had one daughter and twin sons.
London suffered a stroke in 1995, and was in poor health until her death in Encino, California, at the age of seventy-four, survived by four of her five children. She died on18th October 2000, and was buried in Forest Lawn - Hollywood Hills Cemetery in Los Angeles.
About the Blues
Julie London Lyrics
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About the blues
They always hit you when you can't hit back
And when their blue enough there's something black
About the blues and if you fail, their gonna fade, you lose
About the blues
They serve you memories on a plate of tears
They know your appetite will last for years
You can't refuse
You join the club and gotta pay your dues
When you hang your hat in heartberak hall
Your win broken dreams must crawl
And your gloom will continue to grow
Until there's nothing that you don't know
About the blues
About the blues
You can't look forward to the day your free
You look but yesterday is all you see
Don't buy a book about it, just ask me
About the blues
About the blues
The song "About the Blues" by Julie London is a jazzy lament about the universal experience of heartbreak, loss, and the blues. The opening lines suggest that when the blues hit, they hit hard, and often when you feel most vulnerable and unprepared. The lyrics weave in a narrative about the persistence of the blues - how they linger and seep into every corner of your life. The lines "They know your appetite will last for years / You can't refuse / You join the club and gotta pay your dues" paint a picture of a society of people who have gone through the same intense emotions, and who have forged a kind of identity around their collective blues. And like joining any club, it's not free - you have to "pay your dues" in terms of heartbreak, loss, and despair.
The way Julie London delivers the lyrics is poignant, her voice low and slow, with the notes trailing off at the end of each line, creating a sense of resignation and despair. The song is a reminder that sometimes it's not possible to simply "get over it", that some losses can shape who we are and how we see the world.
Line by Line Meaning
They always hit you when you can't hit back
Blues hit you hard when you're at your lowest and can't fight back.
And when their blue enough there's something black
Blues keep getting darker until they reach a point where they are almost black.
About the blues and if you fail, their gonna fade, you lose
Blues will drain your hope and if you fail to overcome them, you will lose yourself in them.
They serve you memories on a plate of tears
Blues remind you of painful memories that make you cry.
They know your appetite will last for years
Blues know that once they have got you, you will crave them for a long time to come.
You can't refuse
Once you're hooked on the blues, you can't resist their pull.
You join the club and gotta pay your dues
When you're down in the dumps, you become part of the blues club where you have to suffer to survive.
When you hang your hat in heartbreak hall
When you lose hope in everything, you feel like you're living in a hall of broken dreams.
Your win broken dreams must crawl
When you feel powerless, you lose the will to make your dreams a reality.
And your gloom will continue to grow
When you're hopeless, your sadness will only intensify.
Until there's nothing that you don't know
When you're overwhelmed by the blues, you will feel like you know everything there is to know about sadness and pain.
You can't look forward to the day your free
When you're wrapped up in the blues, you lose the ability to hope for a better future.
You look but yesterday is all you see
When you're consumed by the blues, you only see your past and can't look to the future.
Don't buy a book about it, just ask me
If you want to know about the blues, don't read a book, just ask me.
About the blues
This song is about the sad, melancholic, and depressing feeling known as the blues.
About the blues
This song is about the sad, melancholic, and depressing feeling known as the blues.
Writer(s): Arthur Hamilton
Contributed by Brooklyn V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.