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.
I Gotta Right To Sing the Blues
Julie London Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I got a right to feel low down
I got a right to hang around
Down around the river
A certain man in this old town
Keeps draggin' my poor heart around
All I see for me
I got a right to sing the blues
I got a right to moan and sigh
I got a right to sit and cry
Down around the river
I know the deep blue sea
Will soon be callin' me
It must be love
Say what you choose
I got a right to sing the blues
The lyrics to Julie London's "I Gotta Right to Sing the Blues" speak of heartache and the right to express it through music. The singer asserts that they have a right to feel down and hang around the river, likely seeking solace in nature. The cause of this heartache is a certain man in town who keeps dragging the singer's heart around, causing nothing but misery. The singer acknowledges that they have a right to sing the blues, moan, sigh, and cry because their heartache is real and valid.
The lyrics convey a sense of resignation, as if the singer knows that they will soon be called away by the sea and that their heartache may never truly go away. However, the singer takes comfort in the fact that they have the right to express their emotions through music, specifically the blues. The blues have long been associated with expressing emotions such as heartache and depression, and by embracing this genre, the singer is able to give voice to their pain.
Line by Line Meaning
I got a right to sing the blues
I have the privilege to express my sorrow through singing the blues. No one can take that away from me.
I got a right to feel low down
I am justified to feel down and sad because of the pain that I am experiencing.
I got a right to hang around
I have the freedom to stick around in the area that brings me comfort, which is just around the river.
Down around the river
Staying nearby the river uplifts my spirit, and it's the only place where I can forget all my troubles.
A certain man in this old town
There's this particular man that keeps tormenting me with heartaches and emotional pain.
Keeps draggin' my poor heart around
This man seems to thrive on causing me distress, taking my heart and crushing it at his will.
All I see for me
My current situation only leads to desolation and gloom.
Is misery
All I'm left feeling is utter misery, and I can't seem to shake it off no matter how hard I try.
I got a right to moan and sigh
It's my prerogative to express my feelings through various sounds like moaning and sighing. After all, it is therapeutic.
I got a right to sit and cry
I have the right to pour out my emotions through crying, and no one can tell me otherwise.
I know the deep blue sea
I am aware that the sea holds promises of peace and healing for me.
Will soon be callin' me
The deep blue sea is almost beckoning me to come to it, offering solace and calmness.
It must be love
The deep blue sea seems to have all the answers to my troubled heart, and it's the only thing that can soothe me, so it must be true love.
Say what you choose
Regardless of what anyone says, or their opinion, I have the right to choose what works for me, and that's the deep blue sea.
I got a right to sing the blues
It bears repeating - I have the privilege to express my sorrow through singing the blues. No one can take that away from me.
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HAROLD ARLEN, TED KOEHLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind