Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois, and moved with her family to Decatur, Illinois, when she was three years old. She began to sing with the Decatur-based Bill Oetzel Orchestra at thirteen. While attending Decatur High School she appeared with Oetzel and his society band, the Ben Bradley Band, and Bill Madden's Band. After high school she moved to Chicago, changed her name to Sharon Leslie, and sang with a group led by Boyd Raeburn. Later she joined Benny Strong's band. In 1944, Strong's band moved to New York at the same time Christy was quarantined in Chicago with scarlet fever.
In 1945, after hearing that Anita O'Day had left Stan Kenton's Orchestra, she auditioned and was chosen for the role as a vocalist. During this time, she changed her name once again, becoming June Christy.
Her voice produced successful hits such as "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy," the million-selling "Tampico" in 1945, and "How High the Moon". "Tampico" was Kenton's biggest-selling record. When the Kenton Band temporarily disbanded in 1948, she sang in nightclubs for a short time, and reunited with the band two years later in 1950.
Beginning Sept. 28, 1959, Christy began a five-week road tour of 38 performances called "Road Show". The all-star billing: Stan Kenton and his orchestra, June Christy, The Four Freshmen. Capitol recorded highlights on October 10 at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, for a two-disc LP, reissued in 1991 on CD.
From 1947, she started to work on her own records, primarily with arranger and bandleader Pete Rugolo. In 1954, she released a 10" LP entitled Something Cool, recorded with Rugolo and his orchestra, a gathering of notable Los Angeles jazz musicians that included her husband, multi-instrumentalist Bob Cooper and alto saxophonist Bud Shank. Something Cool was re-released as a 12" LP in 1955 with additional selections, and then entirely rerecorded in stereo in 1960 with a somewhat different personnel. Christy would later say that the album was "the only thing I've recorded that I'm not unhappy with." Something Cool was also important in launching the vocal cool movement of the 1950s, and it hit the Top 20 Charts, as did her third album, The Misty Miss Christy.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Christy appeared on a number of television programs, including the short-lived CBS show Adventures in Jazz (1949), Eddie Condon's Floor Show (1949), The Jackie Gleason Show (1953), The Tonight Show (1955), The Nat King Cole Show (1957), Stars of Jazz (1958), The Steve Allen Show (1959), The Lively Ones (1963). and The Joey Bishop Show (1967). She also appeared on the first sponsored jazz concert on television, The Timex All-Star Jazz Show I (December 30, 1957), which also featured Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa.
Christy embarked on dozens of concert tours, playing in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan. She toured to such an extent that eventually it began taking a toll on her marriage. She began to pull back from touring in the early 1960s.
R.M. Cook and Brian Morton, writers of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings, appreciated the singer's body of work: "Christy's wholesome but particularly sensuous voice is less an improviser's vehicle than an instrument for long, controlled lines and the shading of a fine vibrato. Her greatest moments—the heartbreaking 'Something Cool' itself, 'Midnight Sun,' 'I Should Care'—are as close to creating definitive interpretations as any singer can come."
Christy semi-retired from the music business in 1969, in part due to her battle with alcoholism.
In 1972, she sang at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York City, where she was reunited with the Kenton Orchestra. She also performed at a handful of jazz festivals during the late 1970s and 1980s, playing with a band of all-star West Coast jazz musicians led by Shorty Rogers, as well as taking part in a number of world tours.
Christy returned to the recording studio in 1977 to record her final solo LP, Impromptu. She recorded an interview for a Paul Cacia produced an album in 1987 called "The Alumni Tribute to Stan Kenton" on the Happy Hour label. A number of other Kenton the alumni-Shorty Rogers, Lee Konitz, Jack Sheldon, among them, plus Mort Sahl - interspersed their tunes with reminiscences of the man and the years on the road.
Christy toured one final time in 1988, again with Shorty Rogers. Her final performance was sharing the stage with Chet Baker.
Christy died at her home in Sherman Oaks, California of kidney failure on June 21, 1990, at the age of 64. Her remains were cremated and scattered off the coast of Marina Del Rey.
Ain't Nothin' Good
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tell me to save my tears
Well I'm so mad about him
I can't live without him
Never treats me sweet and gentle
The way he should
I've got it bad
My poor heart is so sentimental
Not made of wood
I've got it so bad
And that ain't good
But when the fish are jumpin'
And Friday rolls around
My man an' I, we gin some
We pray some, and sin some
He don't love me like I love him
The way he should
I've got it bad
And that ain't good
Yes I've got it bad
And that ain't good
The lyrics to "I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good" by June Christy and Stan Kenton convey a complex emotional state in which the singer is deeply in love with someone who does not treat them well. The first stanza speaks to the fact that despite being told to save their tears by well-meaning friends, the singer cannot help but feel so strongly about this person that they cannot imagine living without them. The second stanza continues this theme by describing how the singer's heart is "so sentimental" that they cannot help but be deeply affected by this person's treatment of them.
The third stanza introduces an interesting shift in tone, as the singer acknowledges that they and their love interest engage in some morally questionable behavior ("we gin some, we pray some, and sin some"). However, this does not change the fact that the love interest does not treat the singer with the kind of tenderness and care that they deserve.
Overall, the lyrics of this song communicate the depth of the singer's love for someone who does not reciprocate that love fully or treat them with kindness. This emotional complexity, combined with the beautiful musical arrangements, have made this song a classic in the jazz canon.
Line by Line Meaning
Though folks with good intentions
Despite well-meaning advice from others
Tell me to save my tears
Encourage me not to be upset
Well I'm so mad about him
But I can't help feeling strongly about him
I can't live without him
He's become an essential part of my life
Never treats me sweet and gentle
He doesn't show me the affection I desire
The way he should
As I believe he ought to
I've got it bad
My feelings are so strong
And that ain't good
But it's causing me great distress and unhappiness
My poor heart is so sentimental
My heart is very emotional and easily affected
Not made of wood
I'm not immune to feelings
I've got it so bad
I'm so deeply in love with him
And that ain't good
But it's causing me great pain and suffering
But when the fish are jumpin'
Despite my troubles
And Friday rolls around
When the end of the week arrives
My man an' I, we gin some
We get together and have some drinks
We pray some, and sin some
We engage in various activities
He don't love me like I love him
He doesn't feel as strongly about me as I do about him
The way he should
In my opinion and expectations
I've got it bad
My feelings are very intense
And that ain't good
But it's causing me great pain and suffering
Yes I've got it bad
I'm deeply in love with him
And that ain't good
But it's causing me great distress and unhappiness
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Duke Ellington, Paul Francis Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind