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.
All Of My Life
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hopin' the wrong hope, singin' the wrong song,
All of my life.
All of my life I've been pickin' the wrong horse,
Sayin' the wrong things, makin' the wrong bets,
All of my life.
Just wait for that lucky hunch -
Just throw that lucky punch, wham!
You too can be the champ.
Yesterday you batted zero, hit a homer, you're a hero.
I thought there was nothin' to life;
Just wait for that lucky hunch.
There must be somethin' more to it
Somewhere along the line, I blew it.
All of my life I've been meeting the wrong crowd,
Wearin' the wrong tie, dancin' the wrong steps,
All of my life.
All of my life I've been off on the wrong beam,
Backing the wrong team, dreaming the wrong dream,
All of my life all of my life
All of my no-good life!
I thought the American dream was wait for that one big break.
Just give the dice a shake, wow!
You too can be on top, be an overnight sensation!
Meet The Press and Face The Nation!
I thought the American dream was wait for that one big break.
There must be somethin' more to it,
Somewhere along the line, I blew it.
All of my life I've been learnin' the wrong tricks,
Pullin' the wrong strings, makin' the wrong moves,
All of my life.
All of my life I've been off on the wrong beam,
Backing the wrong team, dreaming the wrong dream,
All of my life
All of my life
All of my whole damn life!
The lyrics of June Christy's song "All of My Life" reflect a feeling of regret for making poor life choices. She mentions dreaming the wrong dream, hoping for the wrong things, and singing the wrong song. Christy sings about a feeling of societal pressure to be successful and how she thought there was nothing to life other than waiting for that lucky break. She admits to making poor bets, meeting the wrong crowd, and wearing the wrong clothes.
The song reflects a desire for more significant personal fulfillment, and Christy expresses a feeling of disillusionment with the idea of the American dream. The lines "There must be something more to it. Somewhere along the line, I blew it," show her desire to understand where she went wrong and how to correct it.
Line by Line Meaning
All of my life I've been dreamin' the wrong dream,
Throughout my entire existence, I have been envisioning an inaccurate future.
Hopin' the wrong hope, singin' the wrong song,
Wishing for an implausible outcome and vocalizing a misguided tune.
All of my life.
This has been a perpetual dilemma for me.
All of my life I've been pickin' the wrong horse,
I have consistently made incorrect decisions and choices.
Sayin' the wrong things, makin' the wrong bets,
Expressing inappropriate thoughts and making ill-advised gambles.
All of my life.
This has been a continuous cycle for me.
I thought there was nothin' to life,
I previously believed that life had no purpose or meaning.
Just wait for that lucky hunch -
I assumed that all I needed was intuition or a serendipitous moment.
Just throw that lucky punch, wham!
If I landed a fortunate blow, I could succeed.
You too can be the champ.
I could emerge as a champion, just like anyone else.
Yesterday you batted zero, hit a homer, you're a hero.
Even if I failed yesterday, I could still succeed today and be recognized as a hero.
I thought there was nothin' to life;
My prior attitude towards life was pessimistic.
Just wait for that lucky hunch.
Even if I lacked a plan, fate or fortune could work in my favor.
There must be somethin' more to it
Perhaps there is an alternative, more lucrative approach.
Somewhere along the line, I blew it.
At some point, I made a detrimental error or had a mistaken perspective.
All of my life I've been meeting the wrong crowd,
I had the misfortune of associating with the wrong people.
Wearin' the wrong tie, dancin' the wrong steps,
I have made inappropriate fashion choices and danced ineptly.
All of my life.
This has been a continual trend for me.
All of my life I've been off on the wrong beam,
My thinking has been misdirected and misguided.
Backing the wrong team, dreaming the wrong dream,
I have lent my support to the wrong side and had unrealistic aspirations.
All of my life
This has been a continuous pattern for me.
All of my life
This has been a longstanding issue.
All of my whole damn life!
This has been a significant problem throughout my existence.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: ADOLPH GREEN, BETTY COMDEN, JULE STYNE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind