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.
Don't Explain
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Just say you'll remain
I'm glad you're back,
Don't explain.
Quiet, don't explain
What is there to gain
Skip that lipstick,
You know that I love you and what love endures
All my thoughts are of you for I'm so completely yours.
Cry to hear folks chatter
And I know you cheat
Right or wrong, don't matter
When you're with me, sweet.
Hush now, don't explain
You're my joy and pain
My life's, yours love,
Don't explain
You know that I love you and what love endures
Nothing rates above you for I'm so completely yours
Cry to hear folks chatter
And I know you cheat
Right or wrong, don't matter
When you're with me, sweet.
Hush now don't explain
You're my joy and pain
My life's, yours love,
Don't explain.
The lyrics to June Christy's song "Don't Explain" depict a love that is not entirely clear-cut or uncomplicated. The singer speaks directly to their lover, urging them not to provide explanations for any perceived wrongdoing. They simply want their lover to understand that they are glad they are back and that they love them unconditionally. The singer acknowledges that their lover may have cheated on them, but they don't seem to care about that. They want their lover to remain with them and be happy.
The lyrics express a level of understanding and acceptance uncommon in love songs. The singer seems to know that love isn't always perfect, and that there may be challenges to it. And yet, despite this knowledge, they remain committed to their lover. It's not about being blind to their partner's faults or the potential for heartache; it's about choosing love anyway.
The song is a powerful reminder that love requires trust and communication, but it also requires a certain level of acceptance and non-judgment. There is a certain level of complexity to love, and this song does an excellent job of portraying that complexity.
Line by Line Meaning
Hush now, don't explain
Be quiet and don't try to explain your absence or reasons for leaving
Just say you'll remain
Just promise to stay with me
I'm glad you're back,
I'm happy that you've returned to me
Don't explain.
Please don't give me an explanation
Quiet, don't explain
Please be silent and don't try to justify yourself
What is there to gain
There is nothing to benefit from explaining
Skip that lipstick,
Don't bother trying to put on a false front
Don't explain.
I don't want to hear any excuses
You know that I love you and what love endures
You understand that I truly love you no matter what happens
All my thoughts are of you for I'm so completely yours.
You constantly occupy my mind, and I belong to you entirely
Cry to hear folks chatter
It makes me upset to hear people gossiping about us
And I know you cheat
I understand that you're unfaithful to me
Right or wrong, don't matter
It doesn't make a difference whether your actions are right or wrong
When you're with me, sweet.
As long as you're with me, I'm happy
You're my joy and pain
You bring both happiness and suffering into my life
My life's, yours love,
My life belongs to you because I love you
Don't explain.
Just don't try to explain, it's better this way
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Arthur Jr. Herzog, Billie Holiday
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind