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.
How High the Moon
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
How high the moon
There is no moon above
When love is far away too
Till it comes true
That you love me as I love you
Somewhere there's music
How near, how far
Somewhere there's heaven
It's where you are
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon
Somewhere there's music
How faint the tune
Somewhere there's heaven
How high the moon
The darkest night would shine
If you would come to me soon
Until you will, how still my heart
How high the moon
The song “How High the Moon” by June Christy is a romantic ballad that speaks about the power of love and the longing for a loved one. The opening lyrics “Somewhere there’s music, how faint the tune. Somewhere there’s heaven, how high the moon” indicate that there may be distance between the two lovers, but their connection still exists. The words “how high the moon” suggest the vastness and infinite nature of their love. Even though the physical moon might not be present, their love still shines as bright and high as the moon in the sky.
The verse “There is no moon above, when love is far away too, till it comes true, that you love me as I love you” implies that the absence of the moon represents the distance between the lovers as they wait for their love to be reciprocated. The second verse “The darkest night would shine, if you would come to me soon, until you will, how still my heart, how high the moon” highlights the depth of their love and how it would light up the darkness if the lovers were to reunite.
Line by Line Meaning
Somewhere there's music
Music exists in some place outside of our present awareness
How faint the tune
The melody is barely audible or recognizable
Somewhere there's heaven
There is a place of pure happiness and contentment in the world
How high the moon
This place of happiness and contentment is far beyond normal reach and seemingly unattainable
There is no moon above
In times of lovelessness, even the celestial body that represents love and romance disappears
When love is far away too
When one is lacking love, it is as if they are isolated from the rest of the world
Till it comes true
But when love finally comes, everything will be made right
That you love me as I love you
Two people must love each other equally for this kind of perfection to be achieved
How near, how far
The presence of one's beloved is simultaneously close and distant
It's where you are
The notion of heaven is tied solely to the whereabouts of the individual in question
The darkest night would shine
When one's love is finally in close quarters, even situations that were previously dark and hopeless become illuminated and bearable
If you would come to me soon
But one cannot achieve true happiness until their beloved is with them
Until you will, how still my heart
Until love is reciprocated, the heart is stagnant and motionless
How high the moon
The joy that comes with uniting with one's beloved is still distant and seemingly unattainable
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Morgan Lewis, Nancy Hamilton
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
RaiderEleven
Awesome performance that reminds us how easily the pros could sing, without close in mikes and exaggerated hand gestures and without straining. Nat Cole was a heck of a piano player and Mel Torme was a fine drummer. Great!
Heather Ward
People forget what an innovative and swinging jazz pianist Nat was. What a treat to have had such hot jazz on tap on regular TV!
red martin
June Christy has always been a favorite of mine for a long time...her voice is so arresting! Nat's piano playing was legendary before he took to the vocals (my mother loved his playing so much, she resented his singing!) BTW: Listen to Freddie Cole (Nat's brother)...you will not be disappointed!
lastknowngood0
June and Bob Cooper were married for a lifetime together!
Anne Dwyer
It's too bad more people don't know what a great pianist Nat Cole was (that's funny about yr mom!). I probably first heard Freddy Cole about 10 yrs ago and really love his style; his voice is like a warm wool (slightly scratchy!) blanket. I was sorry to learn he passed away several months ago.
Anne Dwyer
Wow, what's not to love about June Christy, Nat Cole and Mel Torme together in a live performance!!
MrPisster
Can you guys believe they did this live for real on national TV? What talent!
George B. Wolffsohn
That's called performing. It's what real musicians do.
pete gerard
Mel is my hero. He's the best male scat singer, he absolutely rocks on the drums, his vocal arrangements for groups take the cake AND he wrote Chestnuts Roasting!
CriticalListener
Let's not overlook June Christy's vocals here. Her momentary lyric mixup just proves it was live television. Nice work, all three!