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.
It's Only A Paper Moon
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Hanging over a cardboard sea
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believe in me
Well it's only a canvas sky
Hanging over a muslin tree
But it wouldn't be make believe
Without your love
It's a carnival parade
Without your love
It's a melody played on a penny arcade
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phoney as it could be
But it wouldn't be make believe
If you believe in me
The song It's Only a Paper Moon, as sung by June Christy, is all about the power of belief and imagination in the face of an often harsh and disappointing world. The first verse describes a paper moon hanging over a cardboard sea, both clearly fake and created, yet the singer says that it wouldn't be make believe if the listener believes in them. The second verse repeats this sentiment, this time with a canvas sky hanging over a muslin tree. The chorus then presents the stark contrast between a world with and without the love of the listener. Without their love, the world is nothing but a carnival parade or a melody played on a penny arcade - loud, flashy, and ultimately empty. In short, the song argues that the world is only as beautiful and meaningful as the love and belief that we find in it.
One interesting aspect of the song is that it was written by three different people: Harold Arlen, E.Y. Harburg, and Billy Rose. Arlen and Harburg had previously collaborated on the score for The Wizard of Oz, which included the iconic song "Over the Rainbow." "It's Only a Paper Moon" was written for a play called The Great Magoo, which opened on Broadway in 1932 - however, the play closed after just 36 performances. Despite the failure of the play, the song became a hit, with versions recorded by artists like Ella Fitzgerald and Nat King Cole. Another interesting fact is that the lyrics were reportedly inspired by a painting by Russian artist Marc Chagall, which depicted a man holding a ladder and standing next to a floating moon.
Interestingly, the song has also been featured in a number of films and TV shows, including American Graffiti, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Boardwalk Empire. The melody and lyrics have been covered by countless musicians over the years, and the song is considered a jazz standard today. Finally, it's worth noting that the song has a strong connection to the Great Depression, which was unfolding at the time the song was written. The lyrics suggest a sense of escapism and hope in the face of economic hardship and uncertainty.
Chords (in the key of C):
Intro: Cmaj7 - Fmaj7 - Cmaj7 - C6
Verse 1: C7 - Cmaj7 - C7 - C6
Chorus: F7 - Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7
Verse 2: C7 - Cmaj7 - C7 - C6
Chorus: F7 - Dm7 - G7 - Cmaj7
Verse 3: C7 - Cmaj7 - C7 - C6
Outro: Cmaj7 - Fmaj7 - Cmaj7 - C6
Line by Line Meaning
So it's only a paper moon
The moon in the sky is not real, it is just a flat, paper cutout.
Hanging over a cardboard sea
It is hanging above an artificial sea made out of cardboard.
But it wouldn't be make believe
It wouldn't be a fantasy if you have faith in me and believe in me.
If you believe in me
If you have faith in me and my words, you can change the view of the things you see around you.
Well it's only a canvas sky
The sky above is not authentic; it is made out of a painted canvas material.
Hanging over a muslin tree
It is hanging above a fake tree made out of plain cotton material.
But it wouldn't be make believe
It wouldn't be a make-believe setting if you believe in me and have confidence in the situation.
If you believe in me
Your outlook and view of the environment can change if you trust my words and trust me as a person.
Without your love
Without the love and care of your significant other, you cannot make sense of things around you.
It's a carnival parade
In the absence of love, life is just an extravagant and meaningless spectacle.
It's a melody played on a penny arcade
Without being cared for and loved, life becomes like a mechanical music box, playing tunes without true meaning.
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Life can appear to be a place full of illusions like those seen in a circus or carnival.
Just as phoney as it could be
This world is as unrealistic, fake, and meaningless as it gets.
But it wouldn't be make believe
However, the world can be real and genuine if you only believe in me and have faith in love and life.
If you believe in me
The world can become a better place if you believe in me and the honesty of love and life.
Lyrics © S.A. MUSIC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Billy Rose, E. Y. Harburg, Harold Arlen
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind