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.
Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And two sides to every one
If you've ever been inside a triangle
There's only so far you can run
Alone in the darkness
This tangle of emotions once was home
Love doesn't live here anymore
When did trouble walk through the door and stay?
Love doesn't live here anymore
Honey, we both walked in with baggage
Equal parts of hope and fear
We'd help each other break the cycle
And the pain would disappear
Ah, the cost of good intentions
The bags are by the door and fear has conquered all
June Christy's song 'Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore' is a nostalgic and relatable song about the end of a relationship. The melancholic track describes the distinct feeling of loneliness and the tension of having to try to go back to being alone after sharing a portion of one's life. The first verse sets the song's mysterious and sad tone with “There's lots of stories in the big city, and two sides to every one”. The songwriter provides an observation about life as it is in the city; there are many tales to tell, but they all have to sides to them, neither of which is the truth. The writer also states that "If you've ever been inside a triangle, there's only so far you can run", hinting at an affair or a love triangle, which could be the cause of the relationship's demise.
The chorus, being the most emphasized part of the song, highlights the feeling of loss and remembrance. Christy sings “Love doesn’t live here anymore / When did she slip away? / When did trouble walk through the door and stay? / Love doesn’t live here anymore.” emphasizing that the relationship has lost its charm and essence, and only the sense of an ending is what matters now. The last verse describes the couple's decision to end the relationship, knowing they both have emotional baggage.” The songwriter writes that the couple walked in with equal parts of hope and fear and that they wanted to help each other break these cycles, “But the cost of good intentions, the bags are by the door, and fear has conquered all.”
Line by Line Meaning
There's lots of stories in the big city
The city is full of people with different experiences to share.
And two sides to every one
There are always two perspectives to a story.
If you've ever been inside a triangle
If you've ever been in a love triangle.
There's only so far you can run
There's only so long you can escape your emotions.
Alone in the darkness
Being by oneself and feeling sad or hopeless.
This tangle of emotions once was home
The complicated emotions were once familiar and comfortable.
Love doesn't live here anymore
Love has left the relationship.
When did she slip away?
When did love leave the relationship unnoticed?
When did trouble walk through the door and stay?
When did problems arise and persist in the relationship?
Honey, we both walked in with baggage
Both partners entered the relationship with past emotional baggage.
Equal parts of hope and fear
Both partners had equal amounts of optimism and anxiety.
We'd help each other break the cycle
Both partners hoped to help each other overcome their emotional baggage.
And the pain would disappear
Both partners hoped their love would heal their emotional pain.
Ah, the cost of good intentions
Even with good intentions, things may not go as planned.
The bags are by the door and fear has conquered all
Both partners' emotional baggage and anxiety have won, leaving them unable to continue their relationship.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHNNY LEHMAN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind