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.
Lover Man
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I long to try something I never had
Never had no kissin'
Oh, what I've been missin'
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
The night is cold and I'm so alone
I'd give my soul just to call you my own
But no one to love me
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
I've heard it said
That the thrill of romance
Can be like a heavenly dream
I go to bed with a prayer
That you'll make love to me
Strange as it seems
Someday we'll meet
And you'll dry all my tears
Then whisper sweet
Little things in my ear
Hugging and a-kissing
Oh, what I've been missing
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
The lyrics of June Christy’s “Lover Man” speaks of a longing for love and companionship. Christy starts off the song expressing her sadness and the desire to experience something she has never had. It is clear that she has never been in a romantic relationship, as she has “never had no kissin’” and is lamenting on what she has been missing. Although there is a moon above her, she feels lonely without someone to love her. The chorus, “Lover man, oh, where can you be?” is a plea for a lover to come and fill the void in her life.
Christy goes on to express her belief in the power of love and the thrill of romance, comparing it to a “heavenly dream”. She prays for a lover to make love to her and to end her loneliness. Christy speaks of her hope to meet her lover someday and for him to take away all her sadness. She yearns for affection and physical touch, “hugging and a-kissing”. Overall, the song portrays a strong sense of vulnerability and a deep desire for love and connection.
Line by Line Meaning
I don't know why but I'm feeling so sad
I am unable to understand the source of my sadness.
I long to try something I never had
I have great desire to experience something new and thrilling.
Never had no kissin'
I have never had the joy of a kiss.
Oh, what I've been missin'
I feel a significant lack in my life and what I've missed so far.
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
I am searching for my lover but I am unable to find him.
The night is cold and I'm so alone
It is a despairing night and I feel very lonely.
I'd give my soul just to call you my own
I would go to any extent to have you as my own.
Got a moon above me
There is a moon shining above me.
But no one to love me
But I have no one to share my love or feelings with.
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
I wonder where my lover is and why he hasn't come yet.
I've heard it said
That the thrill of romance
Can be like a heavenly dream
I have heard that the excitement of love can be like a wonderful dream.
I go to bed with a prayer
That you'll make love to me
Strange as it seems
I go to bed praying that you'll love me though it may seem strange.
Someday we'll meet
And you'll dry all my tears
Then whisper sweet
Little things in my ear
I believe that someday we will meet and you will comfort me and speak loving things into my ear.
Hugging and a-kissing
Oh, what I've been missing
Lover man, oh, where can you be?
I am yearning for the intimate touch and embrace of my lover, and still looking for him.
Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ran Blake
Good to hear June again.i fear she and my favorite ,Chris Connor ,are forgetten .and nobody remembers Mahalia either