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.
Maybe You'll Be There
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
(You said your lips were mine alone to kiss)
(Now after all those things you told me)
(How can it end like this)
(Don't let it end like this)
Each time I see a crowd of people
Just like a fool I stop and stare
But maybe you'll be there
(Maybe you'll be there)
I go out walking after midnight
Along the lonely thoroughfare
It's not the time or place to look for you
But maybe you'll be there
You said your arms would always hold me
You said your lips were mine alone to kiss
Now after all those things you told me
How can it end like this
(And then your arms will always hold me)
(Your lips will be mine alone to kiss)
I'll never have to hurry to the door
'Cause, baby, you'll be there
(Baby, you'll be there)
(Maybe, you'll be there)
The song "Maybe You'll Be There" by June Christy is a melancholic ballad about a lost love. The lyrics speak of a relationship that has ended, but the hope that perhaps the ex-partner will still be there if the singer sees a crowd of people or goes out walking after midnight. The opening lines of the song present a sense of betrayal - the singer is questioning how it could have ended like this when the ex-partner had promised to hold her and kiss her forever. However, throughout the song, the singer still holds onto a glimmer of hope that her lost love might return.
The chorus is particularly poignant, as it expresses the pain of longing for someone who may never return. The singer is fully aware that it's not the proper thing to stop and stare at crowds or look for her ex-partner while walking alone at night. However, her hope and longing are so strong that she cannot resist the temptation to seek out her lost love. In the final verse of the song, the singer imagines a future where her ex-partner will always hold her in their arms, and their lips will be hers alone to kiss, allowing her to feel secure in the knowledge that she will never have to hurry to the door anymore because her love will always be there.
Line by Line Meaning
You said your arms would always hold me
You promised me that you would never let me go and would always protect me.
You said your lips were mine alone to kiss
You assured me that you were committed to being faithful and loyal to me.
Now after all those things you told me
I trusted you with all my heart and believed everything you said.
How can it end like this
I'm in shock and disbelief that it's come to this ending.
Don't let it end like this
I'm pleading with you to not let our relationship come to such an abrupt, hurtful end.
Each time I see a crowd of people
Whenever I see a large number of people gathered together,
Just like a fool I stop and stare
I can't help but look hopefully among the crowd, wishing to see you.
It's really not the proper thing to do
I know it's actually inappropriate behavior, but I still can't resist it.
But maybe you'll be there
Perhaps fate will bring us together again in an unexpected way.
I go out walking after midnight
I often take late-night strolls when the streets are silent and empty.
Along the lonely thoroughfare
I wander along the deserted streets, hoping to find a glimmer of hope.
It's not the time or place to look for you
I know that it's unlikely for us to meet at such an hour and setting.
And then your arms will always hold me
If we reunite, I can only hope that you will hold me tight and never let me go.
Your lips will be mine alone to kiss
I pray that you still hold true to the promise you made, that we belong to each other forever.
I'll never have to hurry to the door
I know that if we are reunited, I will never feel the need to rush or leave in haste.
'Cause, baby, you'll be there
You are the only one that truly makes me feel complete and whole, and I hope that I can find you again.
Maybe, you'll be there
Even though it's unlikely, I still hold onto the hope that someday you will walk back into my life.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Rube Bloom, Sammy Gallop
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Caroline Pryor
I loved June Christy the 50's...she sounds as great as ever. Too bad she didn't make more recordings.
Joseph Valenti
The Misty Miss Christy is my favorite cd, I wore it out and had to repurchase. Check out Chris Connor, and Anita O'Day, their output is heavenly!
Paul Smith
MiCompre, what video? thx for this recording