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.
Mean to Me
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Why must you be mean to me?
Gee, honey, it seems to me
You love to see me cryin'
I don't know why
I stay home each night
When you say you phone
Sing the blues and sighin'
You treat me coldly each day in the year
You always scold me
Whenever somebody is near, dear
I must be great fun to be mean to me
You shouldn't, for can't you see
What you mean to me
The song "Mean to Me" by June Christy and The Kentones is a melancholic lament by a lover who is being treated with coldness and indifference. The lyrics clearly express the pain that the singer is going through due to the actions of their partner. The singer questions why their lover consistently treats them badly and appears to take pleasure in seeing them cry. They also express their confusion about why they continue to stay with their partner even though they are constantly let down and left alone.
The lyrics further illustrate the depth of the singer's hurt and disappointment through the use of vivid imagery. The singer feels like they are always singing the blues and sighing due to their partner's cold treatment. They hint at how their self-esteem has also been affected from the constant scolding they receive from their partner whenever someone else is around. The singer acknowledges that their partner's need to be mean to them is most likely due to some underlying reason, but pleads with them to see the pain they are causing and to stop hurting them.
Overall, "Mean to Me" is a moving song with lyrics that show the complexities of love and the pain that can come with it. The song is a timeless classic that has been covered by other famous singers such as Billie Holiday and Linda Ronstadt.
Line by Line Meaning
You're mean to me
You show me cruelty and negativity.
Why must you be mean to me?
What is the reason for your hostile, negative behavior towards me?
Gee, honey, it seems to me
It appears to me, dear, that you enjoy witnessing my sadness and tears.
You love to see me cryin'
You take pleasure in observing my crying and despair.
I don't know why
I am unaware of the reason.
I stay home each night
I spend my nights at home.
When you say you phone
When you claim that you will call me on the phone.
You don't and I'm left alone.
You fail to do so, and I am left by myself.
Sing the blues and sighin'
I express my emotions by singing the blues and letting out a heavy sigh.
You treat me coldly each day in the year
Every single day of the year, you treat me with a distant, unfeeling attitude.
You always scold me
You consistently berate and scold me.
Whenever somebody is near, dear
Whenever someone is nearby, my dear.
I must be great fun to be mean to me
I imagine that it is highly amusing for someone to be consistently unkind to me.
You shouldn't, for can't you see
You really should not, can you not perceive
What you mean to me
The depth of significance and emotion that you hold in my life.
Lyrics © BMG RIGHTS MANAGEMENT US, LLC, Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, T.R.O. INC., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EMERSON HART
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Barbara Coultas
It definitely sounds like June Christy to me; her voice has that husky tone she was famous for, plus her pronunciation is always recognizable.
Trombonology Erstwhile
Terrific record! I always enjoy the sides that those who gained fame as big band singers made with smaller groups; they're always looser and tend to show a different quality in the vocalist.
womo1988
June Christy ist eine grossartige Sängerin und es macht immer wieder Freude, sie zu hören. Danke und Grüsse von womo1988.
hawkrider88
This sure sounds like Anita O'day to me. Sure this is June Christy?