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.
Misty
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree
And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud
I can't understand
I get misty, holding your hand
Walk my way
And a thousand violins begin to play
That music I hear
I get misty the moment you're near
You can say that you're leading me on
But it's just what I want you to do
Don't you realize how hopelessly I'm lost
That's why I'm following you
On my own
Would I wander through this wonderland alone
Never knowing my right foot from my left
My hat from my glove
I get misty, and too much in love
I'm too misty, and too much in love
In June Christy's song "Misty," the singer describes the overwhelming feeling they get when they are with the person they love. They start by saying that they feel "helpless as a kitten up a tree" and that they feel like they are "clinging to a cloud." These lines set the stage for the singer's intense emotional state. They go on to say that they "get misty" when they hold the person's hand, indicating that they are very emotional and their senses are heightened when they are in the presence of their loved one.
As the song continues, the singer describes how the world around them seems to change when they are with the person they love. They hear the sound of a thousand violins playing or the simple greeting of their loved one's voice, and the music consumes them. The singer acknowledges that their love interest may be leading them on, but they don't care because they are hopelessly in love and will follow them anywhere. They end the song by saying that they are "too misty" and "too much in love," emphasizing the intensity of their emotions.
Overall, June Christy's "Misty" is a song about the overwhelming feeling of love and how it can consume a person's senses and emotions. The singer is lost in their love for someone and can't help but feel emotional and misty-eyed when they are near.
Line by Line Meaning
Look at me
I want your attention, please.
I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree
I'm vulnerable and uneasy.
And I feel like I'm clinging to a cloud
I'm floating along, unaware of reality.
I can't understand
I'm confused with these emotions.
I get misty, holding your hand
The moment I hold your hand, I'm overwhelmed with feelings of love.
Walk my way
Come and be with me.
And a thousand violins begin to play
My heart pounds fast to the rhythm of your footsteps.
Or it might be the sound of your hello
Even your simple greetings make me happy.
That music I hear
It's like a perfect melody for my ears.
I get misty the moment you're near
Whenever you're near me, my emotions overwhelm me.
You can say that you're leading me on
You may think that you're playing around with me.
But it's just what I want you to do
But deep inside, I'm happy that you're with me.
Don't you realize how hopelessly I'm lost
I'm confused, and I don't know what to do without you.
That's why I'm following you
That's why I'm sticking to you, I don't want to be lost.
On my own
If I'm alone.
Would I wander through this wonderland alone
Would I explore, and be happy in this world alone?
Never knowing my right foot from my left
I'd be completely lost and disoriented without your guidance.
My hat from my glove
I wouldn't be able to tell my personal belongings apart.
I get misty, and too much in love
I'm overly emotional and can't contain my love for you.
I'm too misty, and too much in love
I'm overwhelmed by my emotions for you, and can't help it.
Lyrics © Spirit Music Group, Downtown Music Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Erroll Garner, Johnny Burke
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind