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.
Never Never
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That I'd be playing solitaire
Uneasy in my easy chair
It never entered my mind
And once you told me I was mistaken
That I'd awaken with the sun
And ordered orange juice for one
You had what I lack, myself
Now I even have to scratch my back myself
Once you warned me that if you scorned me
I'd say a lonely prayer again
And wish that you were there again
To get into my hair again
It never entered my mind
Once you warned me that if you scorned me
I'd say a lonely prayer again
And wish that you were there again
To get into my hair again
It never entered my mind
"Never Never" by June Christy is a song that tells a story of a person who never quite realized what they had until it was too late. The song is a reflection of regret, and the lyrics are very descriptive, with each verse painting a different aspect of the singer's pain. The song starts with the singer laughing at the thought of being alone, but as the song progresses, the singer realizes just how lonely they truly are. The lyrics in the song are very powerful, and they convey a sense of sadness and loss that is hard not to feel.
The first verse of the song talks about how the singer laughed when they heard someone say that they would be playing solitaire. This shows how the singer never thought they would be alone, and they took their partner's presence for granted. The second verse talks about how the same person warned them that if they were ever left alone, they would be praying for their partner's return. The final verse sums up the entire song by saying that the singer never thought that their partner leaving would affect them so much, and that they never realized how much they needed them until they were gone. It's a poignant and thought-provoking song that highlights the importance of appreciating what we have in life.
Line by Line Meaning
Once I laughed when I heard you saying
At first, I found it comical when you told me that I would end up alone and lonely
That I'd be playing solitaire
You predicted that I would be spending my time alone, playing card games by myself
Uneasy in my easy chair
You thought that I would be physically comfortable but still feel uneasy and anxious about being alone
It never entered my mind
I was initially dismissive of your predictions and didn't consider them as possible outcomes
And once you told me I was mistaken
You pointed out that I was wrong about something
That I'd awaken with the sun
I believed that I would always be able to sleep in and enjoy a lazy morning
And ordered orange juice for one
I assumed that I would have someone else to share my breakfast with
It never entered my mind
I was once again caught off guard by your accurate prediction
You had what I lack, myself
You possessed qualities that I did not, specifically the ability to accurately predict future outcomes
Now I even have to scratch my back myself
I am now forced to do things for myself that I used to rely on others for, like scratching my back
Once you warned me that if you scorned me
You cautioned me about the potential consequences of angering or displeasing you
I'd say a lonely prayer again
I would once again be left feeling alone and desperate, praying for some sort of relief or companionship
And wish that you were there again
I would regret losing you and wish that we were still together
To get into my hair again
I would even be willing to put up with your annoying habits or quirks to have you back in my life
It never entered my mind
Despite your warning, I foolishly thought that we would never reach that point
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Royalty Network, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: LORENZ HART, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
HFritzson
I love this interpretation. The guitar behind her dry, ironic singing is just right.