June Christy (November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990), born Shirley Luster, was … Read Full Bio ↴June Christy (November 20, 1925 – June 21, 1990), born Shirley Luster, was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with The Stan Kenton Orchestra. She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool. After her death, she was hailed as "one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time."

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.

Something Cool
June Christy Lyrics

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Something cool,
Something cool,
Something cool,
I'd like to order something cool!

Something cool, (something cool)
I'd like to order something cool, (something cool)
It's so warm here in town,

And the heat gets me down,
Yes, I'd like something cool! (something cool)

My! It's nice to simply sit and rest awhile,
Now I know it's a shame,
I can't think of your name,
I remember your smile!

I don't ordinarily drink with strangers,
I most usually drink alone.
You were so awfully nice to me,
And I'm so terribly far from home.

Like my dress? I must confess it's terribly old,
But it's simple and neat,
It's just right for the heat,
Save my furs for the cold!

A cigarette? Well I don't smoke them as a rule,
but I'll have one,
It might be fun
With something cool!

I'll bet you couldn't imagine
That I one time had a house
With so many rooms I couldn't count them all!
I'll bet you couldn't imagine
I had fifteen different beaus
Who would beg and beg to take me to a ball.

I'll bet you couldn't picture me
The time I went to Paris in the Fall,
And who would think the man I loved was quite so handsome,
Quite so tall?

Well it's true, (something cool)
It's just a memory I have, (something cool)
One I almost forgot
'Cause the weather's so hot!
And I'm feeling so bad (something cool)
About a date,
Oh wait!
I'm such a fool!
He's just a guy

Who's stopped to buy
Me something cool!

Overall Meaning

The song "Something Cool" by June Christy is a tale of a woman who is feeling lonely and out of place. She enters a bar on a hot summer day and orders "something cool." She strikes up a conversation with a stranger who buys her a drink and they exchange stories. The woman talks about her past, including a time when she had a lavish house and many suitors. She recalls a trip to Paris and the man she loved there. However, she seems to be in a rut now, feeling down about missing a date.

Through this song, Christy paints a vivid picture of a woman with a past full of excitement and adventure, but who is now feeling lost and looking for something - or someone - to make her feel cool and alive again. The lyrics are cleverly written as a monologue, in which the woman's thoughts and emotions are conveyed in a stream of consciousness style. The contrast between her past and present circumstances is highlighted, with the drink and the memories serving as a temporary escape from her current reality.

The song is a classic example of the cool jazz genre, with its smooth and sophisticated sound that became popular in the 1950s. It is one of Christy's most famous recordings and has been covered by many other artists. The melancholy tone and introspective lyrics have also made it a popular choice for film and TV soundtracks.

Something CoolJune Christy Lyrics

Something Cool
June Christy Lyrics