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.
Spring Is Here
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Spring is here! Why isn't the waltz entrancing?
No desire, no ambition leads me
Maybe it's because nobody needs me
Spring is here! Why doesn't the breeze delight me?
Stars appear, why doesn't the night invite me?
Maybe it's because nobody loves me
Spring is here I hear
Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing?
Spring is here! Why isn't the waltz entrancing?
No desire, no ambition leads me
Maybe it's because nobody needs me
Spring is here! Why doesn't the breeze delight me?
Stars appear, why doesn't the night invite me?
Maybe it's because nobody loves me
Spring is here I hear
In June Christy's song "Spring Is Here," the lyrics express a sense of loneliness and emptiness in the midst of the arrival of spring. The singer wonders why the joyous spirit of the season isn't affecting her, why her heart isn't dancing, and why the waltz isn't entrancing her. She contemplates that maybe it's because nobody needs her, despite the appearance of spring and the stars in the night sky. The repetition of the chorus highlights the intensity of the singer's feelings of disconnect and isolation.
The song's lyrics delve into themes of depression and loneliness despite the arrival of spring, a season often representative of rebirth and rejuvenation. The singer is feeling disconnected and unfulfilled despite the presence of natural beauty and signs of life. This theme of internal dissonance is a common one in jazz and blues music, and in this song, it is amplified by the contrast between the singer's feelings and the excitement that others may be experiencing at this time of year.
Overall, June Christy's "Spring Is Here" is a poignant song that speaks to the complexities of human emotions and reminds us that even in the midst of beauty and renewal, one may feel disconnected and alone.
Line by Line Meaning
Spring is here! Why doesn't my heart go dancing?
Although spring has arrived, I feel no joy or excitement.
Spring is here! Why isn't the waltz entrancing?
Even though the rest of the world is embracing the season, nothing feels romantic or captivating to me.
No desire, no ambition leads me
I'm having trouble summoning the energy to want anything.
Maybe it's because nobody needs me
Perhaps my sense of purpose has vanished because I feel isolated and unimportant.
Spring is here! Why doesn't the breeze delight me?
The light, fresh air of spring isn't making me feel refreshed or rejuvenated.
Stars appear, why doesn't the night invite me?
Even the natural beauty of the starry night sky isn't enough to make me feel alive.
Maybe it's because nobody loves me
Perhaps my lack of connection to others is causing me to feel empty and unfulfilled.
Spring is here I hear
Despite all of this, I'm still aware that spring has indeed arrived.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: HANS SPIALEK, RICHARD RODGERS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Murp h
Always loved her ---- she could really sing
Marcel Audubon
"Spring is here, I hear " The sense of being left out expressed in 5 words
Marcel Audubon
beautiful