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.
The Song Is You
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A beautiful theme of ev'ry
Dream I ever knew.
Down deep in my heart I hear it play.
I feel it start, then melt away.
I hear music when I touch your hand,
A beautiful melody
Down deep in my heart, I hear it say,
Is this the day?
I alone have heard this lovely strain,
I alone have heard this glad refrain,
Must it be forever inside of me,
Why can't I let it go,
Why can't I let you know,
Why can't I let you know the song
My heart would sing?
That beautiful rhapsody
Of love and youth and spring,
The music is sweet,
The words are true,
The song is you.
"The Song Is You" is a love song performed by June Christy that was written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. The lyrics of the song express the sentiment that the person the singer is speaking to is the cause of the beautiful music and melody that play in their head and heart whenever they are near them. They are so taken with this person that their love becomes a sort of soundtrack to their life and they can't help but be overcome with emotion. The first verse of the song speaks to the fact that when the singer sees their love interest, they feel as though a beautiful theme has overtaken them--one that is the culmination of all their hopes and dreams. This is further reinforced in the second verse, where the singer notes that even touching their love interest brings up a beautiful melody from an enchanted land.
The song seems somewhat melancholic, however, as the singer notes that they are the only one who can hear this lovely strain and they wonder why they can't share it with the person they're singing to. They question why they can't let the song out and share it with the world. It's a deeply romantic song that speaks to the idea that true love is synonymous with beautiful music that fills your soul. The final lines of the song, which discuss the rhapsodic beauty of love and youth and spring, leave us with that same dreamy sense of romance and wonder.
Line by Line Meaning
I hear music when I look at you;
Every time I set my eyes on you, my soul hears a wonderful melody.
A beautiful theme of ev'ry
It is a beautiful tune which captures the essence of every feeling that I have.
Dream I ever knew.
Every dream I ever had, all my hopes and aspirations, are woven into this sweet music.
Down deep in my heart I hear it play.
The song is etched so deeply in my heart that I can hear it playing all the time.
I feel it start, then melt away.
The melody feels like it's about to begin, but then it fades away just as quickly.
I hear music when I touch your hand,
As soon as I touch your hand, the music begins to play again.
A beautiful melody
It's a beautiful tune that makes my heart sing and fills me with joy.
From some enchanted land.
The melody seems to come from an enchanted world that only exists in our hearts.
Down deep in my heart, I hear it say,
The song is so deeply ingrained in my heart, that it seems to be speaking to me.
Is this the day?
Could this be the day when I finally reveal my true feelings?
I alone have heard this lovely strain,
This beautiful melody is something that only I have ever heard.
I alone have heard this glad refrain,
I am the only one who has ever experienced this joyous feeling.
Must it be forever inside of me,
Do I have to keep this melody trapped inside me forever?
Why can't I let it go,
Why can't I just let this melody out of my heart and share it with the world?
Why can't I let you know,
Why can't I let you know how I feel and share this music with you?
Why can't I let you know the song
Why can't I let you know the true message behind this melody?
My heart would sing?
It's a melody that would make my heart sing with joy and happiness.
That beautiful rhapsody
This beautiful melody is more than just a tune - it's a symphony of my heart's desires.
Of love and youth and spring,
It's a melody that embodies the feelings of love, youth, and the freshness of springtime.
The music is sweet,
The sweetness of this melody is something that fills my heart with warmth and joy.
The words are true,
The emotions behind this melody are the truest and most genuine that I have ever felt.
The song is you.
The true essence of this melody is you - the person who fills my heart with love and joy.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jerome Kern, Oscar II Hammerstein
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Bugleboy 452
One of the many classic jazz albums June recorded for Capitol. Very nice phrasing and her voice is misty as ever.