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.
When Sunny Gets Blue
June Christy Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Skies get gray and cloudy
And the rain begins to fall
Pitter patter, pitter patter
Love is gone
So what can I do
No sweet lover man comes to call
Oh when sunny gets blue
She breathes a sigh of sadness
Like the winds that sway the trees.
Winds that set the leaves a-sway
Like the violins that play
Strange and haunting melodies
Oh when sunny gets blue
Sunny gets blue
When sunny gets blue
People used to love to see her laugh
And see her smile
That's how she got her name
Since that sad affair
She's lost her smile
Changed her style
Somehow she's not the same
The memories come back
And pretty dreams rise up
Where the other dreams fell through
Hurry new love, hurry here
Kiss away each lonely tear
Hold me near when
Sunny gets blue
Oh yes, when sunny gets blue
Sunny gets blue
When sunny gets blue
Sunny gets blue
The song "When Sunny Gets Blue" by June Christy is a poignant ballad about the sadness that comes with lost love. The opening lines "When sunny gets blue, skies get gray and cloudy, and the rain begins to fall" set the tone for the rest of the song. Sunny represents the singer's emotional state, and when she gets blue, the singer's world feels gray and cloudy. The rain is a metaphor for the tears of sadness that the singer sheds over her lost love. The pitter-patter of the rain is a reminder of the ultimately fleeting nature of love.
The singer acknowledges that she has no control over when love leaves her. She asks, "So what can I do? / No sweet lover man comes to call." Here, the emphasis is on the word "sweet," suggesting that while men may be coming around, none of them can replace the one that got away. It's clear that the singer is heartbroken, and she looks for solace in the skies and the trees. She likens her sadness to the winds that sway the trees and the violins that play "strange and haunting melodies." The use of "strange and haunting" underscores the idea that the singer is experiencing a profound sadness that she cannot shake.
The final stanza offers a glimmer of hope. The singer remembers a time when people loved to see her smile and laugh, but those days are gone, and she's not the same. Memories of lost love come back to haunt her, but she hopes that new love will come along to hold her close and kiss away her tears. The repetition of "Sunny gets blue" reinforces the idea that emotions can be cyclical and that there may be happier days ahead.
Line by Line Meaning
When sunny gets blue
The singer is describing how everything turns gray and cloudy when their mood changes
Skies get gray and cloudy
The singer is noting how the sky changes to mirror their sad emotional state
And the rain begins to fall
The singer is describing how their sadness is so intense that it brings about physical changes in the environment
Pitter patter, pitter patter
This line is an onomatopoeia that evokes the sound of raindrops falling
Love is gone
The artist notes that their sadness is due to the loss of love
So what can I do
The singer is expressing their sense of powerlessness in the face of their sadness
No sweet lover man comes to call
The singer is expressing their loneliness in not having a lover with them during this difficult time
Oh when sunny gets blue
The artist repeats the title of the song, emphasizing the central theme of the piece
She breathes a sigh of sadness
The artist is using a metaphor to describe the way their mood physically manifests, like a sigh
Like the winds that sway the trees.
The artist is comparing their sadness to the strong gusts of wind that can move trees
Winds that set the leaves a-sway
The singer elaborates on their metaphor, describing how the winds move the leaves on the trees
Like the violins that play
The artist switches to a new metaphor, comparing the emotional impact of their mood to the melancholy strains of a violin
Strange and haunting melodies
The description of the violin music suggests a haunting or eerie quality, adding depth to the metaphor
Sunny gets blue
The singer repeats the title once again, driving home the central theme of the song
People used to love to see her laugh
The singer is reminiscing about how they used to be, highlighting the change in their mood and behavior
And see her smile
The artist notes how their smile was once a defining characteristic
That's how she got her name
The artist uses a hypothetical example to illustrate how their happy demeanor was once so central to their image that it was part of their name
Since that sad affair
The singer implies that their change in mood is due to an unspecified tragic event
She's lost her smile
The singer explicitly states their loss of a smile as a sign of their sadness
Changed her style
The artist implies that their external appearance and behavior has also changed
Somehow she's not the same
The artist reflects on how their sadness has changed them fundamentally, making them unrecognizable to their former self
The memories come back
The artist reflects on the way that memories of happier times can evoke conflicting emotions
And pretty dreams rise up
The singer describes how they still hold onto dreams and hope for a better future, despite their sadness
Where the other dreams fell through
The artist notes that not all dreams come to fruition, emphasizing the challenges they have faced in their life
Hurry new love, hurry here
The singer expresses a desire for someone new to come into their life and show them love and happiness
Kiss away each lonely tear
The singer emphasizes the need for physical affection and comfort as a way to alleviate their sadness
Hold me near when
The singer expresses a desire for closeness and intimacy
Sunny gets blue
The artist repeats the title yet again, bringing the song full circle
Oh yes, when sunny gets blue
The artist repeats the phrase with emphasis, signifying the strong emotions behind their words
Sunny gets blue
The singer repeats the title one final time, bringing the song to a close
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MARVIN FISHER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@scottluster4873
I never tire of this old Christy/Rugolo chestnut. June's deft phrasing is-
per usual-close to jazz perfection. It reminds me of a drive through an old neighborhood filled with great memories.@antoniadiamej6408
De las mejores versiones que he oído.
@DavidNaquin
From the Era when you could recognize a singer's style and distinctive sound immediately
@charlessnow251
Almost as good as johnny Mathis
@Marcel_Audubon
almost ... but not quite