Smith showed a natural aptitude for singing at a young age. At 14, she sang with a naval air station band led by Saxie Dowell. At 15, she got her first paying job with the Earl Bennett band.
She saw Louis Prima perform in New York City in 1949. When he came through Norfolk, Virginia, she auditioned. She became the calm balance to Prima's wild antics, as he made his way through a repertoire of jump blues, jazz, and Italian pop songs. They recorded together in 1949 and married in 1953.
Their songs included Johnny Mercer's and Harold Arlen's "That Ol' Black Magic", which was a Top 20 hit in the US in 1958. At the 1st Annual Grammy Awards in 1959, Smith and Prima won the first Grammy for Best Performance by a Vocal Group for "That Ol' Black Magic". Her deadpan act was popular with fans. The duo followed up with the minor successes "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen", a revival of the 1937 Andrews Sisters hit. Smith and Prima's act was a mainstay of the Las Vegas lounge scene for much of the 1950s. Though her actual voice was not used, she was caricatured as "Squealy Smith" in Bob Clampett's 1960 Beany and Cecil episode "So What and the Seven Whatnots," a Snow White spoof in a Vegas setting.
Smith appeared with Prima in the 1959 film, Hey Boy! Hey Girl!, singing "Fever", and also appeared in and sang on the soundtrack of the previous year's Thunder Road. Her song in Thunder Road was "Whippoorwill". Her first big solo hit was "I Wish You Love" in 1957. In 1961, Smith divorced Prima. She then signed with Reprise Records, where her musical director was Nelson Riddle. In 1965, she had Top 20 hits in the United Kingdom with an album of Beatles compositions, and a single, "You're Breaking My Heart" which reached No. 14 in April.
She returned to singing in 1985, recording the album I'm in Love Again with Bud Shank and Bill Perkins. Her albums, Swing, Swing, Swing (2002), Keely Sings Sinatra (2001) for which she received a Grammy nomination, and Keely Swings Count Basie Style with Strings (2002) won critical and popular acclaim.
In 1998, a Golden Palm Star on the Palm Springs Walk of Stars was dedicated to her.
Smith was of Irish and Native American ancestry.
Married Louis Leo Prima July 13, 1953, in Virginia Beach; the couple divorced in 1961. They had two children: Toni Elizabeth and Luanne Francis.
Married Jimmy Bowen in 1965. The couple divorced in 1969.
Married singer Bobby Milano (real name Charles Caci) in 1975 in Palm Springs. Frank Sinatra gave the bride away.
Smith died of apparent heart failure in Palm Springs California on December 16t, 2017 at the age of 89.
Discography
1957 I Wish You Love (Capitol)
1958 Politely! (Capitol)
1959 Swingin' Pretty (Capitol)
1959 Be My Love (Dot)
1960 Swing, You Lovers (Dot)
1960 A Keely Christmas (Dot)
1961 Twist With Keely Smith (Dot)
1961 Dearly Beloved (Dot)
1962 Because You're Mine (Dot)
1962 What Kind of Fool Am I? (Dot)
1962 Cherokeely Swings (Dot)
1963 Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New (Reprise)
1964 The Intimate Keely Smith (Reprise)
1965 Keely Smith Sings the John Lennon—Paul McCartney Songbook (Reprise)
1965 That Old Black Magic (Reprise)
1985 I'm In Love Again (Fantasy)
2000 Swing, Swing, Swing (Concord Jazz)
2001 Keely Sings Sinatra (Concord Jazz)
2002 Keely Swings Basie-Style With Strings (Concord Jazz)
2005 Vegas '58 – Today (Concord)
With Louis Prima
1958 Breaking It Up! (Columbia)
1958 Louis Prima & Keely Smith on Broadway (Coronet)
1959 Louis and Keely! (Dot)
1958 Together (Dot)
1961 Return of the Wildest! (Dot)
With Louis Prima and Sam Butera and the Witnesses
1957 The Call of the Wildest (Capitol)
1957 The Wildest Show at Tahoe (Capitol)
1958 Las Vegas Prima Style (Capitol)
1959 Hey Boy! Hey Girl! (Capitol)
1960 On Stage (Dot)
Goodbye
Keely Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
But what care I?
Such pride inside me has woken,
I'll try my best not to cry,
By and by,
When the final farewells must be spoken.
I'll join the Legion,
That's what I'll do.
Where human hearts are staunch and true,
I shall start my life anew.
Good-bye, it's time
I sought a foreign clime,
Where I may find
there are hearts more kind
Than I leave behind.
And so, I go,
To fight a savage foe,
Although I know that
I'll be sometimes missed by the girls I've kissed.
In some Abyssinian French Dominion
I shall do my bit,
And fall for the flag if I must.
Where the desert sand is nice and handy,
I'll be full of grit
You won't see my heels for the dust.
I'll do or die
You'll know the reason why
When told of bold Leopold's last stand
For the Fatherland.
Good-bye, it's time,
I sought a foreign clime,
Where I may find
There are hearts more kind
Than I leave behind.
And so, I go
To fight a savage foe,
Although I know that
I'll be sometimes misses by the girls I've kissed.
In some Abyssinian French Dominion
I shall do my bit,
And fall for the flag if I must.
Where the desert sand is nice and handy,
I'll be full of grit
You won't see my heels for the dust.
I'll do or die,
You'll know the reason why
When told of bold Leopold's last stand
For the Fatherland.
Good-bye. Good-bye
I wish you all a last Good-bye.
Good-bye. Good-bye.
I wish you all a last Good-bye.
In Keely Smith’s “Goodbye,” the singer reveals that her heart is broken, but she is determined to move on. She exemplifies courage by stating that she will try not to cry even though she is in immense pain. Her pride is awakened as she prepares to say her final goodbyes to loved ones. She declares that she will join the legion, start her life anew in a different country, and fight for a noble cause. She acknowledges that her departure may cause her loved ones to miss her, but she needs to leave in order to find a place where she will be appreciated and embraced. The song ends with her bidding her farewell and wishing her loved ones the best.
“Goodbye” was released in 1957 and was written by Johnny Mercer and Gordon Jenkins. The song became one of the top ten hits in the United States in 1958. The lyrics of the song were said to be inspired by the French Foreign Legion, which is known for its courage and perseverance in the face of adversity. This song became very popular among people who had experienced heartbreak and wanted to move on.
Line by Line Meaning
My heart is broken,
I'm heartbroken, in pain and suffering.
But what care I?
But I don't care about it, I don't want to show my vulnerability.
Such pride inside me has woken,
I feel an urge to show my strength and courage.
I'll try my best not to cry,
I'll do whatever it takes to avoid shedding tears.
By and by,
Eventually,
When the final farewells must be spoken.
When it's time to say goodbye for good.
I'll join the Legion,
I'll enlist in the army.
That's what I'll do.
That's my plan.
And in some far distant region,
In a remote place,
Where human hearts are staunch and true,
Where people are brave and loyal.
I shall start my life anew.
I'll have a fresh start, a new beginning.
Good-bye, it's time
It's time to say goodbye.
I sought a foreign clime,
I'm looking for a new environment, a different country.
Where I may find
Where I hope to find,
there are hearts more kind
People who are more compassionate.
Than I leave behind.
More than the people I'm leaving behind.
And so, I go,
And so, I'm leaving.
To fight a savage foe,
To fight against a brutal enemy.
Although I know that
Even though I realize that
I'll be sometimes missed by the girls I've kissed.
I know that some of the women I've been with will miss me.
In some Abyssinian French Dominion
In some territory ruled by the French in Abyssinia (Ethiopia).
I shall do my bit,
I'll do my part, contribute to the war.
And fall for the flag if I must.
And if necessary, I'm willing to die fighting for my country's flag.
Where the desert sand is nice and handy,
In a place where there's plenty of desert sand,
I'll be full of grit
I'll be determined and courageous.
You won't see my heels for the dust.
I'll be moving so fast that you won't see the dust from my feet.
I'll do or die
I'll fight until the end.
You'll know the reason why
You'll understand why
When told of bold Leopold's last stand
When you hear about Leopold's heroic final battle.
For the Fatherland.
For our country, for our people.
Good-bye. Good-bye
Farewell. Farewell.
I wish you all a last Good-bye.
I wish you all a final farewell.
Good-bye. Good-bye.
Farewell. Farewell.
I wish you all a last Good-bye.
I wish you all a final farewell.
Lyrics © Peermusic Publishing, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Gordon Jenkins
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
John Mahan
Hello, I know you posted this video a LONG time ago, but do you still have the single? It's the white label promo, correct? I have three copies of this 45 in different versions/countries and there is a lot of horrible distortion/heavy crackling in the trumpet intro (kind of like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPFp5b9FnQs). Is there a way to hear the intro through perhaps a computer instead of a mobile phone? No worries if not, and thank you so much for your time.