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)
I'll Never Smile Again / Dream
Keely Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Until I smile at you
I'll never laugh again
What good would it do
For tears would fill my eyes
My heart would realize
That our romance is through
I'll never love again
I'm so in love with you
I'll never thrill again
To somebody new
Within my heart
I know I will never start
To smile again
Until I smile at you
Instrumental Interlude
Dream
When you're feeling blue
Dream
That's the thing to do
Just watch the smoke rings rise in the air
You'll find your share of memories there
So, dream when the day is through
Dream and they might come true
Things never are as bad as they seem
So dream, dream, dream
I'll never smile again
Until I smile at you
The lyrics to Keely Smith's "I'll Never Smile Again" are a poignant and emotional testament to the power that love can have over us. This song speaks to the raw feelings of heartbreak and the emptiness that comes when a romantic relationship comes to an end. The lyrics are simple, but they are powerful in their directness and honesty.
The opening verse encapsulates the deep sense of loss that the singer is experiencing. They state that they will never be happy again until they can be happy with their lost love. The second verse speaks to the fear of moving on and starting a relationship with someone new. The heart knows that it will never love again the way it did before.
The chorus repeats the sentiment that the singer will not be able to smile, laugh, or love again until they can do it with their lost love. The ending instrumental interlude provides a moment to reflect on the feelings that have been expressed, and the song ends on the bittersweet hope that dreams can help give us comfort and maybe, just maybe, make our wishes come true.
Overall, "I'll Never Smile Again" is a heartbreakingly beautiful song that speaks to the experience of losing love and the struggle to move on from that loss.
Line by Line Meaning
I'll never smile again
The singer expresses her feelings of disdain for life due to the absence of the person she loves.
Until I smile at you
Her happiness is connected with the presence of the person she loves.
I'll never laugh again
The singer believes there is no reason to laugh since the person she loves is not around.
What good would it do
Laughing would not bring any joy since the person she loves is not around.
For tears would fill my eyes
She would cry and feel deeply sad.
My heart would realize
Her emotional condition would prevent her from feeling happy.
That our romance is through
The person she loves is no longer around and their romance is over.
I'll never love again
She vows to never love someone else.
I'm so in love with you
She is deeply in love with the person she is addressing.
I'll never thrill again
She feels like her life will not be as exciting as it was before.
To somebody new
She implies she won't find another person to love.
Within my heart
The artist means her innermost being.
I know I will never start
She feels like she won't be able to start doing something new.
To smile again
She won't be happy and smiling until the person she loves returns.
Dream
The singer suggests that dreaming is the way of escaping from the sadness reality presents.
When you're feeling blue
When you are feeling sad.
That's the thing to do
Dreaming is what the reader should do if faced with sadness.
Just watch the smoke rings rise in the air
The singer suggests that watching the smoke rings rise in the air is a good way of coping with sadness.
You'll find your share of memories there
You'll Travel back to past memories.
So, dream when the day is through
The artist advises to dream during the night.
Dream and they might come true
The artist suggests that dreams might become a reality.
Things never are as bad as they seem
Things look worse than they are most of the time.
So dream, dream, dream
The singer emphasizes that dreaming is the way to get through tough times.
Contributed by Hannah I. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
catman916
She still sounds good at age 77.
Paul Ostroff
Keeley Smith.was a great pop singer!