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)
Imagination
Keely Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Can you tell me what you see
There's a thousand voices whispering
Songs and you're the melody
So I imagine my heart with you
See what imagination can do
It's not hard to conceive
Many, many days our shadows passed
Seeing visions of a new bright horizon
Set the morning light
And that morning light is you
So I imagine my heart with you
See what imagination can do
It's not hard to conceive
love ecstasy imagining you, imagining me
The beauty we both can see
You're the dream I prayed would come along
To make my fantasy
Day and night you live inside my heart
You're the flame of love to me
In Keely Smith's song "Imagination", the lyrics beautifully illustrate the power of the human imagination. The singer asks a magic mirror to search her heart and reveal what it sees. She then describes how her imagination conjures up the image of her beloved as the melody to a thousand whispering songs. She reflects on the many days they have spent together, and how their shared experiences have given her hope for a brighter future. She then goes on to describe how her heart is filled with the image of her love, and how this imaginative vision brings her great joy and ecstasy.
Line by Line Meaning
Magic mirror come and search my heart
Keely Smith requests the magic mirror to search her heart.
Can you tell me what you see
Keely Smith wants to know what the mirror sees.
There's a thousand voices whispering
The singer hears many whispers.
Songs and you're the melody
The person Keely is thinking about is the melody of all the songs.
So I imagine my heart with you
The singer imagines her heart with the person she is thinking about.
See what imagination can do
Keely Smith acknowledges the power of imagination.
It's not hard to conceive
The singer thinks it's not impossible to conceive the idea of love with the person she is imagining.
Love ecstasy imagining you with me
Keely is describing the incredible feeling of love when she imagines the person with her.
Many, many days our shadows passed
Many days have passed where they were physically separated.
Seeing visions of a new bright horizon
They both have visions of a bright future.
Set the morning light
The light of the morning is significant in her thoughts.
And that morning light is you
The person Keely is thinking about is comparable to the morning light.
The beauty we both can see
They both can see the beauty of their relationship.
You're the dream I prayed would come along
The person Keely thinks about is the dream she wished for.
To make my fantasy
The person Keely thinks about makes her fantasies come true.
Day and night you live inside my heart
The person Keely thinks about is always on her mind.
You're the flame of love to me
The person Keely thinks about is the embodiment of love for her.
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ANKA WOLBERT, RONNIE MOERINGS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@miltonmoore5294
From an era when
great vocalists like this from all
genres were crawling
out of the woodwork. Today
we don't even have the woodwork! (For
another unheralded singer
with a unique and
gorgeous voice,
google Caterina Valente on TONIGHT WE LOVE.)
@peterfarrar9015
Heusen/Burke combination produced this beautiful romantic ballad "Imagination"& the magic duo of the golden voice with a touch of honey, Miss Keely Smith & her favourite big orchestra of Nelson Riddle elevated this music into a wonderland for romantics. Keely, you may be absent physically, but your many fans will enjoy your golden voice forever & a day via modern technology. I cannot imagine another leading artist matching Miss Smith's performance with this beautiful ballad. Rest in Peace dear one.
@allangrabkowitz7654
Seeing her at Feinstein’s was pure magic. Heavenly evening.
Sassy Keely but oh that voice.
@winifredpowell3742
Love this song. Keely Smith does a greatjob
@darlenebreitkreutz6129
I'm loosing my Mom and just played 'I Wish You Love' which is her favorite song. She used to play her albums on Saturdays when she and all four of us girls would clean house and sing our hearts out. I love you Mom. I wish you love'! Darlene
@allangrabkowitz7654
My heart is with you. Much love. Tears.
@honkywhiteboycracker1636
Impossible not to love this lady. She knocks me out.
@jack4977452
One of rhe finest vocalists ever ,super voice
@manchyk
Saw Keely
N
in Las Vega on my honeymoon in 1956 at Th’s Sands Hotel
My wife and I have followed her career until her recent passing. Nobody
did it better!
@catman916
Yes, Yfrum, it doesn't get any better than this.
@legioxciicorvus5917
Just discovered Keely Smith on the radio tonight! What an incredibly delightful and charming voice she has.