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)
It's Been A Long Long Time
Keely Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Then kiss me once again.
It's been a long, long time.
Haven't felt like this, my dear
Since I can't remember when.
It's been a long, long time
You'll never know how many dreams
Or just how empty they all seemed without you.
So kiss me once, then kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again.
It's been a long, long time.
Ah, kiss me once, then kiss me twice
Then kiss me once again.
It's been a long time.
Haven't felt like this my dear
Since I can't remember when
It's been a long, long time.
The lyrics to Keely Smith's song "It's Been A Long Long Time" express the overwhelming excitement and affection of two lovers reunited after a long time apart. The repetition of the phrase "kiss me once, then kiss me twice" emphasizes the eagerness of the singer to be close to her lover once again. She has missed him for such a long time that she can't remember the last time she felt so alive and complete, as she says "Haven't felt like this, my dear, since I can't remember when."
The second verse of the song reveals the depth of the singer's longing and how empty her life has been without her lover. She has dreamed about him so many times and felt incomplete without him. The repeated phrase "It's been a long, long time" highlights the intensity of their separation and the euphoria of their reunion.
Overall, these lyrics convey the powerful emotions of love and reunion that everyone can relate to on a visceral level. They capture the feeling of being separated from someone important and then finally finding them once again.
Line by Line Meaning
Kiss me once, then kiss me twice
I want to be showered with love, affection, and attention from you.
Then kiss me once again.
I just can't get enough of you, please kiss me again.
It's been a long, long time.
It has been a while since I have felt this way. I am in need of your love and presence.
Haven't felt like this, my dear
It's been a while since I have felt this way, my love.
Since I can't remember when.
I don't even remember the last time I felt that way.
You'll never know how many dreams
I have dreamt of you numerous times and you have no idea how often.
I've dreamed about you.
I can't stop thinking about you and imagining you by my side.
Or just how empty they all seemed without you.
My dreams and life feel incomplete without you in it.
So kiss me once, then kiss me twice
Show me your love and affection by kissing me not once but twice.
Then kiss me once again.
One more kiss and I'll be complete.
It's been a long, long time.
It has been too long since I have felt this love and affection from you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@jeanfleming9702
what a great singer, she can sing anything
@LAUptegrove
Keely, one of my favorite singers. I am so glad that she finally turned herself into a solo act after her marriage with Louis Prima. Love That Voice.
@TrishBell1
Loving it instantly!
@ivanwashington3186
first time i'd heard this in stereo sound!