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)
Stardust
Keely Smith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
The song "Stardust" by Keely Smith is a poignant ballad about lost love and the power of music to keep memories alive. The opening lines evoke a sense of melancholy as the "purple dusk of twilight time" descends over the singer's heart. The idea of stars climbing in the sky is a metaphor for the distance between two lovers who are apart. The phrase "Love is now the stardust of yesterday" suggests that the memory of love has become something intangible and dreamlike, like stardust.
In the second verse, the singer reflects on their lonely nights and how they often dream of a song that reminds them of their lost love. The melody haunts their reverie and transports them back to when their love was new and each kiss was an inspiration. However, this is just a memory now, and the singer finds consolation in the stardust of the song that keeps the memory of their love alive.
The final verse describes a scene where the singer is holding their lover in their arms, listening to the nightingale singing about paradise. The singer knows that this is just a dream and that their love is gone, but they cling to the memory of the stardust melody, the memory of love's refrain.
Overall, "Stardust" is a beautiful and bittersweet song that captures the timeless theme of lost love and the power of music to keep memories alive.
Line by Line Meaning
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
As the sun sets and the sky gets darker, I feel a sense of loneliness and sadness in my heart.
Steals across the meadows of my heart
This sadness spreads like a shadow throughout my heart.
High up in the sky the little stars climb
As night falls, small stars quietly fill the sky above me.
Always reminding me that we're apart
Even the stars seem to remind me that we're not together, and our love has faded away.
You wander down the lane and far away
You have gone far away, leaving me alone and yearning for you.
Leaving me a song that will not die
The only thing you left me is a memory of the song we shared, but it's one that will never fade or disappear from my mind.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
Our love has become a distant memory that's as ephemeral and ungraspable as stardust.
The music of the years gone by.
The only remnants of our love are the sweet melodies that still linger in my mind, evoking memories of the happier times we shared together.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
I often think about how I pass the time in my lonely nights.
The lonely nights
These are the nights when I feel the most alone and desperate for your absence.
Dreaming of a song
I often dream about the song we shared, and the happy moments we had together.
The melody
The tune of our song is so vivid and memorable that I can't get it out of my head.
Haunts my reverie
The melody lingers in my mind, and haunts me during my reflections and daydreams.
And I am once again with you
In these moments, I feel like I'm transported back in time when we were still together and in love.
When our love was new
I'm reminded of our happier times when our love was fresh and blazing with passion.
And each kiss an inspiration
Every kiss we shared was magical and inspiring, filling me with joy and happiness.
But that was long ago
But those times are now in the distant past, fading with each passing day.
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
The only solace I have is in the memories of our song and the nostalgia it evokes.
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
I often imagine you in my arms outside, near the garden wall, beneath a sky full of bright stars.
You are in my arms
In these moments, I can almost feel your presence in my arms, as if you were really there next to me.
The nightingale
The bird's sweet and romantic song fills me with longing and sadness.
Tells his fairytale
In my mind, the bird's melody tells a wistful and romantic story of our love and the memories we shared.
Of paradise, where roses grew
The bird's song is so beautiful and evocative that it transports me to a romantic paradise where roses bloom and love flourished.
Though I dream in vain
Despite my best efforts, I know deep down that these dreams are just in my head, and that our love is truly dead and gone.
In my heart it will remain
But even though our love is gone, it still holds a special place in my heart, and I will never forget the moments we shared together.
My stardust melody
In the end, all I have left are memories of our song, evocative and bittersweet like a trail of stardust in the night sky.
The memory of love's refrain.
Our love may have ended, but the melody of our song will stay with me always, beautiful and heart-wrenching like the refrain of a heartfelt ballad.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jule T
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
Leonard Smith
Another sad loss from an era of songs and singers that are easy on the soul. RIP Keely.
William L Robinson
Great song sung by one of the best lady singers ever.
Beth Bartlett
I miss those many evenings - listening to your perfect voice Keely. I never took it for granted. I wish you well and oh such peace and happiness -
mrannen1958
magical, such a period sound, what a great era.
Jule T
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
sesresu
She is still appearing - caught her at Feinstein's 6 years ago. MAGNIFICENT - one of the most magical moments of my life.
MignonB1
An absolutely flawless version of the great standard, "Stardust" by the incomparable Keely Smith! So glad to know Keely is still singing. A true talent that can never be replaced.
Margot Blanchette
beautiful tone. Great singer!!
paddywonka
A voice no one can match today.
adelaide
today it's not music, it's noise pollution. screaming and screeching. drug addicts.