As a vocalist, Maxine Sullivan was active for half a century, from the mid-1930s to just before her death in 1987. She is best known for her 1937 recording of a swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond". Throughout her career, Sullivan also appeared as a performer on film as well as on stage. A precursor to better-known later vocalists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Sarah Vaughan, Maxine Sullivan is considered one of the best jazz vocalists of the 1930s.
Maxine Sullivan was born in Homestead, Pennsylvania in 1911. Sullivan began her music career singing in her uncle's band, The Red Hot Peppers, in her native Pennsylvania, in which she occasionally played the flugelhorn and the valve trombone, in addition to singing. In the mid-1930s she was discovered by Gladys Mosier (then working in Ina Rae Hutton's big band). Mosier introduced her to Claude Thornhill, which led to her first recordings made in June of 1937. Shorty thereafter, Sullivan became a featured vocalist at the Onyx Club in New York. During this period, she began forming a professional and close personal relationship with bassist John Kirby, to whom she was married from 1938 to 1941.
Early sessions with Kirby in 1937 yielded a hit recording of a swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond" featuring Sullivan on vocals. This early success "branded" Sullivan's style, leading her to sing similar swing arrangements of traditional folk tunes mostly arranged by pianist Claude Thornhill, such as "Darling Nellie Gray", "I Dream of Jeanie", "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes", and "If I Had a Ribbon Bow". Her early popularity also led to a brief appearance in the movie Going Places opposite Louis Armstrong. In 1940, Sullivan and Kirby were featured on the radio program Flow Gently Sweet Rhythm, making them the first black jazz stars to have their own weekly radio series. From 1940-1942, Sullivan often performed with her husband Kirby's sextet. During the 1940s Sullivan then performed with a wide range of bands, including those of Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, and Jimmie Lunceford. Sullivan also performed at many of New York's hottest jazz spots such as the Ruban Bleu, the Village Vanguard, the Blue Angel, and the Penthouse.
In 1956, Sullivan shifted away from her earlier style and recorded the album A Tribute to Andy Razaf. Originally on the Period record label, A Tribute to Andy Razaf featured Sullivan's interpretations of a dozen tunes featuring the lyrics of the poet and lyricist Andy Razaf. The album also highlighted the music of Fats Waller, including versions of "Keepin' Out of Mischief Now", "How Can you Face Me?", "My Fate is in Your Hands", "Honeysuckle Rose", "Ain't Misbehavin'", and "Blue Turning Grey Over You". Sullivan was joined by a sextet that was reminiscent of John Kirby's group of 15 years prior, including trumpeter Charlie Shavers and clarinetist Buster Bailey. In 1953 Sullivan starred in the play, Take a Giant Step.
From 1958 to 1966, Sullivan began working as a nurse and raising her children, which largely consumed most of her time. Her music career did not reassert itself until 1966, when she began performing in jazz festivals alongside her new husband, Cliff Jackson, who can be heard on the 1966 live recording of Sullivan's performance at the Manassas Jazz Festival.
Sullivan continued to perform throughout the 1960s and 1970s, and produced an output of recordings during the 1980s despite being over 70 years old. She was nominated for the 1979 Tony Award for Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in My Old Friends. She participated in a documentary film portrait, Maxine Sullivan: Love to Be in Love, shortly before her death.
Maxine Sullivan died in 1987 in New York. She was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998.
Darn That Dream
Maxine Sullivan Lyrics
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You say you love me and you hold me tight
But when I awake, you're out of sight
Darn that dream
Darn your lips and darn your eyes
They lift me high above the moonlit skies
Then I tumble out of paradise
Darn that crazy one track, mind of mine
It can't understand that you don't care
Just to change the mood I'm in
I'd welcome a nice old nightmare
Darn that dream and bless it too
Without that dream, I never would have you
But it haunts me and it won't come true
Darn that dream
Darn that dream and bless it too
Without that dream, I never would have you
But it haunts me and it won't come true
Darn that dream
Maxine Sullivan's "Darn That Dream" is a mournful ballad about dreaming of a love that is unattainable. The singer dreams of being loved and held, only to awaken to cold reality - her lover is out of reach. She curses the dream that teases her with glimpses of happiness and perfection, only to yank it away when she awakes. The song is full of longing and despair, as the singer contemplates how her one-track mind won't let go of the dream.
The singer acknowledges that the dream is both a blessing and a curse - without it, she never would have had the hope of love to begin with. But the dream haunts her, taunting her with what could have been but never will be. She wishes she could change the mood she's in and welcome a nightmare instead, anything to escape the constant torment of unfulfilled desire.
The lyrics of "Darn That Dream" are full of powerful imagery - the moonlit skies, paradise, and the singer's "crazy one track mind" all vividly convey the intensity of the emotions being expressed. The melody is simple and haunting, mirroring the despair in the lyrics. Sullivan's voice is restrained and melancholy, lending even more weight to the already heavy lyrics.
Line by Line Meaning
Darn that dream, I dream each night
I am frustrated by the fact that I keep dreaming of the same dream every night.
You say you love me and you hold me tight
In my dream, you confess your love for me and hold me tightly in your embrace.
But when I awake, you're out of sight
However, once I wake up, I realize that you are not really there.
Darn your lips and darn your eyes
I curse the beauty of your lips and eyes, which seduce me into believing in a false reality.
They lift me high above the moonlit skies
In my dream, your lips and eyes elevate me to a level of happiness that is beyond reach in reality.
Then I tumble out of paradise
Yet, as soon as I wake up, I fall out of this euphoric state back to my mundane reality.
Oh, darn that dream
I am frustrated with this dream that is a constant reminder of my longing for something that isn't real.
Darn that crazy one track, mind of mine
I curse my own mind because it can only focus on this one dream and cannot move on from it.
It can't understand that you don't care
My mind cannot comprehend that you might not have the same feelings towards me as I do towards you.
Just to change the mood I'm in
In order to escape from my current state of mind, I would welcome the occurrence of a negative dream.
I'd welcome a nice old nightmare
I am so desperate to move on from this dream that I would even welcome a bad dream.
Darn that dream and bless it too
Although my dream frustrates me, I also acknowledge that without it, I would have never met you.
Without that dream, I never would have you
If I hadn't dreamt of you, I would have never had the opportunity to meet you and fall in love with you.
But it haunts me and it won't come true
Nevertheless, as much as I love you, I know that this dream is just a fantasy and that it cannot come true.
Darn that dream
In the end, my frustration with this dream outweighs my appreciation of it.
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: EDGAR EDDIE DELANGE, JIMMY VAN HEUSEN
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind