1) Nancy Sue Wilson - … Read Full Bio ↴There is more than one artist with this name:
1) Nancy Sue Wilson - jazz diva best known for her 60s standards recordings.
2) Nancy Lamoureaux Wilson - singer, songwriter, and guitarist, and member of the group Heart.
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1) Nancy Sue Wilson (born February 20, 1937, in Chillicothe, OH, United States – December 13, 2018, in Pioneertown, CA, United States) was a jazz diva famous for recording American standards in the 60s.
She was among contemporary music's most stylish and sultry vocalists; while often crossing over into the pop and R&B markets -- and even hosting her own television variety program -- she remained best known as a jazz performer, renowned for her work alongside figures including Cannonball Adderley and George Shearing. Wilson first attracted notice performing the club circuit in nearby Columbus; she quickly earned a growing reputation among jazz players and fans, and she was recording regularly by the late '50s, eventually signing to Capitol and issuing LPs including 1959's Like in Love and Nancy Wilson with Billy May's Orchestra. Her dates with Shearing, including 1960's The Swingin's Mutual, solidified her standing as a talent on the rise, and her subsequent work with Adderley -- arguably her finest recordings -- further cemented her growing fame and reputation.
In the years to follow, however, Wilson often moved away from jazz, much to the chagrin of purists; she made numerous albums, many of them properly categorized as pop and R&B outings, and toured extensively, appearing with everyone from Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan to Ruth Brown and LaVern Baker. She even hosted her own Emmy-winning variety series for NBC, The Nancy Wilson Show, and was a frequent guest performer on other programs; hits of the period included "Tell Me the Truth," "How Glad I Am," "Peace of Mind," and "Now, I'm a Woman." Regardless of how far afield she traveled, Wilson always maintained her connections to the jazz world, and in the 1980s, she returned to the music with a vengeance, working closely with performers including Hank Jones, Art Farmer, Ramsey Lewis, and Benny Golson. By the 1990s, she was a favorite among the "new adult contemporary" market, her style ideally suited to the format's penchant for lush, romantic ballads; she also hosted the Jazz Profiles series on National Public Radio.
In the early 2000s, Wilson recorded two albums with Ramsey Lewis for Narada (2002's Meant to Be and 2003's Simple Pleasures). Her 2004 album R.S.V.P. (Rare Songs, Very Personal) was a blend of straight-ahead jazz and ballads, similar to her next record, 2006's Turned to Blue, which, like R.S.V.P., used a different instrumentalist for each track. In 2005, Capitol released a three-part series to pay tribute to Wilson's contributions to music in the '50s and '60s: Guess Who I Saw Today: Nancy Wilson Sings Songs of Lost Love, Save Your Love for Me: Nancy Wilson Sings the Great Blues Ballads, and The Great American Songbook.
Wilson died from a long-illness on December 13, 2018 at her home in Pioneertown, California at the age of 81.
2) Nancy Lamoureux Wilson (born March 16, 1954, San Francisco, CA, United States), more popularly known as Nancy Wilson, is an American singer, guitarist and songwriter. Along with her older sister Ann Wilson, she is part of the Seattle/Vancouver rock band Heart. She is married to film director and screenwriter Cameron Crowe and has composed and performed music for most of Crowe's movies, including Jerry Maguire, Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky, and Elizabethtown.
While Ann is the lead singer on most of the Heart recordings, Nancy is the lead vocalist on Treat Me Well, These Dreams, Stranded, There's the Girl and Will You Be There (In The Morning), and frequently performs background vocals. She is also the band's rhythm and lead guitarist. In 1999, she released a live solo album, Live at McCabe's Guitar Shop.
Solo albums
1999 - Live At McCabes Guitar Shop
2005 - Elizabethtown
2009 - Baby Guitars
2016 - Undercover Guitar (with Julie Bergman)
2021 - You and Me
If Ever I Would Leave You
Nancy Wilson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Seeing you in summer I never would go.
Your hair streaked with sun-light, your lips red as flame, your face with a luster.
That puts gold to shame.
But if I'd ever leave you, it couldn't be in autumn.
How I'd leave in autumn I never will know.
I've seen how you sparkle, when fall nips the air.
And could I leave you running merrily through the snow
Or on a wintry evening when you catch the fire's glow
If ever I would leave you, how could it be in spring-time
Knowing how in spring I'm bewitched by you so
Oh, no! not in spring-time.
Summer, winter or fall.
No, never could I leave you at all.
No, never could I leave you at all.
In Nancy Wilson's song, "If Ever I Would Leave You," the singer expresses his deep commitment to his lover, stating that should he ever leave her, it wouldn't be in the summer, when she is at her most vibrant and beautiful. He admires her hair, lips, and face in the sunlight and says that she puts gold to shame. Even if he ever leaves her, it will not be in autumn, as she shines even more brightly then, and he must witness it. He loves seeing her run through the snow and admires her when she is caught in the glow of a winter fire. He knows that he could never leave her in the spring, when he is the most bewitched by her.
The song paints a picture of a lover who is always in awe of his beloved's beauty and cannot bear the thought of ever leaving her. It suggests that the singer values more than just his lover's physical appearance; he also admires her spirit and the way she presents herself. The lyrics suggest that he knows her better than anyone else and appreciates her in every season and in every moment.
Line by Line Meaning
If ever I would leave you, it wouldn't be in summer.
I would not leave you in the summer because the way you look in the season is stunning to me.
Seeing you in summer I never would go.
Your beauty in the summer season is too breathtaking for me to consider leaving.
Your hair streaked with sun-light, your lips red as flame, your face with a luster.
Your appearance in the summer, with your sun-stricken hair, fiery red lips, and shining face, is so dazzling that it puts gold to shame.
But if I'd ever leave you, it couldn't be in autumn.
Autumn is not a season where I could ever willingly leave you.
How I'd leave in autumn I never will know.
I cannot even imagine a scenario where I would want to leave you in the autumn season.
I've seen how you sparkle, when fall nips the air.
Even in the autumn season, I have witnessed how you sparkle and shine and I cannot imagine missing that.
I know you in autumn, and I must be there.
As I have experienced your beauty in autumn, I know I must be with you in that season.
And could I leave you running merrily through the snow.
I could not bear to leave you while you are running joyously through the snow.
Or on a wintry evening when you catch the fire's glow
Even on a winter evening when you are catching the fiery glow of a fire, I could never leave you.
If ever I would leave you, how could it be in spring-time
I could not fathom leaving you in the spring-time, the season where you bewitch me the most.
Knowing how in spring I'm bewitched by you so
Your enchanting beauty in the spring season has me under its spell and I could never leave you then.
Oh, no! not in spring-time.
Absolutely not in the springtime would I leave you.
Summer, winter or fall.
None of the seasons, summer, winter or fall, would be a reason for me to leave you.
No, never could I leave you at all.
In conclusion, I could never leave you, no matter the season.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Pepper Williams
I'm revisiting this song in 2021. This is to me, the definitive female version of this song. Also, the orchestral arrangement is 150% gold!!!
lincoln chandler
This is one of the most beautiful songs she had ever sung.
Marlon Levin
Dear Nancy. You have left us physically, but your spirit lives on forever with the remarkable recordings you have left us.......on a wintry evening we will continue to catch the fires glow of your voice.
Darwin Stith
Nancy Wilson is synonymous with Great Music. Our National Treasure.
mark broyard
Perfect tempo and that voice, so sweet and full of passion. A masterful interpretation.
Leon Gardner
Truly honey- coated VOICE...never get enuff of her music, one of the last treasure, love this lady's VOICE is music
M.J. Leger
I very first heard this song from Camelot, when Robert Goulet sang it back in the early '60's, and I played it on the piano soon after, and sang it a few years later when performing. It is such a beautiful song with such poignant lyrics, many have recorded it, but I think Nancy sings it the best I've ever heard. She can tell a story with a song, she makes you remember it. I can't remember when I first heard her sing it but I have her CD with it and play it often. Beautiful voice, and beautiful lady, she was. RIP, Nancy, you will be in our hearts and your inimitable voice will live on forever!
Who Dat Superbowl Queen
I agree 100%!!
Ma. Lourdes Aguilar
Oh WOW! MY HEART MELT listening to her singing this timeless masterpiece! Bless you Nancy W. 💟
RAY DEWEY
And Sid Feller's beautiful arrangement finishes a work of art.