Julie London - Biography
By J Poet
In the 50s, Julie London was as famous for the sultry covers of her LPs as she was for her singing, a low, throaty purr that made her sound like she was whispering the lyrics right into year ear. A generation of young men grew up with Julie London covers decorating their bedrooms.
A true golden California girl, London was born in Santa Rosa, California, to a show biz family. Both parents were vaudeville and radio entertainers. She first dang on radio when she was three, and had a featured spot on a local radio station while she was in grammar school. The family moved to San Bernardino, and London dropped out of high school to work as an elevator operator in a department store in Hollywood where she met talent agent Sue Carol who offered to manage her.
Her reddish blond hair, stunning beauty and husky speaking voice helped her movie career; she got bit parts Jungle Woman (1944) Nabongna (1945) and The Red House (1947) with Edward G. Robinson where she served as his side kick in a supernatural mystery. Between movies, she sang with the Matty Malneck Orchestra and got good notices. In 1947 she Married actor Jack Webb, and she stopped acting and singing.
Bobby Troup, the jazzman who wrote “Route 66”, befriended London after she divorced Webb. He heard her singing and hooked her up with guitarist Barney Kessel. She started performing regularly at the 881 Club in Los Angeles as a trio with Kessel and bassist Ray Leatherwood. She was signed by Liberty and cut Julie Is Her Name, Vol. 1 (1955 Liberty, 2006 Rev Ola) with the same low-key trio. “Cry Me a River”, a song by her friend Arthur Hamilton, was a gold selling, Top 10 hit in the US and made waves around the world. The album went to #2 on the pop charts and stayed there for six months after the song, and London, appeared in Jayne Mansfield’s rock movie The Girl Can't Help It (1956). She was voted Billboard's most popular female vocalist three years in a row from 1955 to 1957.
London was now a singing star and recorded at a hectic pace, each album featuring bare shouldered close ups that made her look like a Playboy pinup. Her sexy, low-key vocals added to her sensual image. Lonely Girl (1956, Liberty) was another stripped down outing, Calendar Girl (1956, Liberty) featured more standards, big band arrangements and a pin up picture of London for every month of the year, About the Blues (1957 Liberty, 2002 Blue Note) moved in a pop direction and included future husband Bobby Troup’s “Meaning of the Blues” which Miles Davis covered on Miles Ahead (1957 Columbia).
Make Love to Me (1957 Liberty), featured a big band, but on Julie Is Her Name, Volume II (1958) she was back to minimal guitar and bass. London by Night (1958 Liberty)is a sizzling late night pop album, with London dressed like a 1920s hooker on the cover, Swing Me an Old Song (1959) was a Dixieland effort, but for Your Number Please (1959 Liberty), Around Midnight (1960 Liberty, 2006 Blue Note) and Julie...At Home (1960 Liberty) she was back in an intimate, late night setting. In 1959 she married Troup and they stayed together until his sudden death in 1999.
He stardom led to better movie roles including Man of the West with Gary Cooper in 1958. She toured infrequently, notoriously stage shy, but kept making sultry late night albums like Send for Me (1961 Liberty) a bluesy big band session, Whatever Julie Wants (1961 Liberty) a sexy out with London apparently nude inside a mink coat on the cover and a sizzling reading of “My Heart belongs to Daddy”, Sophisticated Lady (1962 Liberty) a mellow West Coast Jazz session, Latin in a Satin Mood (1963 Liberty) a light Latin outing, The End of the World (1963, Liberty) her first stereo album, The Wonderful World of Julie London (1963, Liberty) a bright pop album featuring hits of the day like “A Taste of Honey”, All Through the Night: Julie London Sings the Choicest of Cole Porter (1965 Liberty, 2007 Capital) a classic album with Bud Shank’s Quintet, For the Night People (1966 Liberty) another jazzy sizzler, and Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (1969 Liberty, 2005 Collector’s Choice) an ill advised to have London “rock out” on tunes like “The Mighty Quinn” and “Stoned Soul Picnic.” “Yummy Yummy Yummy” was used on HBO’s Six Feet Under.
London stopped recording when Liberty folded in 1969, but kept acting on the TV drama Emergency! with husband Bobby Troup. After the series ended in 1977 he made one more film, Survival on Charter #220 (1978) and made one last recording, a sexy version of “My Funny Valentine” for Burt Reynolds film Sharky’s Machine (1981 Warner). After she retired, she lived with and their seven children in LA. London had a stroke in 1996 and Troup cared for her until his sudden death is 1999. She died in 2000. She has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and two best of collections The Very Best of Julie London (2006 Capital) and Julie Sings the Standards (2001 EMI Europe).