Julie Sings The Standards

A Lonely Girl

Original released on LP Liberty LRP 3012

(US, June 1956)

Liberty Records was pleasantly surprised when Julie London's debut album was such a big hit. "Julie Is Her Name" did contain the hit single "Cry Me a River," but each featured mellow jazz guitar and bass backing - which was considered commercial suicide in 1955. So, instead of changing direction and recording the follow-up "Lonely Girl" with a full orchestra, Liberty wisely allowed London to strip the accompaniment down even more on the album by dropping the backing down to one instrument. Lone guitarist Al Viola plays gentle Spanish-tinged acoustic behind the hushed vocalist, and it suits London perfectly. While the singer was often chided for her beauty and lack of range, she deftly navigates these ballads without any rhythmic underpinnings to fall back on. London's intense focus on phrasing and lyrics recalls Chet Baker's equally telescopic approach. So while most of the album contains the usual midnight standards, London sings them in her own way. The title track is the one unfamiliar tune here, and it's a real gem, penned by Bobby Troup (he was London's producer, paramour, and future husband). The low-key "Lonely Girl" beat the sophomore slump and initially did almost as well in the charts as "Julie Is Her Name". Instead of stripping away the guitar in order to make London's next release be the first a cappella torch album, Troup crafted "Calendar Girl", a big-budget orchestral affair that was more in keeping with the thematic pop albums released at the time. (Nick Dedina in AllMusic)

Julie Is Her Name

Original released on LP Liberty LRP 3006

(US, December 1955)

For a time, Julie London was as famous for her sexy album covers as for her singing. Her debut is her best, a set of fairly basic interpretations of standards in which she is accompanied tastefully by guitarist Barney Kessel and bassist Ray Leatherwood. "Cry Me a River" from this album, was her biggest hit, and her breathy versions of such numbers as "I Should Care," "Say It Isn't So," "Easy Street," and "Gone with the Wind" are quite haunting. (Scott Yanow in AllMusic)

Whatever Julie Wants

Original released on LP Liberty LRP 3192

(US, 1961)

Julie London was equally famous for her cool vocal style and her rather cold beauty. She normally specialized in torch songs, singing bleak songs of lost love, but on "Whatever Julie Wants", London plays the part of a vampish sexpot who treats love as a commodity to trade with wealthy men. Sure, it's a sexist album that's more famous for its cheesecake sleeve photo of London naked under fur, diamonds, money, and a strategically placed champagne bottle, but it is a fun album and one that can be enjoyed for its individual songs or its narrative thrust. While most concept albums featuring popular standards don't really follow a strict story line, "Whatever Julie Wants" does. It begins with the protagonist uttering an innocent lover's plea before mistreatment turns her into a jaded gold digger ("Daddy" and a host of other tracks), then a prostitute ("Love for Sale"), and a step up to kept woman ("Always True to You in My Fashion"). Just as things are looking bad, London finally realizes that you can live without a man and his money with "There'll Be Some Changes Made," because the onetime temptress is just too darn "Tired." This may not be Julie London's finest musical hour, but the album is undeniably entertaining and it offers a Technicolor sex comedy break from her usual world of shadowy film noir. (Nick Dedina in AllMusic)

LATIN JULIE IN SATIN

Original released on LP Liberty 
LRP 3278 (mono) / LST 7278 (stereo)

(US, 1963)

Exotic and Latin albums were big deals in the 1950s and early '60s, and singers as diverse as Dean Martin, Lena Horne, and Peggy Lee were recording with castanets and bongo drums. Peggy Lee was so successful at the style that she cut two albums of light pseudo-Latin jazz in 1960. Like Peggy Lee, Julie London combined a restrained vocal approach with jazz phrasing and a cool attitude with icy sex appeal. But while London had Lee's stripped-down musical approach, she just didn't share her unrelenting rhythmic vocal drive or her innate feeling for exotic rhythms. It doesn't help that London is paired with arranger Ernie Freeman, who was usually better at crafting Nashville and soft rock style charts than Latin jazz arrangements. This isn't a bad album - London sounds casual and confident throughout - but it is a rather bland one, and isn't blandness what these types of exotica albums are supposed to be fighting against? "Latin in a Satin Mood" ends up sounding exactly like what it was intended to be - an aid to put a little vanilla Latin sparkle in suburban American bedrooms. (Nick Dedina in AllMusic)

JULIE LONDON'S "For The Night People"

Original released on LP Liberty LRP 3478 (mono); LST 7478 (stereo)

(US, 1966)

After 1959's excellent 2Julie...at Home", a small-group West Coast session cut in her own living room, Julie London's albums became increasingly orchestral and less jazzy during the first half of the '60s. While many of these albums are excellent (particularly "Around Midnight"), most weren't up to her best recordings from the 1950s. Then, in 1965 something changed, and stripped-down jazz backings reappeared on her albums until her notorious final disc went soft rock with a vengeance in 1969. For this album, the West Coast arranger and bass player Don Bagley combines an excellent jazz trio with subtle string charts that never swamp the intimate feeling of the disc. London came to fame by recording stripped-down sessions with just guitar and bass, so it makes sense that on "For the Night People", an unidentified jazz guitarist gets to solo throughout the album. A typically low-key and melancholy session, standout tracks include a languid reading of the usually manic "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" and two songs made famous by Frank Sinatra - "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night in the Week)" and "I'll Never Smile Again." This album is a must-have for Julie London fans and thankfully she worked with Bagley again on the more upbeat but no-less-languid "Nice Girls Don't Stay for Breakfast", which keeps the guitar heard here, but after the title track replaces the strings with a jazz organ and horn.

Wanna Make Love To Julie?

Original Released on LP Liberty LRP 3060

(US, 1957)

Julie London's concise and melodic versions of standards were quite popular during the latter half of the 1950s. Her subtle sensuality and lightly swinging style made for a potent combination. This album matches London's voice with an orchestra arranged by Russ Garcia on standards and a couple of newer tunes, including Bobby Troup's "It's Good to Want You Bad". Among the more memorable selections are "If I Could Be With You", "Alone Together", "I Wanna Be Loved" and "You're My Thrill".