GREAT FEMALE SINGERS: Keely Smith

Here is a beautiful song performed by the wonderful Keely Smith.
Keely Smith (born Dorothy Jaqueline Keely in 1932, in Norfolk, Virginia, of part Cherokee descent) is an American jazz and popular music singer, who enjoyed great popularity in the 1950s and 1960s. Her collaborations with Louis Prima and Frank Sinatra were highly rated. Smith was much admired for her exquisite singing style and her great beauty. Smith had resumed her career to critical acclaim. Smith showed a natural aptitude for singing at a very young age. At age fourteen, Smith started singing with a naval air station band. At fifteen, she got her first paying job with the Earl Bennett band. Smith made her professional debut with Prima in 1949 (the couple were married in 1953). Smith and Prima's act was a mainstay of the Las Vegas lounge scene for much of the 1950s. 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 first big solo hit was I wish you love. In 1961, Smith divorced Prima and signed to Reprise Records, where her musical director was Nelson Riddle. In 1965, she had Top 20 hits in the UK with an album of Beatles compositions and a version of You're breaking my heart. Smith then retired from music to concentrate on raising her children. In 1985, she made a well-received comeback with I'm in love again (Verve). Her albums Swing, swing, swing (2002), Keely sings Sinatra (2001 - for which she was Grammy nominated), and Keely swings Count Basie style with strings (2002) have garnered much critical and fan acclaim. Most recently, Smith had released Vegas '58 - today, a compilation album of her best known songs, all recorded live. Smith had re-recorded a number of songs from her Prima years, including a modified version of Oh Marie, which has been renamed Oh Louis in tribute. In her 70s, Smith worked a light touring schedule, but continued to wow fans with her strong voice and natural stage presence.

Enjoy Keely's big and dynamic voice!

Sweet and lovely