Keely Smith
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Keely Smith, (born March 9, 1932), 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. In recent years, Smith resumed her career to critical acclaim.
Keely was born Dorothy Jaqueline Keely in Norfolk, Virginia of part Cherokee descent. She showed a natural aptitude for singing at a very young age. At age fourteen, Smith started singing with a naval air station band led by Saxie Dowell. 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 played the “straight guy” in the duo to Prima’s wild antics and they recorded many duets together. These include Johnny Mercer’s and Harold Arlen’s “That Ol’ Black Magic”, which was a Top 20 hit in the US in 1958. In 1959, Smith and Prima were awarded the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for “That Ol’ Black Magic.” Her “dead-pan” act, similar to Virginia O’Brien, was a solid hit with fans. The duo followed up with the minor successes “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen”, a revival of the 1937 Andrews Sisters hit.
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 movie Hey Boy! Hey Girl!, singing “Fever”, and also appeared in and sang on the soundtrack of the previous year’s Thunder Road. Her song in Thunder Road was “Whippoorwill,” remembered as one of her very best. Her first big solo hit was “I Wish You Love”.
Keely was born Dorothy Jaqueline Keely in Norfolk, Virginia of part Cherokee descent. She showed a natural aptitude for singing at a very young age. At age fourteen, Smith started singing with a naval air station band led by Saxie Dowell. 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 played the “straight guy” in the duo to Prima’s wild antics and they recorded many duets together. These include Johnny Mercer’s and Harold Arlen’s “That Ol’ Black Magic”, which was a Top 20 hit in the US in 1958. In 1959, Smith and Prima were awarded the Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group or Chorus for “That Ol’ Black Magic.” Her “dead-pan” act, similar to Virginia O’Brien, was a solid hit with fans. The duo followed up with the minor successes “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen”, a revival of the 1937 Andrews Sisters hit.
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 movie Hey Boy! Hey Girl!, singing “Fever”, and also appeared in and sang on the soundtrack of the previous year’s Thunder Road. Her song in Thunder Road was “Whippoorwill,” remembered as one of her very best. Her first big solo hit was “I Wish You Love”.
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The Capitol Years (The Best Of)
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Politely!/Swingin' Pretty
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Keely Sings Sinatra
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Swing, Swing, Swing
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stuntcat wrote:
love her!!!!! ♥
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golfmade wrote:
Such a beautiful voice.
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Sfacteria wrote:
<3
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marcelodylan wrote:
GODESS
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adriano777 wrote:
wow what a voice !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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JonnyBluMusic wrote:
Diggin' it! ;) Cheers! Jonny www.jonnyblumusic.com
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keelypie wrote:
neva herd her just searched for keely
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philmfan wrote:
One of the great, pure voices. Hip, swingin', a real slick chick. Check her out in the Robert Mitchum film, Thunder Road.
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Fasstili wrote:
She has a wonderful voice!
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funkhunter wrote:
@ bigsexyshag: Nope. Keely is right. In fact Keely is her surname. see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keely_Smith
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ComradeKellybug wrote:
She's great, but >_> her hair is fugly. :(
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negativeEclipse wrote:
keely and louie
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Nightevacoil wrote:
Lovely singer!
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Xavierism wrote:
I can't wait to see Keely Smith on Sept. 17th in LA! *CHEERS*
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Recent Activity
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mozart722 and DoubleBow added Keely Smith to their libraries. yesterday evening
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alexiliopoulos tagged Keely Smith with jazz pop, jump blues and traditional pop. Sunday morning
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crawcoil, AuroradelaNuit, craigdoolin and 7 other people added Keely Smith to their libraries. last week
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NinaHotSpots tagged Keely Smith with swing, rockabilly women, neo swing and 8 other tags. last month
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kkbeauregard, MaryEaton, katestorm and 7 other people added Keely Smith to their libraries. last month
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alexiliopoulos tagged Keely Smith with big band, vocal jazz, female vocalists and 2 other tags. December 2011
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heartgarbage added Keely Smith to heartgarbage’s library. December 2011
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m5p6n3 tagged Keely Smith with pop, big band, vocal jazz and 3 other tags. December 2011
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m5p6n3, GRYPHO_PARASITO, Straight-Jacket and 4 other people added Keely Smith to their libraries. December 2011
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SlapBassKing tagged Keely Smith with rockabilly women, female vocals, female rockabilly and 9 other tags. December 2011
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Groups (16)
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Swing
955 members
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Jazz Vocals
561 members
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StumbleUpon
268 members
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BBC Radio 4
254 members
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Women in the Jazz
270 members
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