Friday 9 March 2012

Have you met Miss Smith?



The wonderful jazz vocalist Keely Smith, perhaps most famous for her musical partnership with the late Louis Prima, celebrates her 80th birthday today.

To mark this auspicious occasion, lets have a couple of her finest performances...



Facts about Keely Smith:
  • She was was born Dorothy Jaqueline Keely in Norfolk, Virginia of part Cherokee descent.
  • At the age of eleven, she had her first break into showbiz when she became a regular on Joe Brown's Radio Gang.
  • Keely first met her future husband Louis Prima when she was just fifteen. They married in 1953, and divorced in 1961.
  • On their first appearance on the Dean Martin Show, one of the producers wanted Julie London to replace Keely until Louis refused to go on without her.
  • She continues to tour today.
Keely Smith biography on AllMusic

3 comments:

  1. I didn't know she was still touring!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, she puts in appearances on stage with her daughter Toni Prima and her band, so it's as good as... Jx

      Delete

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