Julie London was an American singer and actress whose career spanned more than 40 years. A torch singer noted for her sultry, languid contralto vocals, London recorded over thirty albums of pop and jazz standards between 1955 and 1969. Earlier in 1955, London was spotted singing at a jazz club in Los Angeles by record producer Simon Waronker, who was recommended to her by her friend (and future husband) Bobby Troup. Despite her notable stage fright, Waronker was impressed by London’s vocals and delivery, and later recalled that “The lyrics poured out of her like a hurt bird.” Waronker convinced London to pursue a recording career, and signed her with Liberty Records.
London recorded 32 albums in a career that began in 1955 with a live performance at the 881 Club in Los Angeles. Her debut album Julie is Her Name was released in December of that year, and Billboard named her the most popular female vocalist for 1955, 1956, and 1957. She was the subject of a 1957 Life cover article in which she was quoted as saying “It’s only a thimbleful of a voice, and I have to use it close to the microphone. But it is a kind of oversmoked voice, and it automatically sounds intimate.”
London recorded the standards “Don’t Worry About Me”, “Motherless Child”, “A Foggy Day” and “You’re Blase”. “Cry Me a River”, London’s most famous single, was written by her high-school classmate Arthur Hamilton and produced by Troup. The recording became a million-seller after its release on her debut album in 1955.
In 1960, London released the album Julie…At Home, which was recorded at her residence in Los Angeles. The same year, she released Around Midnight, which incorporated a larger backing band in comparison to her previous releases. She released numerous albums on Liberty Records throughout the 1960s, including Whatever Julie Wants (1961), Love Letters (1962), The End of the World (1963), and All Through the Night (1965), the latter a collection of songs by Cole Porter. In May 1964, Troup and she recorded a one-hour program for Japanese television in Japan. London sang 13 of her classic songs, including “Bye Bye Blackbird”, “Lonesome Road”, and “Cry Me a River”. She released studio albums until the end of the decade, and her final studio album was Yummy, Yummy, Yummy (1969), a collection of contemporary songs. After this, London stopped singing professionally, as she had lost significant vocal control due to years of smoking and drinking.
Her recording of “Cry Me a River”, a track she introduced on her debut album, was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. In addition to her musical notice, London was nominated for a Golden Globe Award in 1974 for her portrayal of nurse Dixie McCall in the television series Emergency!
