Keely Smith - The Intimate Keely Smith (Expanded Edition)

Size: 92,1 MB
Time: 39:18
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz/Pop Vocals
Art: Front

01. Somebody Loves Me (4:08)
02. As Long As He Needs Me (2:27)
03. Blame It On My Youth (2:55)
04. He Needs Me (2:42)
05. Sinner Or Saint (3:37)
06. It Had To Be You (3:29)
07. Time After Time (4:00)
08. Nancy / You Are My Sunshine (3:56)
09. God Bless The Child (2:50)
10. You'll Never Know (2:13)
11. The Whippoorwill (2:56)
12. Twin Soliloquies (Wonder How It Feels) (With Frank Sinatra) (1:38)
13. No One Ever Tells You (2:21)

You can’t get any more popular in American entertainment than Keely Smith was in the early ‘60s. Having blown the doors out in Las Vegas, winning a Grammy, having hit after hit and lighting up television screens playing straight “man” to husband Louis Prima, she’d navigated the tricky waters of a professional and personal divorce, striking out on her own and starting her own record label, Keely Records, in partnership with close friend and mentor Frank Sinatra, under the auspices of his Reprise label. A groundbreaking businesswoman, as well as recording artist, Keely recorded 5 classic albums for Reprise. Because she’d seen enough show business shenanigans to last a lifetime, a generation before it became standard practice to do so, she retained the rights to her masters. Those albums have NEVER come out legitimately on CD anywhere in the world. Now, Real Gone Music, in concert with Keely & her family, is very proud to announce that the label is going to answer the pleas of pop fans worldwide and release ALL of Keely’s Reprise albums on CD for the first time in deluxe packages featuring bonus tracks, rare photos, and new liner notes by Steve Hochman. Produced by Keely’s husband-to-be & Reprise hitmaker Jimmy Bowen, 1964’s The Intimate Keely Smith is, as the steamy cover and saucy title suggest, a sexy, swinging affair and the quintessential Keely Smith recording from her Reprise period. A concept album, the project was the long form representation of her legendary “mood spot” concert segment, a staple of Keely’s live shows. Key album tracks include a rendition of Sinatra’s “Time After Time” and a version of Billie Holiday’s “God Bless the Child”…this album presents Keely really taking wing as an artist. And the bonus tracks? Well, Keely’s strong rapport and long history with Frank Sinatra are well known. As one of the foundational artists at Reprise, which was at full creative flower, Keely was part of some really great projects outside of her own releases. With the blessing of Frank Sinatra Enterprises, we’ve included her duet with Frank, “Twin Soliloquies,” from the The Reprise Musical Repertory Theatre Presents South Pacific album, plus rare the non-LP single of the King-Goffin-Spector track “No One Ever Tells You,” arranged by Jack Nitszche and also produced by Bowen.

The Intimate Keely Smith

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Keely Smith - The Essential Capitol Collection

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 77:29
Size: 177.4 MB
Styles: Vocal
Year: 2007
Art: Front

[3:24] 1. All The Things You Are
[2:03] 2. It's Been A Long, Long Time
[2:54] 3. That Old Black Magic
[3:09] 4. Stormy Weather
[2:34] 5. You Go To My Head
[2:39] 6. S'posin'
[2:55] 7. Fools Rush In
[3:11] 8. The Song Is You
[2:25] 9. How Are Ya' Fixed For Love
[2:47] 10. Be Mine (Little Baby)
[2:33] 11. I Wish You Love
[2:59] 12. Someone To Watch Over Me
[3:15] 13. The Man I Love
[2:50] 14. Don't Let A Memory
[1:51] 15. What Is This Thing Called Love
[2:59] 16. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
[2:13] 17. (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby
[3:26] 18. I Can't Get Started
[2:23] 19. There Will Never Be Another You
[3:29] 20. Imagination
[2:48] 21. The Whipporwill
[2:30] 22. Nothing In Common
[3:11] 23. When Your Lover Has Gone
[3:04] 24. All The Way
[2:52] 25. Stardust
[3:04] 26. Don't Take Your Love From Me
[3:49] 27. When Day Is Done

Keely Smith possesses a fantastic ability to sing so well that she could capture your attention at once and you would never want to stop listening to her. She could sing you the phone book; and when she was finished you would be applauding and begging for more. This excellent retrospective album gives us quite a bit of the best of Keely Smith. It has twenty eight wonderful tracks and at 78 minutes the CD is as jam packed with hits as any CD is ever going to be.

"All The Things You Are" opens the CD; Keely sings this perfectly without a superfluous note. Her voice is warm, rich and vibrant in a way that just couldn't be better. The strings and horns help the musical arrangement along although Keely's vocals remain squarely in the foreground. "It's Been A Long, Long Time" sports that big band flavor and Keely makes this number more energetic than I've ever heard it. Keely swings brightly and the musical arrangement lacks nothing, either. "That Old Black Magic" is a duet Keely does with husband Louis Prima; they got a Grammy for this song and one listen will prove to you that they deserved it. Keely's voice is truly an instrument of its own and she sings "That Old Black Magic" with panache. "I Wish You Love" begins with a great musical flourish and when Keely comes in this number takes flight! Keely's voice is particularly sweet on this number; and her voice conveys all the subtle romantic nuances to make "I Wish You Love" her very own masterpiece! "Autumn Leaves" gets a somewhat less melancholy flavor than usual when Keely sings it. Unfortunately, this is one number that I think was better left to Edith Piaf. "On The Sunny Side Of The Street" gets a big band, jazzy feel to it as Keely sings this triumphant, upbeat melody flawlessly. Keely seems to be the perfect female vocalist to sing "On The Sunny Side Of The Street." I predict that you will enjoy this number very much. "Imagination" features Keely singing wonderfully yet again; and "Stardust" gets the royal treatment from Keely as she delivers "Stardust" with great sensitivity. Great! The album ends with a live track of Keely performing "When Day Is Done." Louis Prima introduces her and Keely sings this every bit as well as if the number had been professional recorded in a studio! Her talent truly was special.

Overall, Keely Smith fans won't want to go without this album; although it's best suited for people who want a "best of" type of album. This album simply doesn't give you everything you need to fully appreciate just how great Keely Smith was when she was at her peak in the 1950s and 1960s although it's quite strong as a retrospective CD.. If you like this CD I would suggest you check out other albums by this fine artist. ~Matthew G. Sherwin

The Essential Capitol Collection

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Various - Capitol Sings Johnny Mercer

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 71:03
Size: 162.7 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 1991
Art: Front

[3:17] 1. Ella Mae Morse - Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate The Positive
[3:11] 2. Martha Tilton - And The Angels Sing
[2:49] 3. Gordon MacRae - Autumn Leaves
[3:12] 4. Jo Stafford - Blues In The Night
[1:53] 5. Blossom Dearie - Charade
[3:40] 6. Judy Garland - Come Rain Or Come Shine
[2:22] 7. Nat King Cole - Day In-Day Out
[3:16] 8. Matt Monro - Days Of Wine And Roses
[2:47] 9. The Pied Pipers - Dream
[2:32] 10. Benny Goodman - Goody Goody
[2:52] 11. Johnny Mercer - Glow Worm
[2:55] 12. The Four Freshmen - I Thought About You
[2:49] 13. Dinah Shore - I'm Old Fashioned
[2:57] 14. Dean Martin - In The Cool Cool Cool Of The Evening
[2:16] 15. Stan Kenton & His Orchestra - Jeepers Creepers
[2:22] 16. Vic Damone - Laura
[3:26] 17. Lena Horne - Moon River
[3:03] 18. Johnny Mercer - On The Atchison, Topeka & The Sante Fe
[4:13] 19. Harold Arlen - One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)
[2:58] 20. Kay Starr - P.S. I Love You
[2:21] 21. Nancy Wilson - Satin Doll
[4:00] 22. Hoagy Carmichael - Skylark
[2:54] 23. Keely Smith - That Old Black Magic
[2:47] 24. Andy Russell - Too Marvelous For Words

Singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer was one of the founders of Capitol Records in the early '40s, so it's appropriate that he rates his own volume in the label's various-artists songbook compilation series of the 1990s (one that has already had discs devoted to Cole Porter and George Gershwin). As a lyricist working over a long career, Mercer provides a varied range of material for inclusion. This is a man who was setting words to 1930s swing hits like "And the Angels Sing," "Goody Goody," and "Satin Doll," and was still going strong in the 1960s, when he was writing movie themes like "Moon River" and "The Days of Wine and Roses" with Henry Mancini. In between, there were standards of the ‘40s such as "Blues in the Night" and "That Old Black Magic," and ‘50s favorites like "Autumn Leaves" and "In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening." Capitol was devoted to singers, which allowed it to take advantage of the post-swing era of the late ‘40s and ‘50s when singers ruled. Tops among them was Frank Sinatra, a Capitol artist, who apparently didn't allow his recordings to be compiled on this sort of collection. But many other important singers are included, among them Judy Garland, Nat King Cole, Dinah Shore, and Dean Martin. And Mercer himself pops in several times, as do a couple of his composer collaborators, Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael. Although Mercer has an identifiable writing style, full of a self-invented Southern slang ("swingeroonie!," "my huckleberry friend"), his teaming with different sorts of composers allows for many different musical styles on this disc, making it one of the rangier volumes in the series. ~William Ruhlmann

Capitol Sings Johnny Mercer

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Louis Prima, Keely Smith - Hey Boy! Hey Girl!

Styles: Vocal And Trumpet Jazz 
Year: 1959
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:31
Size: 80,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:52)  1. Hey, Boy! Hey, Girl!
(2:32)  2. Banana Split For My Baby
(2:21)  3. You Are My Love
(3:06)  4. Fever
(2:27)  5. Oh, Marie
(3:29)  6. Lazy River
(2:49)  7. Nitey-Nite
(2:41)  8. When The Saints Go Marching In
(2:52)  9. Autumn Leaves
(1:28) 10. Hey, Boy! Hey, Girl! - Reprise
(3:09) 11. Don't Take Your Love From Me
(2:16) 12. (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby
(2:23) 13. Oh, Marie - Alternate stereo version

Louis Prima and Keely Smith were at the height of their fame when they starred in the Hollywood film Hey Boy! Hey Girl! This soundtrack album has ten numbers from the film including spots for Prima's trumpet on "Oh Marie" and "When the Saints Go Marching In," two numbers for Smith in which she is backed by the Nelson Riddle Orchestra, a feature for Sam Butera on "Fever" and several notable vocal duets by the stars (including "Lazy River" and two versions of the title cut). 

The music never quite cuts loose but does include some exciting moments. Louis Prima fans will want to search for this collector's item. https://www.allmusic.com/album/hey-boy%21-hey-girl%21-mw0000873667

Hey Boy! Hey Girl!

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Keely Smith/Louis Prima - Breaking It Up!

Styles: Vocal
Year: 1951
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 36:57
Size: 85,2 MB
Art: Front

(2:04)  1. Eleanor
(2:27)  2. Shake Hands with Santa Claus
(2:21)  3. Oooh-Dahdily-Dah
(2:28)  4. Basta
(2:40)  5. The Bigger the Figure
(2:44)  6. Boney Bones
(2:45)  7. One Mint Julep
(1:54)  8. Chili Sauce
(2:19)  9. Oh, Marie
(2:44) 10. Luigi
(2:32) 11. Paul Revere
(2:14) 12. It's Good as New (I Painted It Blue)
(2:25) 13. Barnacle Bill the Sailor
(2:33) 14. Shepherd Boy
(2:40) 15. Chop Suey, Chow Mein

In late 1951, Louis Prima was hot on the heels of a comeback success the year before with "Oh Babe!," and a record so big that it spawned numerous cover versions by everyone from Wynonie Harris and Lionel Hampton to Kay Starr and even a Spanish language version by Lalo Guerrero ("Chitas Patas Boogie" on Imperial and used in the movie Zoot Suit with Edward James Olmos). After three follow-ups went nowhere (one of which was the immortal "Zooma Zooma"), Prima came to Columbia Records and was handed over to A&R chief Mitch Miller. And here was part of the problem. Prima's audience liked a cruder Louis and were used to records cut on shoestring budgets with production values that were as raw as the music they framed, while Miller's production was state-of-the-art squeaky-clean. Miller had Prima covering R&B hits of the day ("One Mint Julep") jump blues ("Oooh-Dahdilly-Dah" and one of the few tracks to feature Keely Smith on here), Latin-flavored tunes ("Chili Sauce"), novelty tunes like "Barnacle Bill the Sailor," "Boney Bones," and "It's Good as New (I Painted It Blue)," as well as his patented Italian shuffles like "Eleanor," "Basta," "Luigi," "The Bigger the Figure" and a bombastic version of "Oh Marie" (perhaps the only dud in this entire package), framed in the corniest "Sing Along with Mitch" arrangement imaginable and a million light-years away from his famous Capitol recording of the same tune. This entire set combines all 14 sides of the seven singles issued, plus the addition of "Chop Suey, Chow Mein" along with the original 1958 cover art to Columbia's original issue of this material. Not his best, but an interesting one to add to the collection after you have most of everything else. ~ Cub Koda https://www.allmusic.com/album/breaking-it-up%21-mw0000045185

Breaking It Up!

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Louis Prima - The Wildest!

Styles: Vocal And Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1956
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 33:02
Size: 77,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:49)  1. Medley: Just A Gigolo / I Ain't Got Nobody
(2:43)  2. (Nothing's Too Good) For My Baby
(2:23)  3. The Lip
(3:29)  4. Body And Soul
(2:35)  5. Oh Marie
(4:19) 6. Medley: Basin Street Blues / When It's Sleepy Time Down South
(3:33)  7. Jump, Jive, An' Wail
(3:04)  8. Buono Sera
(2:52)  9. Night Train
(3:14) 10. I'll Be Glad When You're Dead, You Rascal You

A veritable greatest-hits album, The Wildest! is the gem of Louis Prima's catalogue. None of his other efforts transcend its raunchy mix of demented gibberish, blaring sax, and explosive swing, which rocked as hard as anything released at the time. Almost all of Prima's signature songs are found here: "Just a Gigolo/I Ain't Got Nobody," "Oh Marie," "Jump, Jive, an' Wail," and "Buona Sera," to name a few. A plethora of greatest-hits packages (especially Capitol's Collectors Series) may offer wider song selection and greater value, but the reissue of Prima's masterpiece is a welcome event that's been a long time coming. ~ Jim Smith https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-wildest%21-mw0000065221

Personnel:  Louis Prima - vocals, trumpet;  Keely Smith - vocals;  Jack Marshall - guitar;  Sam Butera - tenor saxophone;  James Blount, Jr. - trombone;  Willie McCumber - piano;  Amato Rodrigues - bass guitar;  Bobby Morris - drums                

The Wildest!

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Various - Capitol Sings Hollywood

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 58:43
Size: 134.4 MB
Styles: Vocal, Easy Listening
Year: 1995
Art: Front

[2:57] 1. Betty Hutton - Stuff Like That There
[2:56] 2. Bob Manning - That Old Feeling
[2:41] 3. Bobby Darin - There's A Rainbow 'round My Shoulder
[1:53] 4. Dakota Staton - On Green Dolphin Street
[2:17] 5. Dean Martin - Louise
[3:01] 6. Ethel Ennis - My Foolish Heart
[3:04] 7. Johnny Mercer - If I Had A Talking Picture Of You
[3:13] 8. Julie London - It Could Happen To You
[2:39] 9. June Christy - They Can't Take That Away From Me
[3:29] 10. June Hutton - My Baby Just Cares For Me
[3:12] 11. Keely Smith - When Your Lover Has Gone
[2:48] 12. Lena Horne - Singin' In The Rain
[2:46] 13. Mark Murphy - Put The Blame On Mame
[3:11] 14. Mel Tormé - Again
[4:02] 15. Nancy Wilson - But Beautiful
[2:54] 16. Nat King Cole - Smile
[3:07] 17. Peggy Lee - Stormy Weather
[4:17] 18. Sue Raney - I Remember You
[2:06] 19. Trudy Richards - You Brought A New Kind Of Love To Me
[2:00] 20. Vic Damone - Stella By Starlight

Capitol Records has one of the most distinctive buildings in Los Angeles and if a movie shows the city begin destroyed by aliens or tornadoes it usually involves the destruction of the round building that bears the company's name. Capitol was founded by songwriter Johnny Mercer in 1942, the first major label on the West Coast competing with New York City's Columbia, Decca and RCA-Victor. Starting with artists like Paul Whiteman and Martha Tilton, by the end of the decade the label was recording Bing Crosby, Peggy Lee, Les Brown, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra. While the works of Crosby and Sinatra are exempt from the Capitol Sings series, you will always find familiar singers singing familiar songs, as with the title track sung by Lena Horne, as often as you hear unfamiliar songs sung by forgotten singers, such as Ethel Ennis singing "My Foolish Heart."

"Captiol Sings Hollywood" is Volume 20 in the series and one brings together twenty tracks representing a particular venue (e.g., Broadway) instead of a specific songwriter (e.g., Irving Berlin). Just be aware that if a song originated in a Broadway show that was made into a Hollywood musical then it is exempt from being included in this collection. That would explain why you may well be unfamiliar with most of these twenty songs. "Singin' in the Rain" and "Stormy Weather" are recognizable classics, and the same should be said for Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," sung here by Nat King Cole in one of the best tracks on the album. and June Christy's swing version of "They Can't Take That Away From Me." But after that you may recognize singers like Dean Martin, Bobby Darin, and Mel Torme more than "Louise," "There's a Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder," and "Again." Still you will find a few new little gems on this album, what with Sarah Vaughn's "I Remember You" and Nancy Murphy's saucy "Put the Blame on Mame." That last is from the movie "Gilda" (I mention this because I was drawing blanks on the vast majority of these tracks as to what movies they were culled from and this one immediately jumped to my mind, as did the fact that Anita Ellis sang it for Rita Haywroth).

Despite the unfamiliar songs this is still an enjoyable album, even if it is a lesser one by the standard of the Capitol Sings series. But if you like one of these albums you will certainly enjoy the rest of them. Final Note: On this album Peggy Lee sings Harold Arlen's "Stormy Weather," but on the "Over the Rainbow: Capitol Sings Harold Arlen" the song is sung by Keely Smith. So even when a song by a particular composer or lyricist shows up on more than one album, you will find different cover versions on each album. Again, this simply reflects how deep the Capitol vault is when it comes to these songs. ~Lawrence Bernabo

Capitol Sings Hollywood

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Keely Smith - Swing, Swing, Swing

Styles: Vocal, Swing
Year: 2000
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:14
Size: 108,0 MB
Art: Front

(1:40)  1. When You're Smiling/ The Sheik of Araby
(2:52)  2. Let the Good Times Roll
(2:24)  3. Oh Louie
(3:16)  4. Kansas City
(2:59)  5. Jump, Jive an' Wail
(2:34)  6. Keely's Boogie
(2:17)  7. Yeah, Yeah, Yeah
(3:00)  8. Swing, Swing, Swing (Sing, Sing, Sing)
(3:50)  9. Yata Hei
(2:47) 10. I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me
(2:30) 11. Palm Springs Jump
(2:46) 12. House Party Tonight
(3:09) 13. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(2:08) 14. Giddy Up Ding Dong
(3:44) 15. Robin Hood/Oh Babe
(4:12) 16. Swing, Swing, Swing (Sing, Sing, Sing) (Extended)

Nearing the age of 70, without a recording session in more than 15 years, Keely Smith returned on the heels of the '90s rejuvenation of swing music. Recorded for the Concord label, Swing, Swing, Swing does just what the title promises. Smith rips through 16 songs with barely a pause for breath, including plenty of swing standards ("Kansas City," "Jump, Jive 'An Wail," "On the Sunny Side of the Street," "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," and the title track) as well as a few obscure songs and at least one new one ("Keely's Boogie"). 

The backing by the Frank Capp Orchestra with arrangements by Dennis Michaels and Don Menza is big, brassy, and more than enough to contend with Smith's surprisingly strong voice. Walking a very fine line between nostalgia and real innovation, Swing, Swing, Swing throws enough chestnuts to the younger audience to qualify as generational crossover, but never compromises the high-class swing that Keely Smith has always championed. ~ John Bush  http://www.allmusic.com/album/swing-swing-swing-mw0000055552

Personnel: Keely Smith (vocals); Pat Tuzzolino (guitar, background vocals); Sal Lozano, Danny House (alto saxophone); Don Menza (tenor saxophone, clarinet); Pete Christlieb, Joel Peskin (tenor saxophone); Jack Nimitz (baritone saxophone); Frank Szabo, Pete Candoli, Rick Baptist, Carl Saunders (trumpet); Jim Self (trombone, tuba); Andy Martin, Charlie Loper, Charlie Morillas (trombone); Dennis Michaels (piano, background vocals); Chuck Berghofer, Richard Simon (acoustic bass); Kenny Wild (electric bass); Frankie Capp (drums); Don Williams (percussion); Toni Prima, Luanne Prima (background vocals).

Swing, Swing, Swing

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Keely Smith - Misty And Other Classics

Size: 128,8 MB
Time: 55:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2014
Styles: Jazz Pop
Art: Front

01. Misty (3:25)
02. Only You (2:47)
03. Memories Are Made Of This (2:36)
04. It's Magic (3:44)
05. I Wish You Love (3:45)
06. My Special Angel (2:01)
07. Because You're Mine (2:05)
08. All The Way (3:01)
09. The Man I Love (3:16)
10. Canadian Sunset (3:09)
11. Prisoner Of Love (2:41)
12. The Loveliest Night Of The Year (2:13)
13. No Other Love (2:00)
14. Because (2:52)
15. Tell Me Why (2:18)
16. Moments To Remember (2:33)
17. Someone To Watch Over Me (3:01)
18. Please Mr Sun (2:51)
19. Stardust (2:53)
20. The Will Never Be Another You (2:23)

As a solo jazz vocalist Keely sang mostly pop oriented material. Her greatest solo achievements were on albums for Capitol in the late 1950s backed by Nelson Riddle and Billy May

Beginning her career as the female singer in Louis Prima’s band, and later becoming famous as one half of their hugely successful Las Vegas lounge act, Keely Smith's early achievements were tied to someone or something else.

Now in her 70s, she has found the renewed interest and acknowledgment of her own talent to be immensely gratifying. "I’m thrilled that the resurgence is of my career by myself because for many years everything I did was with Louis, and now all of a sudden I’m being recognized on my own and that really is the ultimate for me," she recounted to the Los Angeles Times.

Throughout the 1950s, Louis Prima and Keely Smith were the undisputed King & Queen of Las Vegas and have been credited with essentially inventing the modern lounge act. Performing five shows a night at the Sahara’s Casbar Lounge, they became a huge draw for both the average blue-collar tourists as well as some of the biggest celebrities at that time. On any given night, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Spencer Tracy, Gary Cooper, Natalie Wood, Robert Wagner, Howard Hughes, and the young Senator John F. Kennedy could be found in the audience. Many of the show business elite would add to the audience’s enjoyment of the show by affably heckling the duo and sometimes even getting up on stage to join the act.

During this period, Capitol Records issued a series of chart-topping albums that consisted of abridged versions of Louis Prima and Keely Smith’s beloved nightclub act. In addition, Keely released I Wish You Love, a solo debut that confirmed her own star power by receiving a GRAMMY nomination and selling over a million copies. Keely’s appeal and renown is just as strong today, having survived several decades, various musical trends and the fickle nature of the entertainment industry. Actor Robert DeNiro and director Martin Scorcese have been long-time fans of Keely’s and over the years have placed her music in numerous films, including “The Deerhunter,” “Raging Bull,” “Analyze This,” “That Old Feeling,” “Big Night” and “Mad Dog and Glory.”

The revival of the swing movement in the late ‘90s inspired The Gap retail chain to use Louis Prima’s signature tune, "Jump, Jive and Wail" in one of its popular ad campaigns. This renewed interest in swing and big band music also led to an invitation for Keely to perform at the House of Blues in Los Angeles, where she sang to a jam-packed crowd of admirers, both young and old. Most recently, Keely has performed to SRO audiences across the country, including a five-night stop in Atlantic City and a stint at Feinstein’s at the Regency in New York City. Talks are currently underway to book Keely into Caesar’s in Las Vegas, bringing her back full circle to where it all began.

Keely Smith is currently writing her autobiography, which has been a work in progress for several years. "I started it about four years ago and then put it aside," she explains. "When I read it, I wasn’t sure if I liked what I had written, but now I’ve started on it again. I want to do it with complete honesty, or not at all." And there are certainly plenty of lifetime experiences to chronicle: winning one of the first-ever Grammy Awards in 1959, performing at President Kennedy’s inauguration, receiving a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and friendships with everyone from The Rat Pack to Elvis Presley.

"I have been very blessed in my life," says Keely Smith reflecting back. And as she looks towards the future, there are even more accolades to receive and sold-out shows still to come. In October of 2000 in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, The Cherokee Honor Society will bestow Keely with its prestigious Cherokee Medal of Honor. "It’s the highest recognition that can be bestowed to a woman in the Cherokee nation," she states proudly. The Medal of Honor is given out annually to recipients whose achievements bring pride and honor to the Cherokee nation and community.

The incomparable Tony Bennett has gone on record naming Keely Smith "one of the greatest jazz-pop singers of all time." What better candidate then to honor Count Basie, one of the greatest bandleaders of all time. Further expanding her audience and repertoire, Keely Smith once again pays tribute to an important figure in her life with class, respect, and above all, an immense display of pure talent. Merv Griffin says it best—“Keely is awesome!”

Misty And Other Classics

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