June Valli

June Valli - The Torch (1955)

 

Shared by my friend, David.
 
01 – One For My Baby
02 – I Got It Bad And That Ain’t Good
03 – My Man
04 – Stormy Weather
05 – You’ve Got Me Crying Again
06 – Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man
07 – But Not For Me
08 – Bill
09 – All Alone
10 – I Get Along Without You Very Well
11 – Body And Soul
12 – Don’t Take Your Love From Me

« June Valli, the stage name of petite, heart-faced June Foglia, was born June 30, 1928, on Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, New York. Her Italian-speaking parents were musically inclined and it wasn't long before June began singing along.
On January 15, 1951, June appeared before the cameras of Arthur Godfrey's show, again singing "Stormy Weather." Harry Salter, one of radio and television's important musical directors, tuned in to the show that night in time to hear June. When the program ended, Salter and his wife drove into Brooklyn and met with June and her parents. In July 1951, Salter made an audition record with June and his own orchestra and submitted it to two recording companies. Both offered her exclusive contracts; June signed with RCA Victor and immediately began recording as June Valli.
In the summer of 1957, Ms. Valli began a long association with United Fruit Company as the singing voice for Chiquita Banana ads and she co-hosted the Andy Williams & June Valli Show, a television replacement show. By 1958, June Valli moved to Mercury Records and made a return to the charts in the spring of 1960 with "Apple Green" (Mercury 71588), a Top 30 seller.
In the early 60s, Valli recorded three LPs: "Boy Meets Girl" with Mel Torme; "June Valli Today" for Audio Fidelity; and the "Do It Yourself Wedding Album" with violinist Florian Zabach for Mercury. Valli continued to perform in concerts throughout the country and the world and continued work in commercials.
June Valli met her second husband, Jimmy Merchant, in 1966 and they remained fast in love for 27 years. She had previously married Howard Miller, a Chicago disc jockey known as "the voice of the Chicago Bears," but that marriage was short-lived.
The nostalgia boom in the 1980s kept June busy at big band concerts and company conventions for Ford and General Motors, where she was a popular draw. In 1988, June even appeared at a pre-Super Bowl party held by then-NFL Commissioner Pete Roselle.
In late 1991 June was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. At first, treatment seemed positive and June began making plans to perform again. But it was not to be, and the cancer returned. Sadly, June Valli passed away at her home in Fort Lee, New Jersey on March 12, 1993. 64 years old. Her husband Jimmy, who says June kept singing until nearly the end, survived June. »
 ~ Rex Strother (2006)