I have seen Keely perform 3 times in my life. 1 of those times was when she was a guest at a wedding I was catering and she performed. I begged my boss to let me have her table!! He did, and I waited on her all night!! Even helped her carry the centerpiece from her table to her car!! I stll get goosebumps. Keely is my favorite!
Dear Mikey- ME TOO! The GREATEST... Frank almost married her! :) I begged her to let me make her biography after making the 1999 A&E Biography of the Rat Pack, but she turned me down flat... Thank so much for your kind words- it's swell to meet another Keely Smith fanatic! Here's a link to a tremendous performance of hers- 1962 at the Hollywood Bowl with Nelson Riddle's (or possibly Billy May's) Orchestra... you're gonna love it... pastdaily.com/2013/12/01/keely-smith-concert-hollywood-bowl-1962-past-daily-pop-chronicles/
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I love her sooo much. One of the best Singers of all time!!!!! My friend Kelly got to sing with her, it was amazing!!!! Thanks for the link!!!
Mikey Trahant My pleasure, Mikey- a dear friend sent the link to me- we have a really great Facebook group called "Swing, Saloon and Croon"... if you're on Facebook, please drop in. The people there are very kind, and always find super stuff to listen to. Have you ever seen this biography of Louis Prima? :) Louis Prima - The Wildest Documentary
Mikey Trahant I just uploaded our 1998 interview with Keely, shot at her club in Palm Springs (Basin Street West)- hope that you enjoy it! VIVA KEELY! Keely Smith Interview 16 February 1998 Part 1 Also... this will FREAK YOU OUT! Keely at the Hollywood Bowl, 1962... It's either Nelson Riddle's or Billy May's band behind her... she's at the top of her game! pastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Keely-Smith-Hollywood-Bowl-1962.mp3 Are you on Facebook? Send a friend request to Luke Sacher and I'll bring you into our Swing, Saloon and Croon group... :)
How is she underrated? She and Louis regularly played with Sinatra and did Vegas for years, had cut many successful albums and were on radio and tv for years. Did you mean you'd never heard of her?
@@austntexan She isn't well remembered today, it seems. A lot of that Louis Prima schtick gets to be grating in a hurry. But her solo recordings are truly great. Father Time is a real SOB.
What a stupendous singing performance. She always has plenty in reserve. Thrilling high notes. Love the way she gives her notes full value, holds the note right to the end. Beginning singers usually wonder what to do w their face & hands, display too much strain & emotion in facial expressions. Learn from Keely here, the master of her craft. Face is calm, relaxed, sincere. Focus is on the emotion in the eyes & the words of the song. Hands are still. Others to watch: Peggy King, & Tony Bennett.
+Keely Brooke Thomas Gasser! Thanks for tuning in and commenting! Keely is my absolute favorite lady singer EVER...! We begged her to let us produce her biography after making the Rat Pack Bio for A&E in 1998-9, but she turned us down... as she has with everyone else... :) Here's something you'll love, Keely at the Hollywood Bowl with Nelson Riddle just after her split with Louis in '62... her voice is like an ANGEL! pastdaily.com/2013/12/01/keely-smith-concert-hollywood-bowl-1962-past-daily-pop-chronicles/ pastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Keely-Smith-Hollywood-Bowl-1962.mp3
I've seen her in person twice. Terrific, but what a mouth! She graciously offered to sing requests from the audience. I asked her to sing "It's Been A Long, Long Time." She sang it and during the piano interlude I heard her say to the pianist (her son-in-law), "I really hate this song!"
Such a great singer. Poised. Classy. Cool. Really, this lady DEFINES cool. I just ordered a dvd of HEY BOY! HEY GIRL! Louis Prima and Keely Smith's 1959 Columbia film. Not an award winning story, but the music is sublime!
watching this reminds me of when keely passed away (she lived somewhat locally) her estate was selling off some her stuff on craigslist. i specifically remember she had the most beautiful vintage dresses. quality you just don't see today.
Love Keely! Funny, great voice, and a naturally great performer. My uncle George was Louis and Keely’s cook for a year and George said that Keely around the house was the entertainer. Always singing and making ppl laugh. Sometimes while helping George, George would turn and look at Kelly, only to see her making the funniest face at him. George says no one enjoyed life more than Louis and Keely. Regardless of being celebrities
Luke, wow pallie, you cover the waterfront! You have it all -- great clip of Miss Keely. I'm sure you know, but if not, Louie's daughter, Lena Prima lives in New Orleans -- just wrapped up her last show for the summer at The Monteleone in New Orleans, which I caught. I know Lena --great pipes and a great entertainer..has all of Louie's arrangements.
I couldn't agree more! I am an unconditional Keely fan. Alas, singers with her caliber of talent aren't even recognized by the music industry anymore -- the business school wiz-kids who run the show today are only concerned with making a fast buck and a quick return on minimal investment.
Hello Ken- yes, I do! Thank you for tuning in and commenting- we produced the 1996 A&E Biography of Jerry Lewis, and 1999 Biography of the Rat Pack, and were good friends with many of Frank's friends- still in contact with Jeannie and Deana Martin and Anthony Lewis, Shecky Greene, and others. We have an enormous archive- please take a look around our commercial youTube channel- you'll be glad you did! ru-vid.com BTW- Keely Smith, IMHO, is the greatest of the torch singers- Robert Mitchum thought so too- and she and Frank almost got married after her split with Louis...
Hey Soap, what's up? Long time no hear!...........................Strange to see Keely and Louis together in 1958. I think they were long divorced by this time, great band. I don't think Keely really ever lost her love of Louis Prima. Her voice sounded great into at least her seventies, when she did a Count Basie tribute album in 2002.
Hey Johnnyc drums, thanks for dropping in for comment... Louis and Keely divorced in '62 I think? I have her Basie album... "Keely Swings Basie Style with Strings". Did you know that she almost married Sinatra? she wrote in her unpublished autobiography that he introduced her to vibrators... true. :)
Does "underrated" now mean "I wasn't aware of this artist" now? Keely was a legendary performer. Underrated talent doesn't regular appear with Frank Sinatra and play Vegas and abroad consistently.
I would have loved to talk to her back then. She is very elderly now. Very strange personality. Amazed people like Frank would bring her on his show. Her voice was just so so to me.
Well I beg to differ but to each his own... Frank thought that Louis and Keely were the greatest act in show biz. In fact, he almost married Keely after her split with Louis...
Yes- and Frank almost married her. she had romances with many incredible men, even A.J. Foyt for a while (1965?) Keely is a one in a million woman, my favorite female singer, even over Ella and Sarah and both Dinahs and Judy too. There's something about her voice that just drives me nuts... thanks for tuning in.
***** I forgot all about that movie. Thanks. I was never a yuge Mitchum fan because he sleepwalked though most of his performances but I can't say anything bad about the guy. I like that he said he only made movies for money, pussy, and to score free weed. He spent time in jail in 1949 for weed possession. He said the big difference between jail and Palm Springs is that in jail you meet a nicer class of people.
Leon Davis He was the best... no BS from Mitchum. I shot an interview with him- his last- at his house in June 1996. he was completely uninterested in the interview but a great guy- sardonic and polite at the same time.
***** I read his quotes on IMDB. Pretty fascinating stuff. You were lucky to have met him. Hope you wrote it down in a journal or something. What interests me is that contemporary male "movie stars" are pretty much all physically small or weak-natured men, or both. Probably has something to do with the movement towards ridding society of toxic masculinity.
I especially love Keely Smith 's rendition of "When day is done " on Sinatra's show. In it she allows us to get a glimpse of the emotional and sensual side of her, instead of the usual deadpan expression whenever she's with Louis Prima. Together with a perfect Nelson Riddle arrangement, irresistible.
I just found out Keely passed away on December 16. I consider it one of the honors of my life to have been able to see her perform twice in Palm Springs in the '00s. Only time in my life outside of weddings that I've rented a tuxedo. I'll never forget one line from her show about the men she had known in her life. She said something about talking to them and knowing exactly where to look to talk to Louis (looks down at the floor). Then, looking up, she says, "Isn't that right, Frank?" Even in her 80s the voice was exactly the same. Not bad for a little girl from Norfolk, VA. RIP, Keely.
Knife Shark Among jazz aficionados she was very highly rated. in the late 50's, Ed Sullivan described Prima and Smith as the " greatest act in show business."
Todays singers rely on over engineered recording techniques. Back when Keely sang this live, audio engineers saw their job to make the sound as transparent as possible. Todays sound engineers, due to the proliferation of technology, perform techniques to keep the singer on pitch, add echo, change the equalization, apply compression and as a result, the quality of the talent has dwindled. Todays singers know they need gimmicks to attract the "fans" Crazy hair, Laser beams, explosions, etc.
Salut, Paul! We never talked about Keely? I begged her to let me produce her bio after the Rat Pack, but he kept turning me down... dang shame... she's bar none my favorite female singer, even ahead of Ella or Sarah or Doris or Dinah or Judy! I've got a bunch of great Keely performances, with Perry Como, Andy Williams, and others- will send them to you as quicktime movies or on a dvd if you want!
MUSICAL MEMORIAL: Keely Smith, born as Dorothy Jacqueline Keely, died on this day, December 16, 2017, at the age of 89, in Palm Springs, California. The cause of death was heart failure. She was born on March 9, 1928, in Norfolk, Virginia. For more information, and more musical memorials, please visit this internet group: FACE BOOK/TONY JAMS MUSICAL MEMORIALS 1950'S AND BEYOND & FACE BOOK/FRIENDS WHO LIKE TONY JAMS MUSICAL MEMORIALS. MAY DOROTHY JACQUELINE KEELY, AKA KEELY SMITH, REST IN HARMONY.
Thanks for tuning in and your kind comment- Isn't she the BEST? EVER? What a love... a friend of mine on Facebook found this for me... 1962 Hollywood Bowl with the Nelson Riddle orchestra... you will love it, I promise... pastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Keely-Smith-Hollywood-Bowl-1962.mp3 Here is the website info to the concert: pastdaily.com/2013/12/01/keely-smith-concert-hollywood-bowl-1962-past-daily-pop-chronicles/ Best wishes, and Happy New Year, Luke Sacher Praeses & Soapbox Productions Inc.
Joao Aurelio My good friends and I admin a super Facebook group called Swing, Saloon and Croon- please feel free to join us- we have a couple of thousand members and they are all really great people, all over the globe! :)
She sang so beautifully touched me I lost my his and this year after 52 years of marriage I miss him and this song brought me to tears this comment is from mrs john gray
Hello, Beth! Thanks for tuning in and leaving a comment- she's my favorite chanteuse of all time- even above Ella and Sarah and Doris and Dinah and... well, you get the point! If you're interested, here's an interview that we shot of her in November 1998 at her club in Rancho Mirage, Basin Street West, for our biography of the Rat Pack... ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-q5fHMAF7aUY.html Warmest Regards, Luke Sacher Praeses & Soapbox Productions Inc. ru-vid.com
I don't know how long she performed after I saw her last. Before I moved back to my hometown of Buffalo, New York after about 20 years in Las Vegas. I watched her perform at the Desert Inn Lounge and she was terrific. She was 69 or 70 and still had a great voice.
+Mike Hudson Thanks, boss! She's my absolute favorite lady vocalist ever... Louis and Keely practically invented rock n' roll while keeping alive the Great American Songbook, yes? :) Here's a link to her at the Hollywood Bowl just after her split with Louis... incredible... pastdaily.com/2013/12/01/keely-smith-concert-hollywood-bowl-1962-past-daily-pop-chronicles/ pastdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/Keely-Smith-Hollywood-Bowl-1962.mp3
Hey thanks so much for the link. Never heard that before. I love it and I love to hear Keely speak. The wonders of You Tube. I don't like technology much but I am glad for this!!!
Back then, you either had talent, skill, a backlog of experience and hard work or you worked at the factory. A lot of these people could do it all and make it look easy.
Keely Smith had an affair with Sinatra after her marriage to Louis Prima ended. He called her "Injun". I saw her perform in Florida during the 1990s where she sang and talked about Frank, her career and Prima (who was abusive to her).
