JULIE sings at the
University of Alabama
Nevertheless, Bobby cajoled while JULIE returned to films with a part in THE FIGHTING CHANCE. Finally, she agreed to consider recording and Bobby took her to Bethlehem Records. She cut four tracks for them; they were not overly enthusiastic and declined to sign her. [One can only presume that Bethlehem Records came to regret that decision; ultimately, they made the most of those four tracks, releasing them in a wide variety of compilation albums and on singles and extended play 45s.] JULIE's "failure of self-confidence" was bigger than ever. But Bobby was determined and eventually booked JULIE for a singing engagement at Johnny Walsh's 881 Club. Despite overwhelming stage fright [which JULIE never overcame, her obvious talent and success notwithstanding] she went out, backed only by guitar and bass, and was a smash. Her voice, by her own admission not very big, was alternately described as sultry, furry, and quintessentially sexy or husky and oversmoked. But JULIE, with a gift for musical phrasing, true intonation, and a style of simplicity and naturalness, offered the audience what was her own unique style of warmth, sensitivity, and heart. The subtle sadness in JULIE's singing was appealing and she had a superb sense of interpretation, seeming to speak straight to each listener's heart. The two-week engagement ran for ten weeks and the shy and unpretentious singer had at last found a niche of her own. Liberty Records founder Si Waronker, at Bobby's insistence, came to hear her at Walsh's 881 Club, and immediately set about persuading JULIE to record for the Liberty label.
JULIE recalled, "I got Cry Me A River from Arthur Hamilton. I had gone to school with Arthur and he eventually ended
up writing for Jack Webb. He was writing songs for films like Pete Kelly's Blues." Arthur, who was her classmate at Hollywood Professional High School, had written the song for Ella Fitzgerald. But Jack didn't like the word "plebeian" in the lyrics and wanted Hamilton to change it. He refused and Jack rejected the song for the film. JULIE later asked
Arthur if she could have it to record and, as her first single, Cry Me A River soared to the top of the
charts in November 1955. [In later albums, JULIE would record other Arthur Hamilton songs,
including This August and The Thirteenth Month for CALENDAR GIRL and About The Blues and
Bouquet Of Blues for ABOUT THE BLUES. Another Hamilton standard, Shadow Woman, is to be
found only on a Liberty single and on the Cry Me A River extended play 45.] Her albums, first
JULIE IS HER NAME in 1955, then LONELY GIRL and CALENDAR GIRL in 1956, flew off the shelves;
eventually JULIE IS HER NAME [an album which almost single-handedly launched the torch
singer popularity of the late 1950s] would become JULIE's first gold album. The first bona fide
star of the fledgling record company, JULIE became The Liberty Girl, and made the company
a success in 1955. Over the course of her career, she would record more than thirty albums for
the label and, although Cry Me A River was her only "top charted hit," she enjoyed a continuing
popularity and her albums and singles sold well. Of all the popular female vocalists of the 1950s,
JULIE was one of the few that did not have roots in the big band era. She preferred small,
intimate clubs, enjoyed singing for college groups, and even made a college tour through the
South in the early 1960s.
