Julie-mania

Today I’ve been listening to Julie London‘s sublime and wonderful ‘Julie is her name’ and ‘Julie is her name Vol 2′ albums. I’ve hardly listened to them in the last couple of years, since my peak of Julie-mania, which was in late 98/early 99. They really are superb though, and it’s not hard to see why ‘Julie is her name’ is commonly hailed as a landmark album. Julie’s voice manages to sound beautifully musical at the same time as heart-breakingly frail and vulnerable. The incredibly clean and minimal arrangements featuring Barney Kessel on guitar are also superb. I was amazed to find out that this US EMI 2 on 1 CD is now out of print. Perhaps all their remaining copies were bought up after Julie died last year. Either way, they should really repress it. I was pretty sad when Julie died, but at least felt glad that it meant something to me. Too many great people (e.g. Antonio Carlos Jobim, Henry Mancini) died just before I figured out how great they were…