Keely Smith

[pljms]

I've only just discovered that singer Keely Smith died over a week ago. She recorded a couple of Bacharach songs, famously the original version of One Less Bell to Answer and the virtually unknown Close.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9ksSn1Ip1o

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=MHX-VAUJvGA

[Blair N. Cummings]

I noted her death with wistful sadness. I`m old enough to recall her television appearances with then-hubby Louis Prima. They were the obvious template for the next decade`s Sonny and Cher, as often cited. But Keely was so much wittier, smarter, sexier, and possessed of such a far superior voice that comparisons are beside the point. Well-known in her day, she should be better acknowledged now.

[Martin Johnson]

Yes, she was a classy singer with a very distinctive voice (and vowel sounds). I loved her high energy duets on record with Louis Prima although their contrasting personas stage act when seen now on old TV footage seems more than a little strained. I believe she was the first mainstream singer to record a whole album of, dare I say it, Lennon and McCartney songs.

[Blair N. Cummings]

Well, the Beatles pulled the wool over many pairs of eyes. As enjoyable as many of their albums were, they scarcely amounted to Art, and Keely was probably goaded by her label into recording that album.
Now, do we want - on this forum - to discuss whether James Paul McCartney was murdered in late `65 and replaced by...?