Song:But Not For Me
Album:Rosemary Clooney Sings The Lyrics Of Ira Gershwin
Rosemary Clooney was one of the most popular pop singers of the 50s. But she had a tough time in the 60s including a nervous breakdown. She returned in the 70s and had a long career recording jazz. In the 50s, Rosemary had a lot of success recording novelty songs she didn't like. When her career faded in the late 50s, she bounced around several labels including MGM, RCA, Coral, Reprise and Dot. She divorced husband Jose Ferrer in 1961 and began a relationship with bandleader Nelson Riddle. He worked for Frank Sinatra's Reprise label. After she remarried Ferrer, she left Reprise for Dot in 1965. Then she divorced Ferrer again in 1966. When Rosemary suffered a nervous breakdown in 1968, her career seemed to be over. After her sister Betty died of a brain aneurysm in 1976, Rosemary decided to return to performing and she toured with Bing Crosby. After recording a 1976 country music album for United Artists, Rosemary was asked to appear on the 1977 album A Tribute To Duke which also featured Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett and Woody Herman. Concord Jazz owner Carl Jefferson then signed Rosemary and put her together with jazz musicians. She became one of Concord's most popular artists until her 2002 death. The model for Rosemary's Concord albums was the Ella Fitzgerald Songbook series. But Not For Me is from the 1979 album Rosemary Clooney Sings The Lyrics Of Ira Gershwin. It was her fourth album for Concord. But Not For Me is from the 1930 show Girl Crazy. Rosemary sang it on the radio in the 50s. The band on most of these albums are guys who normally work for Concord with a couple of guest musicians. The flute solo on But Not For Me is by Roger Glenn of Mongo Santamaria's band. Other musicians were Scott Hamilton on tenor sax, Warren Vache on cornet and flugelhorn, Cal Collins on guitar, Chris Amberger on bass and Jeff Hamilton on drums. With the exception of Jeff Hamilton, all these guys were Concord regulars. Hamilton replaced Jake Hanna on this album only. Rosemary started touring again and her Concord albums did very well on the jazz charts. So when most singers were in retirement, Rosemary Clooney was very busy until her death on June 29, 2002 at age 74. It's an amazing story considering where Rosemary was at in the 60s. Here's Rosemary Clooney with Les Brown and his Band Of Renown at the 1983 Aurex Jazz Festival in Tokyo.
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