Jeri Southern
Encyclopedia
Genevieve Lillian Hering, known by her stage name
Jeri Southern, (August 5, 1926 - August 4, 1991) was an American
jazz
pianist
and singer
.
, Nebraska
, Hering began playing piano at age three, and at age six started formal study in classical piano. She studied classical piano and voice
at Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska
, where she became interested in jazz.
After beginning her career at the Blackstone Hotel
in Omaha she joined a United States Navy
recruiting tour during World War II
. In the late 1940s she worked in Chicago
clubs where she once played piano for Anita O'Day
. She became known for what are known as torch song
s.
She signed with Decca Records
in 1951 and became known both for pop
and jazz. The 1950s saw her at the height of her career. In 1955 her recording
of "An Occasional Man", reached #89 in the Billboard
pop chart
. In that decade she sang in a few film
s and in 1957 she had a Top 30 hit
with "Fire Down Below." The track peaked at #22 in the UK Singles Chart
in June 1957. After her switch to Capitol Records
she had success doing interpretations of Cole Porter
with Billy May
arranging some of the more humorous examples.
In the 1960s she gave up the music industry to teach and later moved to Hollywood, California
to work on film
composing with Hugo Friedhofer
. She also wrote Interpreting Popular Music At The Keyboard during her final years. She died in Los Angeles
of pneumonia
in 1991, at the age of 64.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Jeri Southern, (August 5, 1926 - August 4, 1991) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
pianist
Pianist
A pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
and singer
Singing
Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
.
Biography
Born in RoyalRoyal, Nebraska
Royal is a village in Antelope County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 75 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Royal is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, Hering began playing piano at age three, and at age six started formal study in classical piano. She studied classical piano and voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
at Sacred Heart in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
, where she became interested in jazz.
After beginning her career at the Blackstone Hotel
Blackstone Hotel (Omaha)
The Blackstone Hotel, currently known as the Blackstone Center, is located at 302 South 36th Street in the Blackstone neighborhood of the Midtown area in Omaha, Nebraska...
in Omaha she joined a United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
recruiting tour during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In the late 1940s she worked in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
clubs where she once played piano for Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
. She became known for what are known as torch song
Torch song
A torch song is a sentimental love song, typically one in which the singer laments an unrequited or lost love, either where one party is oblivious to the existence of the other, where one party has moved on, or where a romantic affair has affected the relationship...
s.
She signed with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....
in 1951 and became known both for pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
and jazz. The 1950s saw her at the height of her career. In 1955 her recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
of "An Occasional Man", reached #89 in the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
pop chart
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. In that decade she sang in a few film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
s and in 1957 she had a Top 30 hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
with "Fire Down Below." The track peaked at #22 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in June 1957. After her switch to Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
she had success doing interpretations of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
with Billy May
Billy May
William E. "Billy" May was an American composer, arranger and trumpeter. He composed film and television music, for The Green Hornet , Batman , and Naked City and collaborated on films, such as Pennies from Heaven , and orchestrated Cocoon, and Cocoon: The Return among...
arranging some of the more humorous examples.
In the 1960s she gave up the music industry to teach and later moved to Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to work on film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
composing with Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was an American film music composer born in San Francisco. His father was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13...
. She also wrote Interpreting Popular Music At The Keyboard during her final years. She died in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
in 1991, at the age of 64.
Selected discography
- Warm Intimate Songs In The Southern Style (1954, Decca) - 10" LPGramophone recordA gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
- The Southern Style (1955, Decca)
- You Better Go Now (1956, Decca)
- When Your Heart's On Fire (1957, Decca)
- Jeri Gently Jumps (1957, Decca)
- Prelude to a Kiss (1957, Decca)
- Southern Hospitality (1958, Decca)
- Jeri Southern Meets Johnny Smith (1958, Roulette)
- Southern Breeze (1958, Roulette)
- Coffee, Cigarettes and Memories (1958, Roulette)
- Jeri Southern Meets Cole Porter (1959, Capitol)
- Jeri Southern At the Crescendo (1960, Capitol)
- When I Fall In Love (1995, Decca (UMO))
- You Better Go Now/When Your Heart's on Fire (1996, Jasmine)
- Meets Cole Porter/at the Crescendo (1997, EMI)
- The Southern Style /Prelude to a Kiss (1998, MCA)
- The Dream's on JeriThe Dream's on JeriThe Dream’s on Jeri - a Jasmine Records collection of Jeri Southern performances culled from various sources – radio, television and live appearances...
(1998, Jasmine) - Southern Breeze/Coffee Cigarettes and Memories (1998, EMI)
- The Very Thought of You: the Decca Years 1951-1957 (1999, Decca Jazz)
- You Better Go Now (1997, Universal Japan)
- When Your Hearts on Fire (2001, Universal)
- The Ultimate Jeri Southern (2002, EMI Catalogue) - Original Recording Remastered
- Southern Hospitality/Jeri Gently JumpsSouthern Hospitality/Jeri Gently JumpsSouthern Hospitality/Jeri Gently Jumps is a double album by Jeri Southern, including two original Decca releases from 1957 and 1958, and re-released in 2008.-Tracklist:Southern Hospitality...
(2008, Commercial Marketing) - Romance In The DarkRomance in the DarkRomance in the Dark is a 1938 film directed by H. C. Potter and starring Gladys Swarthout, John Boles, John Barrymore, and Claire Dodd....
(2009, Bygone Days)