One Shot Wonders, pt 12

See below for intro

CORA LEE DAY
In 1960 actress Cora Lee Day was at a party in New York City when someone asked her to do her imitation of Billie Holiday. She did and by chance Roulette Records owner Morris Levy was there, liked what he heard---he believed this to be her natural singing voice---and signed her to a record contract. Cora had no choice, then, but to keep singing in this false style. Roulette spent a great deal of money on a night club act and an LP for her. The recording, entitled “My Crying Hour”, contained some of the best jazz players around, such as Jimmy Jones, Harry Edison, Freddie Green and Illinois Jacquet, Ella Fitzgerald and Johnny Hartman were the only other vocalists to release studio recordings with Jacquet’s backing. The album was not a success. And though her live act was premiered at the prestigious Mister Kelley’s club in Chicago, it too was a failure. Cora Lee Day never sang in public again. She did, however, become a highly respected actress, eventually starring in the 1991 award-winning film, “Daughters of the Dust.” She died in 2000 at the age of 78.
PLAY I’m Gonna Laugh You Right Out of My Life