Love Walked In

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Can't We Be Friends	1:41	Play
2		If I Were a Bell	1:02	Play
3		The Tea in China	1:44	Play
4		Carlos' Riff	0:51	Play
5		My Heart Stood Still	1:34	Play
6		What a Difference a Day Makes	1:18	Play
7		California Here I Come	1:01	Play
8		These Foolish Things	2:02	Play
9		A Bushel and a Peck	1:09	Play
10		Love Walked In	1:53	Play
11		Jazz: Gone With the Wind	1:17	Play
12		Climb Every Mountain	1:52	Play
13		Mean to Me	1:24	Play
14		Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams	1:14	Play
15		Do Re Mi	1:00	Play
16		Jazz: When You Are Smiling	0:53	Play
17		What Is There to Say	1:47	Play
18		I Love a Piano	1:05	Play
19		How Long Has This Been Going On?	1:58	Play
20		Where or When	1:41	Play
21		Kate's Jazz	1:10	Play
22		Blue Room	1:19	Play
23		Like Ships	1:34	Play
24		I Know That You Know	0:35	Play
25		I've Grown Accustomed to His Face	1:31	Play
26		Wait Till You See Him	1:29	Play
27		All the Things You Are	1:24	Play

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Description

Maybe you thought all had been wrung from the American popular standards, that Sinatra, Fitgerald, and Torme had left nothing to interpret, voiced every emotion woven into our great songs. But even in Sinatra and company's wake, these songs had untapped meaning. They were waiting for Betty Johnson.

In LOVE WALKED IN, the third album of Betty's work in the '60's with the Metropolitan Jazz Quartet, she strides through the best of American popular song, leaving her own stamp on them and beckoning us to see that every corner of these songs had been explored. She stirs something new in us when we thought the songs could evoke nothing more. The album is a testament to her ability to refresh the standards and a tribute to the richness and resilience of the songs themselves.

On the wind of Betty's kiss, songs written and first recorded in the 1920's and 1930's-"My Heart Stood Still," "What A Difference A Day Makes," "These Foolish Things," "Mean To Me"-grow new blossoms. They find another Spring. These re-invigorated classics are the core of this collection. But just as shining is her consideration of later masterpieces from Broadway Shows, such as "Climb Every Mountain,' if I Were A Bell," and "I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face." In Betty's care, all these songs maintain the royalty of their origin.

And what about the origin of the voice?

When Betty Johnson recorded this music in the early 1960's she was nearing her retirement from show business so she could focus on family life. The hiatus would last for thirty years, until 1993 when she stepped back into the limelight, releasing new recordings and filling any nightspot she played. The quality of the sound upon her return matched that of the early 1960's sound. Just as Betty made the songs on LOVE WALKED IN seem ageless, she too seemed ageless.

The voice that would weather a three-decades-long retirement had reached an apogee when the material in this set was recorded. At the time, Betty ranked among the best female vocalists in the entertainment industry. Her pop chart performance in the late 1950's and '60's rivaled or surpassed those of Rosemary Clooney, Peggy Lee, Kay Starr and Doris Day, and she was a constant and welcomed presence on national television and radio. She was a regular on shows that were among the media's most popular:DonMcneil's Breakfast Club on radio and Jack Paar's Tonight Show on television. Men and women listening to popular music or paying attention to the mass media in the late 1950's and 1960's could not ignore Betty Johnson-they were surely glad they didn't.

Betty had been singing professionally since the late 1930's when, as a young girl, she began performing sacred music with her parents and brothers. Over the next ten years with The Johnson Family Singers-as they were known across the South-and then after the advent of her solo career in the 1950's, her voice developed a warm clarity, accentuated-as the years progressed-with a wisdom that gave authenticity to the songs she sang

She had learned to project and enunciate in her family's sextet, but as a soloist she developed style, the art of putting across a song. The 1950's were a turbulent period in Betty's personal life; love,separation,prosperity, and rejection marked her world and, naturally, marked her musical presentation. Betty Johnson became a better singer because she knew life's joys and sorrow. She could convincingly deliver "Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams"-as she does on this album-because quite possibly she had done so herself. The experience of her living and her crisp, pure voice produced a visceral impact. It was a voice that articulated your love, your pain, your desires in a startlingly appealing way. You wanted that voice to sing every love song, to whisper to you before sleep.

Alas, it was just a voice on record. But is seemed to be so much more.

And the voice continues to arouse emotions. These interpretations in LOVE WALKED IN,these partners for your emotions, are the centerpiece of Betty Johnson's performances today. Thirty years could not dim them.

-Mike Streissguth