A great memory by a wonderful vocal poet and folk music artist – Dory Previn (Dorothy Veronica Previn, née Langan; October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012)
This audio clip is of a live performance from recording vocal artist Dory Previn & Band on the Old Grey Whistle Test television show, London England, 1977 with Art Phillips (owner of 101 Music Pty Ltd, www.101.audio & www.artphillips.com) on acoustic guitars, electric guitars and mandolin, Peter Jameson on acoustic guitars, slide and e-bow, and Tom Kellock on acoustic piano and synth keyboards.
Dory Previn was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet. During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist on songs for many famous motion pictures and, with her then husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations for their compositions. Together they wrote five songs for the movie ‘Valley of the Dolls’.
They also wrote many famous songs recorded by big name recording artists such as Frank Sinatra, Matt Monro, Rosemary Clooney, Jack Jones, Doris Day, Sammy Davis Jr., Nancy Wilson, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Darin, and many more.
Dory Previn also wrote Come Saturday Morning, music by Fred Karlin, for the film ‘The Sterile Cuckoo’. Andre Previn was a famous music composer, pianist and conductor, who later married Mia Farrow. Rowen Farrow, now famous author and journalist, is the son of Mia Farrow. Mia was also married to Frank Sinatra early on.
Previn’s lyrics and music from the period of her recording artist success are characterized by their originality, irony and honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. Until her death in 2012, she continued to work as a writer of song lyrics and prose.
The Old Grey Whistle Test was a British television music show. It was commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988.
