You can’t get any more popular in American entertainment than Keely Smith was in the early ‘60s. Having blown the doors out in Las Vegas, winning a Grammy, having hit after hit and lighting up television screens playing straight “man” to husband Louis Prima, she’d navigated the tricky waters of a professional and personal divorce, striking out on her own and starting her own record label, Keely Records, in partnership with close friend and mentor Frank Sinatra, under the auspices of his Reprise label. A groundbreaking businesswoman, as well as recording artist, Keely recorded 5 classic albums for Reprise. Because she’d seen enough show business shenanigans to last a lifetime, a generation before it became standard practice to do so, she retained the rights to her masters. Those albums have NEVER come out legitimately on CD anywhere in the world. Now, Real Gone Music, in concert with Keely & her family, is very proud to announce that the label is going to answer the pleas of pop fans worldwide and release ALL of Keely’s Reprise albums on CD for the first time in deluxe packages featuring bonus tracks, rare photos, and new liner notes. Little Girl Blue, Little Girl New was Keely’s first release for her new label Reprise, and she celebrated her newfound freedom in grand style by putting out a concept album jointly supervised by Keely with Frank Sinatra. Reassembling the topnotch, high flying creative team of their Capitol years, the entire package was fashioned as two distinct records, from the song choices to the album artwork itself. It featured two different front covers, one lachrymose, one cheery. The first side, “Little Girl Blue,” offered such lovelorn fare as “Here’s That Rainy Day,” “Willow Weep for Me, and the title tune, while the second side, “Little Girl New,” was epitomized by the spirit of its closing track, “Blue Skies.” Taken as a whole, Little Girl Blue, Little Girl New is a uniquely powerful listening experience and stands as one of the first concept albums ever recorded by a female artist. We’ve added Keely’s first Reprise single (produced by Don Costa), “When You Cry” and “Going Through the Motions,” (mixed to stereo for the first time ever!) to the original stereo album for this Expanded Edition, which is remastered by Mike Milchner at SonicVision from original tape sources and also features fresh liner notes and rare photos. Oh, and one more thing…the whole thing is arranged and conducted by the great Nelson Riddle!
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