Linda Lawson - Easy To Love + Introducing (2013)

Tracks #1-12, from the album “Introducing Linda Lawson”. (Chancellor CHLS-5010). Tracks #14 & 15, Verve single V-10103. Tracks #13 & 16, Verve single V-10124. Linda Lawson sings in all tracks, accompanied by the orchestras Arranged and Conducted by Marty Paich (#1-12) and Henry Mancini (#13-16). Some musicians involved were Jack Sheldon, Art Pepper, Bud Shank, Bill Perkins, Ted Nash, Jimmy Rowles, Joe Mondragon, Alvin Stoller & Mel Lewis. All sessions recorded in Hollywood, between 1957 to 1960

Born Linda Gloria Spaziani in Ann Arbor, Mich in 1936, Linda Lawson began her music career at the top, singing at The Sands in Las Vegas and, in 1957, making singles for the Verve label with an orchestra arranged and conducted by no less than Henry Mancini. She seemed set to make a considerable impact in music, but instead decided to focus on an acting career and by 1960 was busy in movies and on TV, where her rising profile led to “Introducing Linda Lawson”, her debut album as a singer.

Recorded in 1960, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by the gifted Marty Paich and packed with the finest West Coast jazz talent, her performance suggested that a successful career in music was hers for the taking. But acting remained her first love and these recordings are the only examples of her notable musical ability. In them she combined the highly complementary skills of singing and acting, splendidly uniting them to tackle the range of high-quality – and demanding – material chosen for these sessions. That she did it with persuasive aplomb is abundantly clear from the results.