Julie London – Julie Is Her Name Vol. 2

One voice, two instruments and a second beginning

Julie Is Her Name, Volume II takes a deceptively simple idea seriously: a singer, a guitar and a double bass can tell twelve songs with quite different temperaments. Julie London returned to this small setting in 1958, but the second volume does not merely repeat the personnel of the first. Howard Roberts plays guitar and Red Mitchell plays double bass. Barney Kessel and Ray Leatherwood, associated with the first album, are not participants in this recording. The distinction matters, because in a group of three any change of player alters the entire relationship between the voices.

The sessions took place in July 1958 at Liberty Studios in Hollywood. Bobby Troup produced, and Ted Keep handled the recording engineering. Liberty released the album that August, in mono as LRP-3100 and in stereo as LST-7100. The Analogue Productions edition offered here uses the stereo version. Recording year, original release and later reissue are therefore separate parts of the story, even if the familiar title initially suggests no more than a continuation.

The small line-up determines musical responsibility as well as sound. Without piano, drums or strings, little can be hidden inside a dense accompaniment. Roberts has to provide harmonic orientation and rhythmic movement together. Mitchell connects the vocal line with the progress of the harmony without a larger rhythm section to distribute the work. London, in turn, cannot simply place a lyric over a fully furnished arrangement. Voice and instruments jointly determine how much room a syllable, a chord or a short pause will receive.

That makes the record rewarding as an independent second beginning. The underlying principle is familiar, but the collaborators have changed. The important question is not whether a successful title can be repeated, but what can be said afresh within deliberately limited instrumentation. Most of the twelve performances are short. Their brevity can sharpen attention: a character needs to become recognisable quickly, without every song having to announce itself through an expansive gesture.

Julie London and Howard Roberts in direct conversation

Blue Moon opens the programme, followed by What Is This Thing Called Love and How Long Has This Been Going On. Those first three selections already move through familiar forms in the American song repertoire. Knowing a melody can help direct attention towards smaller decisions. Where does London begin a line? How does Roberts continue when the voice completes a thought? How does Mitchell maintain the connection between them without filling every available space with another event?

In this setting, Roberts is much more than a soloist who occasionally appears between vocal passages. His guitar takes on responsibilities that a larger ensemble would distribute among several instruments. A chord can identify a harmonic position and supply a rhythmic impulse at the same time. A brief response can extend the meaning of a lyric without competing with it. It is therefore rewarding to follow the guitar continuously for one hearing, including those moments when the voice naturally occupies the foreground.

London works with songs whose effect depends on the relationship between words and melody. A love song is not defined by its text alone; the placement of a syllable can change how a statement is understood. The reduced accompaniment makes such decisions easier to follow. There is no need to claim that the listener is literally sharing a room with the singer. Musical proximity already arises from the small number of voices and the possibility of noticing how they answer one another.

The second side of this 45 RPM edition contains Too Good To Be True, Spring Is Here and Goody Goody. Placing three brief performances on each side establishes small groups within the album. Each can be heard as a separate passage while remaining part of the overall trio conception. The songs do not require a continuous dramatic plot or an artificially imposed unity of lyrical meaning. Their connection is supplied by the personnel and the musicians’ shared approach to the material.

Red Mitchell and the flexibility of the short form

Mitchell’s double bass is the third equal component in this music. It can connect harmonic movement, support a vocal phrase and give weight to the rhythm. Without drums, responsibility for the pulse changes. That does not mean every beat has to be explicitly marked. The relationship between a sounded note and time left open can itself become compelling. The bass can be followed here as a line in its own right, rather than only as a low foundation beneath a larger group.

Side C brings together The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else, If I’m Lucky and Hot Toddy. The titles introduce different attitudes while the instrumentation remains constant. That continuity makes comparison rewarding. Which functions does Roberts take on in one piece, and which does Mitchell assume? Where does London stay close to a melodic contour, and where does the emphasis of the lyric change its effect? The answers need not produce a ranking. They can show how flexibly a small ensemble responds to different songs.

The final side moves through Little White Lies and I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plan to I Got Lost In His Arms. Twelve tracks thus create an album of frequent, concise changes of perspective. Brevity does not remove difficulty: a short performance still needs a beginning, development and a persuasive ending. The musicians have to establish a complete character through relatively few means. The apparent simplicity is precisely what makes their work worth following closely.

Collectors who already own the first volume consequently receive more than a continuation of a sleeve concept. The change to Roberts and Mitchell makes possible a direct comparison between two accompanying partnerships. The second record need not compete with the first. Both can demonstrate how strongly the same underlying idea is shaped by individual musicians. For a vocal jazz collection, that is a useful perspective: to take seriously the partners involved in a singer’s recordings rather than organising the catalogue only around the name at the top of the sleeve.

The stereo edition on two 45 RPM LPs

AAPP 7100-45 is the Analogue Productions edition on two stereo LPs playing at 45 RPM. Kevin Gray handled the mastering at Cohearent Audio from the analogue tapes, and Quality Record Pressings manufactures the records. The current manufacturer description lists 180-gram vinyl, whereas the documented AP release from 2016 was specified at 200 grams. That historical difference does not justify a separate promise about the weight of an uninspected stock batch beyond the current published specification.

The twelve selections are distributed evenly across four sides, with three tracks on each. In practical terms, 45 RPM therefore also means more frequent side changes than on the original LP. Listeners who enjoy attending to small groups of songs may appreciate that structure; those preferring a longer uninterrupted sequence should know about it before choosing the edition. Speed alone does not replace consideration of mastering, condition or the playback system. It is first a specific characteristic of this release and of the way the listener handles it.

The reissue is presented in a gatefold jacket, adding photographs from the Universal archive to the original visual presentation. The original album used a single jacket. Those packaging details belong to the later edition, while the musical centre remains deliberately small: Julie London, Howard Roberts and Red Mitchell. The clarity of that line-up makes the record an invitation to follow not only the singer, but the complete conversation between voice, guitar and bass.

You order from Michael 45 in Germany. We arrange the US import and dispatch from Hilden.

More by Julie London: Latin In A Satin Mood · Julie Is Her Name

Customer question: Buying Analogue Productions records in Europe

Musicians

Participants and documented credit status. Track references correspond to the tracklist.

• Julie LondonPortrait: 1958vocalsParticipation: All tracks
• Howard RobertsPortrait: portrait reference 1959guitarParticipation: All tracks
• Red MitchellPortrait: existing portraitdouble bassParticipation: All tracks
• Bobby TroupproductionParticipation: All tracks
• Ted Keeprecording engineerParticipation: All tracks

Vocals, guitar and double bass: Julie London, Howard Roberts and Red Mitchell. Bobby Troup and Ted Keep are production credits. Barney Kessel and Ray Leatherwood do not play on this second volume.