Lu Ann Simms (born Lucille Anne Ciminelli; July 11, 1932 – September 21, 2003)
[Original data: Social Security Applications and Claims, 1936-2007.] was an American
singer
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or witho ...
well-known in the 1950s. A performer since the age of three, she became an over-night star in 1952 after winning first place on the singing contest ''
Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts
''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' (also known as ''Talent Scouts'') was an American radio and television variety show which ran on CBS from 1946 until 1958. Sponsored by Lipton Tea, it starred Arthur Godfrey, who was also hosting '' Arthur G ...
''; she subsequently joined the
Arthur Godfrey
Arthur Morton Godfrey (August 31, 1903 – March 16, 1983) was an American radio and television broadcaster and entertainer who was sometimes introduced by his nickname The Old Redhead. At the peak of his success, in the early-to-mid 1950s, Godf ...
cast and appeared on his radio and television programs ''
Arthur Godfrey Time'', ''
Arthur Godfrey and His Friends
''Arthur Godfrey and His Friends'' is an American television variety show hosted by Arthur Godfrey. The hour-long series aired on CBS Television from January 1949 to June 1957 (as ''The Arthur Godfrey Show'' after September 1956), then again as ...
,'' ''The Arthur Godfrey Digest'' and ''King Arthur Godfrey and His Round Table''.
Career
Born in Rochester, New York, to father Aldridge Ciminelli and mother June Fox,
Simms gave her first public performance on
Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
's WHEC radio aged three, singing "When You Wore a Tulip", which went down well with the audience. She attended Ss. Peter and Paul School, before continuing to Our Lady of Mercy High School. Whilst a teenager, she sang at The Barn, also known as Gannett Youth Club, an alcohol-free venue for young people in
Henrietta, every Saturday night. Simms also sold records in the Columbia Music & Appliance Store, where she earned $35 a week.
When Simms visited relatives in New York City, she got her break, appearing on ''Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts''. From 1952 to 1955, Simms appeared on radio and television six days a week, at times for a total of eight separate weekly broadcasts, all linked to Godfrey for
CBS.
Her television fame was such that a doll was made in her image with her name.
Simms released a series of highly-successful
pop
Pop or POP may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* Pop music, a musical genre Artists
* POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade
* Pop!, a UK pop group
* Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band
Albums
* ''Pop'' (G ...
45s on
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
between 1952 and 1957,
Jubilee Records
Jubilee Records was an American independent record label, specializing in rhythm and blues and novelty records. It was founded in New York City in 1946 by Herb Abramson. His partner was Jerry Blaine. Blaine bought Abramson's half of the compan ...
between 1957 and 1960 (in addition to her sole LP), and
Top Rank Records in 1960. Her recordings were licensed by such record labels as
Philips Records
Philips Records is a record label founded by the Dutch electronics company Philips. It was founded as Philips Phonographische Industrie in 1950. In 1946, Philips acquired the company which pressed records for British Decca's Dutch outlet in ...
and
Coronet Records
Coronet Records is the name of at least three different record companies. One was based in San Francisco in the 1940s and was responsible for the first recordings of Dave Brubeck. Brubeck's Coronet Records disbanded when it couldn't pay its bills ...
for release outside the United States. In February 1953, she scored her first and only
''Billboard'' chart hit with "Moving Away", which reached No. 30, accompanied by
Percy Faith
Percy Faith (April 7, 1908 – February 9, 1976) was a Canadian-American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with popularizing the "easy listeni ...
& His Orchestra.
Her stardom was short-lived, lasting only a brief eight years, mainly due to a series of personal tragedies. In October 1955,
Godfrey unexpectedly fired her from his program after she gave birth to her first daughter; Simms was simultaneously dropped from her CBS radio and television contract, after serving only three of the seven years contracted. Simms nevertheless remained signed to the CBS subsidiary Columbia Records, honoring the full duration of her separate five-year recording contract.
Simms' first husband, Loring Buzzell, then became her manager and secured for her a three-year recording contract at Jubilee Records. Buzzell, however, died from a sudden heart attack in 1959, a mere three months before the birth of their second daughter, a hardship from which Simms never fully recovered.
["Heart Attack Fells Buzzell"](_blank)
''Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
'', October 26, 1959. p. 16.
Though Simms never retired, she was only sporadically active afterwards, with each of her appearances perceived by the press and fans as a series of come-backs. In late 1959, Simms began managing her late husband Buzzell's music publishing estate, which included the firms Calyork Music, Inc., Colby Music, Ltd. and Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music, Inc., the last of which she initially renamed
Hecht & Buzzell Music, Inc. (after the departure of partner
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen Lancaster (November 2, 1913 – October 20, 1994) was an American actor and producer. Initially known for playing tough guys with a tender heart, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-yea ...
), and then later, in 1965, Colby Music, Inc.
Through her father, Al Simms, general manager of
American International Records
American International Records was a record label which was a subsidiary of American International Pictures that was used to release music from their films. It also released recordings from individual artists.
Background
AIP started their own rec ...
, the record label division of film production company
American International Pictures
American International Pictures (AIP) is an American motion picture production label of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In its original operating period, AIP was an independent film production and distribution company known for producing and releasing fil ...
, Simms became affiliated with the
beach party film craze of the mid-1960s.
She was commissioned to record several tunes intended for soundtracks of beach party flicks for American International Pictures, but her tracks were often re-recorded by the stars of the films. Some of the music she recorded was ultimately released on 45s by
Vee-Jay Records
Vee-Jay Records is an American record label founded in the 1950s, located in Chicago and specializing in blues, jazz, rhythm and blues and rock and roll.
The label was founded in Gary, Indiana in 1953 by Vivian Carter and James C. Bracken, a ...
and
Wand Records, and appeared on some of the films' soundtrack LPs.
In the 1970s, she worked as assistant to songwriter and record producer
Bob Crewe
Robert Stanley Crewe (November 12, 1930 – September 11, 2014) was an American songwriter, dancer, singer, manager, and record producer. He was known for producing, and co-writing with Bob Gaudio, a string of Top 10 singles for the Four Season ...
at Far Out Productions, contributing backing vocals to a handful of
folk
Folk or Folks may refer to:
Sociology
*Nation
*People
* Folklore
** Folk art
** Folk dance
** Folk hero
** Folk music
*** Folk metal
*** Folk punk
*** Folk rock
** Folk religion
* Folk taxonomy
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Folk Plus or Fol ...
and
disco music
concept album
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...
s.
Personal life and death
Simms was first married to
music publisher
A music publisher is a type of publisher that specializes in distributing music. Music publishers originally published sheet music. When copyright became legally protected, music publishers started to play a role in the management of the intellect ...
and
record label executive
A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a r ...
Loring Buzzell, co-founder of
Hecht-Lancaster & Buzzell Music and
Calyork Music, and was a close personal friend of
Merv Griffin
Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. (July 6, 1925 – August 12, 2007) was an American television show host and media mogul. He began his career as a radio and big band singer, later appearing in film and on Broadway. From 1965 to 1986 he hosted his own t ...
,
The McGuire Sisters
The McGuire Sisters were a singing trio in American popular music. The group was composed of three sisters:
* Ruby Christine McGuire (July 30, 1926 – December 28, 2018)
* Dorothy "Dottie" McGuire (February 13, 1928 – September 7, 2012)
* Ph ...
and
Jaye P. Morgan.
The wedding of Simms and Buzzell took place in New York City in 1954, with two thousand people present, including celebrities.
She was widowed on October 20, 1959, when he had a heart attack, aged 32. The couple had two daughters, Cindy and Lauren Beth, the latter being born in January 1960, after her father's death. In January 1985, Lauren died suddenly at the age of just 24.
In 1961, Simms married childhood sweetheart Casper Stolt and moved to
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wo ...
, but the relationship ended in a divorce before the end of the decade.
Simms died of cancer in
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywoo ...
,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...
, on September 21, 2003, aged 71.
Discography
References
External links
*
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simms, Lu Ann
1932 births
2003 deaths
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American businesspeople
21st-century American singers
21st-century American women singers
American women pop singers
American music industry executives
American music publishers (people)
American people of Italian descent
American people of Irish descent
Businesspeople from Los Angeles
Businesspeople from New York City
Businesspeople from Rochester, New York
Columbia Records artists
Jubilee Records artists
Musicians from Los Angeles
Musicians from New York City
Musicians from Rochester, New York
Norma Productions people
People from Los Angeles
People from New York City
People from Rochester, New York
Philips Records artists
Record collectors
Sheet music publishers (people)
Top Rank Records artists
Traditional pop music singers
Vee-Jay Records artists
Wand Records artists