Lyn Cornell, sometimes billed as Lynn Cornell (born 1940) is an English pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her membership of

The Vernons Girls The Vernons Girls were an English musical ensemble of female vocalists. They were formed at the Vernons football pools companyLarkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 461 in the 1950s in Liverpool, settling ...

The Carefrees The Carefrees were a British group formed in 1964, most known for their song " We Love You Beatles". Although often referred to as a girl group, the Carefrees can be considered a pop band, as the group consisted of Lynn Cornell, Barbara Kay a ...

and

The Pearls The Pearls were an English 1970s girl group, girl human voice, vocal duet (music), duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien). They released a total of 12 single (music), singles, the most successful being ...

, having had at least one chart hit with each group, and as a solo artist with a Top 30 UK hit to her name.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted that Cornell "could unfurl a suppleness of vocal gesture that was denied to luckier but less stylistically adventurous contemporaries".

Biography

Cornell was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. She was originally a member of

, who appeared on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

show '' Oh Boy!'' with the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

between 1958 and 1959, and made a series of relatively successful

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

for

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 1923 as the Parloph ...

between 1958 and 1961. Cornell launched her solo career in April 1960, before the Vernons reached their own disbanding in 1961. She recorded solo for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

, and is best remembered for her version of the film title theme, "

Never on Sunday ''Never on Sunday'' (, ) is a 1960 Greek romantic comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jules Dassin. The film tells the story of Ilya, a contented Greek prostitute ( Melina Mercouri), and Homer (Dassin), an earnest American classic ...

". Her 1960

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, re ...

of "Never on Sunday" reached No. 30 in the UK Singles Chart. Cornell appeared in the edition of 25 November 1960 of the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

''. Also in 1960, Cornell recorded and released as a single a Christmas song, "The Angel and the Stranger". In the summer of 1961, she performed at the North Pier Pavilion in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

, on a bill including

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons; 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career and sold a reported 23 million records. AllMus ...

and

Bert Weedon Herbert Maurice William Weedon, OBE (10 May 1920 – 20 April 2012) was an English guitarist whose style of playing was popular and influential during the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first British guitarist to have a hit record in the ...

. In April 1962, Cornell married

session musician A session musician (also known as studio musician or backing musician) is a musician hired to perform in a recording session or a live performance. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a reco ...

Andy White, the drummer on the album version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

' first hit, "

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United States i ...

". The same year, Decca released Cornell's version of "

African Waltz ''African Waltz'' is an album by jazz saxophonist Cannonball Adderley, released on the Riverside label and performed by Adderley with an orchestra conducted by Ernie Wilkins.

", which failed to make inroads compared to

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

chart hit. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

was an arrangement of the

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

penned jazz standard, "

Moanin' ''Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers'', also called ''Moanin, is a studio album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded on October 30, 1958, and released on Blue Note Records, Blue Note later that year. Background This was Blakey's firs ...

", which showed her expanding well beyond

traditional pop music Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standards ...

boundaries. This release was followed by Jack Good's eccentric production work on her 1962 cover of The Blue Belles' US hit, "

I Sold My Heart to the Junkman "'I Sold My Heart to the Junkman'" is a 1946 recording by The Basin Street Boys featuring Ormonde Wilson, written by Leon René, under the songwriting pseudonym of Jimmie Thomas. It was released on the Exclusive Records label in 1946. It was cove ...

". Despite gaining airplay on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 2. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

, it too did not match the chart appearance of "Never on Sunday". In 1963, Decca released Cornell's working of "

Sally Go 'Round the Roses "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" is the name of a 1963 hit song, hit by the Jaynetts, a the Bronx, Bronx-based one-hit wonder girl group, released by J & S Records, J&S Records on the Tuff label. Background The producer of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" ...

. In 1964, she joined

, who became best known for their song "

We Love You Beatles "We Love You Beatles" is a song by the Carefrees. It was a 1964 novelty record about The Beatles and the song peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; it was the only Beatles novelty record to reach the Top 40. It was released in the UK ...

". The track was The Carefrees first recording and only charted single, reaching No. 39 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and staying on the ''Billboard'' chart for five weeks. After one further single and an album, the group disbanded later in the same year. Her television and film credits from this period include ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Just for Fun'' (1963), '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (1962), ''Big Night Out'' (1961) and ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually some variety ...

'' (1960). Cornell and White later divorced and she now lives in London. At one time she dated

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. As a British rock and roll teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK singles chart with " What ...

. In 1972, Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien), who were both part of The Vernons Girls, had assistance from the record producer,

Phil Swern Anthony Philip Swern (30 June 1948 – 31 August 2024) was an English radio producer, record producer and collector. Career Born in Ealing, London, Swern was a record producer and songwriter, and also wrote for television. He earned the nick ...

, in forming

.
They were a 1970s

girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. While the term ''girl'' has other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary.com, "Girl"'' Retrieved January 2, 2008. '' daughter'' or '' girlfriend'' regardless of age ...

vocal duo. The Pearls released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1974. Cornell later worked as a singer with the

James Last Orchestra James Last (, ; born Hans Last; 17 April 1929 – 9 June 2015) was a German composer and big band leader of the James Last Orchestra. Initially a jazz bassist, his trademark "happy music" made his numerous albums best-sellers in Germany and ...

. In 1975, she provided backing vocals on

Polly Brown Polly Brown ( Polly Browne; born 18 April 1947) is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively " That Same Old Feeling" and " Honey Honey" - Br ...

's album, ''Special Delivery''.

References

External links

*
Discogs.com discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, Lyn 1940 births Living people 20th-century English singers English women pop singers English jazz singers English session musicians Singers from Liverpool Decca Records artists British women jazz singers 20th-century English women singers The Vernons Girls members