Married to Andy Williams, backed by top LA producers and session musicians, the albums of Claudine Longet are a delight. They are easily found alongside her hubby’s albums in thrift stores everywhere.
It looks as though love and life in the fast lane took it’s toll on Claudine. The cover to We’ve Only Just Begun was taken soon after her separation (and eventual divorce) from Andy Williams, and near the end of her career. A fascinating but sad story: she was found guilty in 1976 of negligent homicide of her boyfriend, but sentenced to only 30 days in jail, and has spent the rest of her years in relative solitude.
Sandy was the first to play her music via itunes, and I was dismissive for many years. But that was mainly because she only played the “Happy Talk” mp3 that was too happy even for me. But a glorious $0.10 sale at Goodwill allowed me to pick up a couple of her early albums (Claudine, The Look of Love), and I was surprised to hear a few excellent tracks in the mix.
Claudine’s records fall into another collector category: they feature the Wrecking Crew. Being married to Andy Williams gave Claudine access to the best of everything in terms of music production. Tracks like “Sunrise Sunset”, “Man in a Raincoat”, “How Insensitive” and my favorite version of “Both Sides Now” are glorious works of music. But each album has it’s fair share of stinkers and hits.
She is no longer a household name, though I’m guessing she would have kept a bit more in the public eye if it were not for her legal problems. We’ve all seen her on tv in the Peter Sellers movie The Party, and her album cover for Colours is iconic. Yes, I have the hots for Claudine Longet.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudine_Longet
http://www.discogs.com/artist/Claudine-Longet