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Biography
James was born into an Italian family in Chicago. As an adolescent, she studied drama and ballet,
and on graduating from high
school, went with a local dance group
on a tour of Canada. She then took a job
as a chorus girl in the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago. After
doing a fill-in in Indiana, she decided to pursue a singing career. Some
executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) spotted her in a
television commercial, and she was signed
by MGM in 1952. Her first hit,
"Why Don't You Believe Me?" sold
over two million copies. She had a number of hits following that one, including
"Your Cheatin'
Heart" (a cover of
Hank Williams' hit) and
"Have You
Heard?"
She was the first American to record at London's Abbey Road Studios, and recorded five albums there. She was also very popular
across parts of the Asia-Pacific region, particularly in the Philippines where she performed
at Manila's now defunct EM Club in 1957.
She also scored a big hit in Manila with Filipino composer Salvador Asuncion's work entitled "In
Despair."
James had seven Top 10 hits on the
Billboard Hot
100 chart. "Why Don't
You Believe Me?" (#1 in 1952) "Have You Heard?" (#4 in 1953) "Your Cheatin'
Heart" (#2 in 1953) "Almost Always" (#9 in 1953) "My Love, My Love" (#8
in 1953) "How Important Can It Be?" (#2 in
1955) and "You Are My Love" (#6 in 1955) as
well as sixteen other Top 40 hits from
1952 to 1961. She has sold more than 100 million records.
James married composer-conductor Tony Acquaviva at St. Patrick's Cathedral in
New York in 1956.[1] In 1964 she
retired from the music
industry in part because Acquaviva was in bad health and needed her
attention.[1] She cared for
him until his death in 1986. For many years she was out of the public eye, but
began touring again in the mid 1990s some years after Acquaviva's death.[2]
On October 5, 1997, she married retired Air Force General Bernard
Adolph Schriever, 20 years her senior, and an extremely important figure in
post-war U.S. ballistic missile development. They
honeymooned in France and the Greek
Isles. Gen. Schriever died on June 20, 2005.
For her contributions to the entertainment industry, James has a star on the
Hollywood
Walk of Fame.[3]
In a 1976 Peanuts strip, after a
dust-up with the cat next door, SnoopyJukebox Jonicompilation
album. says, "Just don't ask to borrow my Joni James records again!" Thirty years
later, Snoopy would appear on the cover of her
Why Don't You Believe Me?
-Artist: Joni James as sung on "Joni James- Why
Don't You Believe Me?"
-Words and
Music by Lew Douglas, King Laney, and Roy Rodde
Why don't you believe
me?, it's you I adore
Forever and ever, can I promise more?
I've told you
so often the way that I care
Why don't you believe me?, it just isn't
fair
CHORUS
Here is a heart that is lonely
Here is a heart you can
take
Here is a heart for you only
That you can keep or break
How
else can I tell you, what more can I do?
Why don't you believe me?, I love
only you
REPEAT from CHORUS