Jane Russell, Connie Haines, Beryl Davis, Della Russell: Do Lord[purchase]
It's a fascinating bit of trivia: Sex symbol actress Jane Russell headed a gospel quartet in the 1950s. Russell, a life-long Christian who died at 90 in February this year, met her fellow group members, singers Connie Haines (a former singer in the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey orchestras) and Beryl Davis, at a Christian social in Hollywood.The three were periodically joined by Della Russell and Rhonda Fleming (another bombshell).
The story goes that during the filming of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes in 1953, Russell tried to convert co-star Marilyn Monroe to Christianity. Monroe later recalled: "Jane tried to convert me and I tried to introduce her to Freud".
"Do Lord", in which the singers are helfully introduced individually, was a big hit in 1954, shifting 2 million copies.
I was curious to see if anyone else had done a version of Do Lord. It turns out to be a pretty interesting list, including Johnny Cash, Mississippi John Hurt, Jackie Wilson, and The Blind Boys of Alabama.
ReplyDeleteI'd love to hear the rest of this album ! Russell wrote much about this in her autobiography as she was very proud it and of her religion in general. Thank you for sharing this one.
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