Lana Cantrell
Lana Eleanor Cantrell[1] AM (born 7 August 1943)[2] is an Australian-American singer and entertainment lawyer.[3] She was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best New Artist in the Grammy Awards of 1968.[4]
Music career
Cantrell recorded for RCA Victor Records,[5] releasing seven albums.[3] Her preferred style of music was pop standards, but she later made contemporary pop rock a significant part of her performances.[6] Cantrell commented in a 1994 profile, "Think of how few people can still make their careers by singing standards.... There's Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand, and I don't know anyone else."[7]
Cantrell was a frequent guest on television shows including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and The Mike Douglas Show.[3][7][8] However, she never had a top 40 hit in the Billboard Hot 100.[9]
Transition to law career
Cantrell eventually decided to make a transition out of music in the 1980s due to a decline in the number of venues where she could sing in her preferred style, the size of her audiences, and her working conditions.[3][7] Although she had once been able to tour at supper clubs that would furnish a 20-piece orchestra for her and her conductor, in later years she toured with only a five-piece band that she had to pay herself.[3] She decided to pursue a law career in part because a former manager had spent much of her earnings over the years and she wanted to protect other performers from similar experiences.[3][7]
In 1986, Cantrell enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College, where she majored in history.[7] After receiving her bachelor's degree, she attended Fordham University School of Law.[7] After graduation, she began practicing law with the firm of Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler in New York City.[3]
Honors and awards
In 1966, Cantrell won the Amber Nightingale award for singing at a festival in Sopot, Poland.[10]
In 2003, Cantrell was named a member of the Order of Australia.[11] The honour was conferred for "service to the entertainment industry, and for assistance to the Australian community in New York."[1]
Personal life
It was reported in 1973 that Cantrell was engaged to Australian television personality Graham Kennedy.[12] This turned out to be a hoax—Kennedy was homosexual, although this did not become public knowledge until late in his life.[13] Kennedy later claimed that his romance with Cantrell was purely an invention of the Sunday Observer, although at the time Kennedy himself had publicly portrayed the relationship as real.[14] Judy Carne, Laugh-In's Sock-it-to-Me girl, claimed she had a love affair with Cantrell.[15]
Discography
Albums
- And Then There Was Lana, RCA Victor LSP-3755, 1967
- Another Shade of Lana, RCA Victor LSP-3862, 1967
- Act III, RCA Victor LSP-3947, 1968
- Lana!, RCA Victor LSP-4026, 1968
- The Now of Then, RCA Victor LSP-4121, 1969
- The 6th of Lana, RCA Victor LSP-4263, 1969
References
- ^ a b "Search Australian Honours". It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- ^ Lana Cantrell at AllMusic
- ^ a b c d e f g Ziegel, Vic (29 April 1995). "Lana Sings Different Tune". New York Daily News. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- ^ "1967 Grammy Awards Finalists". Billboard. 17 February 1968. p. 10. Retrieved 6 September 2009.
- ^ "Lana Cantrell on Move Again". Billboard. 7 October 1967. p. 20. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (12 April 1985). "Lana Cantrell and Trio at the Park Ten". The New York Times. p. C28.
Her small sultry alto, which breaks into a wide vibrato at the ends of musical phrases, is much better suited to quiet, intimate ballads than to the contemporary pop-rock that takes up two-thirds of her show.
- ^ a b c d e f Kaufman, Michael T. (13 July 1994). "About New York; Spotlight Gives Way to Statutes". The New York Times. p. B3.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Vilanch, Bruce (18 April 1975). "Lana: The image now fits". Chicago Tribune. p. B5.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2000). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 0-8230-7690-3.
- ^ "Miss Cantrell Wins Pole Festival Award". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. 28 August 1966. p. B14.
{{cite news}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help) - ^ Stephens, Tony (27 January 2003). "Politics and religion left behind on honours list". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- ^ Goodwin, Richard (24 September 1973). "I'll chat with Lana on the show: Kennedy". The Age. Melbourne. p. 2. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- ^ Gressor, Megan (26 April 2003). "King of comedy, fears of a clown". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
- ^ Dale, David (25 April 1985). "Stay in Touch". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 10. Retrieved 27 July 2009. [dead link]
- ^ Lisanti, Paul. p. 91