Julie London | Enchanted Seashells

A while back I wrote about the 1970s TV show, Emergency!, a favorite of mine to watch with my RN mom. A little research revealed that one of the stars, Julie London, was an amazing vocalist and her husband in real life, Bobby Troup (also on Emergency!), was not only an accomplished musician but he wrote the hit song, Route 66.

Since it’s no secret that I have an ongoing OBSESSION with Leon Russell that doesn’t seem to be abating any time soon, I was listening to some of the tracks on the Mad Dogs and Englishmen CD and watched the videos where LR is prominent.

I’m not a huge fan of Joe Cocker, never have been, and still think that Leon’s versions of his own songs can’t be surpassed (like Delta Lady), but then I heard JC sing “Cry Me a River” by Arthur Hamilton, and realized that it’s the same song Julie London sang a while back, but this was a completely light years different arrangement by….you guessed it, the one and only Master of Space and Time, the magical visionary himself, Leon Russell.

It’s actually not that crazy because a little more digging revealed that Leon was often a Wrecking Crew first call session pianist for some of Julie London’s recordings, so there was a connection.

Listen to Julie London (amazing for sure)…

…and now watch this video. I confess that for me, one of the best parts besides seeing Leon’s magical hands on the piano is when he counts off “1-2-3-4“. No shame in owning my obsession, is there? If only Leon had sung this himself…

Do you have a preference? Both awesome versions of the song, but the talents of Leon Russell forever blow my mind. How did he even think of arranging the song that way? Sadly, we’ll never know, but his magic lives on.

And then there’s Ella Fitzgerald’s version…OMG! They are all incredible interpretations, aren’t they?

Whilst recuperating from a surgical procedure when I couldn’t do much more than recline on the sofa for a couple of days, I turned on the TV around noon, which I rarely do. (I realize that I’m not from the UK but I LOVE the word “whilst”.)

I watched a couple of episodes of Emergency! starring Julie London as RN Dixie McCall, Bobby Troup (Dr. Joe Early), and Robert Fuller (Dr. Brackett), along with Randolph Mantooth and Kevin Tighe as the firemen/paramedics.

A Jack Webb production, Emergency! first aired in 1972. I remember watching with my RN mom and she’d always narrate the medical parts to amuse me.

It’s a great show. The story revolves around Squad 51 of the LA County Fire Department’s newly created Paramedical Rescue Service. Filmed in semi-documentary style, the actors take on a series of life-or-death challenges with the medical staff at Rampart Emergency Hospital.

It appeared to me that there was some sort of a vague subplot, like an undercurrent or whisper of unrequited romance between the characters played by London and Fuller. There was some flirtatious banter and their characters teased a more than a professional relationship outside of the hospital; at least that’s the feeling I got.

I did a little Google research like I always do and was surprised to learn that Julie London and the actor that plays the other main doctor, Bobby Troup (Dr. Early), were married in real life. London was a former torch singer known for sultry, languid contralto vocals, and Troup was a jazz pianist, singer, and songwriter.

I had no idea that he wrote the song “Route 66”, one of my faves by Nat King Cole. Did you know that?

Anyway, Adam-12 is on now, so I gotta go.