Dory Previn

In May 1957, not long after Dory Langdon had moved to California and become a lyricist for the movies, Verve Records agreed to record her singing an album's worth of her songs, provided she could get one of her collaborators, composer André Previn, to accompany her on piano. Along with guitarist Kenny Burrell, they made The Leprechauns Are Upon Me, which featured songs Langdon had written with Gene DePaul, Herm Saunders, Lyn Murray, David Raksin, J. Raymond Henderson, Previn, and alone. Lyrically, her light, witty, romantic style clearly derived from classic pop writers like Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg. Vocally, her straight-forward, precise style frequently recalled Peggy Lee. Previn and Burrell added numerous light jazz touches, for an enjoyable record that vanished not long after having been released. Two years later, Langdon married Previn and finally began to get songs into movies. Eleven years after that, she re-launched her singing career as the confessional singer-songwriter Dory Previn. Her fans of the early 1970s would have had a hard time squaring her later image with her 1950s self. They didn't get a chance until 1982, when DRG Records reissued The Leprechauns Are Upon Me in its Jazz Master Series under the title Dory Previn-Andre Previn. ~ William Ruhlmann, All Music Guide