EYDIE GORME

Today I learned of the passing of Eydie Gorme who was one of my favorite singers. I always considered Eydie Gorme a "standards singer"; thus, it was ironic that her major hit was Blame It On The Bossa Nova. Although she never reached the heights of stardom as Judy and Barbra, she was always considered a "singer's singer". She won a Grammy in 1967 for the song If He Walked Into My Life Today, but my all-time favorite is her rendition of What Did I Have I Don't Have Now?. I wanted her version of As Long As He Needs Me played at my wedding, and it was played at my last anniversary party and it was even more meaningful then.

Eydie was a Sephardic Jew and Steve Lawrence's family was Ashkenazi. Her parents objected to the marriage because Steve wasn't Sephardic and Steve's mother objected because she said Eydie was "Spanish"! (This was 1956--seems rather quaint now!). They were appearing on the Tonight Show With Steve Allen and Steve Lawrence said that he fell in love with her the moment he saw her, and more in love when he heard her sing.

Read about Sephardic Jews in Stephen Birmingham's great book The Grandees.