Lyn Cornell, sometimes billed as Lynn Cornell (born 1940) is an English pop and jazz singer. She is best known for her membership of

The Vernons Girls The Vernons Girls were an English musical ensemble of female vocalists. They were formed at the Vernons football pools companyLarkin C., ''Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music'' (Muze UK Ltd, 1997), , p. 461 in the 1950s in Liverpool, settling ...

The Carefrees The Carefrees were a British group formed in 1964, most known for their song "We Love You Beatles". Although often referred to as a girl group, the Carefrees consisted of three women and three men: female vocalists Lynn Cornell, Barbara Kay and ...

and

The Pearls The Pearls were an English 1970s girl vocal duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien). They released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Char ...

, having had at least one chart hit with each group, and as a solo artist with a Top 30 UK hit to her name.

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

noted that Cornell "could unfurl a suppleness of vocal gesture that was denied to luckier but less stylistically adventurous contemporaries".

Biography

Cornell was born in

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, England. She was originally a member of

, who appeared on the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

show '' Oh Boy!'' with the house band between 1958 and 1959, and made a series of relatively successful

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

for

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

between 1958 and 1961. Cornell launched her solo career in April 1960, before the Vernons reached their own disbanding in 1961. She recorded solo for

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

, and is best remembered for her version of the film title theme, "

Never on Sunday ''Never on Sunday'' ( el, Ποτέ την Κυριακή, ) is a 1960 Greek romantic comedy film starring, written by and directed by Jules Dassin. The film tells the story of Ilya, a Greek prostitute (Melina Mercouri), and Homer (Dassin), an Am ...

". Her 1960

recording A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, r ...

of "Never on Sunday" reached No. 30 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Cornell appeared in the edition of 25 November 1960 of the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. Also in 1960, Cornell recorded and released as a single a Christmas song, "The Angel and the Stranger". In the summer of 1961, she performed at the North Pier Pavilion in

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, on a bill including

Matt Monro Matt Monro (born Terence Edward Parsons, 1 December 1930 – 7 February 1985) was an English singer. Known as "The Man with the Golden Voice", he performed internationally during his 30-year career. AllMusic has described Monro as "one of the m ...

and Bert Weedon. In April 1962, Cornell married the

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

Andy White (7 July 1930 – 9 November 2015); the drummer on the album version of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' first hit, "

Love Me Do "Love Me Do" is the official debut single by the English rock band the Beatles, backed by " P.S. I Love You". When the single was originally released in the United Kingdom on 5 October 1962, it peaked at number 17. It was released in the United ...

". The same year, Decca released Cornell's version of " African Waltz", which failed to make inroads compared to

John Dankworth Sir John Phillip William Dankworth, CBE (20 September 1927 – 6 February 2010), also known as Johnny Dankworth, was an English jazz composer, saxophonist, clarinettist and writer of film scores. With his wife, jazz singer Dame Cleo Laine, he ...

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

chart hit. The

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

was an arrangement of the

Jon Hendricks John Carl Hendricks (September 16, 1921 – November 22, 2017), known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and re ...

penned jazz standard, "

Moanin' ''Moanin'' (originally titled ''Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers'') is a jazz album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers recorded in 1958 for the Blue Note label and released in 1959. Background This was Blakey's first album for Blue Note ...

", which showed her expanding well beyond

traditional pop music Traditional pop (also known as classic pop and pre-rock and roll pop) is Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known as pop standard ...

boundaries. This release was followed by Jack Good's eccentric production work on her 1962 cover of The Blue Belles' US hit, "

I Sold My Heart to the Junkman '"I Sold My Heart to the Junkman"' is a 1946 recording by The Basin Street Boys featuring Ormonde Wilson, written by Leon René, under the songwriting pseudonym of Jimmie Thomas. It was released on the Exclusive Records label in 1946. It was cov ...

". Despite gaining airplay on the

BBC Light Programme The BBC Light Programme was a national radio station which broadcast chiefly mainstream light entertainment and light music from 1945 until 1967, when it was replaced by BBC Radio 2 and BBC Radio 1. It opened on 29 July 1945, taking over the ...

, it too did not match the chart appearance of "Never on Sunday". In 1963, Decca released Cornell's working of "

Sally Go 'Round the Roses "Sally Go 'Round the Roses" is the name of a 1963 hit by The Jaynetts, a Bronx-based one-hit wonder girl group, released by J&S Records on the Tuff label. Background The producer of "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", Abner Spector, was an A&R man for ...

. In 1964, she joined

, who became best known for their song "

We Love You Beatles "We Love You Beatles" is a song by the Carefrees. It was a 1964 novelty record about The Beatles and the song peaked at number 39 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100; it was the only Beatles novelty record to reach the Top 40. It was released in the UK o ...

". The track was The Carefrees first recording and only charted single, reaching No. 39 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and staying on the ''Billboard'' chart for five weeks. After one further single and an album, the group disbanded later in the same year. Her television and film credits from this period include ''

Shindig! ''Shindig!'' is an American musical variety series which aired on ABC from September 16, 1964 to January 8, 1966. The show was hosted by Jimmy O'Neill, a disc jockey in Los Angeles,Just for Fun'' (1963), '' Thank Your Lucky Stars'' (1962), ''Big Night Out'' (1961) and ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'' (1960). Cornell and White later divorced and she now lives in London. At one time she dated

Adam Faith Terence Nelhams Wright (23 June 1940 – 8 March 2003), known as Adam Faith, was an English singer, actor, and financial journalist. A teen idol, he scored consecutive No. 1 hits on the UK Singles Chart with " What Do You Want?" (1959) and "P ...

. In 1972, Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien), who were both part of The Vernons Girls, had assistance from the record producer,

Phil Swern Phil "The Collector" Swern (born Anthony Philip Swern, 30 June 1948) is an English radio producer and music collector, who earned the nickname "The Collector" from working on ''Sounds of the 60s'' with Brian Matthew. Born in Ealing, London, he ...

, in forming

.
They were a 1970s

girl A girl is a young female human, usually a child or an adolescent. When a girl becomes an adult, she is accurately described as a ''woman''. However, the term ''girl'' is also used for other meanings, including ''young woman'',Dictionary ...

vocal duo. The Pearls released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1974. Cornell later worked as a singer with the

James Last Orchestra The James Last Orchestra was a German/multinational big-band orchestra. The orchestra was established in 1964 as a studio orchestra, led by jazz musician Hans Last. The orchestra started touring in 1968 and has been very popular worldwide. From 1 ...

. In 1975, she provided backing vocals on

Polly Brown Polly Brown (born 18 April 1947), also known as Polly Browne, is an English singer from Birmingham. A member of Pickettywitch and Sweet Dreams - and with each group lead singer on a Top Ten hit, respectively "That Same Old Feeling" and "Honey H ...

's album, ''Special Delivery''.

References

External links

*
Discogs.com discography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornell, Lyn Living people 20th-century English singers English women pop singers English jazz singers English session musicians Musicians from Liverpool Decca Records artists British women jazz singers 20th-century English women singers 1940 births The Vernons Girls members