Dory Previn (born Dorothy Veronica Langan; October 22, 1925–February 14, 2012) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet.
During the late 1950s and 1960s she was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her then husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations. In the 1970s, after their divorce, she released six albums of original songs and an acclaimed live album. Previn's lyrics from this period are characterized by their originality, irony and honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. Until her death, she continued to work as a writer of song lyrics and prose.
Biography
Early years
Previn was born in either Rahway or Woodbridge, New Jersey and grew up in Woodbridge, the eldest daughter in a strict Catholic family of Irish origin. She had a troubled relationship with her father, especially during childhood. He had served in the First World War and been gassed, and experienced periods of depression and violent mood swings. He tended to alternately embrace and reject her, but supported her when she began to show talents for singing and dancing. However, his mental health deteriorated after the birth of a second daughter, culminating in a paranoid episode in which he boarded the family up in their home and held them at gunpoint for several months. Previn's childhood experiences, described in her autobiography Midnight Baby, had a profound effect on her later life and work.
I had a vision once On the super chief God sat smiling In the dining car And when i meet someone I long to talk of this And all the crazy things That make us what we are Instead we'll chat Of this and that Of politics Favorite flicks And california wine I'm awkward And i balk At such inconsequential talk Hey by the way What's your sign? New rooms new rooms I hate new rooms I never know What i will find I ring the bell Thinking what the hell Then i chicken out And change my mind And just as i'm About to leave The door is opened wide Then with pounding pulse And sweating palms I find myself inside New rooms new rooms I hate new rooms I never know Just where to look I go to a shelf Get hold of myself And pretend to read A boring book As though my life Depends on it What made me come tonight? Afraid no one will talk to me Afraid someone might And then we'll chat Of this and that Of politics Favorite flicks And california wine I'm awkward And i balk At such inconsequential talk Hey by the way What's your sign The other night Another new room Feeling caught And cramped for space A hand touched mine Timid and fine But when i turned To see his face Too many images interfered Too many people pressed But someone felt The same as i Dumb and dispossessed Someone else Is lonely to At least we know We're not unique Perhaps some time In another new room We'll meet again And speak Of all the crazy things That make us what we are God sat smiling
“There is nowhere to turn, but to yourself,” said Dory Previn ... Previn is still relevant, but until now, has remained firmly in the ‘cult’ camp ... During childhood, Dory witnessed her father’s unravelling ... Her stage name was Dory Langdon, not Langan.
Googling the song’s title, Holy Man on Malibu Bus Number Three, she discovered the mellifluous singer was Dory Previn ... “She should be known, you know?” Greenberg says with a passion that she has funnelled into her documentary film, titled Dory Previn.
Googling the song’s title, Holy Man on Malibu Bus Number Three, she discovered the mellifluous singer was Dory Previn ... a passion that she has funnelled into her documentary film, titled Dory Previn.
Fermanagh composer, vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and electronic artist Róis has released Caoine, the first single from her new EP Mo Léan, and announced concert dates. We asked her the BIG questions . ... Róis plays ... ... Twenty Mile Zone - Dory Previn.
It was during this period that Hamilton says he fell in love with a prostitute named Mel ... The house made the money on the champagne.' ... She said ... 'For hour after hour, she played me her Dory Previn records, some of which I found rather depressing ... .
Dory Previn didn’t sell a lot of records, though her story certainly made the tabloids ... But Previn didn’t keep mum about the experience afterward; in fact, she did the opposite, recording her brutal, brilliant album On My Way to Where.
They keep asking, ‘Who’s this guy you’re playing with?’” ... “Of course, we went from there to Denver, where we opened for Dory Previn, and the audience was just the opposite, like, ‘Who are these guys? Get ‘em out of here.’ ... John did." ... Pepper’s.’” ... When.
Dory Previn ... A documentary about Dory Previn, an MGM lyricist and influential 1970s cult singer-songwriter who famously goes public about her schizophrenia diagnosis, ultimately accepting her voices ...
Dory Previn ... A documentary about Dory Previn, an MGM lyricist and influential 1970s cult singer-songwriter who famously goes public about her schizophrenia diagnosis, ultimately accepting her voices ...
Susu Laroche ...DestructionHorizon by HUNTERESS ... Essex grabs the mic, and a saxophone, for ‘Red Star’, which splits the difference between Annette Peacock and Dory Previn (these claims read outlandish to me too; I can only request your trust) ... ....
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf...Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies ... I do now ... If you’ve never heard Dory Previn sing about screaming in her car in a “Twenty-Mile Zone,” well, that’s another aspect of it.
MaryFoster Conklin. voice / vocals ... piano. b.1959 ... For an interesting change of pace, the Dory and André Previn number "Just For Now" is set to a samba beat led by guitarist Guilherme Monteiro and percussionist Samuel Torres, who keep the fire stoked.
