The Beanstalk Chronicles: When Life Was a Cabaret...

“There is no more beautiful musical instrument than the voice of Nancy LaMott.” -Bob Harrington

Nancy LaMott

December 30, 1951-December 13, 1995

“Be nice, stay sweet, and recognize the worth of every person you meet.” Nancy’s Motto

http://youtu.be/zY3ggb65vsc We Live On Borrowed Time~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/3lGGZ390p-w Listen To My Heart~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/KAsfxd0wgCM What’s Good About Goodbye~The Promise~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/k9gHB6yOmFU I Want To Be Around~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/4YfS5CbAfgs I’ll Be Here With You~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/ERs4lujJnKk How Deep Is The Ocean~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/qYI6ZfwGXBg Where Do You Start~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/3TAyZlWhaXQ Remember/Always~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/-QUS6oW_Dx4 I’ll Be Home For Christmas~Nancy LaMott

http://youtu.be/z0W0ZUz1Amw Moon River~Nancy LaMott {Her last performance/live-December 4th, 1995; she would die of uterine cancer 9 days later...}

Have you ever heard of Nancy LaMott?

The first time I’d ever heard of her was on December 14th, 1995, when Kathie Lee Gifford informed the viewing audience on Live With Regis and Kathie Lee that Nancy had died the previous night. It was a sad telling: a beautiful, young, cabaret singer had succumbed to uterine cancer at the too-young age of 43. Sadder still, her actor-boyfriend, Peter Zapp, had married her just an hour before she had died. It was the saddest fairy-tale ending I’d ever heard. I was moved to tears over a woman who I’d never met, didn’t know, and, until that day, had never heard of.... Still, her story touched something in me. I was moved beyond words. Her story has stayed with me all these years...

Back then, I remember thinking what a special man Peter was to have given her that gift before she passed: the gift of marriage, yet what a cruel twist to die on your wedding night. Sad isn’t even the appropriate word for something like that. After the segment ended, I couldn’t get the story out of my mind. I had felt crummy before the show began — wicked sore throat and feverish from head to toe, now I felt bluer than blue, with a healthy dose of depressed heaped on top of the bronchitis that I was battling.

I couldn’t focus on the show anymore. I picked up my cup of hot tea, put a couple of cough drops in the pocket of my robe, grabbed the box of Kleenex and went into the front room where the computer was. I typed Nancy’s name into the search engine, and looked at the things that came up. There was a recording from 1989 called Where Do You Start? I sipped my tea as I listened to it, and I recall the three words that came to my mind as I heard her rich, smooth, soulful voice for the first time: Oh. My. God! That’s what your brain collects and piece-meals together as reaction, when it’s too verklempt to fathom anything else as proper response. Plain and simple, I was gobsmacked by her voice; her clarity; her styling – the overall beauty and grace of it all. Gobsmacked — utterly astonished. Utterly.

I’ve picked 10 of Nancy’s songs I especially love for your listening pleasure–see for yourself. Regardless, I’m a fan, and I remember her today.

I was listening to her music today, and couldn’t help but wonder just how big she might have become had cancer not taken her? I think she’d have made it big! She was already on her way when that crummy hand she’d been dealt surfaced! Thank God she left us well-endowed with a wealth of her music! Therein lies the blessing for the rest of us!

If you’d like to read more about Nancy, please go to her website which I’ve listed at the end of this entry. There is a lot of information there. I’ve also listed an article from the Wall Street Journal that I enjoyed reading. Likewise, you can purchase Nancy’s cd’s either from her website or Amazon.com. Worth every penny!

I don’t know how many people know of Nancy LaMott, but I thought she deserved to be remembered today because it’s important to remember. It matters.

And, one final thought: a special message to her from those of us who love her music. She’ll get this and so will they:

“We'll meet you at the end, Nancy...”