Joyce Carr born 7 December 1931

Joyce Carr (December 7, 1931 - January 26, 2002) was a soft-voiced interpreter of jazz standards and was a well known performer in the Washington area, particularly in the 1950s and 1960s. 

Born Joyce Siperly in Great Falls, Montana, she was a 1953 graduate of the University of Montana. Intending to establish herself in New York, she left Montana with $30 and on the way dropped in to visit a sorority sister in Washington. She stayed on in the District, entering beauty contests and finding quick work singing at such local clubs as Crossroads and the Lotus Restaurant. She won a contest on "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" television show in the mid-1950s, which led to more prominent singing engagements. 

From there, it was on to entertaining President Eisenhower at the White House, and a six-year engagement at the King Cole Room in D.C., where she became a top attraction for foreign dignitaries visiting the city. She also sang at the Showboat Lounge and  made numerous television appearances and performed with the Army Band, the Air Force Symphony Orchestra and the National Symphony Orchestra. She was a regular on WMAL radiothons with Bill Mayhew. She had numerous fans in the music-critic community, but they were puzzled by her short sets of maybe four songs followed by a 45-minute break. She was often complimented and upbraided simultaneously for lengthy intermissions that deprived the audience of a continuous show. Friends said she simply enjoyed chatting with customers. 

                                  

Edward R. Carr, the late builder and no relation to her, was an early admirer and helped produce her first album, "Make the Man Love Me" (1957), for Seeco Records. The record featured pianist Ellis Larkins, trumpeter Charlie Shavers and bassist Joe Benjamin. Edward Carr also designed for Ms. Carr a performance room at the Lafayette Hotel, the Cafe Lorraine. There, in a medium-size room with high ceilings, she was accompanied by such pianists as Dick Thomas and Mel Clement. Prominent in the room was Alfredo Hernandez's large portrait of her standing bare-shouldered in an elegant dress and holding a rose in her right hand. 

In the early 1960s, she sang at the old Lincoln Inn Restaurant with pianist Bob Vigoda and the Bourbon Street Club with pianist John Eaton, who yesterday recalled her "beautiful, effortless voice." During 1962 she recorded two singles for Washington based Joanie Records with the Jack French Trio.  From 1963 to 1968, she was a fixture at the Fireplace restaurant in Georgetown. In the restaurant's Chimney Room, she often was found sitting on a stool or leaning against the curve of the piano, accompanied by Dick Sleigh on tunes such as "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" and "Married I Can Always Get." Her second album, "You Don't Know What Love Is," which she produced for Edgewater Studios in 1967, included the Bob Vigoda Trio, with Jay Leonhart on bass and Bill Gibson on guitar. 

She left the Fireplace restaurant to marry a second time and left the area for several years with Army Col. Robert Mooney.( Her first marriage to Wellington Gillis and subsequently her second both ended in divorce). When she returned in the early 1970s, she became a court reporter.  But at the end of the '70s, after a decade away from performing, she returned to music, singing at Charlie Byrd's club in Georgetown. She also resumed recording in 1981 with Joyce Carr on the Audiophile label, accompanied by Bob Vigoda, Jay Leonhart, Bill Gibson, and Dick Thomas. 

Joyce returned to music sporadically, appearing into the 1980s at nightclubs such as Charlie's Georgetown, owned by Charlie Byrd but friends and family said that cigarette smoke took a toll on her voice and she withdrew from performing and and eventually died from lung disease at a hospice in Arlington January 26, 2002. 

(Edited from Wahington Post, All Music Guide & Discogs)