Biography
Born in Liverpool, England, Cornell had already established herself as a key voice in the Vernons Girls by the time she wed drummer Andy White. She moved into solo work on Decca Records as the original ensemble approached its dissolution in 1961. Two recordings define her legacy above all others: the widely interpreted, Greek-inflected title song from the 1960 film Never On Sunday, her sole UK Top 30 success, and the lively “African Waltz,” which was overshadowed by John Dankworth’s more successful instrumental version. The flip side of that single, her treatment of the Jon Hendricks standard “Moanin’,” revealed a vocal elasticity that extended well beyond conventional pop and was unavailable to more fortunate yet less exploratory peers of the era. A lighter moment arrived with Jack Good’s idiosyncratic 1962 arrangement of the Blue-Belles’ American success “I Sold My Heart To The Junkman,” which received BBC Light Programme exposure yet still failed to match the chart standing of “Never On Sunday.” During the 1970s Cornell teamed with Ann Simmons to create the duo the Pearls.