Cantrell recorded six albums for RCA Victor during the 1960s.[7][3] Her preferred style of music was pop standards, but she later made contemporary pop rock a significant part of her performances.[8] Cantrell commented in a 1994 profile, "Think of how few people can still make their careers by singing standards.... There's Tony Bennett and Barbra Streisand, and I don't know anyone else."[9]
Cantrell eventually decided to make a transition out of music in the 1980s due to a decline in the number of venues where she could sing in her preferred style, the size of her audiences, and her working conditions.[3][9] Although she had once been able to tour at supper clubs that would furnish a 20-piece orchestra for her and her conductor, in later years she toured with only a five-piece band that she had to pay herself.[3] She decided to pursue a law career in part because a former manager had spent much of her earnings over the years and she wanted to protect other performers from similar experiences.[3][9]
In 1986, Cantrell enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College, where she majored in history.[9] After receiving her bachelor's degree, she attended Fordham University School of Law.[9] After graduation, she began practicing law with the firm of Ballon Stoll Bader & Nadler in New York City.[3]
In 2019, Cantrell's license to practice law in the state of New York was suspended due to an undisclosed medical condition.[12] Before having her license suspended, she operated a private practice in Mattituck, NY.[13]
Honours and awards
In 1966, Cantrell won the Amber Nightingale award for singing at a festival in Sopot, Poland.[14]
In 2003, Cantrell was named a member of the Order of Australia.[15] The honour was conferred for "service to the entertainment industry, and for assistance to the Australian community in New York."[1]
Personal life
It was reported in 1973 that Cantrell was engaged to Australian television personality Graham Kennedy.[16] This turned out to be a hoax.[17] Kennedy later claimed that his romance with Cantrell was purely an invention of the Sunday Observer, although Kennedy himself had confirmed publicly at the time that the relationship was real.[18]Judy Carne, of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In claimed she had a love affair with Cantrell.[19]
Discography
Albums
And Then There Was Lana, RCA Victor LSP-3755, 1967
Another Shade of Lana, RCA Victor LSP-3862, 1967
Act III, RCA Victor LSP-3947, 1968
Lana!, RCA Victor LSP-4026, 1968
The Now of Then, RCA Victor LSP-4121, 1969
The 6th of Lana, RCA Victor LSP-4263, 1969
The Best of Lana Cantrell, RCA ANL1-1049, 1975
Eps
Introducing Lana Cantrell, REX, 1961
Australia’s Great Talent, FESTIVAL FX-11,327, ????
Reissues
Beginning in 2017, Lana Cantrell's RCA Victor albums have been reissued for the first time on compact disc in Hi-Res audio, replacing years of poor quality bootlegs on YouTube. Her six studio albums have been reissued from 2017 to 2019. All reissues were published by the RCA-Legacy label. Singles or B-sides that did not appear on her albums are not available at the moment.
^Holden, Stephen (12 April 1985). "Lana Cantrell and Trio at the Park Ten". The New York Times. p. C28. Her small sultry alto, which breaks into a wide vibrato at the ends of musical phrases, is much better suited to quiet, intimate ballads than to the contemporary pop-rock that takes up two-thirds of her show.
^ abcdefKaufman, Michael T. (13 July 1994). "About New York; Spotlight Gives Way to Statutes". The New York Times. p. B3.
^Vilanch, Bruce (18 April 1975). "Lana: The image now fits". Chicago Tribune. p. B5.
^Whitburn, Joel (2000). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN0-8230-7690-3.
^Dale, David (25 April 1985). "Stay in Touch". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 10. Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2009.
