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Dory Previn née Langdon (born 22 October 1925) is an American singer-songwriter and poet, and was a lyricist for motion picture theme songs during the 1960s and early 1970s, including the soundtrack to the Valley of the Dolls. She and her first husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations for their joint efforts in motion picture songwriting. She released six albums of original songs, and one live album, between 1970 and 1976. She is believed to have done her own orchestration.^{[citation needed]}. Her career continued into the 1980s, touring in Europe for the first time in the late 1970s, and again the 1980s, after overcoming her life-long fear of flying.

She wrote several autobiographies including Midnicht Baby: an Autobiography ( 1976, ISBN 0-02-299000-4) and""Bogtrotter: An Autobiography with lyrics" (1980, ISBN 0-385-14708-2). The title name refers to her Irish heritage. Other autobiographical works by Previn include "Midnight Baby", (ISBN 0-02-599000-4) and "On My Way to Where" (ISBN 0-8415-0120-3). A songbook, entitled "The Dory Previn Songbook" has also been released containing songs from her period with United Artists.

Along with her books, Previn's poetry and lyrics stand out for their originality, irony and their frankness in dealing with her troubled personal life.

Much of Previn's writing deals with her troubled relationship with her father and its effects throughout her life. Her father served in the First World War where he was gassed, suffering severe injuries. He tended to alternately embrace and reject his eldest daughter, and at times was convinced of his wife's infidelity. His mental health appears to have deteriorated after the birth of a second daughter, culminating in a paranoid episode in which he boarded the family up in one room of their home and held them at gunpoint for a period of some weeks. The track "With My Daddy in the Attic" (from "On My Way to Where") is a chilling piece dealing with Stockholm Syndrome and fantasies of incest. "Taps, Tremors and Time-Steps: One Last Dance for my Father", the B-Side to her "Reflections In a Mud-Puddle" album on United Artists, is a very personal and poignant account of the deterioration of their relationship and her anguish at their differences remaining unresolved at the time of her father's death.

Previn's own mental health suffered, possibly as a result of traumatic experiences in early life. In the late sixties her first husband, André Previn, left her for actress Mia Farrow. Previn's mental health deteriorated soon afterwards and she spent a period of time in psychiatric institutions, where she was subjected to electric shock therapy. Material from her "On My Way to Where" album of 1970 deals with her experiences from this time - "Mister Whisper" examines episodes of psychosis from within the confines of a psychiatric hospital, while "Beware of Young Girls" is a savage attack on Mia Farrow and her motives for befriending the Previns.

Subsequent albums maintained a balance of intensely personal lyrics and wider commentary - "A Stone for Bessie Smith" is about the premature death of Blues vocalist Janis Joplin while "Doppelgänger" examines the latent savagery of humanity. Self-conscious spirituality at the expense of the tangible is criticised in "Mythical Kings and Iguanas" while songs dealing with emotionally frail characters appear as "Lady With the Braid", "Lemon-Haired Ladies" and "The Altruist and the Needy Case". Feminist issues and dilemmas are explored in "Brando" and "The Owl and the Pussycat", while the male ego is attacked with wit and irony in "Michael, Michael", "Don't Put Him Down" and "That Perfect Man".

In 1997 Previn, now remarried, collaborated with her first husband again to produce a piece for soprano and ensemble entitled "The Magic Number". This was first performed in 1997 by the New York Philharmonic with André Previn as conductor and Sylvia McNair performing the soprano part. A piano reduction was published in 1997 by G. Schirmer, Inc. under ISBN 0-7935-8803-0.

In 2002 Previn released a royalty-free recording available via the internet entitled "Planet Blue" which contains a mixture of recent and previously unreleased material dealing with environmental degradation and the threat of nuclear disaster.

At the time of writing Previn continues to work in spite of having suffered several strokes which affect her eyesight. She continues to live in Massachusetts.

Scottish indie pop band Camera Obscura released a song called "Dory Previn" on their 2006 album Let's Get Out of This Country.

• Leprechauns Are Upon Me (1959 as Dory Langdon)
• On My Way to Where (1970) - United Artists
• Reflections in a Mud Puddle/Taps Tremors and Time Steps (1971) - United Artists
• Mythical Kings and Iguanas (1971) - United Artists
• Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign (1972) - United Artists
• Dory Previn (1974) - Warner Bros
• We're Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx (1976) - Warner Bros
• "Dory & Andre Previn (reissue of Leprechauns Are Upon Me)(1983)
• "Planet Blue" - (2002)

Previn's material from her period with United Artists has been re-issued on CD under the Beat Goes On label.

The week starting April 4, 2007 the National Public Radio Station/Public Radio Exchange podcast highlighted Dory Previn in a producer-of-the-week segment. For the full web log click on: http://podcast.prx.org/showcase/ Listen to the podcast through the highlighted MP3 link at that page.

For the complete two-part interview with Dory Previn, recorded April 16, 2005, log onto http://prx.org, register for free and access the interview through the link http://prx.org/pieces/5389. This two-part interview first aired on public radio in Northeast Louisiana June 26 and July 3, 2005, repeated March 12 and 19, 2006 and a segment aired again March 25, 2007.