Dick Contino

Dick Contino

by | Sep 13, 2020 | Blog, Musicians

When I was growing up, my grandfather used to listen to the song “Lady of Spain,” and that is how I got introduced to Dick Contino. My grandfather used to tell me stories about how he was able to perform with Dick Contino in the 70’s at the Festa Italiana in our hometown of Rockford, IL. In 2014, my band was one of the performers at the Milwaukee Festa Italiana and I was able to also perform on the same stage as Dick Contino. It was a great weekend being able to spend some time backstage with Dick and his family. 

Contino was born in Fresno, California in 1930, to Italian parents. Contino started playing his father’s accordion at an early age, and exhibited great skill. Although he graduated from Fresno High School and enrolled at Fresno State College, he was unable to focus on his studies, so he left school to pursue a career in music. 

His first big break was in 1947 when he won first place in a talent contest in Fresno, which was being broadcast on national radio. He earned himself a hefty $5,000 and soon began performing and competing across the country.

Contino began performing regularly in nightclubs, earning nearly $4,000 a week in the 1940’s and 50’s. Contino sold out theaters throughout the country with screaming crowds, and was promoted as the “Rudolph Valentino of the accordion.” Contino performed on “The Ed Sullivan Show” 48 times, Italian festivals, on his own radio show, and even appeared in a few movies. Contino continued to play the accordion into his 80’s. As Time Magazine said: “Dick Contino is one of the few men in musical history who have ever squeezed big money out of an accordion.” He passed away in 2017 at the age of 87.

Henry Mancini – The Italian American Composer

Henry Mancini – The Italian American Composer

by | Sep 3, 2020 | Blog, Musicians

Enrico Nicola “Henry” Mancini was born on April 16, 1924, in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio. Both his parents immigrated to America from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Henry’s love of music came from his father who was a flutist and encouraged his son to take up the instrument when he was eight years old. Four years later, Henry started playing the piano as well. 

Mancini enlisted in the United States Army in 1943. While in basic training, he met musicians being recruited by Glenn Miller. After his discharge, Mancini joined the Glenn Miller Orchestra, and in 1952 began working in the Universal-International Studios music department where he created scores for over 100 films. In 1958, he left Universal and began working as an independent composer. Mancini wrote scores for many different films during his career, including Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Pink Panther series, Charade, Victor/Victoria, and The Glass Menagerie. He also scored music for television shows including Peter Gunn, Late Night with David Letterman, NBC Nightly News, and the theme songs for Newhart and Remington Steele.

Henry married singer Ginny O’Connor in 1946 and the couple had three children together – who all followed their parent’s footsteps and have enjoyed successful musical careers. Henry passed away from pancreatic cancer on June 14, 1994. During his lifetime he was nominated for 72 Grammy Awards (winning 20), 18 Academy Awards (winning 4), two Emmy Awards, and won a Golden Globe. Two of Henry’s songs, “Moon River” and “Days of Wine and Roses,” were ranked #4 and #39, respectively, by the American Film Institute (AFI) on its list of “100 Years…100 Songs.” AFI also ranked his score from The Pink Panther #20 on its list of “100 Years of Film Scores.”

Sources: HENRY MANCINI OFFICIAL WEBSITE, HENRY MANCINI INSTITUTE, GRAMMY AWARDS, AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE, OSIA, Wiki

“A Voice That Loves You: Enrico Caruso’s Part in Giving the World the Gift of Italian Music”

“A Voice That Loves You: Enrico Caruso’s Part in Giving the World the Gift of Italian Music”

by | Aug 31, 2020 | Blog, Musicians

“A voice that loves you,” that is what Rosa Ponselle, the American soprano who made her operatic debut opposite Caruso, said in description of Enrico Caruso.  Like many of our favorite stories, Caruso’s story began in Italy, Naples to be exact, in 1873.  He was born into the same type of poverty that led to the emigration of masses of Italians throughout the world.  His life spanned from 1873-1921 almost simultaneous with that emigration (1880-1920).  As you can imagine, Caruso’s voice was a voice of comfort, of love, to those Italians as they settled, often uncomfortably, into their new countries and became his biggest fans.  Opera was ferociously popular throughout Europe in the 1800’s as an expression of the romantic ideas of nationalism followed by the popularity of Canzone Napoletana music.  Both genres of music required passion, volume, and melodrama.  Caruso was just the man.

Opera legend has it that when Caruso auditioned for Giacomo Puccini in June of 1897, Puccini’s response was, “Who sent you to me, God?”  The timing of Caruso’s life and his Neopolitan talent certainly appeared like a miracle.  He brought a mastery and joy for both Opera and Canzone Napoletana music to the world at a time period that saw three remarkable things: a mass migration of Italians throughout the world, the United States as a new influence in worldwide culture, and the recording of music for use on record players. 

By 1902 Caruso had already established himself as a rising opera star, but something was about to cross his path that would make his name eternal.  A man named Fred Gaisberg of the Gramophone & Typewriter Co. was looking for opera talent to record and produce.  Other opera tenors had laughed at him, but Caruso took the opportunity.  Gaisberg signed him to sing ten songs and arias, all to be recorded in one session, for a fee of 100 English Pounds.  

Readers can find these recordings easily on the internet today.  To an opera purist, they would be able to recognize the mistakes made by Caruso during these recordings, but it didn’t matter as sales of those ten Caruso recordings eventually totaled over $2.5 million!  Just as Yankee Stadium was once known as “the house that Ruth built,” so Caruso had made the flat disc phonograph respectable, and the phonograph made him famous.  Gaisberg’s company would come to be better known as RCA Victor.  RCA yielded royalties of $1,825,000 during his lifetime and his family to this day continues to collect royalties.

Since most people reading this are probably Italian American it is worth knowing that aboard the S.S. Sardegna on November 11, 1903, Caruso first beheld New York Harbor. It was primarily at the Metropolitan Opera House that he became synonymous with the role of Pagliacci in Leoncavallo’s opera Pagliacci.  His performance of ‘Vesti la Giubba,’ the clown Pagliacci’s lament, was virtually Caruso’s signature. In fact, Caruso had no qualms walking three blocks from his Times Square hotel all the way to the Met in full clown costume and being followed by adoring crowds.  Needless to say, Italian Americans loved him.  His success was an encouragement and a source of pride in the midst of their hardships.

Jim Croce – The Italian American Folk Singer

Jim Croce – The Italian American Folk Singer

by | Aug 26, 2020 | Musicians

In 2015, my band performed at the San Diego Italian Festival. A few months before the festival, I received an email from Ingrid Croce, the wife of Jim Croce. I was amazed to get an email from her, and I was even more amazed that she wanted us to perform at her restaurant “Croce’s Park West” while we were in town. While I had grown up listening to Jim Croce’s music, I never knew he was Italian until speaking with Ingrid. While he didn’t write Italian music, you can definitely feel the deep emotional and romantic elements in his music like in traditional Italian music. With songs like “Operator” and “Time In A Bottle,” he definitely knew how to tug on the listener’s heartstrings. It was an honor to perform in their restaurant, and I wanted to share a little bit about Jim’s career and life.

On January 10, 1943, James Joseph Croce was born in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to James Albert Croce and Flora Mary (Babusci) Croce, both Italian Americans from Abruzzo and Palermo, Sicily. Croce grew up in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania.

Croce did not take music seriously until he attended Villanova University. In addition to being a member of the Villanova Singers, he formed bands and performed at fraternity parties, coffee houses, and universities around Philadelphia. In 1963, Croce met his future wife, Ingrid Jacobson, and from the mid-1960’s to early 1970s, they performed music together as a duo. They spent a few years on the road, playing small clubs and college concerts, but living the life as traveling musicians took its toll on the duo and they decided to settle back down in Pennsylvania.  

It wasn’t until 1971, the year their first child was born, that Croce decided he wanted to try again to make music his profession. In 1972, Croce signed a three-record contract with ABC Records, releasing You Don’t Mess Around With Jim and Life and Times. He received radio airplay and began appearing on T.V., performing his singles “You Don’t Mess Around With Jim”, “Operator (That’s Not The Way It Feels)” and “Time In A Bottle.”

Croce was traveling promoting his new albums, when on September 20, 1973, Croce and 5 others were killed in a plane crash leaving a concert in Louisiana. This was one day before the release of his single “I Got A Name.” Croce was only 30 years old. It is amazing to think about the other hits Croce could’ve written if he wasn’t’ taken at such a young age. 

Croce’s music has inspired many musicians and his legacy lives on with his son A.J Croce. Not only does A.J perform his own original music, but also does a tribute show called Croce Plays Croce where he performs his father’s music.

See below for a video of his son A.J Croce and his show Croce Plays Croce.

 

Russ Columbo – The Original Italian American Crooner

Russ Columbo – The Original Italian American Crooner

by | Aug 24, 2020 | Musicians

When I had this idea of making a website dedicated to Italian American’s in music and entertainment, I knew I’d find artists I had never heard of before. But, I had no idea I’d find someone so fast. When trying to figure out who I wanted to feature first, I started looking for early Italian American musicians, and found a name I had never heard before, Russ Columbo. 

Ruggiero Eugenio di Rodolfo Colombo, known as Russ Columbo, was an Italian American singer, songwriter, violinist and actor. He is famous for romantic songs such as “You Call It Madness, But I Call It Love,” “Prisoner of Love” and “Too Beautiful For Words.” Columbo was born in Camden, New Jersey, of Italian immigrants, Nicola and Giulia Colombo. He started playing violin when he was very young and debuted professionally at the age of 13. When he was 16, his family moved to L.A. But when he was 17, he left high school to study the violin with Calmon Luvovski and travel as a musician with bands around the country. 

At the age of 20, Columbo began to participate in motion pictures. While he started as a violinist and standby singer with Gus Arnheim and His Cocoanut Grove Orchestra, Columbo eventually obtained feature film work.  Some of his films include, Woman to Woman (with Betty Compton), Wolf Song (with Lupe Vélez), and The Texan (with Gary Cooper). While he had some success in the film industry, his true success came as a baritone singer. Arnheim saw potential in Columbo, and when fellow baritone Bing Crosby started showcasing erratic behavior, Columbo was asked to step in and fill his place as lead singer. 

After garnering some public attention as the featured Arnheim Orchestra vocalist, Columbo decided to go off on his own. After many ups and downs during the Depression era, Columbo found a manager who found him some work on NBC radio. At the same time, Bing Crosby had been signed to a comparable radio program on CBS radio, which started some public rivalry. Radio executives saw the potential for some publicity of this rivalry, which started the “Battle of the Barritones.” While the public saw a heated rivalry, with Crosby and Columbo recording the same songs and headlining at theaters within miles of each other, privately the two were very friendly. 

The type of singing that was being popularized by Columbo, Crosby and teen idol and singer Rudy Vallee, was called crooning. While Columbo disliked this term, it caught on with the general public and is still used today. Columbo started composing his own songs such as “You Call It Maddness (But I Call It Love)”, “Let’s Pretend There’s A Moon,” recorded by Fats Waller and Tab Hunter, and his most famous song “Prisoner of Love.” “Prisoner of Love” became a standard that has been recorded by Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Tiny Tim, Bing Crosby and James Brown. It hit no. 1 on Billboard with Perry Como’s recording, and James Brown landed a Top 20 pop hit with his rendition. 

In 1934, Columbo was at the top of his game and was only 26 years old. But on September 2, 1934, what can only be described as a freak accident took Columbo’s life. While at a friend’s house, Columbo was accidentally shot while looking at his friend’s firearm collection. He contributed a lot to the entertainment world in those short 26 years, and it would have been amazing to think what the music scene would look like if he was able to continue writing more songs and recording. 

For more detailed information on Russ Columbo, here is a great article https://www.shsu.edu/~lis_fwh/book/roots_of_rock/support/crooner/Columbo2.htm

Also, see below for Russ Columbo’s version of his hit song “Prisoner of Love.”