" That's My Desire " is a 1931 popular song with music by Helmy Kresa and lyrics by Carroll Loveday .
130-629: Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio ; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of " That's My Desire " in 2005. Often billed as "America's Number One Song Stylist", his other nicknames include "Mr. Rhythm", "Old Leather Lungs", and "Mr. Steel Tonsils". His hits included "That's My Desire", " That Lucky Old Sun ", " Mule Train ", " Jezebel ", " High Noon ", " I Believe ", " Hey Joe! ", " The Kid's Last Fight ", " Cool Water ", " Rawhide ", and " You Gave Me
260-536: A phonogenic voice which was "manly and powerful, yet sweet and lyrical", to quote the singer/author John Potter (see bibliography below). He is generally acknowledged as the record industry's first major recording star. Caruso and the disc phonograph (known in the United Kingdom as the gramophone ) did much to promote each other in the first two decades of the 20th century. Many of Caruso's recordings have remained continuously available since their original issue over
390-421: A Mountain ". He sang well-known theme songs for many Western film soundtracks, including 3:10 To Yuma , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , and Blazing Saddles , although his recordings were not charted as country and western. Laine sang an eclectic variety of song styles and genres, stretching from big band crooning to pop , western-themed songs, gospel , rock , folk , jazz , and blues . He did not sing
520-567: A Woman", "That Ain't Right", " Exactly Like You ", " Shine " and "Sleepy Ol' River" on the Mercury label. He enjoyed his greatest success after impresario Mitch Miller , who became the A&;R man at Mercury in 1948, recognized a universal quality in his voice that led to a succession of chart-topping popular songs, often with a folk or western flavor. Laine and Miller became a formidable hit-making team whose first collaboration, " That Lucky Old Sun ", became
650-470: A ball game and can be heard shouting out lines like "It's a munchy, crunchy bag of lunchy!" The flip side features Laine, and is a jazzy version of an old standard done as a rhythm number. It was played by Laine's friend, disc jockey Al Jarvis, and gained the singer a small West Coast following. Even after his discovery by Carmichael, Laine still was considered only an intermission act at Billy Berg's. He reached his first independent success when he dusted off
780-418: A brash vibrancy and vulgar beat that made the old bandstand routine which Frank meticulously perfected seem almost invalid. In the words of Jazz critic Richard Grudens: Frank's style was very innovative, which was why he had such difficulty with early acceptance. He would bend notes and sing about the chordal context of a note rather than to sing the note directly, and he stressed each rhythmic downbeat, which
910-557: A century ago, and all of his surviving recordings (including several unissued takes) have been remastered and reissued several times over the years. Although recordings of complete operas have been available since the early 1900s, Caruso never participated in a complete opera recording. Caruso's first recordings were arranged by recording pioneer Fred Gaisberg and cut on disc in three separate sessions in Milan during April, November and December 1902. They were made with piano accompaniments for
1040-458: A day. — Frankie Laine He changed his professional name to Frankie Laine in 1938, upon receiving a job singing for the New York City radio station WINS . The program director, Jack Coombs, thought that "LoVecchio" was "too foreign sounding, and too much of a mouthful for the studio announcers," so he Americanized it to "Lane", an homage to his high school. He added the "i" to avoid confusion with
1170-571: A few roles in French. He also performed two German operas, Wagner's Lohengrin and Goldmark's Die Königin von Saba , singing in Italian, early in his career. Below are the first performances by Caruso, in chronological order, of each of the operas that he undertook on the stage. World premieres are indicated with **. Caruso also had a repertory of more than 500 songs. They ranged from classical compositions to traditional Italian melodies and popular tunes of
1300-545: A fifteen-year-old song that few people remembered in 1946, " That's My Desire ". Laine had picked up the song from singer June Hart a half a dozen years earlier, when he sang at the College Inn in Cleveland. He introduced "Desire" as a "new" song—meaning new to his repertoire at Berg's—but the audience mistook it for a new song that had just been written. He ended up singing it five times that night. After that, Laine quickly became
1430-500: A film, Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder , with Austin's daughter, Charlotte. Shortly after graduating from high school, Laine signed on as a member of The Merry Garden's marathon dance company and toured with them, working dance marathons during the Great Depression (setting the world record of 3,501 hours with partner Ruthie Smith at Atlantic City 's Million Dollar Pier in 1932). Still billed as Frank LoVecchio, he would entertain
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#17328586156341560-539: A fountain that he had helped to install. Caruso later worked alongside his father at the Meuricoffre factory in Naples. At his mother's insistence, he also attended school for a time, receiving a basic education under the tutelage of a local priest. He learned to write in a handsome script and studied technical draftsmanship. During this period he sang in his church choir, and his voice showed enough promise for him to contemplate
1690-509: A girl singer at the station who went by the name of Frances Lane. It was at this time that Laine got unknown singer Helen O'Connell her job with the Jimmy Dorsey band. WINS, deciding that they no longer needed a jazz singer, dropped him. With the help of bandleader Jean Goldkette , he got a job with a sustainer (non-sponsored) radio show at NBC . As he was about to start, Germany attacked Poland, and all sustainer broadcasts were pulled off
1820-494: A lengthy North American concert tour in the autumn of 1920. In his biography, Enrico Caruso Jr. points to an on-stage injury suffered by Caruso as the possible trigger of his fatal illness. A scenery malfunction during a performance of Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah at the Met on December 3rd caused a decorative pillar to fall and hit him on the back, over the left kidney (and not on the chest as popularly reported). A few days before
1950-608: A less sophisticated musician and interpretive artist than Jean de Reszke , the Met's star tenor prior to Caruso. In 1903, Caruso made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The gap between his London and New York engagements had been filled by a series of performances in Italy, Portugal and South America. Caruso's contract had been negotiated by his agent, the banker and impresario Pasquale Simonelli . Caruso's debut
2080-762: A limited edition 3 LP Caruso anthology in a deluxe album with an illustrated booklet. By 1959, RCA Victor had reissued more than half of their Caruso catalog on LP records. A few more collections of Caruso recordings previously unavailable on LP were released by RCA Victor during the 1960s. In 1973, to mark the centennial year of Caruso's birth, the label issued a 4 record boxed set containing the tenor's remaining 59 recordings not previously transferred to LP, including some unpublished items. Caruso recorded with several sopranos including Nellie Melba , Geraldine Farrar , Amelita Galli-Curci , Frances Alda , Emmy Destinn , Alma Gluck , Frieda Hempel , Luisa Tetrazzini , Johanna Gadski , Marcella Sembrich , and Bessie Abott . Among
2210-548: A lukewarm reception; two weeks later he appeared as Des Grieux in Massenet's Manon which was even more coolly received. The indifference of the audiences and harsh critical reviews in his native city hurt him deeply and he vowed never to sing there again. He later said: "I will never again come to Naples to sing; it will only be to eat a plate of spaghetti". Caruso embarked on his last series of La Scala performances in March 1902, creating
2340-730: A member of the choir in the Church of the Immaculate Conception 's elementary school across the street from the North Park Avenue home. He later attended Lane Technical High School , where he helped to develop his lung power and breath control by joining the track and field and basketball teams. He realized he wanted to be a singer when he missed time in school to see Al Jolson 's current talking picture, The Singing Fool . Jolson would later visit Laine when both were filming pictures in 1949, and, at about this time, Jolson remarked that Laine
2470-559: A number with them. In late 1946, Hoagy Carmichael heard him singing at Billy Berg's club in Los Angeles , and this was when success finally arrived. Not knowing that Carmichael was in the audience, Laine sang the Carmichael-penned standard " Rockin' Chair " when Slim Gaillard called him up to the stage to sing. This eventually led to a contract with the newly established Mercury records . Laine and Carmichael would later collaborate on
2600-399: A particularly close bond with his Met and Covent Garden colleague Antonio Scotti – an amiable and stylish baritone from Naples. Caruso was superstitious and habitually carried several good-luck charms with him when he sang. He played cards for relaxation and sketched friends, other singers, and musicians. His wife, Dorothy, said that by the time she knew him, her husband's favourite hobby
2730-505: A performance of Pagliacci at the Met (Pierre Key says it was 4 December, the day after the Samson and Delilah injury) he suffered a chill and developed a cough and a "dull pain in his side". It appeared to be a severe episode of bronchitis . Caruso's physician, Philip Horowitz, who usually treated him for migraine headaches with a kind of primitive TENS unit , diagnosed "intercostal neuralgia" and pronounced him fit to appear on stage, although
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#17328586156342860-510: A possible career in music. Caruso was encouraged in his early musical ambitions by his mother, who died in 1888. To raise cash for his family, he found work as a street singer in Naples and performed at cafes and soirées. Aged 18, he used the fees he had earned by singing at an Italian resort to buy his first pair of new shoes. His progress as a paid entertainer was interrupted, however, by 45 days of compulsory military service. He completed this in 1894, resuming his voice lessons upon discharge from
2990-501: A real-life friend of vaudevillian George Walker, who was with him during the New York City race riots of 1900. The song takes what was then an ethnic slur, "shine", and turns it into something to be proud of. It had been a hit for Laine's idol Louis Armstrong , who would cover several of Laine's hits as well. "Satan Wears a Satin Gown" is the prototype of another recurring motif in Laine's oeuvre ,
3120-434: A rhythm and blues-influenced jazz singer, Laine later branched out into a number of a genres, including popular standards, gospel , folk , country , western/Americana, rock 'n' roll , and the occasional novelty number. He was also known as Mr. Rhythm for his driving jazzy style. Laine was part of a new breed of singers who rose to prominence in the post–World War II era. This new, raw, emotionally charged style seemed at
3250-482: A rib had been removed. According to Dorothy, he appeared to be continuing with his recovery, but in July he allowed himself to be examined by an unhygienic local doctor. Caruso's condition began to deteriorate dramatically after that. The Bastianelli brothers, eminent Italian medical practitioners, examined him and recommended that his left kidney be removed. On the morning of 1 August, Caruso and his entourage left Sorrento for
3380-468: A run of top forty hits that lasted into the early years of the rock and roll era. Other hits included " Dream a Little Dream of Me ", "Stars and Stripes Forever", " The Cry of the Wild Goose ", "Swamp Girl", "Satan Wears a Satin Gown", and "Music, Maestro Please". "Shine", written in 1910 by Cecil Mack (R.C. McPherson), a ground-breaking African-American songwriter and publisher, was believed to be based on
3510-591: A season of appearances in eight different operas ranging from Verdi's Aida to Mozart's Don Giovanni . His successful debut at Covent Garden occurred on 14 May 1902, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto . Covent Garden's highest-paid diva, the Australian soprano Nellie Melba , partnered him as Gilda. They would sing together often during the early 1900s. In her memoirs, Melba praised Caruso's voice but considered him to be
3640-398: A sequence depicting him on stage performing the aria Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo 's opera Pagliacci . The following year Caruso played a character called Cosimo in another film, The Splendid Romance . Producer Jesse Lasky paid Caruso $ 100,000 (US$ 2.03 million in 2023 ) each to appear in these two efforts but My Cousin flopped at the box office, and The Splendid Romance
3770-466: A series of jobs, including those of a bouncer, dance instructor, used car salesman, agent, synthetic leather factory worker, and machinist at a defense plant. It was while working at the defense plant during the Second World War that he first began writing songs ("It Only Happens Once" was written at the plant). Often homeless during his "scuffling" phases, he hit the lowest point of his career, when he
3900-466: A shrewd businessman since arriving in America. He put a sizable proportion of his earnings from record royalties and singing fees into a range of investments. Biographer Michael Scott writes that by the end of the war in 1918, Caruso's annual income tax bill amounted to $ 154,000 (US$ 3.12 million in 2023 ). Prior to World War I, Caruso had been romantically linked to an Italian soprano, Ada Giachetti, who
4030-681: A small vocal studio at Carnegie Hall in New York. " Questa o quella " and " La donna è mobile " from Verdi's Rigoletto were the first to be recorded. Caruso's final recording session took place at Victor's Trinity Church studio in Camden on 16 September 1920, with the tenor singing the "Domine Deus" and "Crucifixus" from Rossini's Petite messe solennelle . Caruso's earliest Victor records of operatic arias from 1904 and 1905, like their thirty or so Milan-made predecessors, were all accompanied by piano. From February 1906, however, orchestral accompaniments became
Frankie Laine - Misplaced Pages Continue
4160-655: A song, "Put Yourself in My Place, Baby". Laine cut his first record in 1944, for a fledgling company called " Bel-Tone Records ." The sides were called "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", (an uptempo number not to be confused with the Frank Sinatra recording of the same name) and a wartime propaganda tune entitled "Brother, That's Liberty", though the records failed to make much of an impression. The label soon folded, and Laine
4290-542: A star located at 6625 Hollywood Boulevard on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Caruso was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1987. On 27 February of that same year, the United States Postal Service issued a 22-cent postage stamp in his honour. He was voted into Gramophone ' s Hall of Fame in 2012. Caruso's operatic repertoire consisted primarily of Italian works, along with
4420-545: A strong jolt awakened Caruso at 5:13 on the morning of the 18th in his suite at the Palace Hotel . He found himself in the middle of the San Francisco earthquake , which led to a series of fires that destroyed most of the city. The Met lost all the sets, costumes and musical instruments that it had brought on tour, but none of the artists were harmed. Holding an autographed photo of President Theodore Roosevelt , Caruso ran from
4550-661: A toga since his sole dress shirt was away being laundered. During the final few years of the 19th century, Caruso performed at a succession of theatres throughout Italy until 1900, when he was rewarded with a contract to sing at La Scala . His La Scala debut occurred on 26 December of that year in the part of Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini's La bohème with Arturo Toscanini conducting. Audiences in Monte Carlo , Warsaw and Buenos Aires also heard Caruso sing during this pivotal phase of his career and, in 1899–1900, he appeared before
4680-495: A trumpet player), Billie Holiday , Mildred Bailey , and, later, Nat "King" Cole . Laine befriended Cole in Los Angeles, when the latter's career was just beginning to gain momentum. Cole recorded a song, "It Only Happens Once", that fledgling songwriter Laine had composed. They remained close friends throughout the remainder of Cole's life, and Laine was one of the pallbearers at Cole's funeral. In 1937, he replaced Perry Como in
4810-417: A wealthy New York patent lawyer and author. In spite of the disapproval of Dorothy's father, the couple wed on 20 August 1918. They had a daughter, Gloria Caruso (1919–1999). Dorothy wrote two biographies of Caruso, published in 1928 and 1945. The books include many of Caruso's letters to his wife. A fastidious dresser, Caruso took at least two baths a day and enjoyed good food and convivial company. He forged
4940-629: The Billboard Best Seller chart on June 13, 1947 and lasted 17 weeks on the chart, peaking at No. 2. The recording by Frankie Laine was recorded on August 27, 1946, with Mannie Klein 's Orchestra, and released by Mercury Records as catalog number 5007, with the flip side "By the River Sainte Marie". Laine's first chart hit, the release first appeared on the Billboard Best Seller chart on June 27, 1947 and lasted four weeks on
5070-645: The Gramophone & Typewriter Company Limited , precursor to HMV / EMI . In April 1903, he made seven further recordings, also in Milan, for the Anglo-Italian Commerce Company (AICC). These were originally released on discs bearing the Zonophone label. Three more Milan recordings for AICC followed in October 1903, released by Pathé Records on cylinders as well as on discs. Caruso made one final recording for
5200-510: The Hoagy Carmichael standard, "Georgia on My Mind." Laine's slow, soulful version was a model for the iconic remake by Ray Charles a decade later. Charles would follow up "Georgia" with remakes of other Frankie Laine hits, including " Your Cheatin' Heart ", and "That Lucky Old Sun." ( Elvis Presley also remade several of Laine's hits, and his early influence on The Beatles has been well documented.) In an interview, Mitch Miller described
5330-713: The R&;B chart in 1947. Martha Tilton recorded March 1947, released by Capitol Records as catalog number 395, with the flip side "I Wonder, I Wonder"). The single reached No. 10 in June 1947 and remained there for 9 weeks. The Hollies' version, recorded in Abbey Road studios 1 March 1965 appeared on the group's third LP. In South Africa and Rhodesia it was released as a single, and went to No. 1 in both countries in 1967. Eddie Cochran recorded his version of "That's My Desire" in early summer of 1956 at Gold Star Recording Studios . It
Frankie Laine - Misplaced Pages Continue
5460-909: The Tsar and the Russian aristocracy at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow as part of a touring company of first-class Italian singers. The first major operatic role that Caruso created was Federico in Francesco Cilea 's L'arlesiana (1897); then he was Loris in Umberto Giordano 's Fedora (1898) at the Teatro Lirico, Milan. At that same theatre, he created
5590-456: The mezzo-sopranos and contraltos with whom Caruso made records, are Louise Homer , Minnie Egener , Flora Perini and Ernestine Schumann-Heink . During the 1970s, Thomas G. Stockham of the University of Utah developed an early computer reprocessing technique called " Soundstream " to remaster Caruso's recordings for RCA. This digital recording process claimed to remove or reduce some of
5720-564: The phonograph (or gramophone) owing to the low fidelity of early discs. Others, including Adelina Patti , Francesco Tamagno and Nellie Melba , exploited the new technology once they became aware of the financial returns that Caruso was reaping from his initial recording sessions. Caruso made more than 260 extant recordings in America for the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor ) from 1904 to 1920, and he and his heirs earned millions of dollars in royalties from
5850-419: The "Lorelei" or "Jezebel" song (both of which would be the titles of later Laine records). The song, which has a loosely structured melody that switches in tone and rhythm throughout, was pitched to Laine by a young song plugger , Tony Benedetto, who would later go on to achieve success as Tony Bennett . Laine recognized the younger singer's talent, and gave him encouragement. "Swamp Girl" is another entry with
5980-406: The "Lorelei"/"Jezebel" motif in the Laine songbook. In this decidedly gothic tale of a ghostly female spirit who inhabits a metaphorical "swamp", the femme fatale attempts to lure the singer to his death, calling "Come to the deep where your sleep is without a dream." The swamp girl is voiced (in an obligato ) by coloratura Loulie Jean Norman , who would later go on to provide a similar vocal for
6110-586: The 1930s, they are largely vilified by collectors today. In 1950, RCA Victor reissued a number of the tenor's recordings on 78-rpm discs pressed on red vinylite instead of the usual shellac . As long-playing discs (LPs) became popular, many of Caruso's recordings were electronically enhanced with reverb and similar effects to make them sound "fuller" for release on the extended format. RCA Victor issued its first Caruso collections on LP in 1951; most of these early LP compilations were also simultaneously released on RCA Victor's new 45-rpm format. In 1956, RCA Victor issued
6240-688: The Bandbox...Laine's intense vocal style owed nothing to Crosby , Sinatra , or Dick Haymes . Instead he drew from Billy Eckstine , Big Joe Turner , Jimmy Rushing , and with it Laine had sown the seeds from which an entire new perception and audience would grow... Frank Sinatra represented perhaps the highest flowering of a quarter century tradition of crooning but suddenly found himself an anachronism. First Frankie Laine, then Tony Bennett , and now Johnnie (Ray), dubbed 'the Belters' and 'the Exciters,' came along with
6370-579: The Bastianelli's clinic in Rome, but by the time they reached Naples, Caruso was running a high fever and was gravely ill. The party checked into the Hotel Vesuvio where Caruso began screaming in pain and eventually, a doctor gave him morphine to help him sleep. Caruso died the following morning at the hotel shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time, on 2 August 1921. He was 48 years old. The Bastianellis attributed
6500-546: The Freddy Carlone band in Cleveland; Como made a call to Carlone about Laine. Como was another lifelong friend of Laine's, who once lent him the money to travel to a possible gig. Laine's rhythmic style was ill-suited to the sweet sounds of the Carlone band, and the two soon parted company. Success continued to elude Laine, and he spent the next 10 years "scuffling": alternating between singing at small jazz clubs on both coasts and
6630-594: The German repertoire, Caruso sang only two roles, Assad in Karl Goldmark 's The Queen of Sheba and Richard Wagner 's Lohengrin , both of which he performed in Italian in Buenos Aires in 1899 and 1901, respectively. During his lifetime, Caruso received many orders, decorations, testimonials and other kinds of honours from monarchs, governments and miscellaneous cultural bodies of the various nations in which he sang. He
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#17328586156346760-887: The Gramophone & Typewriter Ltd in April 1904. On 1 February 1904, Caruso made his first recordings in the United States for the Victor Talking Machine Company and thereafter recorded exclusively for Victor. Caruso's American recordings were all made in Victor's studios in New York and its headquarters in Camden, New Jersey . Some of his later recordings were made in Victor's Trinity Church studio, which Victor acquired in 1917 for its acoustical properties and could accommodate larger bands of musicians. Caruso's first recordings for Victor in 1904 were made in Room 826,
6890-521: The King mode, backed by R&B artist Johnny Moore 's group, The Three Blazers which featured Charles Brown and Cole's guitarist (from " The King Cole Trio "), Oscar Moore . The ruse worked and the record sold moderately well, although limited to the "race" market. Laine cut the remainder of his songs for Atlas in his own style, including standards such as " Roses of Picardy " and " Moonlight in Vermont ". It
7020-497: The New York Metropolitan Opera (both at the Met and on tour) before his death in 1921 at the age of 48. Thanks largely to his tremendously popular phonograph records, Caruso was one of the most famous entertainment personalities of his day, and his fame has continued to endure to the present. He was one of the first examples of a global media celebrity. Beyond records, Caruso's name became familiar to millions throughout
7150-505: The No. 2 spot, it was Laine's version that became the standard. "Desire" became Laine's first gold record having sold over one million copies, and established him in the music world. He had been over $ 7,000 in debt, on the day before he recorded this song." His first paycheck for royalties was over five times this amount. Laine paid off all of his debts except one—fellow singer Perry Como refused to let Laine pay him back, and would kid him about
7280-517: The Pearl label and in 2000–2004 by Naxos . The Pearl and Naxos sets were remastered by the noted American audio-restoration engineer Ward Marston . In 1993, Pearl also released a two-CD collection devoted to RCA and EMI's electrically over-dubbed versions of some of Caruso's original acoustic discs, originally issued in the 1930s. Since 1999, RCA Victor has issued three CDs of Caruso recordings with digitally recorded over-dubbed orchestral accompaniments. Since
7410-734: The South American nations of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil in 1917, and two years later performed in Mexico City. In 1920, he was paid the enormous sum of US$ 10,000 a night (US$ 152,000 in 2023 ) to sing in Havana , Cuba. In 1917, the United States entered World War I, sending troops to Europe. Caruso did extensive charity work during the conflict, raising money for many war-related patriotic causes by giving concerts and participating enthusiastically in Liberty Bond drives. The tenor had shown himself to be
7540-532: The United States. Beverly Sills noted in an interview: "I was able to do it with television and radio and media and all kinds of assists. The popularity that Caruso enjoyed without any of this technological assistance is astonishing." Caruso biographers Pierre Key, Bruno Zirato and Stanley Jackson attribute Caruso's fame not only to his voice and musicianship but also to a keen business sense and an enthusiastic embrace of commercial sound recording , then in its infancy. Many opera singers of Caruso's time rejected
7670-471: The Villa Bellosguardo, a palatial country house near Florence , in 1904. The villa became his retreat away from the pressures of the operatic stage and the grind of travel. Caruso's preferred address in New York City was a suite at Manhattan's Knickerbocker Hotel . Caruso commissioned the New York jewellers Tiffany & Co. to strike a 24-carat gold medal adorned with the tenor's profile. He presented
7800-512: The air in deference to the needs of the military. Laine next found employment in a munitions plant, at a salary of $ 150.00 a week. He quit singing for what was perhaps the fifth or sixth time of his already long career. While working at the plant, he met a trio of girl singers, and became engaged to the lead singer. The group had been noticed by Johnny Mercer 's Capitol Records , and convinced Laine to head out to Hollywood with them as their agent. In 1943, he moved to California, where he sang in
7930-531: The army. On 15 March 1895 at the age of 22, Caruso made his professional stage debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in the now-forgotten opera, L'Amico Francesco , by the amateur composer Mario Morelli. A string of further engagements in provincial opera houses followed, and he received instruction from the conductor and voice teacher Vincenzo Lombardi that improved his high notes and polished his style. Three other prominent Neapolitan singers taught by Lombardi were
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#17328586156348060-577: The background of several films, including The Harvey Girls , and dubbed the singing voice for an actor in the Danny Kaye comedy The Kid from Brooklyn . It was in Los Angeles in 1944 that he met and befriended disc jockey Al Jarvis and composer/pianist Carl T. Fischer , the latter of whom was to be his songwriting partner, musical director, and piano accompanist until his death in 1954. Their songwriting collaborations included "I'd Give My Life," "Baby, Just For Me," "What Could Be Sweeter?," "Forever More," and
8190-471: The ballroom became quiet. I was very nearsighted and couldn't see the audience. I thought that the people didn't like me. Some of his other early influences during this period included Enrico Caruso , Carlo Buti , and especially Bessie Smith —a record of whose somehow wound up in his parents' collection: I can still close my eyes and visualize its blue and purple label. It was a Bessie Smith recording of 'The Bleeding Hearted Blues,' with 'Midnight Blues' on
8320-409: The baritones Antonio Scotti and Pasquale Amato , both of whom would go on to partner Caruso at the Metropolitan Opera and the tenor Fernando De Lucia , who would also appear at the Met and later sing at Caruso's funeral. Money continued to be in short supply for the young Caruso. One of his first publicity photographs, taken on a visit to Sicily in 1896, depicts him wearing a bedspread draped like
8450-431: The basis of Laine's appeal: He was my kind of guy. He was very dramatic in his singing...and you must remember that in those days there were no videos so you had to depend on the image that the record made in the listener's ears. And that's why many fine artists were not good record sellers. For instance, Lena Horne . Fabulous artist but she never sold many records till that last album of hers. But she would always sell out
8580-447: The basis of genealogical research (amongst others conducted by Caruso family friend Guido D'Onofrio), biographers Pierre Key, Francis Robinson, and Enrico Caruso Jr. and Andrew Farkas, have proven this to be untrue. Caruso himself and his brother Giovanni may have been the source of the exaggerated number. Caruso's widow Dorothy also included the story in her best-selling memoir about her husband, published in 1945. She allegedly quoted
8710-604: The cause of death to peritonitis arising from a burst subphrenic abscess . The King of Italy , Victor Emmanuel III , opened the Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola for Caruso's funeral, which was attended by thousands of people. His embalmed body was preserved in a glass sarcophagus at Del Pianto Cemetery in Naples for mourners to view. In 1929, Dorothy Caruso had his coffin covered and permanently sealed in an ornate stone tomb. Caruso's career, which lasted from 1895 to 1920, included 863 appearances with
8840-531: The chart, peaking at No. 4. The Laine version also appeared on Billboard ′s Most- Played Juke Box Race Records chart, peaking at No. 4. Despite the higher chart position of the Kaye version, the Laine version is the widely reported million-seller, and in 1998, Laine's 1946 recording was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame . The recording by Hadda Brooks on the smaller Modern Records label also peaked at No. 4 on
8970-402: The day, including a few English-language titles such as George M. Cohan 's " Over There ", Henry Geehl 's "For You Alone" and Arthur Sullivan 's " The Lost Chord ". Enrico Caruso died in 1921, before the advent of electrical recording technology in 1925. His entire recorded output was made using the acoustic process , which required the performer to sing into a metal horn or funnel; the sound
9100-483: The final one being as Eléazar in Halévy's La Juive on 24 December 1920, while suffering acute pain. By Christmas Day, the pain in his side was so excruciating that he was screaming. Dorothy summoned the hotel physician, who gave Caruso some morphine and codeine and called in another doctor, Evan M. Evans. Evans brought in three other doctors, and Caruso finally received a correct diagnosis: purulent pleurisy and empyema . Caruso's health deteriorated further during
9230-399: The first artist to hold the Number One and Two positions simultaneously. "Mule Train", with its whip cracks and echo, has been cited as the first song to use an "aural texture" that "set the pattern for virtually the entire first decade of rock." "Mule Train" represents a second direction in which Laine's music would be simultaneously heading under the guidance of Mitch Miller: as the voice of
9360-405: The first “crooner.” Laine worked after school at a drugstore that was situated across the street from a record store that continually played hit records by Austin over their loudspeakers. He would swab down the windows in time to Austin's songs. Many years later, Laine related the story to Austin when both were guests on the popular television variety show Shower of Stars . He would also co-star in
9490-468: The following year, and Miller soon brought Laine to Columbia as well. Laine's contract with Columbia was the most lucrative in the industry until RCA bought Elvis Presley's contract five years later. That%27s My Desire The highest-charting version of the song was recorded by the Sammy Kaye orchestra in 1946 , although a version of the song recorded by Frankie Laine has become better known over
9620-473: The great outdoors and the American West. "Mule Train" is a slice of life in the mid-19th century West in which the contents of the packages being delivered by the mule train provide a snapshot into frontier life: "There's some cotton, thread and needles for the folks a-way up yonder/A shovel for a miner who left his home to wander/Some rheumatism pills for the settlers in the hills." The collaboration producing
9750-483: The hotel but was composed enough to walk to the St. Francis Hotel for breakfast. Charlie Olson, the broiler cook, made the tenor bacon and eggs. Apparently, the quake had no effect on Caruso's appetite, as he cleaned his plate and tipped Olson $ 2.50. Caruso made an ultimately successful effort to flee the city, first by boat and then by train. He vowed never to return to San Francisco and kept his word. In November 1906, Caruso
9880-401: The house no matter where she was. And there were others who sold a lot of records but couldn't get to first base in personal appearances, but Frankie had it both. — Mitch Miller But the biggest label of all was Columbia Records , and in 1950 Mitch Miller left Mercury to embark upon his phenomenally successful career as the A&R man there. Laine's contract at Mercury would be up for renewal
10010-416: The incident, which received extensive newspaper coverage, but it was soon forgotten and Caruso's popularity was unaffected. Caruso's fan base at the Met was not restricted, however, to the wealthy. Members of America's middle classes also paid to hear him sing—or buy copies of his recordings—and he enjoyed a substantial following among New York's 500,000 Italian immigrants. On 10 December 1910, Caruso created
10140-415: The jazz standard " We'll Be Together Again ." When the war ended, Laine soon found himself "scuffling" again, and was eventually given a place to stay by Jarvis. Jarvis also did his best to help promote the struggling singer's career, and Laine soon had a small, regional following. In the meantime, Laine would make the rounds of the bigger jazz clubs, hoping that the featured band would call him up to perform
10270-520: The last year of his life. On 16 September 1920, Caruso concluded three days of recording sessions at Victor's Trinity Church studio in Camden, New Jersey . He recorded several discs, including the Domine Deus and Crucifixus from the Petite messe solennelle by Rossini . These recordings were to be his last. Dorothy Caruso noted that her husband's health began to rapidly decline after he returned from
10400-513: The major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. Generally recognized as the first international recording star, Caruso made around 250 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920. Enrico Caruso came from a poor but not destitute background. Born in Naples in the via Santi Giovanni e Paolo n° 7 on 25 February 1873, he
10530-647: The medal in gratitude to Simonelli as a souvenir of his many well-remunerated performances at the Met. In addition to his regular New York engagements, Caruso gave recitals and operatic performances in a large number of cities across the United States and sang in Canada. He also continued to sing widely in Europe, appearing again at Covent Garden in 1904–07 and 1913–14, and undertaking a UK tour in 1909. Audiences in France, Belgium, Monaco, Austria, Hungary and Germany also heard him before
10660-515: The money owed for years to come. The loan to Laine during the time when both men were still struggling singers was one of the few secrets Como kept from his wife, Roselle, who learned of it many years later. A series of hit singles quickly followed, including " Black and Blue ", " Mam'selle ", " Two Loves Have I ", " Shine ", " On the Sunny Side of the Street ", " Monday Again ", and many others. Originally
10790-415: The new year. He lapsed into a coma and at one point, nearly died of heart failure. He continued to experience episodes of severe pain due to the infection and underwent seven surgical procedures to drain fluid from his chest and lungs. He slowly began to improve and by May 1921, he had recovered sufficiently to sail to Naples to further recuperate from the most serious of the operations, during which part of
10920-455: The next decade, and he and The Easy Riders would back him on the hit single, "Love Is a Golden Ring". "The Cry of the Wild Goose" falls into the "voice of the great outdoors" category of Laine songs, with the opening line of its chorus, "My heart knows what the wild goose knows", becoming a part of the American lexicon. Laine's influence on today's music can be clearly evidenced in his rendition of
11050-836: The norm, utilizing an ensemble of between eleven and twenty musicians. The regular conductors of these recording sessions with the Victor Orchestra were Walter B. Rogers and, from 1916, Josef Pasternack . Beginning in 1932, RCA Victor in the US and EMI (HMV) in the UK, reissued several of the Caruso discs with the original accompaniment over-dubbed by a larger electrically recorded orchestra. Earlier experiments using this re-dubbing technique, carried out by Victor in 1927, had been considered unsatisfactory. Although these overdubbed Caruso recordings were initially praised by many critics upon their original release in
11180-487: The number one song in the country three weeks after its release. It was also Laine's fifth Gold record. "That Lucky Old Sun" was something new to the musical scene in 1949: a folk spiritual which, as interpreted by Laine, became both an affirmation of faith and a working man's wish to bring his earthly sufferings to an end. The song was knocked down to the number two position by Laine and Miller's second collaboration, " Mule Train ", which proved an even bigger hit, making Laine
11310-576: The opening credits of Hollywood films and television shows, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , 3:10 to Yuma , Bullwhip , and Rawhide . His rendition of the title song for Mel Brooks 's 1974 hit movie Blazing Saddles won an Oscar nomination for Best Song, and on television, Laine's featured recording of " Rawhide " for the series of the same name became a popular theme song. You can't categorize him. He's one of those singers that's not in one track. And yet and still I think that his records had more excitement and life into it. And I think that
11440-409: The other side. The first time I laid the needle down on that record I felt cold chills and an indescribable excitement. It was my first exposure to jazz and the blues , although I had no idea at the time what to call those magical sounds. I just knew I had to hear more of them! — Frankie Laine Another singer who influenced him at this time was the singer-songwriter Gene Austin , generally considered
11570-462: The outbreak of World War I. In 1909, Melba asked him to participate in her forthcoming tour of Australia, but he declined because of the significant amount of travel time that such a trip would entail. Members of the Met's roster of artists, including Caruso, had visited San Francisco in April 1906 for a series of performances. Following an appearance as Don José in Carmen at the city's Grand Opera House,
11700-461: The pain continued to hinder his voice production and movements. During a performance of L'elisir d'amore by Donizetti at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on 11 December 1920, he began spitting blood as a result of a mouth or throat haemorrhage and the performance was cancelled at the end of Act 1. Following this incident, a clearly unwell Caruso gave only three more performances at the Met,
11830-456: The personal barber for gangster Al Capone . Laine's family appears to have had several organized crime connections, and young Francesco was living with his grandfather when the latter was killed by rival gangsters. The eldest of eight children, Laine grew up in the Old Town neighborhood (first at 1446 N. North Park Avenue and later at 331 W. Schiller Street) and had his first taste of singing as
11960-532: The pre-1906 European and early Victor recordings were never remastered using the Soundstream process). RCA issued its first Caruso collection on compact disc in 1987. Finally in 1990, RCA Victor issued Caruso's complete recordings in a boxed set on twelve CDs (the recordings were repackaged and reissued by RCA again in 2004 and (minus the pre-Victor recordings) for a third time, in 2017). Other complete sets of Caruso's recordings in new remasterings were issued on CD on
12090-662: The principal tenor part of Federico Loewe in Germania by Alberto Franchetti . A month later, on 11 April, he was engaged by the British Gramophone Company to make his first group of recordings in a Milan hotel room for a fee of 100 pounds sterling. These ten records swiftly became best-sellers. Among other things, they helped spread 29-year-old Caruso's fame throughout the English-speaking world. The management of London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, signed him for
12220-516: The production. Caruso's success in the Metropolitan Opera drew the attention of Black Hand extortionists. They threatened to injure his throat with lye or harm him and his family if he did not pay them money. He initially paid their extortion fee of $ 2,000 (US$ 63,000 in 2023 ) expecting the matter to be settled, but his willingness to pay made them more brazen. They subsequently demanded an even larger sum of $ 15,000 (US$ 474,000 in 2023 )." He
12350-535: The recent death of Giuseppe Verdi . Among those appearing with him at the concert were two other leading Italian tenors of the day, Francesco Tamagno (the creator of the protagonist's role in Verdi's Otello ) and Giuseppe Borgatti (the creator of the protagonist's role in Giordano's Andrea Chénier ). In December 1901, Caruso made his debut at the San Carlo Opera House in Naples in L'Elisir d'Amore to
12480-477: The retail sales of these records. He was also heard live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1910 when he participated in the first public radio broadcast to be transmitted in the United States. Caruso also appeared in two motion pictures. In 1918, he played a dual role in the American silent film My Cousin (entirely restored in July 2021 ) for Paramount Pictures . This film included
12610-451: The role of Dick Johnson in the world premiere of Puccini's La fanciulla del West . The composer wrote the music for Johnson with Caruso's voice specifically in mind. Appearing with Caruso were two more of the Met's star singers, the Czech soprano Emmy Destinn and baritone Pasquale Amato. Toscanini, then the Met's principal conductor, presided in the orchestra pit and Puccini himself, supervised
12740-672: The role of Maurizio in Francesco Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur (1902). Puccini considered casting the young Caruso in the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca at its premiere in January 1900, but ultimately chose the older, more established Emilio De Marchi instead. Caruso appeared in the role later that year and Puccini stated that Caruso sang the part better. Caruso took part in a grand concert at La Scala in February 1901 that Toscanini organised to mark
12870-484: The soundtrack song for High Noon , which was sung by Tex Ritter , but his own version (with somewhat altered lyrics, omitting the name of the antagonist, Frank Miller) was the one that became a bigger hit. He also did not sing the theme to another show he is commonly associated with— Champion the Wonder Horse (sung by Mike Stewart)—but released his own, subsequently more popular, version. Laine's enduring popularity
13000-427: The spectators during the fifteen-minute breaks the dancers were given each hour. During his marathon days, he worked with several up-and-coming entertainers, including Rose Marie , Red Skelton , and a 14-year-old Anita O'Day , for whom he served as a mentor (as noted by Laine in a 1998 interview by David Miller). Other artists whose styles began to influence Laine at this time were Bing Crosby , Louis Armstrong (as
13130-423: The star attraction at Berg's, and record company executives took note. Laine soon had patrons lining up to hear him sing "Desire"; among them was R&B artist Hadda Brooks , known for her boogie woogie piano playing. She listened to him every night, and eventually cut her own version of the song, which became a hit on the "harlem" charts. "I liked the way he did it" Brooks recalled; "he sings with soul, he sings
13260-485: The tenor, speaking of his mother, Anna Caruso ( née Baldini): "She had twenty-one children. Twenty boys and one girl – too many. I am number nineteen boy." Caruso's father, Marcellino, was a mechanic and foundry worker. Initially, Marcellino thought his son should adopt the same trade, and at the age of 11, the boy was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer who constructed and maintained public water fountains. Whenever visiting Naples in future years, Caruso liked to point out
13390-452: The theme song of the television series Star Trek . The coloratura contrasts well with Laine's rough, masculine voice, and disembodied female voices would continue to appear in the background of many of his records, to great effect. "The Cry of the Wild Goose" would be Laine's last number one hit on the American charts. It was written by folksinger Terry Gilkyson , of The Easy Riders fame. Gilkyson would write many more songs for Laine over
13520-528: The time to signal the end of the previous era's singing styles and was, indeed, a harbinger of the rock 'n' roll music that was to come. As music historian Jonny Whiteside wrote: In the Hollywood clubs, a new breed of performers laid down a baffling hip array of new sounds...Most important of all these, though, was Frankie Laine, a big lad with 'steel tonsils' who belted out torch blues while stomping his size twelve foot in joints like Billy Berg's , Club Hangover and
13650-436: The undesirable resonances and distortion and to reduce surface noise typical of the early acoustically recorded shellac discs (critics of the process later claimed that the recordings were merely "re-equalized" by increasing bass and reducing treble). From 1978 to 1985, RCA issued The Complete Caruso series on LP and cassette, utilizing these early digitised recordings (RCA never finished The Complete Caruso series on LP and
13780-485: The way he feels." He was soon recording for the fledgling Mercury label, and "That's My Desire" was one of the songs cut in his first recording session there. It quickly took the No. 3 spot on the R&;B chart, and listeners initially thought Laine was black . The record also made it to the No. 4 spot on the mainstream chart. Although it was quickly covered by many other artists, including Sammy Kaye who took it to
13910-407: The world via newspapers, books, magazines, and the new media technology of the 20th century: cinema, the telephone , and telegraph . Caruso toured widely both with the Metropolitan Opera touring company and on his own, giving hundreds of performances throughout Europe, and North and South America. He was a client of the noted promoter Edward Bernays , during the latter's tenure as a press agent in
14040-423: The years, being one of Laine's best-known recordings. It has been recorded by many other singers, including a number of doo-wop groups. In 1998, the 1946 recording by Frankie Laine was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame . The recording by the Sammy Kaye orchestra was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-2251, with the flip side " Red Silk Stockings and Green Perfume ". It first reached
14170-418: Was Caruso's vocal coach as well as his lover. Statements by Enrico Caruso Jr. in his book tend to substantiate this. Her relationship with Caruso broke down after 11 years and they separated. Giachetti's subsequent attempts to sue him for damages were dismissed by the courts. In 1917, Caruso met and courted a 25-year-old socialite, Dorothy Park Benjamin (1893–1955). She was the daughter of Park Benjamin ,
14300-459: Was a few years his senior. Though she was already married, Giachetti bore Caruso four sons during their liaison, which lasted from 1897 to 1908. Two survived infancy: Rodolfo Caruso (1898–1951) and singer/actor Enrico Caruso Jr. (1904–1987). Ada had left her husband, manufacturer Gino Botti, and an existing son to cohabit with the tenor. Information provided in Scott's biography of Caruso suggests that she
14430-418: Was aided by New York City police detective Joseph Petrosino who, impersonating Caruso, captured the extortionists. Two Italian men, Antonio Misiano and Antonio Cincotto, would be later specifically accused of the crime. The timbre of Caruso's voice gradually darkened as he aged and by 1916, he began adding heroic tenor parts such as Samson , John of Leyden , and Eléazar to his repertoire. Caruso toured
14560-428: Was already Americanized at the time of his birth, with his name written as "Frank Lovecchio", his mother as "Anna Salerno", and his father as "John Lovecchio", with the "V" lower case in each instance, except in the "Reported by" section with "John Lo Vecchio (father)" written in. His parents had emigrated from Monreale , Sicily , to Chicago 's Near West Side , in " Little Italy ", where his father worked at one time as
14690-553: Was also at this time that he recorded a single for Mercury Records : "Pickle in the Middle with the Mustard on Top" and " I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful) ." He appears only as a character actor on the first side, which features the comedic singing of Artie Auerbach (a.k.a., "Mr. Kitzel") who was a featured player on the Jack Benny radio show. In it, Laine plays a peanut vendor at
14820-669: Was also the recipient of Italian knighthoods. In 1917, he was elected an honorary member of the Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia , the national fraternity for men involved in music, by the fraternity's Alpha chapter of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. One unusual award bestowed on him was that of "Honorary Captain of the New York Police Force". In 1960, for his contribution to the recording industry, Caruso received
14950-657: Was apparently never released. Brief candid glimpses of Caruso offstage have been preserved in contemporary newsreel footage. While Caruso sang at such venues as La Scala in Milan, the Royal Opera House , in London, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, he appeared most often at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where he was the leading tenor for 18 consecutive seasons. It
15080-476: Was at the Met, in 1910, that he created the role of Dick Johnson in Giacomo Puccini 's La fanciulla del West . Caruso's voice extended up to high D-flat in its prime and grew in power and weight as he grew older. At times, his voice took on a dark, almost baritonal colouration. He sang a broad spectrum of roles, ranging from lyric , to spinto , to dramatic parts, in the Italian and French repertoires. In
15210-520: Was baptised the next day in the adjacent Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. His parents originally came from Piedimonte d'Alife (now called Piedimonte Matese ), in the Province of Caserta in Campania , Southern Italy . Caruso was the third of seven children and one of only three to survive infancy. For decades, there was a story of Caruso's parents having had 21 children, 18 of whom died in infancy. However, on
15340-452: Was charged with an indecent act allegedly committed in the monkey house of New York's Central Park Zoo . The police accused him of pinching the buttocks of a married woman. Caruso claimed a monkey did the bottom-pinching. He was later found guilty and fined 10 dollars, although evidence suggested that he may have been entrapped by the victim and the arresting officer. Initially, the leaders of New York's opera-going high society were outraged by
15470-418: Was compiling scrapbooks . He also amassed valuable collections of rare postage stamps, coins, watches and antique snuffboxes . Caruso was a heavy smoker of strong Egyptian cigarettes . This deleterious habit, combined with a lack of exercise and the punishing schedule of performances that Caruso willingly undertook season after season at the Met, may have contributed to the persistent ill-health which afflicted
15600-486: Was different from the smooth balladeer of his time. His 1946 recording of " That's My Desire " remains a landmark record signaling the end of both the dominance of the big bands and the crooning styles favored by contemporary Dick Haymes and others. Often called the first of the blue-eyed soul singers, Laine's style cleared the way for many artists who arose in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Kay Starr , Tony Bennett , and Johnnie Ray . I think that Frank probably
15730-491: Was first released in the UK in 1962 on the album "Cherished Memories". The first release in the US was on the album Eddie Cochran On The Air in 1987. Personnel on the session: Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso ( / k ə ˈ r uː z oʊ / , US also / k ə ˈ r uː s oʊ / , Italian: [enˈriːko kaˈruːzo] ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor . He sang to great acclaim at
15860-467: Was giving dance lessons for a charity ball at the Merry Garden when he was called to the bandstand to sing: Soon I found myself on the main bandstand before this enormous crowd, Laine recalled. I was really nervous, but I started singing 'Beside an Open Fireplace,' a popular song of the day. It was a sentimental tune and the lyrics choked me up. When I got done, the tears were streaming down my cheeks and
15990-428: Was going to put all the other singers out of business. Even in the 1920s, his vocal abilities were enough to get him noticed by a slightly older "in crowd" at his school, who began inviting him to parties and to local dance clubs, including Chicago's Merry Garden Ballroom. At 17, he sang before a crowd of 5,000 at The Merry Garden Ballroom to such applause that he ended up performing five encores on his first night. Laine
16120-513: Was his big selling point, that he was so full of energy. You know when you hear his records it was dynamite energy. — Herb Jeffries Laine was a jazz singer in the late 1940s. Accompanied by Carl Fischer and some of the best jazz men in the business, he was singing standards like "By the River Sainte Marie", " Black and Blue ", " Rockin' Chair ", " West End Blues ", "At the End of the Road", "Ain't That Just Like
16250-509: Was illustrated in June 2011 when a TV-advertised compilation called Hits reached No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart . The accomplishment was achieved nearly 60 years after his debut on the U.K. chart, 64 years after his first major U.S. hit and four years after his death. Frankie Laine was born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio on March 30, 1913, to Giovanni and Crescenzia LoVecchio (née Salerno). His Cook County, Illinois , birth certificate (No. 14436)
16380-464: Was in a new production of Rigoletto on 23 November 1903. This time, Marcella Sembrich sang opposite him as Gilda. A few months later, he began his lifelong association with the Victor Talking Machine Company . He made his first American records on 1 February 1904, having signed a lucrative financial deal with Victor. Thereafter, his recording career ran in tandem with his Met career, both bolstering each other, until his death in 1921. Caruso purchased
16510-419: Was one of the forerunner of...blues, of...rock 'n' roll. A lot of singers who sing with a passionate demeanor—Frank was and is definitely that. I always used to love to mimic him with 'That's...my...desire.' And then later Johnnie Ray came along that made all of those kind of movements, but Frank had already done them. – Patti Page Throughout the 1950s, Laine enjoyed a second career singing the title songs over
16640-416: Was picked up by Atlas Records, a "race label" that initially hired him to imitate his friend Nat "King" Cole. Cole would occasionally "moonlight" for other labels, under pseudonyms, while under contract to Capitol , and as he had previously recorded some sides for Atlas, they reasoned that fans would assume that "Frankie Laine" was yet another pseudonym for "Cole". Laine cut his first two numbers for Atlas in
16770-526: Was relayed directly onto a wax master disc, using a stylus . This antiquated process captured a limited range of the overtones and nuances present in a singing voice. Caruso's 12 inch disc records were limited to a maximum playing time of approximately four and one half minutes; consequently, most of the operatic selections that he recorded were limited to that duration or those which could be edited to fit this time constraint. Occasionally, longer selections were issued on two or more record sides. Caruso possessed
16900-575: Was sleeping on a bench in Central Park . I would sneak into hotel rooms and sleep on the floor. In fact, I was bodily thrown out of 11 different New York hotels. I stayed in YMCAs and with anyone who would let me flop. Eventually I was down to my last four cents, and my bed became a roughened wooden bench in Central Park. I used my four pennies to buy four tiny Baby Ruth candy bars and rationed myself to one
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