OSCAR PETERSON, "MOONGLOW"

Welcome to Afterglow, I’m your host, Mark Chilla.

It’s Columbus Day weekend. This is a holiday that was created by the Italian-American community, since Christopher Columbus had Italian heritage. Although, more recently, the holiday has come under scrutiny, because Columbus was exactly the most admirable person with Italian heritage. So on this week’s show, I’ll be celebrating some other folks with Italian heritage: Italian-American Crooners, like Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Tony Bennett and others. These singers helped shape the landscape of popular song, and this hour we’ll hear them perform both well-known standards and songs from their Italian heritage.

It’s the Italian American Crooners, coming up next on Afterglow

MUSIC -  TONY BENNETT & BILL CHARLAP, "ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE"

The Italian-American crooner Antonio Benedetto, better known as Tony Bennett, along with pianist Bill Charlap, performing the Kern and Hammerstein standard “All The Things You Are.” That’s from the 2015 album called The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern.

MUSIC CLIP - ART TATUM, "ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE"

Mark Chilla here on Afterglow. On this show, we’re saluting a group of singers who shaped the landscape of popular song: Italian-American crooners. Many of the biggest names among Great American Songbook interpreters have Italian heritage, names like Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Perry Como. We’ll hear from these artists a little later this hour, listening to their interpretations of both American and Italian standards. 

There are countless other minor deities of Italian crooners that we won’t get to this episode, people like Julius La Rosa or Frankie Laine. But whether you were a titan like Sinatra, or a lesser idol like, say, Al Martino, all Italian-American crooners owe a great deal of debt to Russ Columbo.

MUSIC CLIP - LESTER YOUNG AND TEDDY WILSON, "PRISONER OF LOVE"

Columbo was the first Italian-American crooner. Equipped with the good looks of Rudolph Valentino and the romantic lyricism of Rudy Vallee (pron: valley), Columbo had a minor rivalry with Bing Crosby in the early 1930s, both as a singer and actor. He died young, however, at age 26 in an accidental shooting death, shortening an otherwise promising career. But his legacy was substantial, especially among the next generation of Italian-American singers. The song “Prisoner of Love,” penned expressly for Columbo by lyricist Leo Robin, became his signature tune. It remained a standard well into the 1960s, and was even recorded by fellow Italian Americans Perry Como and Frank Sinatra. Here’s Russ Columbo in 1931 with “Prisoner of Love,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - RUSS COLUMBO, "PRISONER OF LOVE"

MUSIC - RUSS COLUMBO, "SWEET AND LOVELY"

The first in a long line of Italian American crooners: the great Russ Columbo with two hits from 1931. We just heard “Sweet and Lovely,” a song by bandleader Gus Arnheim along with Charles N. Daniels and Harry Tobias. Before that, Columbo’s signature tune with words by Leo Robin, that was “Prisoner of Love.”

The next generation of Italian-American crooners after Columbo included Perry Como and Frank Sinatra, and both singers transcended their Italian heritage to become genuine American superstars. Como’s real fame didn’t come until the 1950s—he spent most of the 1940s in the shadow of Sinatra, despite being older. But Mr. C, as he was often called, started out as a big-band singer in Ted Weems orchestra. That was until 1942, when he broke out on his own, signed with RCA Victor, and joined in on the “crooner craze” that Sinatra already started the previous year when he left Tommy Dorsey’s band. Como was even named “Crooner of the Year” in 1943. 

We’ll start this next set off with Perry Como, and then hear from other Italian-American crooners Vic Damone and Jerry Vale. First, here’s Como in 1949, with the lovely Joan Whitney and Alex Kramer song “Far Away Places,” on Afterglow.

MUSIC - PERRY COMO, "FAR AWAY PLACES"

MUSIC - VIC DAMONE, "LET'S FALL IN LOVE"

MUSIC - JERRY VALE, "TORNA A SURRIENTO (COME BACK TO SORRENTO)"

A few Italian-American crooners that emerged in the wake of Frank Sinatra. Just now, we heard a man known for performing Italian songs, Jerry Vale, born Genaro Vitaliano, performing “Torna A Surriento.” That song might be more familiar in one of its two English translations “Come Back To Sorrento,” sung by Sinatra and Dean Martin, or “Surrender,” sung by Elvis Presley. Before that, we heard another Sinatra acolyte, Vic Damone (born Vito Farinola), performing the jazz standard “Let’s Fall In Love.” And starting that set, a Sinatra contemporary, Perry Como from 1949 with “Far Away Places.”

We’re looking at Italian-American crooners on this episode of Afterglow.

I don’t know if Louis Prima can really be considered a “crooner”—”shouter” seems more appropriate—but as far as Italian-American entertainers go, you can’t ignore Prima. A trumpeter and bandleader from New Orleans, not unlike another famous Louis, Prima drew upon his Italian heritage quite often in his music—sometimes edging on parody with fake Neapolitana, or talk of Italian food. 

But Prima was as fine of a musician as they come, and let’s face it, Prima is just plain, old fun. So, let’s kick things up a little bit, moving from the sweet, crooning Como to “Angelina” the waitress at the pizzeria. Here’s Louis Prima, on Afterglow.

MUSIC - LOUIS PRIMA, "ANGELINA/ZOOMA ZOOMA (MEDLEY)"

MUSIC - LOUIS PRIMA, "BUONA SERA"

“Buona Sera” and “Angelina/Zooma Zooma,” two delightful romps from the always electrifying Louis Prima.

MUSIC CLIP - SAM BUTERA & THE WITNESSES, "THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN"

We’ll have more from some Italian American crooners after a short break.

I’m Mark Chilla, and you’re listening to Afterglow

MUSIC CLIP - RED GARLAND, "YOU'LL NEVER KNOW"

MUSIC CLIP - THE THREE SOUNDS, "O SOLE MIO"

Welcome back to Afterglow, I’m Mark Chilla. We’ve been looking at Italian-American crooners on this episode, a distinct and very important class of entertainer in the 1940s and 50s. A bit of a personal note, growing up in a big Italian family, these singers are part of my heritage. It’s the music of my grandparents, and these songs were my gateway into the music of the Great American Songbook.

So let’s move on now to the king of all Italian American crooners, Mr. Frank Sinatra. For someone with Italian heritage, Sinatra rarely sang Italian songs—that was usually reserved for folks like Julius La Rosa or Dean Martin, who we’ll hear from in just a bit. 

But in the 1940s, when he was with Columbia records, Sinatra did embrace his Italian roots and sing a few traditional Neapolitan numbers. The standard “I Have But One Heart” is based on the Italian song “O Marenariello.” If you’re familiar with The Godfather this is the song that Johnny Fontane, played by fellow Italian-American crooner Al Martino, sings at Connie’s wedding. Fontane’s role was supposedly based a little on Sinatra’s character—certainly Sinatra couldn’t shake those stories about his Mafia ties.

Here’s Sinatra, with some English and Italian, performing “I Have But One Heart” in 1947, on Afterglow.

MUSIC - FRANK SINATRA, "I HAVE BUT ONE HEART (O MARENARIELLO)"

MUSIC - FRANK SINATRA, "I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU"

Frank Sinatra from his years at Columbia Records, with a few songs by Harry Warren. We heard “You’ll Never Know” from 1943, and “I Only Have Eyes for You” from 1949. Starting that set, the song “I Have But One Heart,” based on the traditional Neapolitan song “O Marenariello.”

We’re looking at Italian-American crooners on this episode. Those last two songs, of course, were not traditional Italian numbers, but they were written by another Italian American. Ok, “Harry Warren” doesn’t sound like the most Italian name, but that wasn’t his real name: he was born Salvatore Guaragna in Brooklyn, New York.

Let’s hear now another Warren song, sung by another Italian-American from New York, who also happened to Americanize his name. Here’s “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” sung by Antonio Benedetto, or Tony Bennett, here on Afterglow.

MUSIC - TONY BENNETT, "BOULEVARD OF BROKEN DREAMS"

MUSIC - TONY BENNETT, "AUTUMN IN ROME"

“Autumn in Rome” by Alessandro Cicognini, Sammy Cahn, and Paul Weston, sung by Tony Bennett in 1963. Before that, the Harry Warren and Al Dubin song “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” dreams, performed by Bennett in 1952. He recorded that same song two years earlier, and it was one of his very first recordings for Columbia.

We’ll close off tonight’s show about Italian-American crooners with a crooner who seemed to embrace his Italian heritage the most. Dean Martin, born Dino Crocetti, and his whiskey-soaked voice could croon his way through a ballad like no other. But when he’s singing in Italian, that’s when he truly shines. Here are a handful of Italian-inspired songs performed by Martin, beginning with Harry Warren and Jack Brooks’ “Innamorata,” on Afterglow. 

MUSIC - DEAN MARTIN, "INNAMORATA (SWEETHEART)"

MUSIC - DEAN MARTIN, "VOLARE (NEL BLU DIPINTO DI BLU)"

MUSIC - DEAN MARTIN, "THAT'S AMORE"

Dean Martin with Harry Warren’s “That’s Amore.” Before that, we heard two other Italian songs by Martin, “Volare” and “Innamorata.”

Thanks for tuning in to this Italian American crooners edition of Afterglow.

MUSIC CLIP - OSCAR PETERSON TRIO, "VOLARE"