Showing posts with label Pop Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pop Music. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Patti Page, Honey-Voiced 1950s Pop Music Legend, Scored With Hits Like "Tennessee Waltz," R.I.P.

Patti Page, the honey-voiced alto best remembered for such 1950s hits as "Tennessee Waltz," "Mockingbird Hill," "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window," and "Old Cape Cod," passed away on Tuesday at Encinitas, California at the age of 85.


Miss Page, born Clara Ann Fowler in 1927 in Oklahoma, was believed to be the first artist to overdub herself.  In 1948, Mitch Miller, a Mercury Records producer at the time, had Patti do it first on a song called "Confess," because there were no backup singers available due to a strike.

She used that same process two years later when she cut "Tennessee Waltz," which sold 10 million copies.

Here's Patti on early television, performing "The Tennessee Waltz."

Thanks for the memories, Patti.  Rest in peace.



Monday, September 10, 2012

Dorothy McGuire, One-Third Of Hit-Making Sister Vocal Trio, R.I.P.

Dorothy McGuire, one-third of one of the 1950s most popular vocal groups, The McGuire Sisters, passed away this past Friday at Paradise Valley, Arizona of complications from Parkinson's disease at age 84.

Alongside older sister Christine and younger sister Phyllis, Dorothy became a major pop music star at the time that rock 'n' roll was just becoming a worldwide phenomenon.  Such as was the music of Patti Page, Perry Como and others of their generation, the McGuires' music existed in their own parellel universe, with a solid barbershop vocal mentality (like that of the Chordettes and the Lennon Sisters) blending perfectly whether it's songs like "Sincerely" (an ealry 1955 #1 hit,which was a cover of major rhythm and blues hit for the Moonglows) or Sugartime (another chart topper, this one from 1958).

The girls still continued to have records on the pop charts as late as the early 1960s, but split up in 1968 when Phyllis went solo and Christine and Dorothy retired from show business to raise their families.

The sisters reunited in 1985 and continued performing into the 21st century.

Friday, September 17, 2010

Hey Perry, Is It Unconditional?

From 1946, here's Perry Como singing "Surrender."