Amore: The Story of Italian American Song
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Amore is Mark Rotella’s celebration of the “Italian decade”—the years after the war and before the Beatles when Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett, among others, won the hearts of the American public with a smooth, stylish, classy brand of pop. In Rotella’s vivid telling, the stories behind forty Italian American classics (from “O Sole Mio,” “Night and Day,” and “Mack the Knife” to “Volare” and “I Wonder Why”) show how a glorious musical tradition became the sound track of postwar America and the expression of a sense of style that we still cherish. Rotella follows the music from the opera houses and piazzas of southern Italy, to the barrooms of the Bronx and Hoboken, to the Copacabana, the Paramount Theatre, and the Vegas Strip. He shows us the hardworking musicians whose voices were to become ubiquitous on jukeboxes and the radio and whose names—some anglicized, some not—have become bywords for Italian American success, even as they were dogged by stereotypes and prejudice. Amore is the personal Top 40 of one proud son of Italy; it is also a love song to Italian American culture and an evocation of an age that belongs to us all. Publishers Weekly Rotella's revelatory follow-up to Stolen Figs is much more than the story of the years after the war and before the Beatles, when Italian-Americans ruled popular music--it's an astute examination of how the Italians integrated into America. With thorough research combined with a lyrical writing style (" voice glides like a bow over the strings"), Rotella transports readers into a vibrant, colorful world with tours of a museum devoted to the megaselling Enrico Caruso, complete with cans of Caruso Olive Oil ("100 percent olive oil for Italians; a blend of 75 percent peanut and 25 percent olive oils ‘for 'mericans'") and of onetime superstar Nick Lucas's old neighborhood in Belleville, N.J. Folk and popular songs from Italy are deftly woven into the larger story of how a once unwelcome ethnic group became a vital part of American culture. In documenting the progress of Italian integration into mainstream America, classic songs such as Frank Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String," Frankie Lane's "That Lucky Old Sun," and Dean Martin's "That's Amore" create opportunities to expand on the story of the singer, the song, and the state of the union, resulting in a rich and reverential tapestry. Rotella's keen eye and enthusiast's ear make for sumptuous reading and will garner a renewed appreciation for these performers while those readers unfamiliar with the major works of Tony Bennett or Perry Como, let alone Russ Columbo and Julius La Rosa, will be inspired to load up their iPod. (Sept.)
The VersePart One The Old Country1 "I Have But One Heart" ("O marenariello") Vic Damone Damone, Vic 32 "Vesti la giubba" Enrico Caruso Caruso, Enrico 123 "Core'ngrato" Gilda Mignonette Mignonette, Gilda 264 "O sole mio" Enrico Caruso Caruso, Enrico 355 "Tip-Toe Through the Tulips" Nick Lucas Lucas, Nick 446 "You Call It Madness (but I Call It Love)" Russ Columbo Columbo, Russ 507 "Sing, Sing, Sing" Louis Prima Prima, Louis 598 "All or Nothing At All" Frank Sinatra Sinatra, Frank 679 "Night and Day" Frank Sinatra Sinatra, Frank 7410 "Angelina" Louis Prima Prima, Louis 7911 "I'm Gonna Love That Gal (Like She's Never Been Loved Before)" Perry Como Como, Perry 8312 "Prisoner of Love" Perry Como Como, Perry 8813 "Mam'selle" Frank Sinatra Sinatra, Frank 92Part Two The Italian Decade, the 1950s14 "You're Breaking My Heart" Vic Damone Damone, Vic 10115 "That Lucky Old Sun" Frankie Laine Laine, Frankie 10916 "Be My Love" Mario Lanza Lanza, Mario 11617 "Here in My Heart" Al Martino Martino, Al 12518 "Because of You" Tony Bennett Bennett, Tony 13319 "Your Cheatin' Heart" Joni James James, Joni 14120 "That's Amore" Dean Martin Martin, Dean 14421 "Eh, cumpari!" Julius La Rosa La Rosa, Julius 15122 "Darktown Strutters' Ball (Italian-Style)" Lou Monte Monte, Lou 15623 "(The Gang That Sang) Heart of My Heart" Johnny Desmond Desmond, Johnny 16224 "Sweet and Gentle" Alan Dale Dale, Alan 16525 "I've Got the World on a String" Frank Sinatra Sinatra, Frank 16926 "Just a Gigolo" Louis Prima Prima, Louis 17927 "Innamorata" Jerry Vale Vale, Jerry 18428 "Volare" Dean Martin Martin, Dean 19129 "Mama" Connie Francis Francis, Connie 19630 "Dream Lover" Bobby Darin Darin, Bobby 20231 "Lightnin' Strikes" Lou Christie Christie, Lou 20632 "I Wonder Why" Dion 21233 "Sixteen Candles" Johnny Maestro Maestro, Johnny 22134 "Mack the Knife" Bobby Darin Darin, Bobby 22535 "It's Now or Never" Elvis Presley Presley, Elvis 22836 "The Wanderer" Dion 23337 "Walk Like a Man" Frankie Valli Valli, Frankie 237Part Three Las Vegas38 "Nice 'n' Easy" Frank Sinatra Sinatra, Frank 24539 "Bye Bye Blackbird" Sammy Davis Jr. Davis, Sammy, Jr. 25240 "Fly Me to the Moon" Frank Sinatra Sinatra, Frank 257"Fly Me to the Moon" (Reprise) Tony Bennett Bennett, Tony 263Notes 267Bibliography 277Acknowledgments 285Index 289
