Pattipage I Wish I Was a Little Boy Again 45

PATTI PAGE

"The Singing Rage...Miss Patti Page!" It'south hundred-to-one the young Clara Ann Fowler could have imagined she would one day be described in such a way, or be part of an experiment later considered an important moment in music history. Notwithstanding there she was, 20 years of age in December 1947, a guinea grunter for experiments in multitracking, the central focus of the first pop recordings designed to brand a solo vocaliser sound like 2 singers...or four!

"Confess" was the springboard to a career that rose to heights few take known; in the early '50s she reigned as mainstream music's queen by mode of her Patti Page persona, having wrested the crown from Dinah Shore while belongings at bay a bevy of bewitching pop divas including Jo Stafford, Kay Starr, Teresa Brewer, Rosemary Clooney and Mercury labelmate Georgia Gibbs...some established, some up-and-coming, but none able to catch upward to her in tape sales or public demand. Ane of 11 children, Clara's father worked for the railroad and her female parent picked cotton; Claremore, Oklahoma was her birthplace and habitation until the family moved to Tulsa effectually the time she hit her eleventh birthday. Equally Ann Fowler she took reward of an opportunity to sing on a daily fifteen-infinitesimal radio prove on local station KTUL. Sponsored by the Page Milk Company (headquartered in nearby Coffeyville), they had employed a young singer (whose identity is unknown) and given her the proper name "Patti Folio" after the brand; when she left, Clara volunteered to supercede her. Proving she had the talent to pull it off, she took the name and few if any listeners were the wiser.

Al Clauser and his Oklahoma Outlaws performed on the evidence and in 1946 she sang with them on her outset recording, "My Sweet Papa," a country release on the Skyline label. She asked the milk company'southward owner, Jim Page, if she could utilize Patti Page permanently and he said she could...no strings attached! Before long she joined Jimmy Joy's orchestra out of Dallas, Texas, touring with them throughout the midwest; Jack Rael, a saxophonist for Joy's band, became her manager. Moving to Chicago in '47, she continued working on radio and sang briefly with Benny Goodman'south large band, which led to a contract with Mercury Records, a ii-year-sometime Chicago-based label already gaining manufacture fizz with hot new vocaliser Frankie Laine. Her showtime unmarried for Mercury, "Every Then Often," was one of four sides recorded with Eddie Getz's Orchestra.

The George Barnes Trio backed her after that, taking part in the late '47 session that spawned her sixth Mercury single, a real attending-grabber. "Confess" (written by Bennie Benjamin and George David Weiss), a song designed as a duet, was already out in a version by Doris Twenty-four hour period and Buddy Clark; Rael suggested they dub Patti'southward voice twice, though the company's producers and engineers weren't sure information technology could be done. With A&R managing director Mitch Miller'due south help, they accomplished it by recording two separate acetates for her lead and bankroll vocals, syncing them together onto one master disc...a painstaking procedure.

The competing versions of "Confess" went neck-and-cervix in the summer of '48, each reaching the acme 20, but it was Page's that sparked the curiosity of listeners puzzled by the sound of someone singing a duet with herself, a sonic stunt disc jockeys played upwardly big. It was the showtime commercial example of an overdubbed recording (though experiments had taken place, without much in the mode of useful results, since the 1920s); Les Paul had been developing his ain multitracking techniques using magnetic record, achieving like results presently afterwards, taking what Patti'south people had pulled off to an advanced level (through reverb, phasing and other tape trickery) with his solo instrumentals and extremely pop song recordings with wife Mary Ford.

Several more discs were released by Patti that year, some using the two-track technique; a duet with Vic Damone, "Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart," sidestepped the gimmick, though "Coin, Marbles and Chalk" was double-tracked and landed her on the land charts in May 1949. And then Miller and Rael challenged themselves further, doubling the difficulty with the Mack Gordon-Harry Revel song "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming," featuring four separate singers-in-one! The label credited the Patti Folio Quartet and also read: Vocalization by Patti Page Patti Page Patti Page Patti Page (no other artist I know of has been credited five times on one tape label). People were amazed. In early 1950 it became her best-selling hit to that point.

Bigger things were coming...much bigger. Simply get-go she had to go through the uncertainty of releasing record after record without a follow-up hit (1 vocal, "What's Wrong With Me?," would seem to sum upwards her frustration). Several singles (including some other duet with Damone, 1 with Laine and 2 with country singer Male monarch Allen) failed to gain traction; Rael began conducting the orchestra on Patti's sessions during this period. "All My Love (Bolero)" broke the streak for good. Based on a French song (music by Paul Durand with lyrics past Mitchell Parish), it was a favorite of deejays (a number i airplay record the entire month of November '50) and reached number two on the sales charts...without the benefit of overlaid vocal razzle-dazzle!

Of class, they weren't about to carelessness the audio that had by that time become Patti'south trademark. The next release was a pop have on Leon Rene'southward "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" (previously an R&B striking for Mabel Scott in '48), but the Christmas disc was rapidly flipped and its B side was suddenly the sensation of the holiday flavor. "Tennessee Waltz," written by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart, was one of 1948's biggest C&W hits in its original version past King and his Golden West Cowboys equally well as a comprehend by Cowboy Copas; Patti's remake (titled "The Tennessee Waltz" ) hadn't been earmarked for airplay, simply once exposed there was no turning back. Her double-tracked voice, ready against a softer pop arrangement, was irresistible; the record hit number one in December '50, staying on top through February '51, selling millions on the manner to becoming the biggest hit of 1951 overall. Competitors came from all directions with their own versions: Stafford, Guy Lombardo (with vocalist Kenny Gardner), Les Paul and Mary Ford, Erskine Hawkins, The Fontane Sisters and Anita O'Solar day each claimed a much smaller piece of the pie. Spike Jones and his Urban center Slickers mangled the lyrics on a particularly cool parody of the song. Stick McGhee had a strong showing on the R&B charts with his instrumental reworking, "Tennessee Waltz Blues." Patti'southward later efforts were often set at various points on the U.Due south. map every bit she began racking upward hit afterward hitting.

Her rendition of Harold Spina and Bob Russell's "Would I Love You (Love You, Love Yous)" went elevation ten while "Waltz" was still at the apex. Still another unmarried, "Mockin' Bird Colina" (penned by Vaughn Horton), appeared and racked upwardly sales for Folio, Paul and Ford and country band The Pinetoppers with vocals by The Beaver Valley Sweethearts. For several weeks in March and April 1951, Patti had three simultaneous hits in the nation's meridian 10. The intriguingly deadening-fast-slow tempoed "Mister and Mississippi" (written by Irving Gordon, it was besides a major hit that year for Tennessee Ernie Ford) came next, then Paul Westmoreland's "Detour" ('...in that location's a rocky road ahead!'), a multi-artist country hit v years earlier, and the Patti-times-four carol "And And so to Sleep Once more," rounded out a blockbuster year for the softly ragin' Miss Page.

The first iii singles of 1952 seemed to take a "Detour," each unexpectedly declining to reach the height ten. During the summer she starred in her first TV series, Music Hall, an unassuming variety filler that followed the CBS nightly news in the seven:45 to 8PM time slot on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She was dorsum on the chart-topping track soon afterwards with the lamentable and forlorn "I Went to Your Hymeneals" (composed past Jessie Mae Robinson, 1 of the most successful blackness female songwriters of the era). Information technology spent several weeks at number one in the autumn; Spike Jones once again aimed an arrow in Patti's direction with all the same another parody hit (same title again) featuring a giggle-filled vocal by Sir Fredric Gas (a silly pseudonym for Earl Bennett). Patti'southward flip side to "Hymeneals," "You lot Belong to Me," came on the heels of Jo Stafford's number ane striking version and served mainly every bit a treat for fans more enamored of Folio than the slightly more mature Stafford; the adjacent single served a like purpose equally she covered younger newcomer and soonhoped-for major star Joni James' "Why Don't Yous Believe Me," once more winding up as an flunkey to a competing songstress's chart-topper.

Despite the massive popularity of "The Tennessee Flit," her side by side release, "The Doggie in the Window," is perchance the song Patti Folio is all-time remembered for, its cuteness lingering in pop culture (writer Bob Merrill had a predilection for novelty lyrics, resulting in some of the decade'south more clichéd, and pop, standards); canis familiaris yaps and funny "robber" barks were provided past members of the band at the original session. The cartoonish tune captured the nation's imagination; a pet lover'southward delight, information technology held the number one spot on the national charts for ii months from March until May of '53. Country knuckleheads Homer and Jethro took humorous liberties this time, scoring the biggest hit of their long and loony partnership with the pop and C&W hitting "(How Much Is) That Hound Dog in the Window."

The hits kept coming at a steady pace; Patti's peak sellers of 1954 included "Irresolute Partners," Benjamin and Weiss'southward "Cross Over the Span," "Steam Heat" (from the blockbuster Broadway show The Pajama Game, with music past Richard Adler and lyrics by Jerry Ross) and "What a Dream" (a cover of Ruth Brown's R&B striking "Oh What a Dream," written by Chuck Willis). At the end of the year she covered "Let Me Go, Lover!" (adding an exclamation point to the ultra-emotional, meg-selling early '55 hitting by Joan Weber).

The top television networks took turns every bit Patti starred in three different variety shows during the latter half of the 1950s. The Patti Page Show ran on NBC for merely 4 weeks in 1956 as an hourlong Sabbatum night summer replacement for Perry Como'due south long-running serial. CBS brought her back in the fall of '57 for The Big Record, a music-merely 30 minute program featuring popular (non-rock and roll) artists performing their biggest hits; on the air nine months, it was the longest of her four series. She completed her idiot box quaternion with ABC'southward The Patti Folio Olds Bear witness, another half hr serial, running from September '58 through March '59. Elevation selling, and memorable, recordings during this period include Al Hoffman and Dick Manning's sentimental throwback "Allegheny Moon," the dreamy "One-time Cape Cod," which worked wonders for Massachusetts' oceanside tourist trade, and "Left Right Out of Your Heart," gaining attending with its marching beat, marginally war machine phrases and catchy 'Hello-lee-hello-lo-hi-lup-up-upward' hook.

Patti transitioned to the silvery screen with an acting career that spanned just 3 characteristic films. There was a minor role equally a nun in Elmer Gantry, the 1960 motion-picture show that landed Burt Lancaster his Academy Award for All-time Histrion. The post-obit twelvemonth she had her only leading role (opposite future Fugitive David Janssen) in the critically derided Dondi, based on a newspaper comic strip built effectually the juvenile title character. An underwhelming operation in 1962's Boys' Night Out (supporting stars Kim Novak, James Garner and Tony Randall) was, at least, notable for her hitting recording of the moving picture's theme. These three films awkwardly demonstrate that interim was not her forte; other than a couple of small television receiver roles she went back to what she did best, though even when it came to singing, striking songs were much harder to come by in the early on '60s.

With Jack Rael withal managing her, she parted ways with Mercury Records in 1962 subsequently 15 more often than not-lucrative years. Signing with Columbia, she kicked off a string of Robert Mersey-produced popular tunes in early on '63 with "Pretty Boy Lonely," achieving only modest success for the next two years. Her only existent hit for Columbia came with the theme from the creepy suspense flick "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte" starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. A superlative ten hitting in the bound of 1965, the vocal garnered an Oscar nomination for its composers, Frank DeVol and Mack David. Subsequently in the decade Patti returned to her first love, country music, finding acceptance initially with pop music buyers; covers of country smashes fabricated famous by Glen Campbell ("Gentle on My Mind"), Roger Miller ("Piddling Green Apples") and Tammy Wynette ("Stand By Your Man") were hits on the Easy Listening charts in 1968.

From that indicate on, Patti Page focused entirely on country music, returning to Mercury after leaving Columbia in 1970 and gradually winning over country fans with her recordings for Epic, Avco and Plantation throughout the 1970s and early '80s. Her career later this was mainly on stage, performing land songs and her many pop hits at shows all around the U.S. She settled in the San Diego area in the 1970s. All the while, Patti'due south private life proceeded quite unremarkably; though married three times, at that place are no wild stories, nothing to set her in the context of an unfortunately high percentage of her contemporaries. She simply loved what she did and managed to rest work with play, fame with family, for more than six decades.

- Michael Jack Kirby

NOTABLE SINGLES:

• My Sweet Papa - 1946
  with Al Clauser and his Oklahoma Outlaws
• Confess - 1948
• Say Something Sweet to Your Sweetheart - 1948
  with Vic Damone
• Then in Honey - 1949
• Money, Marbles and Chalk - 1949
• With My Eyes Wide Open I'grand Dreaming - 1950
  equally Patti Page Quartet
• I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Smooth - 1950
• All My Love (Bolero) - 1950
• The Tennessee Flit - 1950
• Would I Love You (Dearest You, Love You) - 1951
• Mockin' Bird Colina - 1951
• Ever True Ever More /
  Downward the Trail of Achin' Hearts - 1951
• Mister and Mississippi /
  These Things I Offer You - 1951
• Detour - 1951
• And So to Sleep Over again - 1951
• Come What May - 1952
• Whispering Winds - 1952
• Once in Awhile - 1952
• I Went to Your Wedding /
  Y'all Belong to Me - 1952
• Why Don't You lot Believe Me - 1953
• The Doggie in the Window - 1953
• Butterflies /
  This is My Song - 1953
• Irresolute Partners - 1953
• Cross Over the Span - 1954
• Steam Rut - 1954
• What a Dream /
  I Cried - 1954
• The Mama Doll Song - 1954
• Let Me Become, Lover! - 1955
• Everlovin' - 1955
• Croce Di Oro (Cross of Gilt) - 1955
• Continue With the Wedding - 1956
• My First Formal Gown /
  As well Young to Go Steady - 1956
• Allegheny Moon - 1956
• Mama From the Train /
  Every Time (I Feel His Spirit) - 1956
• Repeat After Me - 1957
• A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man'southward Gold) /
  The Wall - 1957
• Sometime Greatcoat Cod /
  Wondering - 1957
• I'll Remember Today - 1957
• Belonging to Someone - 1958
• Some other Fourth dimension, Another Identify - 1958
• Left Right Out of Your Middle - 1958
• Fibbin' - 1958
• Trust in Me - 1959
• The Walls Have Ears - 1959
• Cheerio Charlie - 1959
• The Sound of Music - 1959
• Ii Thousand, Two Hundred, Twenty-3 Miles - 1960
• One of Us (Will Weep Tonight) - 1960
• I Wish I'd Never Been Built-in - 1960
• Don't Read the Letter - 1961
• A Metropolis Daughter Stole My State Boy /
  Dondi - 1961
• Mom and Dad'southward Waltz /
  You'll Answer to Me - 1961
• Cleaved Middle and a Pillow Filled With Tears - 1961
• Go On Dwelling house - 1962
• Most People Get Married - 1962
• The Boys' Night Out - 1962
• Pretty Boy Lonely - 1963
• Say Wonderful Things - 1963
• Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte - 1965
• You Can't Exist Truthful, Dear - 1965
• Gentle on My Mind - 1968
• Little Greenish Apples - 1968
• Stand By Your Man - 1968

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Source: http://www.waybackattack.com/pagepatti.html

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