Crooner Jerry Vale, Dead At 83

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Crooner Jerry Vale, Dead At 83

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Post by TCB-FAN »

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U.S. News May 19, 2014


Jerry Vale, the pop crooner known for his velvety voice and the classic love songs he recorded in the 1950s and early 1960s, died Sunday at his home in Palm Desert, Calif. He was 83.

His death was confirmed by his family.

Mr. Vale rose to stardom performing in supper clubs as a teenager, and hit the charts for the first time in 1953 with “You Can Never Give Me Back My Heart.” He was a fixture at Columbia Records, where he recorded more than 50 albums and churned out hits like “Two Purple Shadows” and “Al Di La.” His biggest hit, “You Don’t Know Me,” peaked at No. 14 on Billboard’s Hot 100 list in 1956.

An Italian-American, he popularized Italian romantic songs with renditions of “Innamorata (Sweetheart)” in 1956 and “I Have but One Heart” in 1962.

As a teenager, he worked as an oiler alongside his father, an engineer, digging excavations for projects like a sewage plant in Oyster Bay, N.Y., on Long Island. “But then I got a break singing,” he said in a radio interview in 1984. “So thank God, I made the right decision.”

Mr. Vale got his big break in 1950 while working at the Enchanted Room in Yonkers. There, he met Guy Mitchell, before he became an international pop star, who arranged for him to audition for Mitch Miller, the head of artist and repertoire at Columbia. Mr. Mitchell signed him to a contract, helped him change his name and launched his career.

His long career took him to Carnegie Hall as well as the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, where he met and worked with the stars of his time, among them Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr. and Nat King Cole.

His autobiography, “Jerry Vale: A Singer’s Life,” written with Richard Grudens, was published in 2000. In it, he recalled meeting his longtime idol, Frank Sinatra, in the early 1950s at Lindy’s Restaurant in New York City, a magnet for show business talent. When they were introduced, Mr. Sinatra stood up, an unusual gesture for big stars at the time. It stunned Mr. Vale.

“A few years ago I had heard so many negative stories about Frank that I was somewhat apprehensive to approach him,” he said. “To my absolute surprise, he wound up being quite amiable, and the most caring individual that I have ever known.”

The two became fast friends. Mr. Sinatra, who was a partner in the Sands Hotel, helped Mr. Vale secure his first gig there, a two-week engagement that lasted 22 weeks after an owner, Jack Enratter, heard his voice.

After Mr. Vale and his wife, Rita, moved to California, the two became a constant presence at Mr. Sinatra’s Rancho Mirage ranch. He played at the annual Frank Sinatra Celebrity Invitational Golf Tournament for several years and once performed at the event in 1996.

A baseball fan since childhood, he hired a 40-piece band and eight background singers to record the national anthem as a gift for the Yankees in 1963. The recording became a fixture at sporting events for years and was the first song inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Mr. Vale made cameo appearances as himself in the films “Goodfellas” in 1990 and “Casino” in 1995, both directed by Martin Scorsese, and in the television series “The Sopranos.”

He was born Genaro Louis Vitaliano on July 8, 1930, in the Bronx.

In 1959, he married Rita Vale, an actress who appeared on the television dramas “Studio One in Hollywood” on CBS and “The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse” on NBC. She also acted in the 1952 film “The Thief.” She survives him, as do their son, a daughter and three grandchildren.


"If The Songs Don't Go Over With The Crowd, We Can Always Do A Medley Of Costumes."

Elvis A. Presley, 1970


greystoke

Re: Crooner Jerry Vale, Dead At 83

#1288956

Post by greystoke »

Jerry Vale was a very talented singer who recorded a fine body of work over the years. His vocal range and the variety of songs he recorded remains impressive, whilst his cameos for Martin Scorsese in Goodfellas and Casino were great to see. But I've always enjoyed his singing very much.



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Re: Crooner Jerry Vale, Dead At 83

#1289054

Post by Mike Windgren »

Hi there!! :D :D :D.

Thank you for this cool topic ::rocks.

As stated by you, he is the original singer and had a great success with the song You Don´t Know Me composed by Cindy Walker & Eddy Arnold.

Later on Ray Charles did a remake of it and had a hit as well in the sixties. Elvis did an almost carbon copy of this song on the 1967 movie Clambake 8). Bye for now :smt006.

..


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