Friday, January 4, 2013

Patti Page [1927-2013]

Artist: Patti Page
LP: Indiscretion
Song: "You Call Everybody Darling"
[ listen ]
Song: "'Tis Autumn"
[ listen ]

I was sad to hear the news yesterday that Patti Page had died on the first day of the New Year. Now we will never know how much that doggie was in the window (the one with the waggly tail). We don't know for certain if the doggie was even for sale! Originally from small-town Oklahoma, Clara Ann Fowler changed her name to Patti Page after performing a short radio spot for Page Milk Company on a local radio station. She went on to Chicago from there, where she signed with Mercury Records and became the top female hit-maker of the 1950s. She's most well known for her #1 smash from 1950, "Tennessee Waltz" (and of course there's the one about the doggie), but she's also the first singer to over-dub her own voice in order to perform her own harmonies and backing vocals! Patti's 1955 "Indiscretion" LP is one of the things I picked up when I first began accumulating records by vocalists of the '50s and '60s, and I've been a fan of hers ever since. You can read all about Patti Page's terrific life and career on Wikipedia here, find her complete discography here, and go here to read a down-to-earth Patti Page tribute (it's not an obituary) and to listen to more of her lovely songs.

Patti Page
[November 8, 1927 — January 1, 2013]
We will miss you, Patti.

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