Tuesday, March 31, 2009

The DiMara Sisters

Artist: The DiMara Sisters
LP: Italy Revisited
Song: "Guaglione"[ listen ]

Last night I watched an episode of The Golden Girls called "Foreign Exchange," in which Sophia's friends from Sicily arrive in Miami with the news that Dorothy and their daughter Gina had been mixed up in the Brooklyn hospital where they were both born at about the same time. They've come to the Golden Girls' home to take Dorothy back to Italy with them where she will marry Guido, the most handsome man in the village.

According to a sticker on the cover of this terrific collection of Italian songs by the DiMara Sisters, the record once belonged to U.S. Navy Reserve Lt. Geraldine M. Guccione at the USNS Hospital based in San Francisco, California. If she or anyone in her family is reading this and wants to hear this entire record again, let me know and I'll make you a copy. Here are notes about the DiMaras from the back of the LP
:
THIS ALBUM WAS INEVITABLE. Ever since the release of their
debut album, "Italy," there has been a growing clamor for more
of the delightful and ear-pleasing harmony of the DiMara
Sisters. In this collection of songs, the girls have more than
adequately answered the clamor, and offer their growing legion
of fans a refreshingly new and satisfying musical experience
.

It has been some five years now since the DiMara Sisters left
their native Italy to come to America. Musically speaking, Italy's
loss has been America's gain. In the past five years Lillian, Rose
and Marisa DiMara have lifted their
thoroughly ingratiating young
voices in sweet song and given us a touch of
the sadness, the
romance, the gaiety and the beauty of sunny Italy
.

Back in the old country, the DiMara girls lived the quiet normal
lives of youngsters growing up. Their father, Senor DiMara, was
a representative of the International Accordion Company, and he
made certain that music played an important part in his daughters'
upbringing. All three studied music under a number of professional
music teachers, including the well-known Maestro Sciorelli
.

When the girls were ready, they made their professional debut
over the Rome television station "La Rai." The three young
charmers met with instantaneous success. In 1953, Senor
DiMara and his American-born wife left Italy and brought
their daughters to these shores and in 1955, at the Club
Alamo in Detroit, the DiMaras made their first appearance
in an American nightclub. Once again, they met
with immediate success
.

There are, without a doubt, many albums of Italian music
and songs on the market today. What makes the work of
the DiMara Sisters different is best described in one word—
authenticity. There is no vocal group that can sing with
the complete authenticity and innate "know-how"
as these three young ladies
.
In this album, as in the first, Tony Dannon plays accordion
and conducts the orchestra. Tony, who has been associated
with the DiMara Sisters for many years, is also connected
with the Internaional Accordion Company and operates
an accordion school in Detroit
.
Most of the songs in their first album were comprised of old
Italian melodies—the songs of a past generation. In this long
player, most of the songs are of the new generation. They all,
however, retain the flavor and intrinsic qualities that we have
always associated with the music of Italy. The group offers a
variety of numbers, running the gamut from the satiric bite of
the opening song Torero, to the tender refrain of Anema E Core.
There is the rollicking, joyous La Tarantella, and the ebullient
strains of the closing song, Polka Italiano
.
As we stated in the beginning, this album was inevitable, a
natural follow-up to their first album. Whether you have heard
the first album or not, this collection convincingly points out why
one visit to Italy with the DiMara Sisters could never suffice,
and that "Italy Revisited" is truly a most welcome event
.

ALBUM PRODUCED BY: HUGO AND LUIGI
COVER PHOTO: DUNCAN EDWARDS

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