Artist: Sergio FranchiLP: The Golden Voice of Italy
According to AltaVista's Babel Fish translation, this song is about "Your Green Eyes." With a voice as big as Italy, it's unfortunate that Sergio Franchi, who would have turned 83 yesterday, never got to tackle one of the Bond-film theme songs of the 1960s. Notes about Franchi from the back of the LP are included below; you can also read about the singer here and watch a wonderful medley of Sergio Franchi television performance clips on YouTube here (the 1969 clip of "Granada" is pretty great). My thoughts are with the people of Italy, who just went through a horrible earthquake.
Sergio Franchi is a name we will be hearing a lot of in the
near future. As a very young man his dreams were to be an
electrical engineer and to sing in the opera. Up to a certain
point he followed his aims and graduated school as an
electrical engineer. During this time he also studied opera.
After graduation he went to Johannesburg, South Africa with
his parents. Asked to sing at a charity show given by the
Italian Consulate he was approached by a producer who
happened to attend the performance. He was immediately
offered the lead role in Strauss' operetta "The Gypsy Baron."
This lucky experience led to many other parts, among them
leads in "Vagabond King" and "New Moon."
Encouraged by the success in Johannesburg, Sergio made up
his mind to return to his native Italy and try to find the same
success that he had found in South Africa. The first few months
were hard but finally he was heard by the right people and was
signed up to an exclusive contract to record the songs he
loved best—the songs of Italy.
Franchi toured the Continent and had triumph after triumph.
S. Hurok, the famed American impresario was told of this
magnificent new voice that was being heard on the
Continent and after hearing some of his recordings proceeded
to sign Sergio to an American tour for the 1962-3 season.
London Records is extremely proud to present Sergio Franchi
to the American public via his recordings. These recordings are
songs which Sergio loves and sings with more feeling since
these are the songs of his homeland. Listen and enjoy
this gifted young singer.
near future. As a very young man his dreams were to be an
electrical engineer and to sing in the opera. Up to a certain
point he followed his aims and graduated school as an
electrical engineer. During this time he also studied opera.
After graduation he went to Johannesburg, South Africa with
his parents. Asked to sing at a charity show given by the
Italian Consulate he was approached by a producer who
happened to attend the performance. He was immediately
offered the lead role in Strauss' operetta "The Gypsy Baron."
This lucky experience led to many other parts, among them
leads in "Vagabond King" and "New Moon."
Encouraged by the success in Johannesburg, Sergio made up
his mind to return to his native Italy and try to find the same
success that he had found in South Africa. The first few months
were hard but finally he was heard by the right people and was
signed up to an exclusive contract to record the songs he
loved best—the songs of Italy.
Franchi toured the Continent and had triumph after triumph.
S. Hurok, the famed American impresario was told of this
magnificent new voice that was being heard on the
Continent and after hearing some of his recordings proceeded
to sign Sergio to an American tour for the 1962-3 season.
London Records is extremely proud to present Sergio Franchi
to the American public via his recordings. These recordings are
songs which Sergio loves and sings with more feeling since
these are the songs of his homeland. Listen and enjoy
this gifted young singer.
[ Sergio Franchi: April 6, 1926 — May 1, 1990 ]
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