Misplaced Pages

#855144

106-594: Greeley was born Giorgio Guariglia in Westerly, Rhode Island on 23 July 1917, soon after his family emigrated from Italy. Most of the family's members were musically gifted and could play many instruments. His father, James, had three music schools and a traveling orchestra. Georgio was taught to read music at an early age and was playing piano and mandolin when he was five. He often played four-handed piano pieces with his father, and they gave father-son recitals. He studied music at Columbia University , where he met and formed

212-421: A Mountain ". He sang well-known theme songs for many Western film soundtracks, including 3:10 To Yuma , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , and Blazing Saddles , although his recordings were not charted as country and western. Laine sang an eclectic variety of song styles and genres, stretching from big band crooning to pop , western-themed songs, gospel , rock , folk , jazz , and blues . He did not sing

318-576: A Woman", "That Ain't Right", " Exactly Like You ", " Shine " and "Sleepy Ol' River" on the Mercury label. He enjoyed his greatest success after impresario Mitch Miller , who became the A&;R man at Mercury in 1948, recognized a universal quality in his voice that led to a succession of chart-topping popular songs, often with a folk or western flavor. Laine and Miller became a formidable hit-making team whose first collaboration, " That Lucky Old Sun ", became

424-470: A ball game and can be heard shouting out lines like "It's a munchy, crunchy bag of lunchy!" The flip side features Laine, and is a jazzy version of an old standard done as a rhythm number. It was played by Laine's friend, disc jockey Al Jarvis, and gained the singer a small West Coast following. Even after his discovery by Carmichael, Laine still was considered only an intermission act at Billy Berg's. He reached his first independent success when he dusted off

530-776: A beachfront community with small amounts of nightlife and several hotels; Potter Hill, where the Town Forest is located; Shelter Harbor; Watch Hill , with beaches and summer cottages; Weekapaug ; White Rock; and Winnapaug, with public golf courses. The town holds a number of annual events, such as the Pawcatuck River Duck Race in April, Virtu Art Festival in May, Shakespeare in the Park and the Summer Pops (hosted by

636-575: A box set. A few Columbia Records recordings are listed here because ownership and labels changed for some artists in the late 1950s, and because Greeley worked for Columbia Pictures. Capitol 7" singles and EP W = Mononaural, WS = Stereo. Uncommon practice at the time, one of Conklin's contributions as president of the new label was to make all albums available in stereo. Greeley's albums were mostly recorded at Thorne Nogar's studio on Sycamore Street in Hollywood. Warner Bros. Records chief engineer

742-419: A brash vibrancy and vulgar beat that made the old bandstand routine which Frank meticulously perfected seem almost invalid. In the words of Jazz critic Richard Grudens: Frank's style was very innovative, which was why he had such difficulty with early acceptance. He would bend notes and sing about the chordal context of a note rather than to sing the note directly, and he stressed each rhythmic downbeat, which

848-544: A composer. IMDb lists some twenty movies between 1949 and 1960 for which George Greeley is credited as composer of original music, including the 1957 film Hellcats of the Navy starring Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis , Good Day For a Hanging, and The Guns of Fort Petticoat, starring Audie Murphy . Several films of which Greeley was especially proud included working as pianist on the Leonard Bernstein score for

954-467: A day. — Frankie Laine He changed his professional name to Frankie Laine in 1938, upon receiving a job singing for the New York City radio station WINS . The program director, Jack Coombs, thought that "LoVecchio" was "too foreign sounding, and too much of a mouthful for the studio announcers," so he Americanized it to "Lane", an homage to his high school. He added the "i" to avoid confusion with

1060-556: A fifteen-year-old song that few people remembered in 1946, " That's My Desire ". Laine had picked up the song from singer June Hart a half a dozen years earlier, when he sang at the College Inn in Cleveland. He introduced "Desire" as a "new" song—meaning new to his repertoire at Berg's—but the audience mistook it for a new song that had just been written. He ended up singing it five times that night. After that, Laine quickly became

1166-509: A film, Rainbow 'Round My Shoulder , with Austin's daughter, Charlotte. Shortly after graduating from high school, Laine signed on as a member of The Merry Garden's marathon dance company and toured with them, working dance marathons during the Great Depression (setting the world record of 3,501 hours with partner Ruthie Smith at Atlantic City 's Million Dollar Pier in 1932). Still billed as Frank LoVecchio, he would entertain

SECTION 10

#1732783738856

1272-515: A girl singer at the station who went by the name of Frances Lane. It was at this time that Laine got unknown singer Helen O'Connell her job with the Jimmy Dorsey band. WINS, deciding that they no longer needed a jazz singer, dropped him. With the help of bandleader Jean Goldkette , he got a job with a sustainer (non-sponsored) radio show at NBC . As he was about to start, Germany attacked Poland, and all sustainer broadcasts were pulled off

1378-518: A household in the town was $ 44,613, and the median income for a family was $ 53,165. Males had a median income of $ 37,887 versus $ 26,800 for females. The per capita income for the town was $ 24,092. About 4.3% of families and 6.7% of the population were below the poverty line , including 9.6% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over. The most frequent ancestries among the town's population are Italian (34.2%), Irish (17.9%) and English (14.2%). Many Italians moved to Westerly from Italy around

1484-601: A long-time friendship with composer/arranger/bandleader Paul Weston , with whom Greeley worked in later years at Capitol Records and Columbia Records. Greeley won a scholarship to the Juilliard School in New York, where he studied piano and composition, graduating in 1939. He also studied music at the University of Southern California , and studied composition privately with Ernst Toch . George Greeley entered

1590-751: A member of the choir in the Church of the Immaculate Conception 's elementary school across the street from the North Park Avenue home. He later attended Lane Technical High School , where he helped to develop his lung power and breath control by joining the track and field and basketball teams. He realized he wanted to be a singer when he missed time in school to see Al Jolson 's current talking picture, The Singing Fool . Jolson would later visit Laine when both were filming pictures in 1949, and, at about this time, Jolson remarked that Laine

1696-573: A number with them. In late 1946, Hoagy Carmichael heard him singing at Billy Berg's club in Los Angeles , and this was when success finally arrived. Not knowing that Carmichael was in the audience, Laine sang the Carmichael-penned standard " Rockin' Chair " when Slim Gaillard called him up to the stage to sing. This eventually led to a contract with the newly established Mercury records . Laine and Carmichael would later collaborate on

1802-572: A real-life friend of vaudevillian George Walker, who was with him during the New York City race riots of 1900. The song takes what was then an ethnic slur, "shine", and turns it into something to be proud of. It had been a hit for Laine's idol Louis Armstrong , who would cover several of Laine's hits as well. "Satan Wears a Satin Gown" is the prototype of another recurring motif in Laine's oeuvre ,

1908-435: A rhythm and blues-influenced jazz singer, Laine later branched out into a number of a genres, including popular standards, gospel , folk , country , western/Americana, rock 'n' roll , and the occasional novelty number. He was also known as Mr. Rhythm for his driving jazzy style. Laine was part of a new breed of singers who rose to prominence in the post–World War II era. This new, raw, emotionally charged style seemed at

2014-474: A run of top forty hits that lasted into the early years of the rock and roll era. Other hits included " Dream a Little Dream of Me ", "Stars and Stripes Forever", " The Cry of the Wild Goose ", "Swamp Girl", "Satan Wears a Satin Gown", and "Music, Maestro Please". "Shine", written in 1910 by Cecil Mack (R.C. McPherson), a ground-breaking African-American songwriter and publisher, was believed to be based on

2120-475: A series of jobs, including those of a bouncer, dance instructor, used car salesman, agent, synthetic leather factory worker, and machinist at a defense plant. It was while working at the defense plant during the Second World War that he first began writing songs ("It Only Happens Once" was written at the plant). Often homeless during his "scuffling" phases, he hit the lowest point of his career, when he

2226-680: A song, "Put Yourself in My Place, Baby". Laine cut his first record in 1944, for a fledgling company called " Bel-Tone Records ." The sides were called "In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning", (an uptempo number not to be confused with the Frank Sinatra recording of the same name) and a wartime propaganda tune entitled "Brother, That's Liberty", though the records failed to make much of an impression. The label soon folded, and Laine

SECTION 20

#1732783738856

2332-686: A sound effect when Walston's character Uncle Martin raised his antennae or used his powers of levitation. In addition to his film and TV work, Greeley performed as a piano soloist and guest conductor in Montreal , Korea, and Rio de Janeiro . In 1957 he did an extensive concert tour of South America, and conducted the Argentine Symphony in Buenos Aires . Greeley participated in six television variety shows when touring in Australia. In

2438-501: A trumpet player), Billie Holiday , Mildred Bailey , and, later, Nat "King" Cole . Laine befriended Cole in Los Angeles, when the latter's career was just beginning to gain momentum. Cole recorded a song, "It Only Happens Once", that fledgling songwriter Laine had composed. They remained close friends throughout the remainder of Cole's life, and Laine was one of the pallbearers at Cole's funeral. In 1937, he replaced Perry Como in

2544-675: A village built in 1732, following the partition of Hopkinton remained shared between both Hopkinton and Westerly with the Bradford Village Historic District . Physician, American Revolution general, and Rhode Island Supreme Court justice Dr. Joshua Babcock was born in Westerly. Rhode Island Governor and Chief Justice Samuel Ward also lived here for many years. During the American Revolution , Westerly did not play any major battles compared to

2650-586: A year with Dorsey, Greeley defected to Abe Lyman because "the money was better, and Abe had me writing three arrangements a week. I'd studied composition and orchestration at Juilliard , and wanted to practice what I'd learned." Greeley then spent time during World War II conducting a U.S. Air Force band at the Santa Ana, California Army Air Base. He also became involved in the Hollywood radio scene, working as arranger on several nationally broadcast variety programs. A virtuoso trumpet player that Greeley had met in

2756-547: Is Westerly Public Schools , including the Westerly High School , the Westerly Middle School, Westerly High School Career and Tech (WHS- CTE ), and the local elementary schools, State Street Elementary School, Springbrook Elementary School, and Dunn’s Corners Elementary School. Westerly has a mayor–council government system, which the mayor is called the council president. The current mayor

2862-576: Is William J. Aiello since 2022. The Town of Westerly has other positions, including the school committee, and administration, with town manager being Shawn Lacey. Terms of the local council, senator and representative in the Rhode Island General Assembly last two-years, and school committee officials having four-year terms. Westerly has a set budget of $ 102 million for the Westerly Police Department in

2968-469: Is a town on the southwestern coastline of Washington County , Rhode Island , United States, first settled by English colonists in 1661, and incorporated as a municipality in 1669. Westerly is a beachfront community on the south shore of the state with a population of 23,359 as of the 2020 census. The Pawcatuck River flows on the western border of Westerly, and was once renowned for its own species of Westerly salmon , three of which are displayed on

3074-763: Is approximately 5 miles away and can be reached by Connecticut Route 2 and by Rhode Island Route 3 . Frankie Laine Frankie Laine (born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio ; March 30, 1913 – February 6, 2007) was an American singer and songwriter whose career spanned nearly 75 years, from his first concerts in 1930 with a marathon dance company to his final performance of " That's My Desire " in 2005. Often billed as "America's Number One Song Stylist", his other nicknames include "Mr. Rhythm", "Old Leather Lungs", and "Mr. Steel Tonsils". His hits included "That's My Desire", " That Lucky Old Sun ", " Mule Train ", " Jezebel ", " High Noon ", " I Believe ", " Hey Joe! ", " The Kid's Last Fight ", " Cool Water ", " Rawhide ", and " You Gave Me

3180-919: The Chorus of Westerly ) in June, and Riverglow in July. In recent years, the Westerly-Pawcatuck Chamber of Commerce's events have attracted many visitors, including big screen movies on the beach through July and August, Westerly's Columbus Day parade in October, and several beachfront events. Also, the Westerly-Pawcatuck Veterans Board of Control hold two of the oldest parades in the United States. The Memorial Day Parade started in 1867, held in May on Memorial Day, and

3286-624: The Georgia State Capitol . The four trolley lines of the Groton and Stonington Street Railway , Norwich and Westerly Railway , Pawtucket Valley Street Railway, and the Ashaway and Westerly Railway converged in Westerly and shared track between the railroad station and Dixon House Square downtown. The lines were built in the 1890s and 1900s and ran until the 1920s. Because of the towns location, Westerly would be devastated in 1938 by

George Greeley - Misplaced Pages Continue

3392-590: The Guild Guitar Company , founded in 1952 by Alfred Dronge in New York City, moved production to Westerly, and continued to make their well-respected archtop , acoustic , and solid body guitars there, until 2001, when they were bought by Fender Musical Instruments and production was moved to Corona, California . In 2012, Hurricane Sandy left beaches along the Westerly shoreline devastated and nearly unrecognizable, including Misquamicut . Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee stated that Misquamicut

3498-518: The Hoagy Carmichael standard, "Georgia on My Mind." Laine's slow, soulful version was a model for the iconic remake by Ray Charles a decade later. Charles would follow up "Georgia" with remakes of other Frankie Laine hits, including " Your Cheatin' Heart ", and "That Lucky Old Sun." ( Elvis Presley also remade several of Laine's hits, and his early influence on The Beatles has been well documented.) In an interview, Mitch Miller described

3604-669: The Hurricane of 1938 , with the village of Napatree Point being completely destroyed, along with Misquamicut, Galilee, Jerusalem, Green Hill, and Quonochontaug being heavily destroyed, with a storm surge of 12–15ft all along the coast of Rhode Island . Many factories, mines, houses, and more structures collapsed during the hurricane, and the New Haven and Hartford Railroad was damaged, shutting down transport to Westerly, RI. Following this, westerly would be struck again 6 years later in 1944, and again1954 by major hurricanes. In 1966,

3710-425: The eastern seaboard . Its quarries produced blue granite, in addition to pinks and reds. The Smith Granite Company employed many granite cutting craftsmen and was one of the town's major employers until the quarries stopped operating in the 1950s. Hundreds of examples of their work can be seen on the battlefields of Gettysburg and in city squares, municipal buildings, cemeteries throughout the United States, and even

3816-419: The "Lorelei" or "Jezebel" song (both of which would be the titles of later Laine records). The song, which has a loosely structured melody that switches in tone and rhythm throughout, was pitched to Laine by a young song plugger , Tony Benedetto, who would later go on to achieve success as Tony Bennett . Laine recognized the younger singer's talent, and gave him encouragement. "Swamp Girl" is another entry with

3922-406: The "Lorelei"/"Jezebel" motif in the Laine songbook. In this decidedly gothic tale of a ghostly female spirit who inhabits a metaphorical "swamp", the femme fatale attempts to lure the singer to his death, calling "Come to the deep where your sleep is without a dream." The swamp girl is voiced (in an obligato ) by coloratura Loulie Jean Norman , who would later go on to provide a similar vocal for

4028-656: The 1950s it was common practice for some Capitol recordings to be published in both the LP format (10" and 12") and in the EP Box-set format (FBF). Some LPs were also still being issued on 78 RPM discs (e.g. With a Song in My Heart ). During the 1950s, many recordings listed as "soundtracks" were actually studio recordings, as the film music was not yet released separately from the film. Many of these recordings have been remastered and reissued as CDs. EPs are shown separately when not

4134-688: The 1954 drama On the Waterfront ; and coaching Tyrone Power for The Eddy Duchin Story . In addition to performing the soundtrack songs when Eddy Duchin played (uncredited), it was Greeley's hands that performed the piano parts which Power mimed during filming. Concurrent with his work at Columbia Pictures, Greeley worked for Capitol Records , where he was a music director, arranger, and conductor for various artists including Gordon MacRae , Dean Martin , Ella Logan , Tony Martin , Dorothy Warenskjold , Jane Powell , Jane Froman , and Keely Smith . At

4240-639: The 2024–2025 fiscal budget. Westerly, RI has a general crime rate of 10 per 1000 residents, with most crime happening in Downtown Westerly , and along the coast. Westerly has a total crime rate that is 59% lower than the national average per 100,000 residents. Westerly is marked as one of the safest towns within the entirety of the United States , with 68 violent incidents per 100,000 residents. In total, there are 0.62 daily crimes (0.04 violent daily crimes and 0.57 daily property crimes) in

4346-530: The Air Corps ( Mannie Klein ) helped arrange an audition with Columbia Pictures ..(successful), and Greeley went to work there as staff pianist and orchestrator. As orchestrator, Greeley would fill out the sketches supplied by composers that included Max Steiner , Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco , Leonard Bernstein , and Dimitri Tiomkin . As pianist, he performed on about two hundred motion pictures, including Picnic and The Eddy Duchin Story . He also worked as

George Greeley - Misplaced Pages Continue

4452-703: The Bandbox...Laine's intense vocal style owed nothing to Crosby , Sinatra , or Dick Haymes . Instead he drew from Billy Eckstine , Big Joe Turner , Jimmy Rushing , and with it Laine had sown the seeds from which an entire new perception and audience would grow... Frank Sinatra represented perhaps the highest flowering of a quarter century tradition of crooning but suddenly found himself an anachronism. First Frankie Laine, then Tony Bennett , and now Johnnie (Ray), dubbed 'the Belters' and 'the Exciters,' came along with

4558-566: The CT-RI Norwich-New London NECTA (defined at the municipal level ). Westerly sits atop a glacial moraine , a series of small hills of debris left behind by receding glaciers in the last Ice Age. A pristine sample of the moraine encompasses a 140-acre (0.57 km ) preserve owned in perpetuity by the Westerly Land Trust. Within the trust land are the rare kettle formations that extend out under

4664-469: The Crumb Quarry, began operations, the first quarry in Westerly, to produce Westerly White and Blue granite. The Westerly area was known for its historically important (1870-1950s) granite mining and stone-cutting industry, which quarried a unique stone known as Westerly granite. This pinkish granite is ideal for statuary and has been used in numerous government buildings of several states on

4770-560: The Freddy Carlone band in Cleveland; Como made a call to Carlone about Laine. Como was another lifelong friend of Laine's, who once lent him the money to travel to a possible gig. Laine's rhythmic style was ill-suited to the sweet sounds of the Carlone band, and the two soon parted company. Success continued to elude Laine, and he spent the next 10 years "scuffling": alternating between singing at small jazz clubs on both coasts and

4876-530: The King mode, backed by R&B artist Johnny Moore 's group, The Three Blazers which featured Charles Brown and Cole's guitarist (from " The King Cole Trio "), Oscar Moore . The ruse worked and the record sold moderately well, although limited to the "race" market. Laine cut the remainder of his songs for Atlas in his own style, including standards such as " Roses of Picardy " and " Moonlight in Vermont ". It

4982-510: The No. 2 spot, it was Laine's version that became the standard. "Desire" became Laine's first gold record having sold over one million copies, and established him in the music world. He had been over $ 7,000 in debt, on the day before he recorded this song." His first paycheck for royalties was over five times this amount. Laine paid off all of his debts except one—fellow singer Perry Como refused to let Laine pay him back, and would kid him about

5088-652: The Popular Piano Concertos, peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 . On loan to Dot Records , he also ghost-conducted albums by Billy Vaughn and Lawrence Welk . Greeley's stint at Warner Brothers ended as times and popular tastes changed. He was let go by Mike Maitland who had succeeded Jim Conklin as label president. Ironically he was personally signed to the Reprise label by his old friend and bandmate, Frank Sinatra . Even more ironic, Sinatra sold

5194-519: The Professor , and Small Wonder (1985). Greeley's theme for My Favorite Martian (1963–66) is notable as one of the first uses of an electronic instrument in a television theme and prominently features an electro-theremin , played by Paul Tanner , co-creator of the instrument, who was at the time the lead trombonist for the ABC Orchestra. The electro-theremin was also regularly used as

5300-549: The States, among his televised concert appearances, Greeley was guest pianist on Chicago's WGN-TV series titled "Great Music From Chicago." In 1962 Greeley appeared as piano soloist with Robert Trendler conducting a program of American music. Then, appearing on the same series as piano soloist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 1964, he performed Aram Khachaturian 's " Sabre Dance ," Ferde Grofe 's " On

5406-643: The Trail " from his Grand Canyon Suite , and other works. In 1975 Greeley performed as guest pianist with the Boston Pops Orchestra , playing George Gershwin 's Concerto in F under Arthur Fiedler's baton. George Greeley also performed as guest pianist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. At the time of Greeley's death, Jon Burlingame. who was a USC professor teaching a class on the history of film scoring, stated that Greeley

SECTION 50

#1732783738856

5512-704: The USA average), and receives about 1,087 mm (42.8 in) of precipitation annually. Westerly consists of a number of small villages. Downtown Westerly on the Pawcatuck River is the municipal seat of the area, with the old town post office, library, YMCA, railroad station, former police headquarters (the current headquarters is located on Airport Road), granite buildings, and Wilcox Park. Other villages include Avondale, with antique colonial-style and Queen Anne-style homes; Bradford , with its own post office and postal code; Dunn's Corners; Mastuxet; Misquamicut ,

5618-598: The Veterans Day Parade started in 1917, held in November on the Saturday of Veterans Day week. As of the census of 2000, there were 22,966 people, 9,402 households, and 6,130 families residing in the town. The population density was 763.3 inhabitants per square mile (294.7/km ). There were 11,292 housing units at an average density of 375.3 units per square mile (144.9 units/km ). The racial makeup of

5724-512: The air in deference to the needs of the military. Laine next found employment in a munitions plant, at a salary of $ 150.00 a week. He quit singing for what was perhaps the fifth or sixth time of his already long career. While working at the plant, he met a trio of girl singers, and became engaged to the lead singer. The group had been noticed by Johnny Mercer 's Capitol Records , and convinced Laine to head out to Hollywood with them as their agent. In 1943, he moved to California, where he sang in

5830-583: The background of several films, including The Harvey Girls , and dubbed the singing voice for an actor in the Danny Kaye comedy The Kid from Brooklyn . It was in Los Angeles in 1944 that he met and befriended disc jockey Al Jarvis and composer/pianist Carl T. Fischer , the latter of whom was to be his songwriting partner, musical director, and piano accompanist until his death in 1954. Their songwriting collaborations included "I'd Give My Life," "Baby, Just For Me," "What Could Be Sweeter?," "Forever More," and

5936-472: The ballroom became quiet. I was very nearsighted and couldn't see the audience. I thought that the people didn't like me. Some of his other early influences during this period included Enrico Caruso , Carlo Buti , and especially Bessie Smith —a record of whose somehow wound up in his parents' collection: I can still close my eyes and visualize its blue and purple label. It was a Bessie Smith recording of 'The Bleeding Hearted Blues,' with 'Midnight Blues' on

6042-431: The basis of Laine's appeal: He was my kind of guy. He was very dramatic in his singing...and you must remember that in those days there were no videos so you had to depend on the image that the record made in the listener's ears. And that's why many fine artists were not good record sellers. For instance, Lena Horne . Fabulous artist but she never sold many records till that last album of hers. But she would always sell out

6148-471: The behest of his friend Paul Weston , Greeley also played piano (and harpsichord) on recording sessions for acts including Frankie Laine , Jo Stafford , Hoagy Carmichael , Sarah Vaughan , Eartha Kitt , and Doris Day . Many of those recordings have been now re-mastered and re-issued as CDs. George Greeley was among the earliest artists signed to the Warner Bros. Records label when it was founded in

6254-560: The early history of Westerly contains many references to him and his sons. In 1669, Westerly was named for the settlement's location respective to Rhode Island 's geography, being the westernmost town in the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations . In 1738, the Town of Charlestown was partitioned off from Westerly, and 19 years later Hopkinton was also partitioned off from Westerly, leaving Westerly in its modern borders. Bradford ,

6360-459: The first artist to hold the Number One and Two positions simultaneously. "Mule Train", with its whip cracks and echo, has been cited as the first song to use an "aural texture" that "set the pattern for virtually the entire first decade of rock." "Mule Train" represents a second direction in which Laine's music would be simultaneously heading under the guidance of Mitch Miller: as the voice of

6466-418: The first being an EF-1 tornado which went from Stonington, Connecticut to Westerly. According to the United States Census Bureau , the town has a total area of 74.8 square miles (194 km ), of which, 30.1 square miles (78 km ) is land and 44.7 square miles (116 km ) (59.78%) is water. The Bureau includes Westerly in the RI-MA Providence metropolitan area (defined at the county level) but in

SECTION 60

#1732783738856

6572-405: The first “crooner.” Laine worked after school at a drugstore that was situated across the street from a record store that continually played hit records by Austin over their loudspeakers. He would swab down the windows in time to Austin's songs. Many years later, Laine related the story to Austin when both were guests on the popular television variety show Shower of Stars . He would also co-star in

6678-417: The great outdoors and the American West. "Mule Train" is a slice of life in the mid-19th century West in which the contents of the packages being delivered by the mule train provide a snapshot into frontier life: "There's some cotton, thread and needles for the folks a-way up yonder/A shovel for a miner who left his home to wander/Some rheumatism pills for the settlers in the hills." The collaboration producing

6784-402: The house no matter where she was. And there were others who sold a lot of records but couldn't get to first base in personal appearances, but Frankie had it both. — Mitch Miller But the biggest label of all was Columbia Records , and in 1950 Mitch Miller left Mercury to embark upon his phenomenally successful career as the A&R man there. Laine's contract at Mercury would be up for renewal

6890-416: The jazz standard " We'll Be Together Again ." When the war ended, Laine soon found himself "scuffling" again, and was eventually given a place to stay by Jarvis. Jarvis also did his best to help promote the struggling singer's career, and Laine soon had a small, regional following. In the meantime, Laine would make the rounds of the bigger jazz clubs, hoping that the featured band would call him up to perform

6996-519: The label to Warner Bros., and Greeley was trimmed once more. Never on the street, Greeley had already begun working in television and more success were to come...in television and concerts across the country. Moving into television (between the 1960s and 1985), he composed the theme and background music for several popular TV series including My Favorite Martian starring Ray Walston and Bill Bixby , My Living Doll starring Robert Cummings and Julie Newmar , The Ghost and Mrs. Muir , Nanny and

7102-584: The label. Regarding the use of the phrase "Piano Concertos," Greeley stated that he hated the term, but Jim Conkling , the boss of the new Warner Bros. Records felt that the term sounded classy. The musicians performing with Greeley were an all-star collection of free lancers billed for publicity's sake as the "Warner Bros. Orchestra." Greeley said "because I was playing piano, I called some of my friends to come and conduct." Those friends included Felix Slatkin , Harry Bluestone , Ray Heindorf , and Ted Dale. Greeley's 1961 album for Warner Bros. Records, The Best of

7208-539: The late 1950s, and he was instrumental in providing that company with the same elegant instrumental pop sounds that Billy Vaughn brought to Dot Records and Percy Faith brought to Columbia Records . As a recording artist for Warner Bros. Records , Greeley produced and performed as pianist (and occasionally as conductor) on fourteen popular albums between 1957 and 1967. His first album, The World's Greatest Popular Piano Concertos became Warner Bros. biggest hit to date, and Greeley's subsequent recordings were also hits for

7314-414: The money owed for years to come. The loan to Laine during the time when both men were still struggling singers was one of the few secrets Como kept from his wife, Roselle, who learned of it many years later. A series of hit singles quickly followed, including " Black and Blue ", " Mam'selle ", " Two Loves Have I ", " Shine ", " On the Sunny Side of the Street ", " Monday Again ", and many others. Originally

7420-429: The music business after meeting Sy Oliver, Duke Ellington 's arranger. Oliver taught him the art of arranging for big bands, and Greeley began his career arranging music for several popular figures such as Tommy Dorsey , Glen Gray , Abe Lyman , Leo Reisman , and Kay Kyser . He joined the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra as pianist on the same day that Frank Sinatra became the band's new vocalist in January 1940. After about

7526-483: The nearby Battle of Newport , which happened in Rhode Island. Lieutenant-Colonel Samuel Ward Jr was a resident of Westerly, Rhode Island, commanding the 1st Rhode Island Regiment, the only black regiment in the Continental Army , and its important role in the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Rhode Island . In the early 1800s, prior to the War of 1812 , Westerly had become a shipbuilding center under U.S. Navy Officer Oliver Perry, having built Gunboats . In 1834,

7632-460: The next decade, and he and The Easy Riders would back him on the hit single, "Love Is a Golden Ring". "The Cry of the Wild Goose" falls into the "voice of the great outdoors" category of Laine songs, with the opening line of its chorus, "My heart knows what the wild goose knows", becoming a part of the American lexicon. Laine's influence on today's music can be clearly evidenced in his rendition of

7738-487: The number one song in the country three weeks after its release. It was also Laine's fifth Gold record. "That Lucky Old Sun" was something new to the musical scene in 1949: a folk spiritual which, as interpreted by Laine, became both an affirmation of faith and a working man's wish to bring his earthly sufferings to an end. The song was knocked down to the number two position by Laine and Miller's second collaboration, " Mule Train ", which proved an even bigger hit, making Laine

7844-411: The other side. The first time I laid the needle down on that record I felt cold chills and an indescribable excitement. It was my first exposure to jazz and the blues , although I had no idea at the time what to call those magical sounds. I just knew I had to hear more of them! — Frankie Laine Another singer who influenced him at this time was the singer-songwriter Gene Austin , generally considered

7950-463: The personal barber for gangster Al Capone . Laine's family appears to have had several organized crime connections, and young Francesco was living with his grandfather when the latter was killed by rival gangsters. The eldest of eight children, Laine grew up in the Old Town neighborhood (first at 1446 N. North Park Avenue and later at 331 W. Schiller Street ) and had his first taste of singing as

8056-517: The platform. Additionally, there have been proposals for CT rail to extend its Shore Line East service eastwards to Westerly station. Westerly has U.S. Route 1 and state routes 1A , 3 , and 91 . Route 78 forms a bypass around Westerly downtown and ends near Westerly Airport, with three interchanges in Rhode Island; the other endpoint is in Stonington, Connecticut . Interstate 95

8162-488: The principal conductor. He also wrote original themes and film scores for several films, in addition to his television series compositions. This list is derived from the IMDb website. Between 1950 and 1985, George Greeley was principal composer of the original scores and themes for approximately one hundred ninety-five television series episodes. (see IMDb.com for full episode list). Westerly, Rhode Island Westerly

8268-453: The sea to Block Island . Westerly has a humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa ), defined as having a mean monthly temperature between 0 and 18 °C (32 and 64 °F) in the coldest month and at least 22 °C (72 °F) in the warmest month. Annually, Westerly has a long warm/hot season from April to mid-November, and a cool/cold season from late November through March. Westerly averages 2300 hours of sunshine annually (higher than

8374-490: The soundtrack song for High Noon , which was sung by Tex Ritter , but his own version (with somewhat altered lyrics, omitting the name of the antagonist, Frank Miller) was the one that became a bigger hit. He also did not sing the theme to another show he is commonly associated with— Champion the Wonder Horse (sung by Mike Stewart)—but released his own, subsequently more popular, version. Laine's enduring popularity

8480-428: The spectators during the fifteen-minute breaks the dancers were given each hour. During his marathon days, he worked with several up-and-coming entertainers, including Rose Marie , Red Skelton , and a 14-year-old Anita O'Day , for whom he served as a mentor (as noted by Laine in a 1998 interview by David Miller). Other artists whose styles began to influence Laine at this time were Bing Crosby , Louis Armstrong (as

8586-425: The star attraction at Berg's, and record company executives took note. Laine soon had patrons lining up to hear him sing "Desire"; among them was R&B artist Hadda Brooks , known for her boogie woogie piano playing. She listened to him every night, and eventually cut her own version of the song, which became a hit on the "harlem" charts. "I liked the way he did it" Brooks recalled; "he sings with soul, he sings

8692-608: The start of the 20th century (particularly from Sicily and Calabria ), and Italian dialects are still spoken at the homes of many older residents. Washington Trust Bancorp Inc., a publicly traded regional bank with operations in Rhode Island and Connecticut, is headquartered in Westerly. Another regional bank centered directly in Southwest Rhode Island is the Westerly Community Credit Union or WCCU. The main school system of Westerly

8798-452: The theme song of the television series Star Trek . The coloratura contrasts well with Laine's rough, masculine voice, and disembodied female voices would continue to appear in the background of many of his records, to great effect. "The Cry of the Wild Goose" would be Laine's last number one hit on the American charts. It was written by folksinger Terry Gilkyson , of The Easy Riders fame. Gilkyson would write many more songs for Laine over

8904-476: The time to signal the end of the previous era's singing styles and was, indeed, a harbinger of the rock 'n' roll music that was to come. As music historian Jonny Whiteside wrote: In the Hollywood clubs, a new breed of performers laid down a baffling hip array of new sounds...Most important of all these, though, was Frankie Laine, a big lad with 'steel tonsils' who belted out torch blues while stomping his size twelve foot in joints like Billy Berg's , Club Hangover and

9010-597: The title songs over the opening credits of Hollywood films and television shows, including Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , 3:10 to Yuma , Bullwhip , and Rawhide . His rendition of the title song for Mel Brooks 's 1974 hit movie Blazing Saddles won an Oscar nomination for Best Song, and on television, Laine's featured recording of " Rawhide " for the series of the same name became a popular theme song. You can't categorize him. He's one of those singers that's not in one track. And yet and still I think that his records had more excitement and life into it. And I think that

9116-556: The town of Westerly. In Westerly, there is the Westerly State Airport , which offers services by New England Airlines . Along with Westerly State Airport, Amtrak also offers services by the Westerly Amtrak Station between Washington, DC and Boston , stopping at the Westerly station near downtown. The station itself was closed in October 2016, but passengers can still board and disembark at

9222-562: The town was 95.17% White , 0.71% Black or African American , 0.57% Native American , 1.99% Asian , 0.34% from other races , and 1.22% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.18% of the population. There were 9,402 households, out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.2% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.8% were non-families. Of all households, 29.0% were made up of individuals, and 12.5% had someone living alone who

9328-611: The town's official seal. The Pawcatuck River flows from 15 mi (24 km) inland, emptying into Little Narragansett Bay . It also serves as the boundary between Westerly and Pawcatuck, Connecticut . Three large salt ponds lie along the coast of Westerly which serve as shallow, reef-like pools whose outer walls form the long, white beaches for which the town is renowned, such as the Misquamicut State Beach . From west to east, these ponds are Maschaug Pond , Winnapaug Pond , and Quonochontaug Pond . The Westerly area

9434-491: The way he feels." He was soon recording for the fledgling Mercury label, and "That's My Desire" was one of the songs cut in his first recording session there. It quickly took the No. 3 spot on the R&;B chart, and listeners initially thought Laine was black . The record also made it to the No. 4 spot on the mainstream chart. Although it was quickly covered by many other artists, including Sammy Kaye who took it to

9540-603: Was "our New Jersey," referring to the amount of damage that was received in the State of New Jersey . The damages caused by Hurricane Sandy caused $ 11.3 million dollars in damages, with almost 100,000 power outages reported in Rhode Island . In December of 2019, a shooting happened at the Babcock Village, in which three women ended up shot. The police identified the shooter, and two surviving victims. The shooting

9646-449: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.98. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.5% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 22.7% from 45 to 64, and 17.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.6 males. The median income for

9752-567: Was Lowell Frank, and Alvino Rey , Producer, supervised from the control booth. Most of these albums were arranged and orchestrated by George Greeley. Conductor credits were not always available on the album covers. Warner Bros. Records, 7" singles and EP Singles As stated above, George Greeley started as a pianist with the Columbia Pictures music department. Most individual musicians were not credited. He then became engaged as composer of stock music and title music, usually under

9858-429: Was already Americanized at the time of his birth, with his name written as "Frank Lovecchio", his mother as "Anna Salerno", and his father as "John Lovecchio", with the "V" lower case in each instance, except in the "Reported by" section with "John Lo Vecchio (father)" written in. His parents had emigrated from Monreale , Sicily , to Chicago 's Near West Side , in " Little Italy ", where his father worked at one time as

9964-568: Was also at this time that he recorded a single for Mercury Records : "Pickle in the Middle with the Mustard on Top" and " I May Be Wrong (But I Think You're Wonderful) ." He appears only as a character actor on the first side, which features the comedic singing of Artie Auerbach (a.k.a., "Mr. Kitzel") who was a featured player on the Jack Benny radio show. In it, Laine plays a peanut vendor at

10070-409: Was an "extraordinary pianist". Details about Greeley's first marriage are unknown. His marriage to Jan Clayton (1966–68) ended in divorce. Greeley died from emphysema at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in Los Angeles on 26 May 2007, aged 89. He was survived by his sister, Louise Wheeler, a brother Herbert, his two sons, Anthony and Edward; and by his long-time companion, actress Teri York. In

10176-494: Was different from the smooth balladeer of his time. His 1946 recording of " That's My Desire " remains a landmark record signaling the end of both the dominance of the big bands and the crooning styles favored by contemporary Dick Haymes and others. Often called the first of the blue-eyed soul singers, Laine's style cleared the way for many artists who arose in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including Kay Starr , Tony Bennett , and Johnnie Ray . I think that Frank probably

10282-573: Was done by 66-year old Joseph Giachello, who was found dead in his room after taking the life of 47-year old Julie Cardinal, the manager of the complex. During this shooting, all the schools in Westerly managed by Westerly Public Schools were put into lockdown, although Westerly Public Schools stated: “there is no verifiable threat to any of the buildings.” In August of 2021, Tropical Storm Henri made landfall in Westerly, causing significant damage and power outages. Following Henri’s impacts, in November 2021, three tornadoes were confirmed in Rhode Island,

10388-473: Was giving dance lessons for a charity ball at the Merry Garden when he was called to the bandstand to sing: Soon I found myself on the main bandstand before this enormous crowd, Laine recalled. I was really nervous, but I started singing 'Beside an Open Fireplace,' a popular song of the day. It was a sentimental tune and the lyrics choked me up. When I got done, the tears were streaming down my cheeks and

10494-430: Was going to put all the other singers out of business. Even in the 1920s, his vocal abilities were enough to get him noticed by a slightly older "in crowd" at his school, who began inviting him to parties and to local dance clubs, including Chicago's Merry Garden Ballroom. At 17, he sang before a crowd of 5,000 at The Merry Garden Ballroom to such applause that he ended up performing five encores on his first night. Laine

10600-591: Was his big selling point, that he was so full of energy. You know when you hear his records it was dynamite energy. — Herb Jeffries Laine was a jazz singer in the late 1940s. Accompanied by Carl Fischer and some of the best jazz men in the business, he was singing standards like "By the River Sainte Marie", " Black and Blue ", " Rockin' Chair ", " West End Blues ", "At the End of the Road", "Ain't That Just Like

10706-517: Was illustrated in June 2011 when a TV-advertised compilation called Hits reached No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart . The accomplishment was achieved nearly 60 years after his debut on the U.K. chart, 64 years after his first major U.S. hit and four years after his death. Frankie Laine was born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio on March 30, 1913, to Giovanni and Crescenzia LoVecchio (née Salerno). His Cook County, Illinois , birth certificate (No. 14436)

10812-579: Was known as Misquamicut , home to the Narragansett people prior to 1637, before the English had build an outpost, and forced the Narragansett people out of the region by 1661, allowing for the permanent settlement on the coast line. The English village was the home of Elder John Crandall ( c.  1618 –1676), one of Westerly's founding fathers. Crandall settled in Westerly in 1661, and

10918-432: Was known for its historically important granite mining and stone-cutting industry, until the quarries stopped operating in the 1950s. Westerly becomes a notable tourist destination during the summer months when the population nearly doubles. Its well-known beaches include Weekapaug Beach, Westerly Town Beach, Misquamicut State Beach , East Beach, and Watch Hill Beach. Westerly, R.I. prior to English colonization

11024-399: Was one of the forerunner of...blues, of...rock 'n' roll. A lot of singers who sing with a passionate demeanor—Frank was and is definitely that. I always used to love to mimic him with 'That's...my...desire.' And then later Johnnie Ray came along that made all of those kind of movements, but Frank had already done them. – Patti Page Throughout the 1950s, Laine enjoyed a second career singing

11130-417: Was picked up by Atlas Records, a "race label" that initially hired him to imitate his friend Nat "King" Cole. Cole would occasionally "moonlight" for other labels, under pseudonyms, while under contract to Capitol , and as he had previously recorded some sides for Atlas, they reasoned that fans would assume that "Frankie Laine" was yet another pseudonym for "Cole". Laine cut his first two numbers for Atlas in

11236-591: Was sleeping on a bench in Central Park . I would sneak into hotel rooms and sleep on the floor. In fact, I was bodily thrown out of 11 different New York hotels. I stayed in YMCAs and with anyone who would let me flop. Eventually I was down to my last four cents, and my bed became a roughened wooden bench in Central Park. I used my four pennies to buy four tiny Baby Ruth candy bars and rationed myself to one

#855144