Al Martino
b. Alfred Cini, 7 October 1927, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The son of Italian immigrants, a fact that was always obvious in his style and manner, Martino worked as bricklayer in his father's construction business before being encouraged to become a singer by his friend, Mario Lanza. After singing in local clubs, and winning Arthur Godfrey's TALENT SCOUTS, he recorded Here In My Heart for the small BBS record label, which shot to number 1 in the US chart, and reputedly sold over a million copies. It was also the first ever record to top the New Musical Express UK listings, inaugurated in 1952. His success led to a contract with Capitol Records, and more hits in 1953 with Take My Heart, Rachel and When You're Mine. For several years after that, the US record buyers apparently tired of Martino's soulful ballads, although he remained popular in Europe for a time—particularly in the UK, where he made the Top 20 with Now, Wanted, The Story Of Tina and The Man From Laramie. After some telling performances on US television, he made his recording comeback in 1963, with country singer Leon Payne's I Love You Because, followed by Painted, Tainted Rose, Living A Lie, I Love You More And More Every Day, Tears And Roses, Always Together, Think I'll Go And Cry Myself To Sleep and Mary In The Morning. His second million-seller, Spanish Eyes (1965), was originally an instrumental piece, Moon Over Naples, written by the popular German orchestra leader, Bert Kaempfert. With lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddy Snyder, Martino's version became, particularly in Europe, a dreamy dance favourite to rival Charles Aznavour's, Dance In The Old Fashioned Way. In 1964, Martino sang the title song for the Bette Davis/Olivia De Havilland film, HUSH…HUSH SWEET CHARLOTTE, and this led to his playing singer Johnny Fontane in the smash hit movie, THE GODFATHER (1972). In the film, Martino sang the Italian number O Marenariello (I Have But One Heart). He also recorded the film's love theme, Speak Softly Love, and had chart success with another couple of Italian songs, To The Door Of The Sun (Alle Porte Del Sole) and the old Dean Martin hit, Domenico Modugno's Volare. In vogue once more, Martino played top night clubs and theatres and continued to record albums with Capitol which, into the '90s, has reissued many of his early albums on CD.