Laine, Frankie (originally, Lo Vecchio, Francesco Paolo)

Laine, Frankie (originally, Lo Vecchio, Francesco Paolo), vibrant American singer; b. Chicago, March 30, 1913. Among the most popular singers of the late 1940s and early 1950s, Laine epitomized the transition from the jazz-tinged pop ballads of the Swing Era to the inventively produced novelty material of the post-World War II period. His powerful voice lent itself well to impassioned performances of melodramatic songs such as “Mule Train,” “Jezebel,” and “I Believe,” each of which became a million-selling record for him. Among his 60 pop chart entries between 1947 and 1969, his other biggest hits were “That Lucky Old Sun,” “The Cry of the Wild Goose,” and “Moonlight Gambler.”

Laine’s parents, Giovanni (John) and Cresenzia (Anna) Concetta Salerno Lo Vecchio, were Italian immigrants; his father was a barber. He sang in the church choir as a child and made his first public appearance at 15 at the Merry Garden Ballroom in Chicago. But he had an unusually long wait for recognition as a singer, during which time he competed in dance marathons and sometimes held jobs outside of music. In 1943 he moved to the West Coast, where he worked in the defense industry. His break came in March 1946 when he sang Hoagy Carmichael’s “Rockin’ Chair” while sitting in at a Hollywood nightclub. Carmichael, who was in the audience, was impressed and arranged for him to be hired by the club. There he came to the attention of Mercury Records, which signed him.

Laine’s revival of the 1931 ballad “That’s My Desire” (music by Helmy Kresa, lyrics by Carroll Loveday) became his first hit, peaking in the Top Ten in October 1947 and selling a million copies. A revival of the 1924 song “Shine” (music by Ford Dabney, lyrics by Cecil Mack and Lew Brown) reached the Top Ten in April 1948 and was another million-seller.

Laine was signed to Columbia Pictures and made his first brief movie appearance in Make Believe Ballroom, released in April 1949. At Mercury he began to work with A&R director Mitch Miller; Miller mounted elaborate productions to showcase Laine’s emphatic delivery. Their first hit record together, “That Lucky Old Sun” (music by Beasley Smith, lyrics by Haven Gillespie), topped the charts in October 1949 and sold a million copies, becoming the biggest song of Laine’s career. The defining recording of their collaboration, however, was the Western-themed “Mule Train” (music and lyrics by Johnny Lange, Hy Heath, and Fred Glickman), which featured the sound effect of a whip being cracked; it reached #1 in November 1949 and sold a million copies.

Laine scored a fifth million-seller with “The Cry of the Wild Goose” (music and lyrics by Terry Gilkyson), which topped the charts in March 1950. On June 15 he married actress Nan Grey (real name Eschal Miller); they remained together until her death on July 25, 1993. In August he appeared in his second motion picture, When You’re Smiling.

Mitch Miller moved to Columbia Records in 1950, and Laine followed him after his Mercury contract expired at the end of March 1951. His first hit for Columbia was the single “Jezebel” (music and lyrics by Wayne Shanklin)/“Rose, Rose, I Love You” (music based on a traditional Chinese melody arranged by Chris Langdon, lyrics by Wilfred Thomas) in May; both songs hit the Top Ten, and the disc became his sixth million-seller. He starred in his third motion picture, Sunny Side of the Street, released in August, and in October began a short-lived network radio series, The Frankie Laine Show. His next Top Ten hit was a duet with Jo Stafford on a pop arrangement of the country song “Hey, Good Lookin’” (music and lyrics by Hank Williams) in November; in December he was back in the Top Ten with a revival of the 1925 British song “Jealousy (Jalousie)” (music by Jacob Gade, lyrics by Vera Bloom).

Laine and Stafford had another Top Ten hit in April 1952 with “Hambone” (music and lyrics by Leon Washington and Red Saunders, based on a traditional children’s song), and Laine paired with Doris Day for the Top Ten hit “Sugarbush” (music and lyrics by Josef Marais) in August. That month he starred in his fourth film, Rainbow ’Round My Shoulder, and made a memorable appearance at the London Palladium. In September he reached the Top Ten with his recording of the theme from the motion picture High Noon, “Do Not Forsake Me” (music by Dimitri Tiomkin, lyrics by Ned Washington); thereafter, he became a favorite singer for songs associated with Westerns.

Laine’s recording of the inspirational song “I Believe” (music and lyrics by Ervin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, and Al Stillman) entered the U.S. charts in February 1953, went to #1, and sold a million copies; it also hit #1 in the U.K., where it became the biggest hit of the year. Laine next paired with child star Jimmy Boyd on the novelty “Tell Me a Story” (music and lyrics by Terry Gilkyson), which hit the Top Ten in April, followed by “Hey Joe!” (music and lyrics by Boudleaux Bryant) in October. “Hey Joe!” topped the U.K. charts, as did “Answer Me” (music by Gerhard Winkler and Fred Rauch, English lyrics by Carl Sigman) in November.

Laine began appearing on his own syndicated television show, Frankie Laine Time, earning a 1954 Emmy nomination for Best Male Singer. In June 1955 he starred in his fifth film, Bring Your Smile Along. In July he launched a network TV series, The Frankie Laine Show, as a summer replacement for Arthur Godfrey and His Friends; it ran until September. He scored his next Top Ten hit, “Humming Bird” (music and lyrics by Don Robertson), in August.

Laine appeared briefly in the film Meet Me in Las Vegas in March 1956 and made his final screen appearance starring in He Laughed Last in July. The Frankie Laine Show returned to network television for a second summer from Aug. 1 to Sept. 19, 1956. Laine’s recording of “A Woman in Love” (music and lyrics by Frank Loesser) from Columbia’s studio cast recording of the Broadway musical Guys and Dolls hit #1 in Great Britain in October. In the U.S. the singer scored his eighth million-seller with “Moonlight Gambler” (music by Philip Springer, lyrics by Bob Hilliard), which reached the Top Ten in January 1957. He hit the Top Ten for the last time with “Love Is a Golden Ring” (music and lyrics by Richard Dehr, Frank Miller, and Terry Gilkyson) in April. That same month he had his first charting LP, Rockin.

Laine continued to sing title songs for Westerns, notably the themes for Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (music by Dimitri Tiomkin, lyrics by Ned Washington), released in May 1957, and 3:10 to Yuma (music by George Duning, lyrics by Ned Washington), released in August. And he was the voice for the title song of the television series Rawhide (music by Dimitri Tiomkin, lyrics by Ned Washington), which ran for seven years, from January 1959 to January 1966. Columbia Records took advantage of his affinity for Western material on his second charting LP, Hell Bent for Leather!, released in October 1961, which featured many of his movie and television themes and stayed in the charts more than eight months.

Laine left Columbia in 1964 and moved to Capitol Records for two years, without success. In 1966 he joined ABC Records and, working with producer Bob Thiele, enjoyed a modest comeback, returning to the Top 40 with a revival of the 1927 song “I’ll Take Care of Your Cares” (music by James V. Monaco, lyrics by Mort Dixon) in March 1967, followed by “Making Memories” (music and lyrics by Larry Kusik and Eddie Snyder) in May; his I’ll Take Care of Your Cares LP, released in April, spent more than six months in the charts. He continued to score minor hits through 1969, returning to the pop Top 40 and hitting #1 on the easy listening charts with “You Gave Me a Mountain,” specially written for him by Marty Robbins, in March 1969.

Laine continued to perform and to record occasionally after the 1960s. In 1974 he spoofed his movie themes (albeit unwittingly) by singing the title song to the comedy film Blazing Saddles (music by John Morris, lyrics by Mel Brooks) and, when the song was nominated for an Academy Award, performed it at the Oscar ceremony in 1975. The compilation LP The Very Best of Frankie Laine hit the U.K. Top Ten in 1977. He underwent quadruple-bypass heart surgery in 1985, but by 1987 had recovered sufficiently to appear with the Cincinnati Pops Orch., conducted by Erich Kunzel, on Round-Up, an album containing many of his Western movie themes, released by Telare. He underwent triple-bypass heart surgery in April 1990. In February 1998, at age 84, he released Wheels of a Dream, his first all-new studio album in many years, on the After 9 label.

Discography

Songs from the Heart (1950); Frankie Laine (1952); Mr. Rhythm (1954); Lover’s Laine (1955); Command Performance (1956); Rockin’ (1957); Frankie Laine, Balladeer (1961); Hell Bent for Leather! (1961); Call of the Wild (1962); I Want Someone to Love (1967); I’ll Take Care of Your Cares (1967); To Each His Own (1968); You Gave Me a Mountain (1969); 16 Greatest Hits (1978); Memories (1985); Mule Train (1989); 16 Most Requested Songs (1989); You Gave Me a Mountain (1990); On the Trail (1990); The Frankie Laine Collection: The Mercury Years (1991); On the Trail Again (1992); High Noon (1992); Best of Frankie Laine (1993); The Essence of Frankie Laine (1993); The Uncollected Frankie Laine—1947 (1994); Duets: Frankie Laine/Jo Stafford (with Joe Stafford; 1994); Return of Mr. Rhythm: 1945-1948 (1995); Greatest Hits (1995); The Very Best of Frankie Laine (1996); Dynamic (1996); Portrait of a Legend (1997); Lucky Old Sun (2000); The Legend at His Best (2000); Cocktail Hour: Frankie Laine (2000).

—William Ruhlmann