Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the

Keyboard Keyboard may refer to: Text input * Keyboard, part of a typewriter * Computer keyboard ** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping ** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware Music * Musi ...

". "

Sunrise Serenade "Sunrise Serenade" is a jazz song written by Frankie Carle with lyrics by Jack Lawrence. It was first recorded in 1939 by Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra with Carle on piano as Decca 2321. It soon became Carle's signature piece. Glenn Mill ...

" was Carle's best-known composition, rising to No. 1 in the US in 1938 and selling more than one million copies.

Early life

Carle was born in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, on March 25, 1903. Born the son of a factory worker who could not afford a piano, he practiced on a dummy keyboard devised by his uncle, pianist Nicholas Colangelo, until he found a broken-down instrument in a dance hall. In 1916, a teenage Carle began working with his uncle's band as well as a number of local bands in the

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

area. To gain further popularity in an America which still held prejudices against many Italian Americans, Carle did what many singers, such as Dean Martin and

Jerry Vale Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) was an American singer, songwriter and actor. During the 1950s and 1960s, he reached the top of the pop charts with his interpretations of romantic ballads, including a cover ...

, did during this time period; he changed his name from Carlone to Carle.

Career

Carle started out working with a number of mainstream dance bands. His earliest known recordings and performances were with the

Edwin J. McEnelly Edwin J. McEnelly (July 21, 1879 – August 31, 1958) was an American jazz violinist and band director. Biography Edward James McEnelly formed a dance band in 1902 known as the "Edwin J. McEnelly Singing Orchestra". By 1917, Edwin and his Si ...

Orchestra from 1924-1929. He wrote many of the arrangements for McEnelly as well as play piano. In 1934, he played with Mal Hallett and his orchestra. In 1935, he had his own orchestra and was billed in an ad for one night club as "America's Greatest Pianist." He received attention when he joined Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights in 1939. He later became co-leader of the band. The popularity he attained while with Heidt's band allowed him to leave the band in 1944 and form his own band, The Frankie Carle Orchestra. When his daughter, Marjorie Hughes, sang with his band, he did not reveal their relationship until

Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...

published it. His band disbanded after 1955 and he performed mainly as a soloist thereafter. From the 1950s until the 1980s, Carle performed as a single artist and maintained a close following of loyal fans. Frankie Carle and Others

During World War II, he participated in the

V-Disc V-Disc ( "V" for Victory) was a record label that was formed in 1943 to provide records for U.S. military personnel. Captain Robert Vincent supervised the label from the Special Services division. Many popular singers, big bands, and orches ...

program, making recordings which were released by the U.S. War Department. He introduced V-Disc No. 210A which featured his new composition "Moonlight Whispers". "Sunrise Serenade" was released as a V-Disc by the U.S. War Department in July, 1944 as No. 230A in a new recording by Frankie Carle and his Orchestra.

Radio

Carle had early exposure on radio as pianist for The Four Belles singing group in transcribed programs distributed by the

World Broadcasting System World Broadcasting System, Inc., was an American recording service for the radio industry founded in 1929 by Percy L. Deutsch (1885–1968), with key investors and creative artists (Walter) Gustave Haenschen and Milton Diamond (both of whom had wor ...

. In the mid-1940s, Carle and singer Allan Jones starred in the ''Old Gold Show'' on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

radio. Carle also was featured in ''Pot o' Gold'', ''Treasure Chest'', and ''

The Chesterfield Supper Club ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' is an NBC Radio musical variety program (1944–1950), which was also telecast by NBC Television (1948–1950). Radio ''The Chesterfield Supper Club'' began on December 11, 1944, as a 15-minute radio program, ...

''.DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . P. 49.

Albums

*''Frankie Carle At the Piano, Columbia (C-23 78 RPM Set, 1942)'' *''Frankie Carle Encores, Columbia (C-70 78 RPM Set, 1943)'' *''Carle Comes Calling, Columbia (CL-6002 10" Lp, 1948)'' *''Roses In Rhythm, Columbia (CL-6032 10" Lp/C-174 78 RPM Set, 1949)'' *''Frankie Carle and his Girl Friends, Columbia (CL-6018 10" Lp/C-97 78 RPM Set, 1948)'' *''Frankie Carle Dance Parade, Columbia (CL-6047 10" Lp, 1949)'' *''At The Piano, Columbia (CL-6075 10" Lp, 1949)'' *''Carle Meets The Masters, Columbia (CL-6085 10" Lp, 1950)'' *''Frankie Carle Plays Honky Tonk, RCA Victor (LPM-26, 1951)'' *''Top Pops, RCA Victor (LPM-3024, 1952)'' *''For Me And My Gal, RCA Victor (LPM-3059, 1952)'' *''Frankie Carle's Piano Party, Columbia (CL-531, 1953)'' *''Honky Tonk Piano, RCA Victor (LPM-1188, 1956)'' *''Cocktail Time with Frankie Carle, RCA Victor (LPM-1221, 1956)'' *''Frankie Carle's Sweethearts, RCA Victor (LPM 1222, 1956)'' *''Mediterranean Cruise, RCA Victor (LPM-1275, 1956)'' *''Frankie Carle's Finest, RCA Victor (LPM-1153, 1957)'' *''Around The World, RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-1499, 1958)'' *''37 Favorites For Dancing, RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-1868, 1958)'' *''Ridin' High, Vocalion (VL 3622, 1958)'' *''The Piano Style of Frankie Carle, RCA Camden (CAL 478, 1959)'' *''Show Stoppers for Dance Time, RCA Victor (LPM-1963, 1959)'' *''The Golden Touch, RCA Victor (LPM-2139, 1959)'' *''Take Me Along, RCA Victor (LSP-2142, 1959)'' *''A Carle-Load of Hits, RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2148, 1959)'' *''Top Of The Mark (Featuring Darryl Stevens), RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2233, 1960)'' *''The Fabulous Four Hands of Frankie Carle RCA Victor (LSP-2288, 1961)'' *''The Fabulous Frankie Carle (HL 7140, 1961)'' *''Honky-Tonk Hits by the Dozen, RCA Victor (LSP-2491, 1962)'' *''30 Hits of the Flaming '40s, RCA Victor (LPM-2594, LSP-2594, c1963)'' *''30 Hits of the Tuneful '20s, RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2592, 1963)'' *''30 Hits of the Thundering '30s, RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2593, 1963)'' *''30 Hits of the Fantastic '50s, RCA Victor (LPM/LSP-2881, c1964)'' *''Roses in Rhythm, Columbia (CL 913, 1963)'' *''Plays Cocktail Piano, RCA Custom (CPM/CSP-112, 1964)'' *''Frankie Carle Plays the Big Imported Hits, RCA Victor (LSP-2920, 1964)'' *''Frankie Carle Plays the Great Piano Hits, RCA Victor (LSP-3425, 1965)'' *''The Tropical Style of Frankie Carle, RCA Victor (LPM 3609, 1966)'' *''The Best of Frankie Carle, RCA Victor (LSP 3469, 1966)'' *''Frankie Carle, Dot (DLP 25789, 1967)'' *''Somewhere My Love, Dot (DLP 25802/25804, 1967)'' *''Sunrise Serenade, Harmony (HS 11217, 1967)'' *''Era: The 30s, Dot (DLP 25847, 1968)'' *''Era: The 40s, Dot (DLP 25877, 1968)'' *''Era: The 50s, Dot (DLP 25928, 1969)'' *''The Best Of, RCA Victor (LSP-3469, 1975)'' *''The Golden Touch Of Frankie Carle, Good Music Records (GMR80032, p1984)''

Compositions

Carle's music was known for being light because of his buoyant touch; this resulted in romantic, danceable melodies which were very popular. His major compositions included "Sunrise Serenade", "Falling Leaves", " Oh! What It Seemed to Be", "Roses in the Rain", both recorded by Frank Sinatra, "A Lover's Lullaby", "Swing and a Miss", "Syncopated Doll", "This Day", "Travelin' Mood", "When Your Lips Met Mine", "Why Oh Why", "You Are There", "You and the Stars and Me", "Carle Boogie", "Sunrise Boogie", "Sunrise in Napoli", "Georgianna", "Blue Fantasy", "I Didn't Know", "The Golden Touch", "The Apple Valley Waltz", and "Moonlight Whispers" released as V Disc 210A in 1944 by the U.S. War Department.

Recognition

In 1989, Carle was Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame alongside such other greats as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. In 1968, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame. On February 8, 1960, he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (on the West Side of the 1700 Block of VINE, across from the Capitol Records Bldg.). The legendary pianist and educator Joanne Brackeen has credited him with inspiring her early self-studies on the instrument. In April 2016, Carle was posthumously inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame (RIMHOF).

Later years and death

Carle died of natural causes in Mesa, Arizona, in 2001, a few weeks shy of his 98th birthday and is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).Wilson, Scott. ''Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons'', 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 7218-7225). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition. A

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

, Carle had a Mass of Christian burial at Holy Cross Church in Mesa, Arizona. He is survived by his daughter, Marjorie Hughes Wahl, granddaughter Susan Zimmerman, grandson Richard Douce, and great-granddaughter Veronica.

Bibliography

*Lagumina, Salvatore, et al. (2000). ''The Italian American Experience''. Westport: Greenwood Press. *Walker, Leo (1989). ''The Big Band Alamanac''. Hollywood: Da Capo Press.

References

External links

* ''New York Times'' obituary
"Frankie Carle, 97, Band Leader Who Wrote 'Sunrise Serenade'"
by William H. Honan, March 10, 2001
Frankie Carle
at Solid!

at Space Age Pop Music
Frankie Carle
at Musicmatch Guide
Frankie Carle and his orchestra play in a scene from the film ''Variety Time''.

Frankie Carle Interview
NAMM Oral History Library (1994) {{DEFAULTSORT:Carle, Frankie 1903 births 2001 deaths RCA Victor artists Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) Big band bandleaders 20th-century American pianists American male pianists 20th-century American male musicians Catholics from Rhode Island