Armando Joseph "Buddy" Greco (August 14, 1926 – January 10, 2017) was an American jazz and pop singer and pianist who had a long career in the US and UK. His recordings have sold millions, including "Oh Look A-There Ain't She Pretty", " Up, Up and Away", and " Around the World". His most successful single was " The Lady Is a Tramp", which sold over one million copies. During his career, he recorded over sixty albums. He conducted the

London Symphony Orchestra The London Symphony Orchestra (LSO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London. Founded in 1904, the LSO is the oldest of London's orchestras, symphony orchestras. The LSO was created by a group of players who left Henry Wood's Queen's ...

and performed for Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

and with

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

Music career

George Carlin Buddy Greco Away We Go 1967

Buddy Greco was born Armando Joseph Greco to an Italian-American family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was the son of Giuseppe "Joseph" Greco and Carmela Greco (born Piedimonte), who was originally from Ripabottoni in

Molise Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...

, Italy. His mother introduced him to piano at age four. As a child he sang on the radio, and as a teen performed in nightclubs in Philadelphia. At age 16, he was hired by bandleader

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

and spent four years touring the world with the Goodman orchestra, playing piano, singing, and arranging. In 1951 Greco started his recording career, signing with labels such as

Coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

, Kapp,

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, and

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

. In 1967 he hosted the CBS television series ''Away We Go'' with comedian

George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, actor and author. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercultur ...

. Guests included Buddy Rich and Carmen McRae. He had a role in the film '' The Girl Who Knew Too Much''. In 1969 he formed a duo with jazz guitarist Ron Escheté.

Las Vegas and Palm Springs

Greco met his fifth and last wife, Lezlie Anders, while she was performing in Las Vegas. Working as his supporting act, she met Greco on the stage of the

Desert Inn The Desert Inn, also known as the D.I., was a hotel and casino on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, which operated from April 24, 1950, to August 28, 2000. Designed by architect Hugh Taylor and interior design by Jac Lessman, it was the ...

. After marrying, they worked and toured together. In 1992, he performed in Las Vegas at the Starlight Room at Stars' Desert Inn. This engagement ushered in the second phase of his career. The following year he was added to the Philadelphia Music Alliance's Walk of Fame. Shortly after, he toured Italy, France, Australia, and England. While living in Palm Springs, Greco opened a small club. The walls were decorated with pictures of Greco, the

Rat Pack The Rat Pack was an informal group of singers that, in its second iteration, ultimately made films and appeared together in Las Vegas casino venues. They originated in the late 1940s and early 1950s as a group of A-list show business friends, s ...

, and other celebrity friends. He performed there often, and it became a popular place for celebrities to dine. After closing it, he moved to England. While living in Palm Desert, California, he continued to appear at his club in Cathedral City, California, until it closed in August 2009. In 2004, he and Anders were headliners with The Fabulous Palm Springs Follies at the Plaza Theatre in Palm Springs, California.

Life in Britain

Greco became acquainted with Great Britain in 1949. He spent many years performing in Britain's clubs. He moved to

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

, keeping his Palm Springs, California, property as a vacation home. In 2008, he and Anders toured the UK. They performed with the BBC Big Band and at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club in London. In August of that year, he was the first Las Vegas headliner to star at a British casino when he performed at the Circus Casino, Star City,

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. In April 2010, he performed a tribute to

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

for

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...

with the 42-piece

BBC Concert Orchestra The BBC Concert Orchestra is a British concert orchestra based in London, one of the British Broadcasting Corporation's five radio orchestras. With around fifty players, it is the only one of the five BBC orchestras which is not a full-scale sym ...

. He toured the UK with the ''Swinging Las Vegas Legends'' show beginning in July 2010. In 2010, Greco and his wife produced the stage show ''Fever! The Music of Miss Peggy Lee'', which met with critical acclaim at its London West End opening. Greco played piano and conducted the orchestra while Anders sang. The show received positive reviews in the U.S."Rat pack legend tells Peggy's story". ''Croydon Advertiser'', 4 November. 2011: 49, Print. On New Year's Eve 2011, he made a guest appearance at ''

Hootenanny A hootenanny is a freewheeling, improvisatory musical event in the United States, often incorporating audience members in performances. It is particularly associated with folk music. Etymology Meanings Hootenanny is an Appalachian colloquialism ...

'' hosted by Jools Holland, singing " Fly Me to the Moon". In 2012, he toured the UK in smaller venues, including Thameside Theatre Stage, and The Broadway in Essex. Greco died on January 10, 2017, in Las Vegas, Nevada, at the age of 90. Greco had an album released by Scepter which Tom Murray of the ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'' referred to 48 years later as "a strange and beautiful mutant of its time". The album was ''Let the Sunshine In''. It included the songs " Let the Sunshine In", "Everybody Gets to Go to the Moon", " You're My World", " Spinning Wheel", " Never Give You Up", and "

Like a Rolling Stone "Like a Rolling Stone" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on July 20, 1965, by Columbia Records. Its confrontational lyrics originated in an extended piece of verse Dylan wrote in June 1965, when he returned exhauste ...

Awards and honors

* Inductee, Walk of Fame, Philadelphia Music Alliance * Appears in ''Encyclopedia of Great Musicians'' and the ''Encyclopedia of Great Jazz Singers and Musicians'' * Inducted into the Grand Order of Water Rats in 2011

Discography

As leader

* ''Buddy Greco at Mister Kelly's'' (Coral, 1956) * ''Broadway Melodies'' (Kapp, 1956) * ''My Buddy'' (Fontana, 1959) * ''Let's Love'' (Epic, 1961) * ''I Like It Swinging'' (Columbia, 1961) * ''Songs for Swinging Losers'' (Epic, 1961) * ''Buddy & Soul'' (Epic, 1962) * ''Soft and Gentle'' (Epic, 1963) * ''Buddy's Back in Town'' (Columbia, 1963) * ''Sings for Intimate Moments'' with Dave Grusin (Epic, 1963) * ''My Last Night in Rome'' (Epic, 1964) * ''Modern Sounds of Hank Williams'' (Epic, 1964) * ''Here's Buddy Greco'' (Vocalion, 1964) * ''On Stage'' (Epic, 1964) * ''From the Wrists Down'' (Epic, 1965) * ''I Love a Piano'' (Columbia, 1965) * ''Buddy Greco Sings and Plays with the Hollywood All Stars'' (Society, 1965) * ''Big Band & Ballads'' (Reprise, 1966) * ''Buddy's in a Brand New Bag'' (Reprise, 1966) * ''Away We Go!'' (Reprise, 1966) * ''Let the Sunshine In'' (Scepter, 1969) * ''It's My Life'' (Pye, 1972) * ''Movin' On'' (Pye, 1973) * ''Buddy Greco Live'' (Pye, 1974) * ''For Once in My Life'' (Project 3, 1979) * ''Live at the Sands'' (Picc-a-Dilly, 1980) * ''Hot Nights'' (Applause, 1982) * ''Ready for Your Love'' (Bainbridge, 1984)Show Music - Volume 4, Issue 1 - Page 43 1985 "Jazz singer Buddy Greco's Ready for Tour Love (BT 6255) features nine recent vintage songs, with "The Hungry Years," "Love Won't Let Me Wait," "Me and Mrs. Jones," and "Ready For Your Love" included on the album. I Am What I Am ..." * ''Movin' On'' (USA Music, 1989) * ''It's Magic'' (Prestige, 1990) * '' 'Round Midnight'' (Bay Cities, 1992) * ''Route 66'' (Celebrity, 1994) * ''In Style'' (Camden, 1996) * ''Jazz Grooves'' (Candid, 1998)

Singles

* ^A "The Lady Is a Tramp" peaked at No. 26 in UK Singles charts.

Works

*''Buddy Greco 500 Super Song Book: The World's Greatest Hits for Chord Playing'' New York, New York: Charles Hansen 1977

References

External links

Buddy Greco Interview - NAMM Oral History Library (1995,2007)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greco, Buddy 1926 births 2017 deaths Musicians from Philadelphia People from Cathedral City, California People from Palm Desert, California People from Southend-on-Sea Singers from Pennsylvania American expatriates in England American jazz musicians American male singers American people of Italian descent American pianists Benny Goodman Orchestra members Nightclub performers Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania American male pianists American male jazz musicians Jazz musicians from California