| Frankie Carle | |
| Background: | non_vocal_instrumentalist |
| Birth Name: | Francesco Nunzio Carlone |
| Alias: | Frankie Carle, The Wizard of the Keyboard |
| Birth Date: | March 25, 1903 |
| Birth Place: | Providence, Rhode Island, United States |
| Death Date: | (aged 97) |
| Death Place: | Mesa, Arizona, United States |
| Genre: | Big band, easy listening, pop standard, piano |
| Years Active: | 1916–1989 |
| Occupation: | Musician, songwriter |
Frankie Carle (born Francis Nunzio Carlone, March 25, 1903 – March 7, 2001) was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed "The Wizard of the Keyboard". "Sunrise Serenade" was Carle's best-known composition, rising to No. 1 in the US in 1938 and selling more than one million copies.
Carle was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 25, 1903.[1] 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 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, did during this time period; he changed his name from Carlone to Carle.
Carle started out working with a number of mainstream dance bands. His earliest known recordings and performances were with the Edwin J. McEnelly 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.[2] In 1935, he had his own orchestra and was billed in an ad for one night club as "America's Greatest Pianist."[3]
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 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.
During World War II, he participated in the V-Disc 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.
Carle had early exposure on radio as pianist for The Four Belles singing group in transcribed programs distributed by the World Broadcasting System.[4] In the mid-1940s, Carle and singer Allan Jones starred in the Old Gold Show on CBS radio.[5] Carle also was featured in Pot o' Gold, Treasure Chest, and The Chesterfield Supper Club.[6]
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.
In 1989, Carle was Inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame alongside such other greats as Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman.[7] [8] In 1968, he was inducted into the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame.[9] 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.)[10] The legendary pianist and educator Joanne Brackeen has credited him with inspiring her early self-studies on the instrument.[11] In April 2016, Carle was posthumously inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame (RIMHOF).[12]
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).[13] A Roman Catholic, 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.