Jerry Vale (born Gennaro Louis Vitaliano; July 8, 1930 – May 18, 2014) Jerry Vale was one of the most successful Italian-American music singers of the 1950s and 1960s. His popularity came at a time when rock and roll had severely dampened the success of other singers of that era. He had 50 years as an entertainer and made more than 50 albums, Every Sunday the Vitaliano family would have a party at Vale's grandmother's house, and she would lay out a spread from "soup to nuts." At 11 years old, Vale got his first job shining shoes in a barber shop in Mount Vernon, New York. He also cleaned the floors of the shop and customers would ask him to sing because they knew he loved to. He would sing popular songs of the day and instead of getting only a 25-cent tip, he often received twice that amount. Vale began singing in supper clubs in and around New York at only 15 but claimed to be much older when singing with the Jen Ray Trio and the Matty Marin Quintet. He begun to establish a local reputation, and after a year, began making recordings and singing songs of the day with a trio at the Club Del Rio in Yonkers, New York, changing his name to Vale. Jerry then moved on to the Enchanted Room, which was also in Yonkers, with the Marty Marin Quintet where he met singer Guy Mitchell, who was already regarded as a topflight singer on Columbia Records. Mitchell was so impressed with Vale's performance; he arranged an audition with Columbia Records A & R chief Mitch Miller. This was particularly noteworthy since Mitchell himself was also a recording star at Columbia and was essentially helping invite competition. This led Vale to a contract with Columbia Records in 1951, and a year later Vale made his first record on the Columbia label on December 23, 1952. It was called "You Can Never Give Me Back My Heart," backed by Percy Faith and his orchestra. It was reissued in 2000.

Italian American Golden Era

*** From my own cd and vinyl collection
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