{"id":77,"date":"2025-07-19T16:13:31","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T16:13:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2025\/07\/19\/saturday-night-at-the-oldies\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T16:13:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T16:13:31","slug":"saturday-night-at-the-oldies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/2025\/07\/19\/saturday-night-at-the-oldies\/","title":{"rendered":"Saturday Night at the Oldies: Some Performers Who Ditched Their Italian Surnames"},"content":{"rendered":"

But before getting on to the greaseball crooners, a bit of R & R history.  The 5th of July, 2025, is the 71st anniversary of the recording of Elvis Presley's That's Alright, Mama<\/a>, his first commercial record.  It was written and first recorded<\/a> by Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup in 1946.  Some say that Presley's recording is the first rock and roll record.  Others give the palm to the 1951 Rocket 88<\/a> by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats.  The associated video features footage (and 'leggage') of Bettie Page, that innocent  and unwitting sex kitten of the '50s. She got religion big time later on, as did Dion DiMucci, but that's another and another Saturday Night at the Oldies . . . .<\/span><\/p>\n

…………..<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Bobby Darin became Bobby Darin he rejoiced under the name, Walden Robert Cassotto.  Dream Lover<\/a>.  18 Yellow Roses<\/a>. You're the Reason I'm Living<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bobby Rydell started out Robert Ridarelli.  Forget him<\/a>.  Volare<\/a>, 1960. "Letsa fly . . . ." Wild One<\/a>. We Got Love,<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

No, his name wasn't Dino Martino, it was Dino Paul Crocetti.  Schmaltzy as it is, That's Amore<\/a> captures the Nagelian what-it's-like of being in love.  Houston<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero, better known as Connie Francis. My Darling Clementine<\/a>. Never on Sunday.<\/a>    My favorite version<\/a> is by Melina Mercouri. Now check out the great Anthony Quinn in Zorba the Greek<\/a>. Connie Francis died<\/a> two days ago at 87.<\/span><\/p>\n

Timoteo Aurro = Timi Yuro.  When I first heard her back in the day, I thought she was black.  What a voice!  What's the Matter, Baby?<\/a>  Her signature number: Hurt<\/a>, 1962.<\/span><\/p>\n

Laura traded in 'Nigro' for 'Nyro.'  Wedding Bell Blues<\/a>.   And When I Die<\/a>.  These go out to Monterey Tom, big L.N. fan.  Nyro died young in 1997 of ovarian cancer, 49 years of age.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

But before getting on to the greaseball crooners, a bit of R & R history.  The 5th of July, 2025, is the 71st anniversary of the recording of Elvis Presley's That's Alright, Mama, his first commercial record.  It was written and first recorded by Arthur 'Big Boy' Crudup in 1946.  Some say that Presley's recording is the … Continue reading “Saturday Night at the Oldies: Some Performers Who Ditched Their Italian Surnames”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-77","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maverickphilosopher.blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}