A Trip Down Frankie Laine

People of generations older than mine would be nonplussed to learn how little Frankie Laine (1913-2007) is remembered, and even more so to learn what he is remembered for, among those who do recall him.

To be perverse, I guess, I’ll start with the big picture, what he was known for back in the day, before we narrow the field down to the part of his legacy that would wind up surviving, amongst the dwindling few who recall him. Laine was an Italian American pop singer, born Francesco Paolo LoVecchio on the West Side of Chicago! His father was Al Capone’s barber! From childhood, he wanted to be a singer, and his influences included not just white pop singers like Al Jolson, Gene Austin, and Bing Crosby, but also singers of color like Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, Mildred Bailey, and Nat King Cole, as well as the trumpet stylings of Louis Armstrong. He also loved the great Caruso, naturally. In the ’30s he performed at Marathon Dance contests at venues like the Million Dollar Pier in Atlantic City, and sang on WINS radio. In 1938 he replaced Perry Como as front man for the Freddy Carlone band. He provided Danny Kaye’s singing voice in the movie The Kid from Brooklyn. His recording career began shortly afterward when Hoagy Carmichael head him singing of his songs in a Los Angeles nightclub.

The influence of blues, jazz, and R & B singers on Laine’s singing gave him an angle in the music business of the ’40s. His tendency to bend notes and play with the rhythm contributed to his reputation as one of the blacker sounding white singers of his day, helping pave the way for rock and roll in years to come. A real good example of that is his 1948 cover of the old Tin Pan Alley classic “Shine” which I wrote about here.

In light of that, there is an irony in what Frankie Laine is chiefly remembered for today, which is…cowboy songs. Under the direction of Columbia Records’ Mitch Miller, he sang the theme songs to numerous western films and tv shows, and songs that had a similar theme and even had big hits in doing so. These included “Mule Train” (1949), “High Noon (Do Not Forsake Me)” (1952, performed by Tex Ritter in the film but a hit for Laine), “Blowing Wild” (1953), “Man Without a Star” (1955), “Strange Lady in Town” (1955), “Cool Water” (1955), “3:10 to Yuma” (1957), “Gunfight at the OK Corral” (1957), “Rawhide” (1958), “Bullwhip” (1958), “Gunslinger” (1961), and “Rango” (1967). It was this association which inspired Mel Brooks to seek him to sing the theme to Blazing Saddles (1974), which is surely what he is most widely known for today now that the broader public has mostly turned away from westerns. In 1979, he also sang the theme song to The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo.

I find in Laine’s success in the field a potential partial explanation for Dean Martin’s appearance in so many westerns, and his occasional release of country songs. An Italian cowboy? Why not? My friend A.J. Silver (Angelo Iodice) from the Bronx can outrope, outride, and out-bullwhip any of you sodbusters!

Laine also appeared in about a dozen films and tv shows, playing himself about half the time. You can see him in Make Believe Ballroom (1949), When You’re Smiling (1950), Sunny Side of the Street (1951), Rainbow ‘Round My Shoulder (1952), Bring Your Smile Along (1955), Meet Me in Las Vegas (1955), and He Laughed Last (1956), as well as episodes of Perry Mason, The Danny Thomas Show, Bachelor Father, and others. far more frequently he appeared in variety shows like the All Star Revue, The Colgate Comedy Hour,The Milton Berle Show, The Walter Winchell Show,Perry Como’s Kraft Music Hall, The Steve Allen Show, and many others. He even hosted his own: The Frankie Laine Hour (1950), The Frankie Laine Show (1954-55) and Frankie Laine Time (1955-56).

Late in life, Laine imitated Sinatra and Tony Bennett by singing songs about cities. Sinatra had “Chicago (That Toddlin’ Town”), “Chicago (My Kind of Town)”, “New York, New York” and “L.A. is My Lady”. Tony had “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”. Frankie released the less immortal songs “Take Me Back to L.A.”, “San Diego (Lovely Lady By the Sea” (Laine happened to live there), “Old Boston”, and “Old Chicago”. His last recording “Taps/My Buddy” was a tribute to New York City firefighters in the wake of September 11.

For more about show biz historyconsult No Applause, Just Throw Money: The Book That Made Vaudeville Famous, And please stay tuned for my upcomingElectric Vaudeville: A Century of Radio and TV Variety.