In the 1930s and 40s big bands were all the rage. The advent of radio made it possible, for the first time, for music lover’s national wide to listen to the popular bands of the time. Swing music became the dominant form of Jazz and established itself as mainstream popular American music.
A big band typically consisted of approximately 12 to 25 musicians including saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Vocalist were considered musicians and their voices their instruments. It was the bandleader which was the center of attention and rarely was the spotlight given to a band member.
Starting in the mid 1940s however that began to change, vocalists started to emerge as celebrities in their own right and for the first time started to eclipse band leaders.
Perry Como is one of the most well know crooners to have come out of the Big Band Era. His 1946 hit “Prisoner of Love” was a million seller reaching number 1 on the Billboard magazine’s music charts. It was an immediate hit and went on to become one of Perry’s most requested songs.
The song was written in 1931, music by Russ Columbo, another top male singer of popular American songs, and Clarence Gaskill with lyrics by Leo Robin. The song was popularized by Columbo and later became a major hit for Perry Como. Perry’s version of the tune was released on December 18, 1945 RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-1814-B. It first reached the Billboard magazine charts on March 30, 1946 lasting 3 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
Perry Como was born Pierino Ronald Como on May 18, 1912 in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Mr. C, as he was called, had a career that spanned more than 50 years becoming not only a recording star but also a top television celebrity.
Recording exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943 and went on to sell millions of records for them. Perry had a reputation for being modest he had so many of his recordings become gold records that he refused to have many of them certified.
He also pioneered the weekly musical variety television show, which the standard for the genre and became the most successful show of its kind in television history. No other television and recording artist of his time was ever able to reach the level of success and popularity that Perry did.
So now have a listen to one of the greatest traditional pop standards of the era the original 1946 version of Perry Como’s “Prisoner of Love”.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Related Posts: