Frankie Carle born 25 March 1903

Carle was born Francis Nunzio Carlone in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 25, 1903. 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. His first break was playing piano in Ed. J. McEnelly’s dance band with whom he made one of his earliest recordings, “Spanish Shawl”, issued by Victor Records circa 1925. 

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. He started out working with a number of mainstream dance bands and in 1934 joined Mal Hallett’s popular New England-based outfit and stayed for approximately four years. 

On February 17, 1939, his composition, “Sunrise Serenade” was recorded by Glen Gray’s famous Casa Loma orchestra for Decca Records in New York City, with Frankie Carle playing piano on the session.  This disc charted the week of April 8, 1939 and remained on the national chart for 16 weeks, peaking at #1 in August. Glenn Miller followed with his own recording of this song bookending it on the flip side of this theme “Moonlight Serenade” and it’s his version which has stood the test of time, ultimately selling over 1 million copies.“ 

That same year, his performing career took a giant step forward when he joined Horace Heidt and His Musical Knights as the popular orchestra’s featured pianist. Carle was held in such high regard by his peers that when one of Heidt’s competitors, pianist bandleader, Eddy Duchin entered the service in 1941, he tempted Carle with an offer to take over the Duchin orchestra. This was a deal Carle couldn’t and didn’t refuse.  In 1943, he became the band’s co-leader. 

During his stint with Heidt, Carle experienced all the perks of being a member of a big-time organization such as phonograph records that sold well (five Top Ten hits in 1941), appearances on radio (“Tums Treasure Chest” on NBC from 1940-1943) and film (“Pot o’ Gold”, a 1941 flick starring Jimmy Stewart and Paulette Goddard, based on Heidt’s radio show of the same name).  His experience as featured pianist, band conductor and now business partner, prepared him well, so when Horace Heidt retired in 1944, Carle was ready to helm his own outfit and continue his journey to the top of the pop music world. 

During the early ’40’s, the Big Band/Swing Era was still happening, but the wartime draft drained many bands of their key personnel, while a concurrent Musicians’ Union strike forced record labels to limit releases of new material to vocalists.  

Frankie & his daughter Marjorie Hughes

For the big bands there were few bright spots but Frankie Carle’s orchestra was one of the brightest.  Between September 1944 and March 1949, Frankie Carle placed 19 records on Billboard’s charts, 10 of them reached the Top Ten. His biggest year was 1946 when he had two #1 smashes, “Oh, What It Seemed to Be”  and “Rumours are Flying”. 

He became the subject of a Walter Winchell “scoop” when the broadcaster revealed to his millions of listeners that the band’s female vocalist Marjorie Hughes, singer of both hits, was really Carle’s daughter.  Frankie explained that when he was auditioning female singers, his wife slipped him a demo of his daughter taken from a local radio broadcast and he didn’t find out who it was until after she was chosen.  “I liked the record and when my Mrs. said it was my daughter, I was asked to give her a chance with my band.  I did not want the public to know she was any relation of mine until I found out whether she could make the grade or not.  I gave her three months and had her change her name to Marjorie Hughes”. 

The huge success he had during this period afforded him many show-biz opportunities including radio programs, films, and continued personal appearances.  He kept composing and recording.  In 1955, he broke up his band but continued to perform solo or with small units.  He was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame for recording on February 8, 1960. Carle semi-retired during the 1960s but became active again during the big band revival of the 1970s. He last toured in 1983, and was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1989. 

(Edited mainly from the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame Historical Archives)