Tennessee Waltzing With Patti Page

 

(1950's photo; credits to wikipedia.org)

 (Older Patti Page; credits to: fox5sandiego.com)

"I was dancin' with my darlin' to the Tennessee Waltz
When an old friend I happened to see
I introduced her to my loved one and while they were dancin'
My friend stole my sweetheart from me"

Listen Online: Tennessee Waltz

Those golden great junkies would certainly shed tears when they hear this song and remember her sweet voice anywhere.

Who wouldn't know PATTI PAGE?

Born as Clara Ann Fowler, popularly known as PATTI PAGE, she was born on November 8, 1927. 

She became an American singer and one of the best-known female artists in the traditional pop music. She was the top-charting female vocalist, as well as the best-selling female artist of the 1950s and sold over 100 million records^. She was often introduced as "the Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page". New York WNEW disc-jockey William B. Williams introduced her as "A Page in my life called Patti".

Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", recorded in 1950, was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century, and is also one of the nine official state songs of Tennessee. "Tennessee Waltz" spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard Magazine's Best-Sellers List in 1950. 

In the early 1990s, Page moved west to San Diego, California, and continued to perform live shows at venues across the country.

In 1997, Patti Page was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. She was posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013.

In 1998, Page recorded her first live album. It was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and titled, Live at Carnegie Hall: The 50th Anniversary Concert. The album won Page a Grammy Award the following year for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance which, despite her prolific career, was her first Grammy. That same year, a sample of Patti Page's recording of "Old Cape Cod" formed the basis of Groove Armada's 1998 UK hit "At the River". The lines "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, / Quaint little villages here and there..." sung in Page's multi-tracked close-harmony, are repeated over and over, with the addition of synthesizer bass, slowed-down drums and a bluesy trombone solo to produce a chill-out track. The success of this track exposed Page's music to a younger audience.

 In 2000, she released a new album, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, which consisted of new music. Harmony vocals were provided by popular country stars, including Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, Kathy Mattea and Trisha Yearwood. The album was promoted at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000.

 On October 4, 2001, Bob Baines, the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, declared the day "Patti Page Day" in the town. Miss Page was in Manchester to perform a sold-out concert at the Palace Theatre to benefit Merrimack Valley Assistance Program.

In 2004, she appeared on the PBS Special Magic Moments: The Best Of 50's Pop and sang her hits "Tennessee Waltz" and "Old Cape Cod". The DVD also includes a bonus backstage interview with Page.

In 2005, she performed a series of engagements at a theatre in Branson, Missouri, starting on September 12.

Until shortly before her death, Page was a host of a weekly Sunday program on the "Music of Your Life" radio network. She and Jack White of the White Stripes were interviewed in January 2008, after the White Stripes had recorded Page's early 1950s hit, "Conquest", on their 2007 studio album Icky Thump. Page and White were put together on the phone during the interview, talking to each other about their views on "Conquest".

Page continued to tour actively until September 2012, when she announced, on her web page, her retirement from performing, for health reasons.

Patti Page died on January 1, 2013, at the Seacrest Village Retirement Community in Encinitas, California, according to her manager. She was 85 years old. Page had been suffering from heart and lung disease.

Source:  Patti Page