music
May 1964
1964 – First Album U.S.A produced by Joe Renè
Recorded in RCA Victor's Studio A - New York City
RITA PAVONE - The International Teenage Sensational
LPM - 2900 RCA Victor Dynagroove Recording
A Face with Freckles and a Voice with Heart
Once upon a time a young Italian couple named John and Mary, who had two handsome boys, wished very hard that their third child would be a girl.
Their wish came true.
Some people say she had freckles all over her face even at the birth. And some people say she was all eyes – except for the freckles. And other people say that she certainly had a good pair of lungs. Her parents named her Rita.
When she was a little girl she wished very hard that she could become a great singer.
Last year, when an Italian reporter asked the then sixteen-year-old RITA PAVONE how it felt to be an overnight singing sensation, she said, “ What do you mean, “ overnight “ ? I’ve been singing ever since I was six. “
Today, Rita – who in her native Italy is something like Elvis Presley and the Beatles rolled in one – is almost eighteen years old. She looks fourteen, and she has the timeless quality of all great artists. Many feature stories, and even more numerous articles, have tried to analyze Pavone’s incredible popularity, not only in Italy but all over continental Europe and Latin America.
Her contemporaries consider her their champion, their advocate; the girls think of her as “one of them”; the boys – as their private girl friends; little kids jump on the platforms when she performs, and twist to her tunes; mothers feel she is a nice, well-mannered kid whom they would like to have for a daughter; fathers want to protect her, for she is tiny and – with all her energy – on the frail side.
Even grandmothers in Italy, tradition bound as they are, do not mind her type of music making. They have inkling RITA is strictly O.K.
Rita’s phenomenal success began in September of 1962 when she won the much-publicized “Competition of the Unknowns “ in Ariccia, an Italian town outside of Rome. Her competition was immense – but suddenly, when this shy and almost gawky little girl with the Jackie Coogan eyes and the expressive hands stepped onto the platform – something happened. She opened her mouth, and before the first song was over it was quite evident – here would be unbeatable winner.
In her first year as recording artist with RCA Italiana, Rita’s disc sales passed the 3,000,000 mark, an unprecedented feat for Italy.
In Germany, her first single recorded in the German language quickly moved to the top of the hit parade. In Argentina, Rita’s records ranked one and three on the charts and, as she was heard in Italian, in this case not even the language barrier could stop the tiny trooper from Torino.
Festivals are being planned around her personal appearances and, before long, Pavone will assume her first motion -picture role.
Early in 1964, Rita was able to fulfil a long-wished-for dream: to visit New York- the Mecca of all young popular artists of our day. She cut this album, her first American-language LP, in the RCA Victor studios on New York’s 24th Street, under the supervision pf producer Joe Renè. From the very first session, enthusiasm ran high. When you hear this finished product, we believe you will agree that Italy’s Rita Pavone has much more than a good pair of lungs and a face that is all eyes – except for the freckles. Italy’s Rita Pavone has a very special kind of talent for singing her heart out.
 |