Caterina Valente (born 14 January 1931, Paris, France) is an Italian singer, guitarist, dancer, and actress. She was born into an Italian artist family. Her father, Giuseppe, was a well-known accordion player; her mother, Maria, a musical clown. She had three siblings, one of whom, Silvio (as Silvio Francesco), was also active in show business.
In 1953, she made her first recordings with Kurt Edelhagen. Soon afterwards she achieved success with songs such as “Malagueña”, “The Breeze and I” (a global million-seller),[1] and “Dreh dich nicht um” with the Werner Müller orchestra. In 1955, she was featured on The Colgate Comedy Hour with Gordon MacRae. In the mid 1960s, Valente worked with Claus Ogerman and recorded material in both Italian and English that he arranged/conducted and/or composed on the Decca [2] and London [3] labels. She was a favorite of singer Perry Como making eight guest appearances on his NBC Kraft Music Hall television program from 1961 to 1966. Between 1966 and 1972 she was also a frequent guest on the Dean Martin Show.
In Germany she was a major performer of Schlager music. There she recorded Cole Porter’s I Love Paris under the German title Ganz Paris träumt von der Liebe, which sold more than 900,000 copies in 1954. Over the years, she has recorded or performed with many international stars, including Louis Armstrong, Chet Baker, Perry Como, Ella Fitzgerald, Benny Goodman, Woody Herman, Claus Ogerman, the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Sy Oliver, Buddy Rich and Edmundo Ros. In 1959, she was nominated for a Grammy Award. Valente was a principal, along with Carol Burnett and Bob Newhart, on the short-lived CBS variety series The Entertainers (1964–65). A briglia sciolta, the Italian jazz CD recorded in 1989 and re-released in later years under the titles Fantastica and Platinum deluxe, was her best-selling CD worldwide. In 2001, she released a new album, Girltalk, with harpist Catherine Michel.
Caterina Valente + Sylvio Francesco
This is one of her many recordings from the 60´s. Original recorded in 1957 and this is a real beutiful album, sung in the spanish language.
Recorded together with her brother, Sylvio Francesco it´s a fine example of her great voice and it´s a very fine example of the great guitarwork of Sylvio Francesco, too.
My copy is from a re-release in 1960
Alternate frontcovers
Personnel:
Sylvio Francesco (guitar, vocals)
Caterina Valente (vocals, guitar)
Tracklist:
01. Maria Christina (nico) 2.43
02. El Cumbanchero (Hernández) 2.55
03. Babalu (Lecuona) 2.54
04. Quién será (Ruiz) 2.48
05. No te importe saber (Touzet) 2.30
06. Mucho, Mucho, Mucho (Grever) 3.17
07. El Negro Zumbon (Anna) (Vatro/Giordano) 3.10
08. Por Un Capricho (Ventras) 2.58
09. Ah Si, Ah Si (Gomez) 2.18
10. Aquarela do Brasil (Barroso) 3.17
11. Quiéreme mucho (Roig) 3.08
12. Tres Claveles (Trois Oeillets) (Alguero) 3.16
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