Patti
Page
She
wasn’t called “The Singing Rage” for nothing. And
57 years after the “raging” began in Tulsa, Oklahoma,
on a little known radio show on which she was the featured singer,
Patti Page remains an icon, a beloved singer who changed the face
of pop music and the way it was recorded. Her accomplishments
in music and television remain unparalleled even today.
In the course
of her remarkable recording career, Patti Page has sold approximately
100 million plus records, making her one of the biggest, if not
the biggest selling female recording artist in history. She has
15 certified gold records and her recording of “Tennessee
Waltz,” at ten million sold, remains, the biggest selling
single ever recorded by a female artist. She has charted a staggering
111 hits on pop, country and r&b charts (“Tennessee Waltz”
was # 1 concurrently on all three charts), a feat no other artist
in recording history can claim! And, she is the unrecognized (till
now) pioneer in the field of overdubbing, of multiple voice techniques
– a ground breaking, innovative endeavor that began with
her first Top Twenty hit, “Confess,” in 1948. Additionally,
it was Patti Page who took country music out of the country and
onto the pop charts with such million record sellers as “Mockin’
Bird Hill,” “ I Went To Your Wedding,” and, of
course, the legendary “Tennessee Waltz” to become the
first artist to crossover musical genres. And she is the only
singer – male or female – to have had shows bearing
her name on all three major television networks.
The success
of ‘Tennessee Waltz” catapulted Patti into major stardom.
She followed up her mega-hit with two other #1 million record
sellers, “Mockingbird Hill” and “Would I Love You,
Love You, Love You.” By 1952, Patti Page was on her way to
becoming the decade’s best selling female singer, and its
most popular. A repeated winner of Billboard and Cashbox Magazine
awards as America’s favorite female vocalist, in 1957, Patti
was crowned American Bandstand’s favorite female vocalist
in its first nationwide audience poll.
The Southern
silk of Patti’s voice, combined with her telegenic high cheek-boned
beauty, made her an integral part of the golden age of television.
Her appearances were many, and she was a frequent guest star on
the Milton Berle, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Ed Sullivan, Garry
Moore, Jackie Gleason and Bob Hope shows. She also starred frequently
on the prestigious Bell Telephone Hour, the Colgate Comedy Hour
and the Steve Allen Show. A musical “Special” on ABC
found her co-starring with Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin, most
notable for the trio singing “I’ve Got Tears In My Ears
Crying Over You.”
Patti’s
popularity was such that she was signed by NBC Television to star
in “Scott Music Hall Presents Patti Page,” a summer
replacement series that gave birth to the twice-weekly syndicated
“Oldsmobile Presents…Patti Page.” The success of
that modest enterprise, and the dominance of Patti on the hit
lists with such other multi-million record sellers as "(How
Much Is) That Doggie in the Window,” “Cross Over the
Bridge,” “I Went To Your Wedding, “ "Changing
Partners” and “Allegheny Moon,” brought Patti to
CBS-TV and the big budgeted weekly extravaganza, “The Big
Record.” When that concluded its run, ABC-TV brought Patti
to its studios for “The Patti Page Show,” thus making
her the only performer to have shows bearing her name on all three
major television networks.
In addition
to performing concerts throughout the country, she and her husband
maintain a thriving business in New Hampshire producing maple
syrup and pancake mixes packaged under the name of Patti Page
Pure Maple Products. The Food Network recently featured the products
in a special episode of "Celebrity Food Finds." She
has also recently been featured in The New York Times, Biography
Magazine, Guidepost Magazine, Senior Living Magazine and Mature
Living Magazine.
Patti Page
is still one of today's most treasured artists. By any standard
hers has been an extraordinary life; one the barefoot, Clara Ann
Fowler of Claremore, Oklahoma, could never have anticipated or
conceived - but which the Singing Rage, Miss Patti Page has so
brilliantly and yet so modestly achieved.
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