Amore: The Story of Italian American Song

"Rotella's revelatory follow-up to Stolen Figs is much more than the story of the years after the war and before the Beatles, when Italian-Americans ruled popular music--it's an astute examination of how the Italians integrated into America. With thorough research combined with a lyrical writing style (' voice glides like a bow over the strings'), Rotella transports readers into a vibrant, colorful world with tours of a museum devoted to the megaselling Enrico Caruso, complete with cans of Caruso Olive Oil ('100 percent olive oil for Italians; a blend of 75 percent peanut and 25 percent olive oils ‘for 'mericans' ') and of onetime superstar Nick Lucas's old neighborhood in Belleville, N.J. Folk and popular songs from Italy are deftly woven into the larger story of how a once unwelcome ethnic group became a vital part of American culture. In documenting the progress of Italian integration into mainstream America, classic songs such as Frank Sinatra's 'I've Got the World on a String,' Frankie Lane's 'That Lucky Old Sun,' and Dean Martin's 'That's Amore' create opportunities to expand on the story of the singer, the song, and the state of the union, resulting in a rich and reverential tapestry. Rotella's keen eye and enthusiast's ear make for sumptuous reading and will garner a renewed appreciation for these performers while those readers unfamiliar with the major works of Tony Bennett or Perry Como, let alone Russ Columbo and Julius La Rosa, will be inspired to load up their iPod. (Sept.)" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) (Copyright PWyxz LLC)

Rotella celebrates the "Italian decade"--the years after the war and before the Beatles when Frank Sinatra, Perry Como, Dean Martin, and Tony Bennett, among others, won the hearts of the American public with a smooth, stylish, classy brand of pop.