Jimmy Roselli
Jimmy Roselli | |
|---|---|
 Roselli in 1965 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael John Roselli |
| Born | December 26, 1925 Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | June 30, 2011 (aged 85) Clearwater, Florida, U.S. |
| Genres | Traditional pop, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, pianist |
| Years active | 1954–2011 |
| Labels | Lenox / Ad-Lib, United Artists, M&R |
| Website | www |
Michael John "Jimmy" Roselli (December 26, 1925 – June 30, 2011)[1][2] was an American pop singer and pianist.[3]
Early life
Roselli was born in
Career
He had success with the song "Mala Femmena" on his first album Showcase: Jimmy Roselli. It sold over three million records in 1963.
At the beginning of his career, with appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, with Jimmy Durante, and at the Copacabana, critics were calling him a "miracle".[6] As New York magazine states,[4] "guys were trying to put a stranglehold on him. He pushed them all away." Although he was on good terms with a number of mob chieftains, he claimed that he had "never done business with organized criminals".[7] In 1970, Roselli refused Joseph Colombo's offer to sing at a concert that supported the Mob-controlled Italian-American Civil Rights League. After this incident, Roselli was blackballed from singing in clubs and venues owned or controlled by Mafia associates. At times, he was relegated to selling his music out of the trunk of his car parked in Little Italy in Manhattan (he was the founder and owner of M&R Records).
Jimmy Roselli is a favorite among Italian-Americans and his signature tune "Mala Femmina" is featured twice in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets. Roselli sang in perfect Neapolitan dialect.[8] Other Neapolitan songs recorded by Roselli include "Core 'ngrato", "Anema e core" and "Scapricciatiello". Jerry Lewis said of him that "Roselli sings as an Italian should sing".[9]
Later, as the influence of the Mafia waned, Roselli's career experienced a resurgence. In 1989, he found success in the United Kingdom when he played a series of concerts at the
He sang the title song "Who Can Say?" for the 1966 Italian documentary film Africa Addio.
A book in the late 1990s entitled Making The Wiseguys Weep: The Jimmy Roselli Story was published by David Evanier. A feature film about Jimmy Roselli is being developed by James Ivory and Roger Birnbaum.
Death
Roselli died of heart failure in 2011 at his home in Clearwater, Florida.
Discography
- Showcase: Jimmy Roselli (1963)
- This Heart of Mine (1964)
- Life & Love Italian Style (1965)
- Mala Femmena (1965)
- The Great Ones (1965)
- Saloon Songs (1965)
- New York: My Port of Call (1965)
- Right from the Heart (1965)
- The Christmas Album (1966)
- The Italian Album (1966)
- Saloon Songs Vol. 2 (1967)
- Sold Out: Carnegie Hall Concert (1967)
- There Must Be a Way (1967)
- Rock-a-Bye Your Baby (1968)
- 3 A.M. (1968)
- Core Spezzato (1969)
- Let Me Sing and I'm Happy (1969)
- It's Been Swell (1970)
- Jimmy Roselli (1971)
- Saloon Songs Vol. 3 (1971)
- Simmo 'E Napule... Paisa (1972)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hot 100 | CB | AC | ||
| 1963 | "Mala Femmena" | 135 | 101 | - |
| 1964 | "Anema E Core" | - | 125 | - |
| 1965 | "Just Say I Love Her" | - | 140 | - |
| 1966 | "I'm Gonna Change Everything" | - | - | 29 |
| 1967 | "There Must Be a Way" | 93 | 90 | 13 |
| "All the Time" | - | 107 | 19 | |
| 1968 | "Please Believe Me" | - | 125 | 31 |
| "'O Surdato 'Nnammurato" | - | 122 | - | |
| "Oh What It Seemed To Be" | - | 134 | 35 | |
| 1969 | "My Heart Cries For You" | - | 123 | - |
| "Buona Sera Mrs. Campbell" | - | - | 38 | |
References
- ISBN 9781575790978. Retrieved April 24, 2012.
- ^ Fox, Margalit (July 10, 2011). "Jimmy Roselli, Italian-American Singer, Dies at 85". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
- ^ Patrick, Vincent (December 27, 1998). "The Wedding Singer". The New York Times. Retrieved May 23, 2014.
- ^ a b Evanier, David (March 25, 1996). "Jimmy Roselli Really Did It His Way". New York. p. 36.
- ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
- ^ Italian Tribune News, August 8, 1991
- ^ Timothy K. Smith, The Wall Street Journal, July 9, 1991
- ^ Tiziano Thomas Dossena, "Remembering the other voice from Hoboken", Queens Ledger, September 8, 2011
- ^ As quoted in: Las Vegas Magazine, November 4, 1966.
- ^ Kent, Bill (August 11, 1993). "That Other Guy From Hoboken Who Can Fill A Casino Showroom". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
External links
- New York Times book review, "The Wedding Singer: A biography of a crooner who never quite made the big time," by Vincent Patrick (December 27, 1998)
- Jimmy Roselli at Find a Grave
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