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Patti Page

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Albums27
Songs180
AboutPatti Page

Grammy Award winning recording artist Patti Page, known as "The Singing Rage", began her career as the featured singer on a little known radio show in Tulsa, Oklahoma. She quickly became an American idol, and today remains an American icon, a beloved singer who changed the face of pop music, and the way it was recorded.

She was born Clara Ann Fowler in Claremore, Oklahoma on November 8, 1927. Music was an integral part of her life as far back as she can remember. The Fowler Sisters sang in church and later on local radio. She claims to have been a "little ham" as a youngster, but in her adolescence developed a shyness that has remained throughout her life despite a very public career that found her performing for millions including royalty and five U.S. Presidents.

In high school, Clara Ann was intent on a career as an artist and worked part-time in the art department at KTUL Radio in Tulsa. An executive at the station remembered her singing at a school function the station had sponsored, and he offered her the starring role on "Meet Patti Page", a local show sponsored by the Page Milk Company. That show changed her name and changed her life. As luck would have it, a touring band manager named Jack Rael happened on the show as he was flipping stations in his Tulsa hotel room, and he was struck by the musicality of Patti's voice. He arranged a meeting with the reluctant Clara Ann, and soon persuaded her to leave the $125 per week job at the station and go on the road as the featured vocalist with clarinetist Jimmy Joy and his band for $75 per week. She left Tulsa for a new life with a new name, Patti Page.

After a brief stint on the road, Patti left the band with Jack Rael as her manager and landed in Chicago. There she was signed to a small new record label, Mercury Records. In 1948, while recording "Confess", which became her first Top-Twenty hit, Patti pioneered vocal overdubbing, or the multiple voice technique, a ground breaking, innovative endeavor, which became her signature style. Patti's silky-smooth voice engulfed the airwaves during the 1950s and '60s. Over her career, she has recorded more than 1,000 songs, with a staggering 111 hits on the Billboard charts, 15 gold records [at that time Gold meant 1,000,000 records sold] and four gold albums. Patti is the first crossover artist to take country music out of the country and onto the pop charts with such multi-million-seller records as "Mockin' Bird Hill," "I Went To Your Wedding," "Mister & Mississippi," and, of course, the legendary "Tennessee Waltz," which reached #1 on the Pop, Country, & R&B charts, and sold more than 10 million copies. A repeat winner of Billboard and Cashbox Magazine awards as "America's Favorite Female Vocalist", in 1957, Patti was also named American Bandstand's "Favorite Female Vocalist" in its first nationwide audience poll.

During the early days of television, Patti embraced the new medium and is the only singer —male or female—to have had a series bearing her name on the three major television networks at the time. In addition, she was a frequent guest star on the Milton Berle, Perry Como, Dinah Shore, Garry Moore, Jackie Gleason and Bob Hope shows. Over twenty years, Patti appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show seventeen times, including once as Guest Host, the only female to have such an honor. She also starred frequently on the prestigious Bell Telephone Hour, the Colgate Comedy Hour and the Steve Allen Show.

Patti also had a brief affair with the silver screen, having appeared in "Elmer Gantry," "Boys Night Out" and "Dondi." But it was in nightclubs that Patti continued to make her mark. She was a major star performing in ALL the major venues throughout the country. In New York, she played the Copacabana, the prestigious Empire Room at the Waldorf Astoria and the elegant Persian Room at the Plaza Hotel. In Los Angeles, it was the Cocoanut Grove, In Las Vegas the Desert Inn, and in Chicago the Drake. In the 1990s she played the Ballroom, Rainbow and Stars and the elegant Feinstein's at the Regency – all in New York.

Patti continued her television appearances, recently starring in and serving as host of several PBS music specials. On her 50th anniversary in the entertainment industry, PBS honored Patti with a 90-minute retrospective on her life and career. The celebration mirrored one that took place at Carnegie Hall on May 31, 1997 where Patti appeared for the first time in her distinguished career. That show, captured on CD, "Patti Page Live At Carnegie Hall – the 50th Anniversary Concert" earned Patti her first Grammy Award.

Other accolades Patti has received include induction into the Tradition Country Music Hall of Fame (Sept, 2010), being one of the original stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, listing on the Country Music Walk of Fame in Nashville, the prestigious Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music, and induction into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. In addition, Patti was the first female to be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame along with Merle Haggard and Woody Guthrie, and in 2002 she was honored with the Living Legend Award from the Oklahoma Jazz Hall of Fame.

Retirement is not yet a word in Patti's vocabulary. She continues to record and has released several albums on her own label, C.A.F. Records. "Brand New Tennessee Waltz", her first studio album in fifteen years, included guest artists Emmylou Harris, Kathy Mattea, Trisha Yearwood, Alison Krauss and Suzy Boguss. "Sweet Sounds of Christmas" was Patti's first holiday album since 1966, and "Child of Mine" is a collection of children's favorites, including a new rendition of her multi-million seller, "(How Much Is) That Doggie In the Window" as well as other classics including, "Over the Rainbow" and "Rainbow Connection".

Today, Patti continues to record and use her sweet, tranquil voice to touch the hearts of many generations. Her latest recording project, "Best Country Songs" was released in November 2008 by Curb Records. She also enjoys performing select concerts throughout the year, sharing her incredible list of chart-topping classics with her fans. Patti's accomplishments remain unparalleled, and are now chronicled in her memoir, "This Is My Song", published by Kathdan Books in March 2009.

Patti continues to be a voracious reader, enjoys time with her family, and lends her celebrity to causes important to her, such as the National Committee of Grandparents for Children's Rights (NCGCR) and Humane Society of the United States (HSUS). At NCGCR she serves as Honorary Chairperson and was recognized as Grandparent of the Year in May, 2010. A recent HSUS campaign was built around Patti's mega-hit "Doggie In The Window". The lyrics were re-written as "Do you see that doggie in the shelter, the one with the take me home eyes", the goal being to raise awareness of shelters across the country.

Patti Page is still one of America's most treasured artists. By any standard hers has been an extraordinary life; one that 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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