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Caterina Valente & Bill Haley - Viva La Rock'n Roll (1960)
Have you ever bought a record, I mean a vinyl, just for a beautiful cover?
Well, this one by Caterina Valente with Bill Haley is a collector's item, for lovers of the genre obviously. Seeing two sacred monsters of light music together doesn't happen every day. And they even shot a film together - a clip is on YouTube - that stands as a testament to a time when the laws of the record market were less strict and allowed strange melting pot combinations: it could happen that Stevie Wonder sang for you in Italian "Il sole è di tutti," that Bowie recorded "Ragazzo solo ragazza sola-ahhh Mogol," that the Yardbirds redid Dalla's "Paff bum," that Battisti refashioned entire albums in Spanish...and the list goes on.
This record, quite rare in Italy, is a true gem: a very young Caterina Valente with Bill Haley and the Comets together, in the soundtrack of a German (!) film about rock 'n' roll. The musical film is on the verge of trash, but Caterina, with her verve, breaks down oceanic divisions and engages in all genres.
This singer, born in Paris, daughter of Italian immigrants, comes from a circus family. She is a simply stratospheric artist: dancer, polyglot singer, actress, mime, a legend already in the late 50s, when Mina was still at the beginning - watch them duet on TV with the piece "Brava!" - a little lady and a little tomboy - she recorded in all languages, in all musical genres, endowed with an incredible range, shifts from jazz to rock, is famous worldwide, has duetted and is also a great guitarist and composer. Singers of such caliber are one of a kind. She also collaborated with Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong, Benny Goodman, Ella Fitzgerald, the orchestras of Tommy Dorsey, Buddy Rich, Sy Oliver, Claus Ogerman, Bill Haley, and Chet Baker.
The film excerpt on YouTube shows Bill Haley singing with Caterina "Shake, Rattle and Roll," in a medley with "Framartino campanaro," a piece of pure avant-garde 60s trash: there's a whole era spilling out. Unforgettable.
The Kraut songs record is for refined tastes, it can overflow with emotions.
V.R.
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