Patti Page

Clara Ann Fowler (November 8, 1927 – January 1, 2013), known by her professional name Patti Page, was an American singer and one of the best-known female artists in traditional pop music. She was the best-selling female artist of the 1950s, and sold over 100 million records. She was often introduced as "the Singin' Rage, Miss Patti Page". New York WNEW disc-jockey William B. Williams introduced her as "A Page in my life called Patti".

Page signed with Mercury Records in 1947, and became their first successful female artist, starting with 1948's "Confess". In 1950, she had her first million-selling single "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming", and would eventually have 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965.

Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century, and is recognized today as one of the official songs of the state of Tennessee. It spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard magazine's Best-Sellers List in 1950/51. Page had three additional No. 1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, "All My Love (Bolero)", "I Went to Your Wedding", and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window".

Unlike most other pop singers, Page blended country music styles into many of her songs. As a result of this crossover appeal, many of Page's singles appeared on the Billboard Country Chart. In the 1970s, she shifted her style more toward country music and began having even more success on the country charts, ending up as one of the few vocalists to have charted in five separate decades.

With the rise of Rock and Roll in the 1950s, mainstream popular music record sales began to decline. Page was among the few pop singers who were able to maintain popularity, continuing to have hits well into the 1960s, with "Old Cape Cod", "Allegheny Moon", "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)", and "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte".

In 1997, Patti Page was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. She was posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013.

Clara Ann Fowler was born on November 8, 1927, in Claremore, Oklahoma, (although some sources give Muskogee)[1] into a large and poor family of 11 children (3 boys and 8 girls).[3][4] Her father, B.A. Fowler, worked on the MKT railroad, while her mother, Margaret, and older sisters picked cotton. As she recalled on television many years later, the family lived without electricity, and therefore she could not read after dark. She was raised in Foraker, Hardy, Muskogee, and Avant, Oklahoma,[4][5] before attending Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, from which she graduated in 1945.[6]

Fowler started her career as a singer with Al Clauser and his Oklahoma Outlaws at radio station KTUL, in Tulsa, Oklahoma. At age 18 she became a featured performer on the station for a 15-minute radio program sponsored by the Page Milk Company.[7] As a nod to the show's sponsor, Fowler was referred to on the air as "Patti Page." In 1946, Jack Rael, a saxophone player and manager of the Jimmy Joy Band, came to Tulsa for a one-night stand. Rael heard Page on the radio, liked her voice, and asked her to join the band. After leaving the band, Rael became Page's personal manager.[8]

In 1946 Page toured the country with the Jimmy Joy Band. In 1947 the band traveled to Chicago, where Page sang with a small group led by popular orchestra leader Benny Goodman. This led to Page signing her first recording contract, with Mercury Records.[1] She became Mercury's "girl singer".[3]

Patti Page was born Clara Ann Fowler in Oklahoma in 1927. She began her professional singing career at KTUL, a Tulsa radio station. Since the program was sponsored by Page Milk, she adopted the moniker Patti Page, and it stuck. Patti toured the US in the late 1940s with Jimmy Joy, and notably sang with the Benny Goodman band in Chicago. In 1950 she recorded "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming", her first platinum-selling record. In 1951 her rendition of "The Tennessee Waltz" became the biggest hit of her career. It was #1 on the Billboard charts and stayed there for 30 weeks; over the years it would sell 10 million copies. Patti was the best-selling female vocalist of the 1950s, and was wildly popular all through the 1960s. She got national exposure on TV shows, appearing on such top-rated television programs as The Dean Martin Show (1965). In 1968 she recorded what some consider her signature song, "Have a Little Faith and Love Will Come to You." Patti continued to thrill fans for decades. In 1999 she received a Grammy for her "Live at Carnegie Hall" album, a compilation from her 50th-anniversary concert. Patti has millions of fans, and we can live by the words of her famous song: "Beyond the clouds the sky is always blue / Have a little faith and love will come to you."

Pop success: 1946–1949 Patti Page recorded several songs with Al Clauser & His Oklahoma Outlaws (1946), The Eddie Getz Orchestra, and the George Barnes Trio (1947).[9]

Page recorded her first hit single, "Confess", in 1947. Because of a strike, background singers were not available to provide harmony vocals for the song, so Page and the label decided to overdub the harmony parts.[10] Bill Putnam, an engineer for Mercury Records, was able to overdub Page's voice, using the latest recording technology.[11] Thus, Page became the first pop artist to harmonize her own vocals on a recording.[1] This technique would later be used on Page's biggest hit singles in the 1950s. In 1948, "Confess" became a Top 15 hit on Billboard, peaking at No. 12 on the "Best-Sellers" chart, becoming her first hit. Page followed the single with four more in 1948–1949, only one of which was a Top 20 hit, "So in Love" (1949). Page also had a Top 15 hit on the Billboard country chart in 1949 with "Money, Marbles, and Chalk" and then recorded "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" which later became a hit in 1950.

In 1950, Page had her first million-selling single "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming", another song where she harmonized her vocals. Because she was overdubbing her vocals, Page's name had to be listed on the recording credits as a group. According to one early-1950s chart, Page was credited as "The Patti Page Quartet". In mid-1950, Page's single, "All My Love (Bolero)" peaked at No. 1 on Billboard magazine, becoming her first No. 1 hit and[1] spending five weeks there. That same year, she also had her first Top 10 hit with "I Don't Care if the Sun Don't Shine", as well as the Top 25 single, "Back in Your Own Backyard".

"Tennessee Waltz": 1950 Toward the end of 1950, Patti Page's version of "Tennessee Waltz" became her second No. 1 hit, and her biggest-selling single. "Tennessee Waltz" was written in 1946 by Pee Wee King and Redd Stewart, and was recorded in 1947 by Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys. Their original version made the country charts in 1948. The song was also a hit for Cowboy Copas around the same time. Page was introduced to the song by record producer Jerry Wexler, who suggested that she cover a recent R&B version by the Erskine Hawkins Orchestra. Page liked the song and she soon recorded and released it as a single. The song spent 13 weeks at No. 1 in 1950 and 1951. "Tennessee Waltz" also became Page's second single to appear on the country charts, becoming her biggest hit there, reaching No. 2. The song would later become one of the best-selling records of its era, selling seven million copies in the early 1950s. "Tennessee Waltz" remains the biggest commercial success for the overdubbing technique, pioneered by producer Mitch Miller, which enabled Page to sound as if she were harmonizing with herself.[11] "Tennessee Waltz" was the last song to sell one million copies of sheet music.[citation needed]

The song was featured in the 1970 film Zabriskie Point and in the 1983 film The Right Stuff.[12]

Page signed with Mercury Records in 1947, and became their first successful female artist, starting with 1948's "Confess". In 1950, she had her first million-selling single "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming", and would eventually have 14 additional million-selling singles between 1950 and 1965.

Page's signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", recorded in 1950, was one of the biggest-selling singles of the 20th century, and is also one of the nine official state songs of Tennessee. "Tennessee Waltz" spent 13 weeks atop the Billboard magazine's Best-Sellers List in 1950. Page had three additional No. 1 hit singles between 1950 and 1953, with "All My Love (Bolero)", "I Went to Your Wedding", and "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window".

Received the Women's International Center (WIC) Living Legacy Award in 1991.

Best known for her 1951 million-selling country and pop smash "The Tennessee Waltz."

One of 11 children.

Performed on radio station KTUL in Tulsa, Okla., as part of Al Clauser and His Oklahoma Outlaws (using her birth name, Fowler); also peforming on the show was a singer billed as "Patti Page" for the Page Milk Co. When that performer left, Fowler took her place and name.

Known for her silky voice and almost chaste style, Patti shrugged and said that's what people wanted from her. Patti and her second husband have temporary guardianship over two of her daughter's young children. Recorded more than 100 albums and 160 singles (84 of which made Billboard's "top 40") and has three certified gold albums and fifteen gold singles.

In 1957, she was deemed favorite female vocalist in the first nationwide audience poll taken on Dick Clark's American Bandstand (1952).

Adopted two children, Kathleen and Danny, during her marriage to Hollywood choreographer Charles O'Curran, who was best known for staging the dance numbers of many of Elvis Presley's early films. She moved her children to Rancho Santa Fe, California following their divorce.

In 1951, Page released the follow-up single to "Tennessee Waltz" called "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)", which was a Top 5 hit, and also sold a million copies. The next single, "Mockin' Bird Hill", (a cover of the original by Les Paul and Mary Ford) was her fourth million seller. Page had three more Top 10 hits on Billboard magazine in 1951, starting with "Mister and Mississippi", which peaked at No. 8, "And So to Sleep Again", and "Detour", which had previously been recorded and made famous by Foy Willing and Elton Britt. Page's version was the most popular and became her seventh million-selling single.[12] She also released her first studio album in 1951 titled, Folk Song Favorites.

In 1952, Page had a third No. 1 hit with "I Went to Your Wedding", which spent two months at number one. Recorded in a country ballad style, the song was the B-side of "You Belong to Me", also a top ten hit. "I Went to Your Wedding" was Page's eighth million-selling single in the United States. It displaced Jo Stafford's version of the same song, "You Belong to Me" at No. 1 on Billboard's Best Seller chart).[1] She had continued success that year, with three more songs in the Top 10, "Come What May", "Once in a While", and "Why Don't You Believe Me". In 1953, a novelty tune, "(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window", became Page's fourth No. 1 hit, selling over a million copies, and staying on the chart for five months. The song included the sound of a dog barking, which made it popular with a younger audience. It became one of her best-loved songs.[12] The song was written by the novelty tune specialist Bob Merrill. It was originally recorded by Page for a children's album, Arfie Goes To School.[13] She had a series of Top 20 hits that year. A final single reached the Top 5, "Changing Partners", which peaked at No. 3 and stayed on the charts for five months. The song was also a country melody, like many of Page's hits at the time.[12]

In 1954, Page had more chart hits, including "Cross Over the Bridge", which again over-dubbed Page's vocals and peaked at No. 2. Other Top 10 hits by Page that year included, "Steam Heat" (from the Broadway musical The Pajama Game) and "Let Me Go Lover".[13] In 1955 Page had one chart single, "Croce di Oro".

Unlike most other pop singers of her time, Page was able to maintain success into the rock and roll era. She had three hits in 1956, including the No. 2 "Allegheny Moon". In 1957 she had major hits with "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" (recorded the same year by Patsy Cline) and the Top 5 hit, "Old Cape Cod".

Played Carnegie Hall for the first time on May 31, 1997. Captured on CD, "Patti Page Live at Carnegie Hall - the 50th Anniversary Concert" earned the singer her first Grammy Award.

In spite of the British invasion, she made a "top 10" record in 1965 with the title song for Hush... Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), the "grand guignol" chiller starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. She performed the nominated song on the broadcast of The 37th Annual Academy Awards (1965).

In 1956 Vic Schoen became Patti Page's musical director, producing her on a long string of hits that included "Mama from the Train", "Allegheny Moon", "Old Cape Cod", "Belonging to Someone" and "Left Right Out of Your Heart". Page and Schoen's most challenging project was a recording of Gordon Jenkins narrative tone poem Manhattan Tower (recorded September 1956). The album was a success both artistically and commercially, reaching No. 18 on the Billboard LP chart, the highest ranking of any of her albums. Schoen's arrangements were more lively and jazzy than the original Jenkins arrangements. Schoen recalled, "Patti was an alto, but I pushed her to reach notes higher than she had sung before for this album. We always enjoyed working together." Page and Schoen continued their collaboration for many years, working together until 1999.

During the 1950s, Page regularly appeared on television, including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Bob Hope Show, The Steve Allen Show, and The Dean Martin Show. This eventually led to Page having television specials of her own. She would later have her own series, beginning with Scott Music Hall on NBC in the 1952–53 season, and a syndicated series for Oldsmobile[14] in 1955, The Patti Page Show. However, this show only lasted one season, as did The Big Record on CBS (1957–58) and ABC's The Patti Page Olds Show, sponsored by Oldsmobile (1958–59). Page also began an acting career at this time, beginning with a role on CBS Playhouse 90. Page made her movie debut in 1960, in Elmer Gantry.[14] Page also recorded the theme song for Boys Night Out, in which she played the part of Joanne McIllenny.[15] In 1959, Page recorded the title song from the musical The Sound of Music for Mercury Records[16] on the same day that the musical opened on Broadway. Since it was recorded a week before the original Broadway cast album, Page was the first artist to record a song from the musical. The song on her TV show, The Patti Page Olds Show, helped to promote the Broadway show.[17]

In the early 1960s, Page's success began to decline.[7] She did not chart again until 1961, with "You'll Answer to Me" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz". Page's last major chart hit was in 1965, "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte", from the film of the same name[14] starring Bette Davis and Olivia de Havilland. It peaked at No. 8. It was her last top 10 hit (and her first since 1957),[13] was nominated for a "Best Song" Oscar and she got to sing it on the 1965 Academy Awards.[18] She also recorded the song in Italian, Spanish and German for foreign markets.[19]

Adult contemporary and country music: 1966–1982 Before releasing "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte", Page signed with Columbia Records, where she remained until the end of the decade. She released a few studio albums for Columbia in the 1960s. In 1970, her singles began to chart on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. Many of these singles became hits, peaking in the Top 20, including cover versions of "You Can't Be True, Dear", "Gentle on My Mind", and "Little Green Apples" (the last being her final pop chart entry). Page, who was a fan of country music, recorded many country songs over the years. Some of these were recorded for Columbia and were released as Adult Contemporary singles, including David Houston's "Almost Persuaded" and Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man". Page left Columbia in 1970, returning to Mercury Records and shifting her career away from pop and into country music. In 1973, she returned to working with her former record producer, Shelby Singleton.[13]

Working for Mercury, Columbia, and Epic in the 1970s, Page recorded a series of country singles, beginning with 1970's "I Wish I Had a Mommy Like You", which became a Top 25 hit, followed by "Give Him Love", which had similar success. In 1971, she released a country music album, I'd Rather Be Sorry, for Mercury records. In 1973, a duet with country singer Tom T. Hall titled, "Hello, We're Lonely" was a Top 20 hit, reaching No. 14 on the Billboard Country Chart.

In 1973, Page returned to Columbia Records' affiliate Epic Records. In 1974 and 1975, she released singles for Avco Records including "I May Not Be Lovin' You" and "Less Than the Song", both of which were minor country hits. After a five-year hiatus, she recorded for Plantation Records in 1980. She had a Top 40 hit with Plantation in 1981 titled "No Aces", followed by a series of minor country hits, "My Man Friday", which reached No. 80 In the early 1980s, she performed with major symphony orchestras in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mexico City, Mexico. .

Later career: 1983–2012 In 1986 Page and arranger Vic Schoen reunited for a stage show in Las Vegas.

In 1988, Page appeared at the Ballroom in New York, marking the first time that she had performed there in nearly twenty years. She received positive reviews from music critics.[13] In the 1990s, Page founded her own record label, C.A.F. Records, which released several records, including a 2003 children's album.[14]

In the early 1990s, Page moved to San Diego, California, and continued to perform live shows at venues across the country.

In 1998, the album Live at Carnegie Hall: The 50th Anniversary Concert was released. The album won Page a Grammy Award the following year for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance which, despite her prolific career, was her first Grammy.[13]

In 1998, a sample of Patti Page's recording of "Old Cape Cod" formed the basis of Groove Armada's UK hit "At the River". The lines "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, / Quaint little villages here and there..." sung in Page's multi-tracked close-harmony, are repeated over and over, with the addition of synthesizer bass, slowed-down drums and a bluesy trombone solo to produce a chill-out track. The success of this track introduced Page's music to a new generation of listeners.

In 1999, Vic Schoen reunited with Page to record a CD for a Chinese label.

In 2000, she released an album, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, which consisted of new music. Harmony vocals were provided by popular country stars, including Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, Kathy Mattea and Trisha Yearwood. The album was promoted at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000.[20]

On October 4, 2001, Bob Baines, the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, declared the day "Patti Page Day" in the town. Miss Page was in Manchester to perform a sold-out concert at the Palace Theater to benefit Merrimack Valley Assistance Program.[21]

In 2004, she appeared on the PBS Special Magic Moments: The Best Of 50s Pop and sang her hits "Tennessee Waltz" and "Old Cape Cod". The DVD also includes a bonus backstage interview with Page.

In 2005, she performed a series of engagements at a theatre in Branson, Missouri, starting on September 12.[22]

Until shortly before her death, Page was the host of a weekly Sunday program on the "Music of Your Life" radio network. She and Jack White of the White Stripes were interviewed in January 2008, after the White Stripes had recorded Page's early 1950s hit, "Conquest", on their 2007 studio album Icky Thump. Page and White were put together on the phone during the interview, talking to each other about their views on "Conquest".[10]

Page sang "Summer Me, Winter Me" for Michel Legrand's 50th Anniversary concert at the MGM Grand, and on the recording, it is evident she had forgotten the words.

Page continued to tour actively until September 2012, when she announced, on her web page, her retirement from performing, for health reasons.[23]

During the time of Page's greatest popularity (the late 1940s and 1950s), most of her traditional pop music contemporaries included jazz melodies in their songs. Page also incorporated jazz into some of her songs; however, on most of her recordings, Page favored a country music arrangement.

During the late 1940s, when Page recorded for Mercury Records, its top A&R man was Mitch Miller, who, despite having left Mercury for Columbia Records in 1950, produced most of Page's music. Miller found that the simple-structured melodies and story lines in country songs could be adapted to the pop market. Page, who was born in Oklahoma, felt comfortable using this idea.[11] Many of Page's most successful hits featured a country music arrangement, including her signature song, "Tennessee Waltz", as well as "I Went to Your Wedding" and "Changing Partners". Some of these singles charted on the Billboard Country Chart during the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s.

Many other artists were influenced by Patti Page, and incorporated country arrangements into their own songs, including The Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby, who had a No. 1 hit on the country charts in the late 1940s with "Pistol Packin' Mama".

Page was married three times: first to University of Wisconsin student Jack Skiba in May 1948. They moved to New York, but she asked for and received a no-fault divorce in Wisconsin within a year. Her next marriage was to Charles O'Curran, a choreographer, in 1956. O'Curran had been previously married to actress Betty Hutton. Page and O'Curran adopted a son, Danny, and a daughter, Kathleen. They divorced in 1972.

Page's last marriage was to Jerry Filiciotto in 1990.[24] The couple owned a maple syrup business, The Farm at Wood Hill in Bath, New Hampshire, and resided in Solana Beach, California.[14][25] Filiciotto died on April 18, 2009.

In his autobiography, Lucky Me, published in 2011, former major league baseball player and front-office executive Eddie Robinson claims he dated Page before her second marriage.

Page's longtime collaborator arranger Vic Schoen once recalled, "She was one of the nicest and most accommodating singers I've ever worked with." She and Schoen remained close friends and spoke regularly until his death in 2000.

Played and recorded with legendary Nashville session guitar player Hank Garland.

You can hear her gentle remark to "Go, Hank!" when legendary guitarist Hank Garland played a dazzling solo on her Nashville recording of 'Just Because".

Is mentioned, by name, in the lyrics of Bruce Johnston's "Disney Girls", from The Beach Boys' album, "Surf's Up" (1971).

Has a street named after her in Claremore, Oklahoma, where she was born. Highway 20 running up to Oologah, which is the birthplace of Will Rogers, is also known as Patti Page Blvd.

She was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6760 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.

Appears as one of the passengers in a boat in the 1961 Elvis Presley film, Blue Hawaii (1961), which was choreographed by her then-husband, Charles O'Curran.

Unlike most pop music singers, Page blended the styles of country music into many of her most popular songs. By doing this, many of Page's singles also made the Billboard Country Chart. Towards the 1970s, Page shifted her career towards country music, and she began charting on the country charts, up until 1982. Page was one of the few vocalists to have made the country charts in five separate decades.

When rock and roll music became popular during the second half of the 1950s, traditional pop music was becoming less popular. Page was one of the few traditional pop music singers who was able to sustain her success, continuing to have major hits into the mid-1960s with "Old Cape Cod", "Allegheny Moon", "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)", and "Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte".

I kept singing. Your voice dries up if you don't use it. And I can still do it. I stopped smoking 30 years ago, and if I were still smoking, believe me, I would not be singing. What I like about singing is that, for me, it's a substitute for the psychiatrist's couch. I can tell it all in song: pathos, gladness, love, joy, unhappiness. Each song, you're telling a story and acting. A lot of the music, and especially rap, I don't understand. As for [today's] pop stars, I never had the occasion to listen. I never felt it warranted my attention." A lot of younger people don't know me from Adam. I wish that my grandchildren would know who I was a little better. They've heard the records, of course, but it's not quite the same thing. [The Arizona Republic, Jan. 13, 1995]

In 1997, Patti Page was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame. She will be posthumously honored with the Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award in 2013.

Page was born Clara Ann Fowler on November 8, 1927, in Claremore, Oklahoma (although some sources give Muskogee, Oklahoma). She was born into a large and poor family. Her father, B.A. Fowler, worked on the MKT railroad, while her mother, Margaret, and older sisters picked cotton. As she related on television many years later, the family went without electricity, and therefore she could not read after dark. She was raised in Foraker, Hardy, Muskogee and Avant, Oklahoma, before attending Daniel Webster High School in Tulsa, from which she graduated in 1945.

Entertainer. Best remembered for the hits "Tennessee Waltz" (1950), "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" (1952), "Let Me Go, Lover!" (1954), "Allegheny Moon" (1956) and "Old Cape Cod" (1957), her total record sales topped one hundred million. Born Clara Ann Fowler, into a family of eleven off-springs, her father was a railroad foreman, her mother was a cotton picker, she began singing while a teen for a Tulsa radio station, in order to provide income for her family. She changed her last name to Page after one of the radio sponsors and first garnered national attention with the hit "Confess" (1948). The song was of historic note for the fact that she overdubbed the backing vocals with her own voice which became a first in studio technology. She secured a record contract with the Mercury label for which she scored two additional Top-Ten hits "Left Right Out Of Your Heart (Hi Lee Hi Lo Hi Lup Up Up)" (1958) and "Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte" (1962). Additionally, she hosted her own series "The Patti Page Show" (1955 to 1958) and "The Big Record" (1957 to 1958). She would go onto have roles in the pictures "Elmer Gantry" (1960), "Dondi" (1961) and "Boys' Night Out" (1961). She was the recipient of two Grammy awards, one for "Patti Page Live at Carnegie Hall" (1999), and a Lifetime Achievement Grammy.

Fowler became a featured singer on a 15-minute radio program on radio station KTUL, Tulsa, Oklahoma, at age 18. The program was sponsored by the "Page Milk Company." On the air, Fowler was dubbed "Patti Page," after the Page Milk Company. In 1946, Jack Rael, a saxophone player and band manager, came to Tulsa to do a one-night show. Rael heard Page on the radio and liked her voice. Rael asked her to join the band he managed, the "Jimmy Joy Band." Rael would later become Page's personal manager, after leaving the band.

Page toured with the "Jimmy Joy Band" throughout the country in the mid-1940s. The band eventually ended up in Chicago, Illinois, in 1947. In Chicago, Page ate with a small group led by popular orchestra leader, Benny Goodman. This helped Page gain her first recording contract with Mercury Records the same year. She became Mercury's "girl singer".

Page recorded her first hit single, titled "Confess," in 1947. Because of a strike, background singers were not available to provide harmony vocals for the song, so instead, Page and the label decided to overdub her own. Mitch Miller, who produced for Mercury Records, was able to overdub Page's voice, due to his well-known use of technology. Thus, Page became the first pop artist to overdub her vocals on a song. This idea would later be used on Page's biggest hit singles in the 1950s. In 1948, "Confess" became a Top 15 hit on Billboard magazine, peaking at No. 12 on the "Best-Sellers" chart, becoming her first major hit on the pop chart. Page followed the single with four more in 1948–1949, only one of which was a Top 20 hit, "So in Love" (1949). Page also had a Top 15 hit on the Billboard magazine country chart in 1949 with "Money, Marbles, and Chalk."

In 1950, Page had her first million-selling single "With My Eyes Wide Open, I'm Dreaming," another song where she harmonized her vocals. Because she was overdubbing her vocals, Page's name would be listed on the Pop charts as a group name. According to one early-1950s' chart, Page was titled as "The Patti Page Quartet," among others. Towards the middle of 1950, Page's single, "All My Love (Bolero)" peaked at No. 1 on Billboard magazine, becoming her first No. 1 hit, spending five weeks there. That same year, she also had her first Top 10 hit with "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine," as well as the Top 25 single, "Back in Your Own Backyard."

Towards the end of 1950, Page's version of "Tennessee Waltz" became her second No. 1 hit, and her most-popular and biggest-selling single. "Tennessee Waltz" was originally recorded by country music band Pee Wee King & His Golden West Cowboys in 1947, becoming a major hit on the country charts for them in 1948. It also became a major country hit for country star Cowboy Copas around the same time. Page was introduced to the song by Jerry Wexler, who suggested she cover a recent R&B version by the Erskine Hawkins orchestra. Page liked the song and she eventually recorded and released it as a single. The song spent 13 weeks at No. 1 between 1950 and 1951. "Tennessee Waltz" also became Page's second single to reach the country chart, becoming her biggest hit there, reaching No. 2. The song would later become one of the best-selling records of the time, selling seven million copies in the early 1950s, which prompted various cover versions of the song to appear on the charts during the year. "Tennessee Waltz" has also represented the biggest commercial success for the overdubbing technique to date. Today, the song has come close to selling fifteen million copies. It also became the last song to sell one million copies of sheet music, due to the increasing popularity of recorded music. It was featured in the 1983 film The Right Stuff.

In 1951, Page released the follow-up single to "Tennessee Waltz" called "Would I Love You (Love You, Love You)," which was a Top 5 hit, and also sold a million copies. The next single, "Mockin' Bird Hill," (a cover of the version by Les Paul and Mary Ford was another major hit that year) was her fourth single that sold a million copies. Page had three additional Top 10 hits on Billboard magazine in 1951, starting with "Mister and Mississippi," which peaked at No. 8, "And So to Sleep Again", and "Detour," which had previously been recorded and made famous by Foy Willing and Elton Britt. Page's version was the most popular and became her seventh million-selling single. She also released her first studio album in 1951 titled, Folk Song Favorites, covers of Page's favorite folk songs. In 1952, Page had a third No. 1 hit with "I Went to Your Wedding," which spent two months at the top spot. Recorded in a country ballad style, the song was the flip-side of one of her other Top 10 hits that year, "You Belong to Me." "I Went to Your Wedding" became more successful, and the single became Page's eighth million-selling single in the United States (ironically, it displaced Jo Stafford's version of "You Belong to Me" at No. 1 on Billboard's Best Seller chart). She had continued success that year, with three additional songs in the Top 10 with "Come What May," "Once In a While," and "Why Don't You Believe Me" (the most popular version was recorded by Joni James).

In 1953, a novelty tune, "(How Much Is That) Doggie In the Window", became Page's fourth No. 1 hit, selling over a million copies, and staying on the best-sellers chart for five months. The song included a dog barking in the recording, which helped make it popular and one of her best-known and signature songs. The song was written by the novelty tune specialist Bob Merrill. It was originally recorded by Page for a children's album that year. She had a series of Top 20 hits that year. A final single that year reached the Top 5 titled "Changing Partners," which peaked at No. 3 and stayed on the charts for five months. The song was also recorded in a country melody, like many of Page's hits at the time. Into 1954, Page had further hits, including "Cross Over the Bridge," which also over-dubbed Page's vocals and became a major hit, peaking at No. 2, nearly reaching the top spot. Other Top 10 hits by Page that year included, "Steam Heat" (from the Broadway musical The Pajama Game) and "Let Me Go Lover" (the best known version of the latter recorded by Joan Weber). In 1955 Page had one charting single with "Croce di Oro," due to the increasing popularity of Rock & Roll music. Unlike most traditional pop music singers at the time, Page was able to maintain her success in the late-1950s (although not as successful as the early-1950s), having three major hits in 1956, including the No. 2 hit "Allegheny Moon." In 1957 she had other major hits with "A Poor Man's Roses (Or a Rich Man's Gold)" (recorded the same year by Patsy Cline) and the Top 5 hit, "Old Cape Cod."

In 1956 Vic Schoen became the musical director for Page, producing a long string of hits that included "Mama from the Train", "Allegheny Moon", "Old Cape Cod", "Belonging To Someone" and "Left Right Out of Your Heart". Page and Schoen’s most challenging project was a new recording of Gordon Jenkins narrative tone poem Manhattan Tower (recorded September 1956). The album was a tremendous success, both artistically and commercially, reaching No. 18 on the Billboard LP chart, the highest ranking of any album she ever made. Vic Schoen’s arrangements were far more lively and jazzy than the original Jenkins arrangements. Schoen recalled, “Patti was an alto, but I pushed her to reach notes higher than she had sung before for this album. We always enjoyed working together.” Page and Schoen kept in touch and worked together all the way up until 1999.

During the 1950s, Page regularly appeared on a series of network television shows and programs, including The Dean Martin Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, and The Steve Allen Show. This eventually led to Page acquiring some television specials of her own during the 1950s. Page would later have her own series, beginning with Scott Music Hall on NBC in the 1952–53 season, and a syndicated series for Oldsmobile in 1955 titled The Patti Page Show. However, the show only lasted one season, as did The Big Record on CBS (1957–58) and ABC's The Patti Page Olds Show (1958–59). Page also acted in fims during this time, given a role on the CBS show, Playhouse 90. Page made her film debut in the 1960s, with the 1960 film, Elmer Gantry. Page also recorded the theme song for the film, Boys Night Out, in which Page also had a role, playing Joanne McIllenny.

In the early 1960s, Page's success began to decrease, having no major hits up until 1961's "You'll Answer to Me" and "Mom and Dad's Waltz." Page had her last major hit on the Billboard Pop Chart in 1965 with "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte," from the film of the same name[13] starring Bette Davis and Olivia De Havilland, which peaked at No. 8, becoming her last top 10 hit (and her first since 1957).

Before releasing "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte," Page signed with Columbia Records, where she stayed towards the end of the decade. She released a few studio albums for the Columbia label in the 1960s. Up until 1970, her singles began to chart on the Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. Many of these singles became major hits, peaking in the Top 20, including cover versions of "You Can't Be True, Dear," "Gentle On My Mind" and "Little Green Apples" (the latter being her last pop chart entry). Page, who was a fan of country music, recorded cover versions of many country songs over the years. Some of these songs were recorded under Columbia and were released as Adult Contemporary singles, including David Houston's "Almost Persuaded" and Tammy Wynette's "Stand by Your Man." Page left Columbia at the end of the 1960s.

In 1970, Page returned to Mercury Records and shifted her career towards country music. In 1973, she returned to working with her former record producer, Shelby Singleton. Under Mercury, Columbia, and Epic in the 1970s, Page recorded a series of country singles, beginning with 1970's "I Wish I Had a Mommy Like You," which became a Top 25 hit, followed by "Give Him Love," with similar success. In 1971, she released a country music studio album, I'd Rather Be Sorry, for Mercury records. In the early 1970s, she had additional charted hits; her most successful was in 1973, a duet with country singer Tom T. Hall titled, "Hello, We're Lonely" which was a Top 20 hit, reaching No. 14 on the Bilboard Country Chart.

Also, in 1973, Page moved back to Columbia Records, recording for Epic Records (a subsidiary). In 1974 and 1975, she released singles for Avco records again, with country singles "I May Not Be Lovin' You" and "Less Than the Song," both of which were minor country hits. After a five-year hiatus, she recorded for Plantation Records in 1980. In the early 1980s, she also performed with major symphony orchestras in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Mexico City, Mexico. She had a Top 40 hit with the Plantation label in 1981 titled "No Aces," followed by a series of minor country hits, including her last-charting single, "My Man Friday," which reached No. 80.

In 1986 Page and arranger Vic Schoen reunited for a stage show in Las Vegas.

In 1988, Page appeared in New York City to perform at the Ballroom, marking the first time that she had performed in New York in nearly twenty years. She received positive reviews from music critics. In the 1990s, Page founded her own record label, C.A.F. Records, which released various albums, including a 2003 children's album.

In the early 1990s, Page moved west to San Diego, California, and continued to perform live shows at venues across the country.

In 1998, Page recorded her first live album. It was performed at Carnegie Hall in New York and titled, Live at Carnegie Hall: The 50th Anniversary Concert. The album won Page a Grammy Award the following year for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Performance which, despite her prolific career, was her first Grammy.

In 2000, she released a new album, Brand New Tennessee Waltz, which consisted of new music. Harmony vocals were provided by popular country stars, including Suzy Bogguss, Alison Krauss, Kathy Mattea and Trisha Yearwood. The album was promoted at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee in 2000.

On October 4, 2001, Bob Baines, the mayor of Manchester, New Hampshire, declared the day "Patti Page Day" in the town. Miss Page was in Manchester to perform a sold-out concert at the Palace Theatre to benefit Merrimack Valley Assistance Program.

In 1998, a sample of Patti Page's recording of "Old Cape Cod" formed the basis of Groove Armada's 1998 UK hit "At the River". The lines "If you're fond of sand dunes and salty air, / Quaint little villages here and there..." sung in Page's multi-tracked close-harmony, are repeated over and over, with the addition of synthesizer bass, slowed-down drums and a bluesy trombone solo to produce a chill-out track. The success of this track exposed Page's music to a younger audience.

In 1999, Vic Schoen reunited with Page to record a CD for a Chinese label.

In 2004, she appeared on the PBS Special Magic Moments: The Best Of 50's Pop and sang her hits "Tennessee Waltz" and "Old Cape Cod". The DVD also includes a bonus backstage interview with Page.

In 2005, she performed a series of engagements at a theatre in Branson, Missouri, starting on September 12.

Until shortly before her death, Page was a host of a weekly Sunday program on the "Music of Your Life" radio network. She and Jack White of the White Stripes were interviewed in January 2008, after the White Stripes had recorded Page's early 1950s hit, "Conquest", on their 2007 studio album Icky Thump. Page and White were put together on the phone during the interview, talking to each other about their views on "Conquest".

Until her death at 85, Page continued to tour, performing 50 select concerts a year across the United States and Canada.

During the time of Page's greatest popularity (the late 1940s and 1950s), most of her traditional pop music counterparts included jazz melodies into their songs. Page also incorporated jazz into some of her songs; however on most of her recordings, Page added a country music arrangement.

During the 1950s, Mercury Records was controlled by Mitch Miller, who produced most of Page's music. Miller found that the simple-structured melodies and storylines in country music songs could be adapted to the pop music market. Page, who was born in Oklahoma, felt comfortable using this idea. Many of Page's most successful hits featured a country music arrangement, including her signature song, "Tennessee Waltz," as well as "I Went to Your Wedding" and "Changing Partners." Some of these singles charted on the Billboard Country Chart during the 1940s, 1950s, and early 1960s for this reason.

Many other artists were introduced to Page's style and incorporated the same country arrangement into many of their songs, including The Andrews Sisters and Bing Crosby, who together had a No. 1 hit on the country charts in the late 1940s with "Pistol Packin' Mama."

In his autobiography, Lucky Me, published in 2011, the former major league baseball star and front-office executive Eddie Robinson discloses that he dated Page during the period before her first marriage.

Page was married three times. She married University of Wisconsin student Jack Skiba in May 1948 and moved with him to New York, but asked for and received a no-fault divorce in Wisconsin within a year. Her second husband was Charles O'Curran, a choreographer, whom she married in 1956. O'Curran had been previously married to actress Betty Hutton. Together, Page and O'Curran adopted two children: a son, Danny, and a daughter, Kathleen. They divorced in 1972.

Page married her third husband, Jerry Filiciotto, in 1990. They ran a maple syrup business in New Hampshire and resided in Solana Beach, California. Filiciotto died on April 18, 2009.

The arranger Vic Schoen once recalled, "She was one of the nicest and most accommodating singers I've ever worked with." She and Schoen remained close friends and spoke regularly until his death in 2000.

In 1978, Sharon McNight recorded a song she had written in tribute entitled "Put A Nickel in the Jukebox and Bring Back Patti Page".

Patti Page died on January 1, 2013, at a nursing home in Encinitas, California, according to her manager. She was 85.

Television appearances

What's My Line? (CBS, September 22, 1955) (Episode # 381) (Season 9, Ep 4) Mystery Guest

Appointment with Adventure ("Paris Venture", CBS, February 26, 1956)
Filmography

Elmer Gantry (1960)

Dondi (1960)
Boys' Night Out (1962)
2004: The Patti Page Video Songbook
2004: Patti Page – Sings the Hits
2005: In Concert Series: 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.

Like so many other Cinderella stories, Patti’s origins were indeed humble. Her father was a section hand on the Midland Valley Railroad and his earnings often provided little more than the bare essentials. Patti, second from the youngest of eleven children, was often without shoes and playing in the fields while her mother and sisters picked cotton in Claremore, Oklahoma, where she was born Clara Ann Fowler in November, 1927. From earliest recollections, music was an integral part of her life. The Fowler Sisters sang in church and later on local radio. At age 5, Patti was a self-acknowledged “little ham.” But by her adolescence, a shyness developed that was to remain throughout her life despite a very public career that found her not only performing for millions, but for royalty and five U.S. Presidents.
Clara Ann Fowler, intent as a teenager on a career as an artist, obtained work after school in the art department at KTUL Radio in Tulsa. But when an executive at the Tulsa radio station heard her sing at a high school function, and the girl who was currently Patti Page on the “Meet Patti Page Show”, sponsored by the Page Milk Company, left to seek a career outside of Oklahoma, he suggested that Clara Ann Fowler become the Patti Page of local radio. The art world’s loss shortly became the music world’s gain. The "fairy godmother" that soon appeared in Patti’s Cinderella story was actually a touring band manager named Jack Rael, who upon flipping stations in his Tulsa hotel room, heard the Page voice and was instantly struck by its musicality. Phoning the station, he arranged a meeting with the reluctant Clara Ann, but soon persuaded her to leave her $125 per week job to take $75 as the featured vocalist with the touring bandleader/clarinetist Jimmy Joy, and his band. Soon thereafter, both Patti (she took the Patti Page name and made it legally hers when she left Tulsa) and Rael left the band and struck out on their own with Rael as Patti’s manager, a partnership that was to last almost 50 years. Rael was quick to place Patti on the hugely popular Don McNeil’s “Breakfast Club” out of Chicago. With her voice now heard nationally, Rael engineered a four-sided recording demo with the fledging Mercury Records whose only celebrated artists at the time were Vic Damone and Frankie Laine. It could be argued that Mercury’s “gamble” resulted in the label becoming a major player in the recording industry. Throughout the 50s, Mercury was the house that Patti Page built as both Laine and Damone left the company for Columbia Records and Patti became the reigning queen of pop music.

Her first success changed the recording industry forever and proved that necessity is indeed the mother of invention. The necessity was for backup singers on a song titled, “Confess.” They were to serve as an echo to Patti’s vocal. The problem however, was that Patti and Rael couldn’t afford to hire backup singers. The solution was found when the studio engineer used a revolutionary overdubbing technique that permitted Patti to be her own chorus and echo. Although modern historians have erroneously credited guitarist, Les Paul, with this innovation, it is now widely acknowledged that it began with Patti and “Confess.” Recorded on New Year’s Eve in 1947, “Confess” climbed to #12 on the charts in 1948, establishing Patti as a recording artist. Her success continued with “I Don’t Care If the Sun Don’t Shine” and her first million record seller, “With My Eyes Wide Open I’m Dreaming,” the billing for which read: The Patti Page quartet: Patti Page, Patti Page, Patti Page and… Patti Page.

As the 50s dawned, they became not only the “Golden Days of Television,” as that decade is referred to, but the golden days of “The Rage” as Patti produced another million seller, “All My Love.” But its success was nothing in comparison to the phenomenon of “Tennessee Waltz.” Not only did Patti’s recording remain in the top ten for 26 weeks, and at number one for 13 of those weeks, but it went on to become the largest selling record by a female artist in recording history. Later, it became one of the state of Tennessee’s official state songs. The irony here is that “Tennessee Waltz” was the B-side of its initial Mercury release. The company was betting on its flip side, a Christmas novelty, “Boogie Woogie Santa Claus, - which disappeared within weeks of its release.
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 costarring 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.

Perhaps nothing told the tale of Patti’s popularity as her major TV appearances; first as a mystery guest (normally confined to the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra) on the legendary game show, “What’s My Line,” and she appeared on the highly celebrated “Person to Person,” on which only the celebrated (royalty and presidents) appeared in the comfort and surroundings of their own home. Interviewed by legendary newsman, Edward R. Murrow in her Park Avenue apartment, Patti dabbled at the piano as she struck a few chords and sang a few bars of her new record, “My First Formal Gown.” Although her appearances scored a huge Neilson rating, the record bombed. But, multi-million sales of “Old Cape Cod,” quickly reestablished Patti’s prominence on the hit lists. In the same decade, she added another facet to her career when she starred in her first dramatic offering on CBS’ “Playhouse 90.” She also added author to her resume when she wrote the autobiographical “Once Upon a Dream,” which her teenage audience made into a best seller.

In 1956, Patti married Hollywood choreographer, Charlie O’Curran. The couple established residence in Beverly Hills where they adopted two children, Kathleen and Danny. They remained within the Hollywood community until they divorced in the early 1970s. Then, Patti, never comfortable living within a show business environment, moved her family to Rancho Sante Fe, a rural community near San Diego. As a single working mother whose family depended on her income, Patti could not be a stay-at-home mom. Suffering the angst many women in her position know and have known, she continued her lucrative nightclub and concert careers, here and often abroad, particularly in Asia where she had a huge Japanese following. Leaving her home of many years at Mercury for Columbia Records, she scored yet another top ten hit with the title song from “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte.” Her appearance at the Academy Awards that year singing the Oscar nominated song was not Patti’s first foray into the film community. As an actress, she had already appeared in “Elmer Gantry,” “Boys Night Out” and “Dondi.”
But it was in nightclubs that Patti continued to make her mark and her living. 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, the marquee at the Cocoanut Grove frequently read her name, as did the marquee at the Desert Inn in Las Vegas, and the Drake in Chicago. She opened new doors in the 90s when she entered the era of cabaret, appearing at the Ballroom (home to Peggy Lee among others), Rainbow and Stars (gal pal Rosemary Clooney’s home away form home) and the elegant Michael Feinstein’s at the Regency - all in New York. These small intimate settings were perfect for Page’s personality - warm, inviting and like the clubs themselves…intimate.

In recent years, Patti has both starred and served 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 the one that took place at Carnegie Hall on May 31, 1997 where Patti appeared for the first time in her distinguished career, singing both her hits of the past and songs of the present. In the audience that night was Jerry Filiciotto, the man she married in 1990, their children and grandchildren; two of whom, Sarah, 10, and Page, 8, live with Patti and Jerry in their California and New Hampshire residences. Captured on CD, “Patti Page Live At Carnegie Hall - the 50th Anniversary Concert” earned Patti her first Grammy Award. 

One of the first to be awarded her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Patti’s name is also on the Country Music Walk of Fame in Nashville. She has received the prestigious Pioneer Award from the Academy of Country Music, and is a member of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. 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.

Quote from obituary in the Ironwood Daily Globe - Ironwood, Michigan - Jan 5 2013 "...'d recorded more than 1,000 songs. That's not what she had in her mind growing up as young ClaraAnnFowler. "I was a kid from Oklahoma who never wanted to be a singer, but was told I could sing," she ... of Fame. In her later career, Page and husband Jerry Filiciotto spent half the year living in Southern California and half in an 1830s farmhouse in New Hampshire. He died in 2009. Page is survived by her ... ,