Nominees From Pre-1955 - Perry Como

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an American singer and television personality, with a career spanning more than half a century.

In 1932, Como left Canonsburg, moving about 100 miles away to Meadville, Pennsylvania, where his uncle had a barber shop in the Hotel Conneaut. About 80 miles from Cleveland, it was a stop on the itinerary for dance bands who worked up and down the Ohio Valley. Como, Roselle, and their friends had gone to nearby Cleveland; their good times took them to the Silver Slipper Ballroom where Freddy Carlone and his orchestra were playing. Carlone invited anyone who thought he might have singing talent to come up and sing with his band. Young Como was terrified, but his friends urged him onto the stage. Carlone was so impressed with his performance that he offered him a job.

The young man was not certain whether he should accept the offer Freddy Carlone had made, so he returned to Canonsburg to talk the matter over with his father. Perry expected he would tell him to stay in the barber business, but to his surprise, the senior Como told him if he did not try this, he would never know whether or not he could be a professional singer. The decision was also made with an eye on finances; Como earned $125 per week from his barber shop while the job with Carlone paid $28 per week. Roselle was willing to be a wife on the road, traveling with her husband and the band, but the salary could not support two people like this. Perry and Roselle were married in Meadville on July 31, 1933; four days later, Como joined Freddy Carlone's band and began working with them. Roselle returned home to Canonsburg; her new husband would be on the road for the next 18 months.

It was here where the young Como acquired polish and his own unique style, with the help of Ted Weems. Mutual Broadcasting System member WGN radio threatened to stop carrying the Weems broadcasts from Chicago's Palmer House if Weems's new singer did not improve. Weems had recordings of some previous radio programs; one evening he and Como listened to them after the show. From listening to them, Como was shocked to realize that no one could make out the words to the songs he was singing! Weems told Como there was no need for him to resort to vocal tricks; what was necessary was to sing from the heart.

Three years after joining the Carlone band, Como moved to Ted Weems's Orchestra and his first recording dates. Como and Weems met in 1936 while the Carlone orchestra was playing in Warren, Ohio. Perry initially did not take the offer to join Weems's orchestra. Apparently realizing it was the best move for his young vocalist, Freddy Carlone urged him to sign with Weems. Art Jarrett had just left the Weems organization to start his own band. Weems was in need of a vocalist; Como got a raise, as Weems paid $50 per week, and his first chance for nationwide exposure. Ted Weems and his orchestra were based in Chicago, and were regulars on radio shows such as The Jack Benny Program and Fibber McGee and Molly. The Weems band also had its own weekly radio program on the Mutual Broadcasting System from 1936 – 1937.

Como's first recording with the Weems band was a novelty tune called "You Can't Pull the Wool Over My Eyes", recorded for the Decca Records label in May, 1936. During one of Como's early Decca recording sessions with the Weems orchestra, Weems was told to get rid of "that kid" (Como) because he sounded too much like Bing Crosby. Before Como could reply, Ted Weems spoke up, saying that Como was part of the session or it was over. By the time Como had been with Ted Weems about a year, he was mentioned in a 1937 Life magazine NBC Radio ad for Fibber McGee and Molly as "causing cardiac flutters with his crooning." The weekly radio show, Beat the Band,, which ran on NBC from 1940 – 1944, was a "stump the band" type musical quiz show where Weems and his orchestra were the featured band from 1940 – 1941.

In late 1942, Como made the decision to quit the Weems band, even if it meant giving up singing. He returned to Canonsburg, his family, and his trade, tired of life on the road without his wife and young son. Como received an offer to become a Frank Sinatra imitator, but chose to keep his own style. While Perry was negotiating for a store lease to re-open a barber shop, he had a call from Tommy Rockwell at General Artists Corporation, who also represented Ted Weems. Como had had to field many other calls also bringing offers; what was different was that he knew and trusted Rockwell, who was offering him his own sustaining (non-sponsored) Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) radio show and to get him a recording contract. It also mattered that the offers meant staying in New York with no more road tours. As Perry pondered the offer, Roselle Como told him, "You can always get another barber shop if it doesn't work out!" Until the radio show and recording contract offers, he did not really view singing as his career, believing the years with Carlone and Weems had been enjoyable, but now it was time to get back to work. Como said in an 1983 interview, "I thought I'd have my fun and I'd go home to work."

The Como's first child, Ronnie, was born in 1940 while the Weems band was working in Chicago. Como left the performance to be at his wife's side even though he was threatened with dismissal if he did so. Though Perry was now making $250 a week and travel expenses for the family were no problem, young Ronnie could not become used to a normal routine when they were able to stay in one place for a period of time. The radio program Beat the Band did not always originate from Chicago, but was often done from locations such as Milwaukee, Denver and St. Louis, as the band continued to play road engagements while part of the radio show cast. The Comos decided road life was no place to try raising a child, and Roselle and the baby went back to Canonsburg.

Perry went on the air for CBS on March 12, 1943. Rockwell's next move was to book Como into the renownedCopacabana Night Club for two weeks beginning on June 10, 1943. One week later he signed his first RCA Victor contract and three days after that cut his first record for the company, "Goodbye, Sue." It was the beginning of a 44 year professional relationship; no major artist has been with a recording company longer. He became a very successful performer in theater and night club engagements; Como's initial two weeks at the Copacabana in June stretched into August. There were times when Frank Sinatra would ask Como to fill in for him at his Paramount Theater performances. The crooning craze was at its height during this time and the "bobby soxer" and "swooner" teenage girls who were wild about Sinatra added Como to their list, a "swooners" club voting him "Crooner of the Year" in 1943. The line for a Perry Como Paramount performance was three deep and wound around the city block. Como's popularity also extended to a more mature audience when he played the Versailles and returned to the Copacabana, where the management placed "SRO-Swooning Ruled Out" cards on their tables.

Doug Storer, who was an advertising manager with the Blackman Company at the time, became convinced of Como's abilities after hearing him on his non-sponsored CBS Radio show. Storer produced a demo radio program recording with Como and the Mitchell Ayres Orchestra which he brought to the advertising agency that handled the Chesterfield Cigarettes account. Initially, the agency liked the format of the show, but wanted someone else as the star, asking Storer to obtain the release of the singer they preferred, so he would be free for their new program. Storer decided to do nothing about getting the singer released from his contract. When he was contacted by the agency some weeks later, saying they were ready to put the program on the air on NBC, Storer bluntly told them the man for their show was the man they had heard on the demo recording. The program was scheduled to make its debut in about a week; the only option was to hire Como for the show. Storer then arranged for Como's release from his CBS contract. On December 11, 1944, he moved from CBS to NBC for a new radio program, Chesterfield Supper Club.

After 26 years of not making night club appearances, Como accepted an engagement at the International Hotel in Las Vegas in June 1970, which also resulted in his first "live" album, Perry Como in Person at the International Hotel, Las Vegas. Ray Charles, whose Ray Charles Singers were heard with Como for over 35 years, formed a special edition of the vocal group for his Las Vegas opening. Prior to this he had last appeared at New York's Copacabana in 1944. Como continued to do periodic engagements in Las Vegas and Lake Tahoe, limiting his night club appearances to Nevada.

Despite the lack of touring at that point, Como would have a resurgence on the pop charts, as "It's Impossible" would become a million-selling Top 10 hit in early 1971, and the Don Mclean-penned "And I Love You So" would become a #1 easy listening hit in 1973.

Performing live again brought Como a new sense of enjoyment. In May 1974, he embarked on his first concert appearance outside of the United States, a show at the London Palladium for the Variety Club of Great Britain to aid children's charities. It was here where he discovered what he had been missing when the audience cheered for ten minutes after he walked onstage. At the show's end, Como sat in a chair, delightedly chatting back and forth with his equally delighted fans. Perry returned to the United Kingdom (UK) in November for a Royal Variety Performance to benefit the Entertainment Artistes' Benevolent Fund with the Queen Mother in attendance. Como was invited to visit Buckingham Palace the day after the show. But at first, since the invitation did not extend to his associates traveling and working with him, Como politely declined. When word reached the Palace regarding the reason for Perry's turning down the invitation, it was then extended to include all in the Como party. This time Como accepted. Soon after, he announced his first concert tour that began in the UK in the spring of 1975.

In 1982, Como and Frank Sinatra were invited to entertain Italian President Sandro Pertini at a White House State dinner when he made an official visit. President Pertini enjoyed their performance enough to join them in singing "Santa Lucia." The pair reprised this routine the next year in California as part of the entertainment for Queen Elizabeth's Royal visit. Perry was on the program by special request of the Queen.

The year 1984 found Como traveling the US with his 50th Anniversary tour. Having spent most of his professional life in radio or recording studios and on television soundstages, he was enjoying doing live performances. Even after his 80th birthday, Perry continued the concert tours. Gone, however, were the cardigan sweaters which had been a staple of his weekly television shows, and which he had actually hated having to wear. Como now performed in a tuxedo, saying, "It shows respect for the audience." The return to live appearances also provided Como with an opportunity to have a little fun with his "Mister Nice Guy" image in a song Ray Charles and Nick Perito his closest collaborator since 1963, wrote and composed for him:

It doesn't take a guy equipped with ESP, to see what's cookin' with your curiosity!
Is "Mister Nice Guy" just a press agent's pitch? his dearest friends say he's a . . .
You never thought you'd see me in Las Vegas 'live' I haven't played a "club" since 1885!
It's spelled out in dollar signs ( you better believe it! ) I can almost read your minds!

–Nick Perito and Ray Charles, "If I Could Almost Read Your Mind"

Perry Como credited Bing Crosby for influencing his voice and style. 

Perry Como's voice is widely known for its good-natured vocal acrobatics as portrayed in his highly popular novelty songs such as "Hot Diggity (Dog Ziggity Boom)," but there was another side to Perry Como. Music critic Gene Lees describes it in his sleeve note to Como's 1968 album Look To Your Heart:

Despite his immense popularity, Como is rarely given credit for what, once you stop and think of it, he so clearly is: one of the great singers and one of the great artists of our time.

Perhaps the reason people rarely talk about his formidable attributes as a singer is that he makes so little fuss about them. That celebrated ease of his has been too little understood. Ease in any art is the result of mastery over the details of the craft. You get them together to the point where you can forget about how you do things and concentrate on what you are doing. Como got them together so completely that the muscles don’t even show. It seems effortless, but a good deal of effort has gone into making it seem so. Como is known to be meticulous about rehearsal of the material for an album. He tries things out in different keys, gives the song thought, makes suggestions, tries it again, and again, until he is satisfied. The hidden work makes him look like Mr. Casual, and too many people are taken in by it — but happily so.

–Gene Lees-sleeve note, Look To Your Heart

From 1989 until his death in 2001, Como co-hosted a weekly syndicated radio show with John Knox, called Weekend With Perry