Frankie Carle

Frankie Carle , born Francis Nunzio Carlone, was an American pianist and bandleader. As a very popular bandleader in the 1940s and 1950s, Carle was nicknamed The Wizard of the Keyboard. Sunrise Serenade was Carles bestknown composition, rising to No.in the US in 1938 and selling more than one million copies.

Carle was born in Providence, Rhode Island, on March 25, 1903. Born the son of a factory worker who could not afford a piano, he practiced on a dummy keyboard devised by his uncle, pianist Nicholas Colangelo, until he found a brokendown instrument in a dance hall. In 1916, a teenage Carle began working with his uncles band as well as a number of local bands in the Rhode Island area. To gain further popularity in an America which still held prejudices against many Italian Americans, Carle did what many singers, such as Dean Martin and Jerry Vale, did during this time period he changed his name from Carlone to Carle.

Source: Wikipedia