Customer Reviews

Amore: The Story of Italian American Song

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I just finished reading Amore. I have to say that it's both an important and informative work - not to mention incredibly readable. While I was able to reminisce on the music my mother and father loved, I also learned a lot about the cultural conditions and influences that has continued to make Italian-American's great singers, musicians, and instrument makers. More than a book of nostalgia, it's a cultural study in the tradition of Greil Marcus and Peter Guralnick. Anyone interested in music is going to value this book.

I hope that Amore continues to stimulate further writing on an important subject that has certainly not received enough attention.

Russ Columbo has become a new favorite of mine!

There is a line in "Amore" that really rang true for me: It doesn't matter what percentage Italian you may be, if you have any--you will inevitably identify yourself as Italian. The food, the family, and most of all--the music. If all the most popular vocalists from the 50s hadn't changed their names, you would have thought that the Italians had won the war and had occupied America and taken over popular music. Concetta Franconero (Connie Francis); Dino Paul Crocetti (Dean Martin); Anthony Benedetto (Tony Bennett); Walden Cassotto (Bobby Darin); Frank Sinatra; Perry Como; Francesco LoVecchio (Frankie Lane) . . .

Mark Rotella's book answers the question: Why? And he does it like someone who has taken you dinner in a small, intimate Italian restaurant where you share a cioppino and linguini with butter and cheese--with just enough red wine to see the world as the place of joy, kindness and love that we know it really is--but too easily forget.

The best part of the book is that it is the perfect accompaniment to so many songs that I grew up with that touched my parents, and then me. And now I know why. I couldn't help but download the songs that I didn't already have from iTunes--and discover them again with a fresh perspective and appreciation for the history that made this flowering of music possible. I may only be half Italian--but it is by far the part the eats, sings and loves the best.

Grazie mille Signor Rotta. Mangia!

Like so many others, I've always found the classic songs of the likes of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Perry Como comforting. But for the author, they and their stories are not only comforting but also a touchstone to his heritage. Which is what makes this book so different and touching to read - it's more than either a collective biography or memoir. Each short chapter covers the heyday of a particular singer, some well known, others less so, but always connected to the larger theme of the influence of Italian culture on American popular music. Rotella's sheer joy in the music and enthusiasm for his theme can be almost giddy at times, and I found myself laughing out loud upon seeing chapters on Elvis and Sammy Davis Jr. But somehow he makes it work.

It was a discovery to see how the singers traced their musical heritage through one another to Italian opera, and how interconnected they were to the paths of their contemporaries, often coming from the same neighborhoods. The author's trips to these neighborhoods, and identification with the culture, add personal warmth to the telling. The sentiments can be bittersweet, though. The genesis of the book was an exploration of the music that gave courage to the author and his wife as they battled cancer. I was also shocked to read that Italian-American immigrants had been subjected to lynching and wartime civil internment camps. Rather than derailing the otherwise joyful tone of his story, this highlights the depth of the passion from which all the music and memories arise. It's a story told with amore.

This is a beautiful book and just what we were looking for. My husband's mom turned 90 and had read an article about the origin of the song "Ole solo mio" in a magazine. Being Italian-America, she wanted to know more and had heard some of these stories as a child. This book made a wonderful birthday gift. She was delighted.

Amore: The Story of Italian American Song is a great book. It sure summarizes the past 50 years of most popular singers. I loved it and would recommend to any one because it's interesting and it's easy reading.

Anatol Brunton

Italian-American culture insightfully recalled through the history of a large slice of the American songbook. Deep research and a breezy, evocative writing style inform a terrific saga that goes beyond Sinatra, Bennet and Como.

Good book with stories of Italian or Italian descent singers. If that's what interests you this is for you. If this doesn't interest you try something else.