Al Martino

Al Martino (born Jasper Cini; October 7, 1927 – October 13, 2009) was an American traditional pop and jazz singer. He had his greatest success as a singer between the early 1950s and mid-1970s, being described as "one of the great Italian American pop crooners", and also became known as an actor, particularly for his role as singer Johnny Fontane in The Godfather. Early life Jasper Cini was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The name Jasper was an anglicisation of his father's name, Gasparino. His parents were immigrants from the region of Abruzzo, in the town of Nereto, Italy, who ran a construction business. While growing up, he worked alongside his brothers, Pasquale and Francis as a bricklayer. He aspired to become a singer, emulating artists such as Al Jolson and Perry Como, and by the success of a family friend, Alfredo Cocozza, who had changed his name to Mario Lanza. Career After serving with the U.S. Navy in World War II, during which he took part in the Iwo Jima invasion, in which he was wounded, Cini began his singing career. Encouraged by Lanza, he adopted the stage name Al Martino, based on the name of his good friend Lorraine Cianfrani's (née Losavio) husband Alfred Martin Cianfrani, and began singing in local nightclubs. In 1948, he moved to New York City, and in 1951 his first release was issued by the Jubilee label, "Heaven Help Me (I'm in Love)", coupled with "Hurry Home to Me". The following year, he won first place on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts television program with a performance of Como's hit "If". As a result, he won a recording contract with the Philadelphia-based independent record label BBS, where he recorded "Here in My Heart". Lanza's label, RCA Victor, had asked Lanza to record the song, but Martino called Lanza and pleaded with him to let Martino's version have a clear chance. The song spent three weeks at No. 1 on the US pop charts in June 1952, earning Martino a gold disc, and later in the year, also reached the top of the UK charts. It was number one in the first UK Singles chart, published by the New Musical Express on November 14, 1952, putting him into the Guinness Book of World Records. "Here in My Heart" remained in the top position for nine weeks in the UK.