Search Results
6/17/2025, 12:13:12 AM
>>126733778
>Mitchell, who died July 1, 1999 at age 72, occupied that period of time in the '50s between the decline of crooning and the rise of rock-and-roll. The soft, mournful droning of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had fallen out of favor to a new generation of kids who wanted punchier tunes. But R&R was still several years away and in the meantime the void was occupied by young pop stars like Mitchell, Teresa Brewer, Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, and Johnnie Ray. Ray went to #1 with "Cry" in 1952 but his vocals weren't for everyone, and so Mitchell offered a halfway between crooning and Johnnie Ray.
>But more than anything else, Guy Mitchell was a product of Mitch Miller, who had taken over Columbia's pop records division in 1950 and, unique among A&R men, was actively involved in the creative process of making records. Like most A&R men, Miller was also looking for young talent and a few of the label's existing stars such as Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore were in their 30s and had lost some of their youthful luster by the early '50s. Sinatra in particular had seen his career take a massive downfall lately. Both him and Shore were unhappy with Miller's new creative direction and would eventually depart for other labels--no one as yet predicted Old Blue Eyes's resurrection at Capitol in mid-decade. While Miller did not dispense with all of Columbia's established singers--Doris Day and Jo Stafford remained onboard and had a number of major hits to come, it was clear that some changes were in order.
>Mitchell, who died July 1, 1999 at age 72, occupied that period of time in the '50s between the decline of crooning and the rise of rock-and-roll. The soft, mournful droning of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra had fallen out of favor to a new generation of kids who wanted punchier tunes. But R&R was still several years away and in the meantime the void was occupied by young pop stars like Mitchell, Teresa Brewer, Patti Page, Rosemary Clooney, and Johnnie Ray. Ray went to #1 with "Cry" in 1952 but his vocals weren't for everyone, and so Mitchell offered a halfway between crooning and Johnnie Ray.
>But more than anything else, Guy Mitchell was a product of Mitch Miller, who had taken over Columbia's pop records division in 1950 and, unique among A&R men, was actively involved in the creative process of making records. Like most A&R men, Miller was also looking for young talent and a few of the label's existing stars such as Frank Sinatra and Dinah Shore were in their 30s and had lost some of their youthful luster by the early '50s. Sinatra in particular had seen his career take a massive downfall lately. Both him and Shore were unhappy with Miller's new creative direction and would eventually depart for other labels--no one as yet predicted Old Blue Eyes's resurrection at Capitol in mid-decade. While Miller did not dispense with all of Columbia's established singers--Doris Day and Jo Stafford remained onboard and had a number of major hits to come, it was clear that some changes were in order.
Page 1