PERRY COMO.

There are singers who immediately make you aware of how much a song demands of them. Perry Como does almost the opposite. A melody seems to emerge effortlessly from him, as if he had just found it during a conversation. That ease is his greatest quality and perhaps also the reason you might underestimate him. He who forces nothing makes it less obvious how much he has mastered.

THE BARBER WHO LISTENED TO THE BAND.

Perry Como was born on May 18, 1912, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Before music became his profession, he worked as a barber and had his own shop. That is no publicity story invented later about an ordinary boy. He truly had a trade and a livelihood when he began singing with Freddie Carlone's band in 1933. That same year, he married Roselle Belline.

From 1936, he sang with Ted Weems. The dance orchestras provided practical training: a singer had to remain intelligible above the accompaniment, present a melody recognizably, and know when to leave space. A long career begins here with practicality. You are a voice within a larger whole, and that whole must work every night.

Como admired Bing Crosby. The appeal is easy to understand: Crosby showed that a microphone could also carry softness. You do not need to reach a hall with volume alone when technology shortens the distance. For Como, that intimacy became a starting point. His voice did not need to be put on a pedestal; it could sit with the listener.

A VOICE AT CONVERSATION DISTANCE.

A good way to listen to Como is to pay less attention to the highest note and more to the end of a phrase. He holds a vowel without making it heavy. Consonants are clear, but they do not break the melody into pieces. A continuous movement remains, even when the accompaniment grows momentarily larger.

That way of singing requires control over breath and weight. If every syllable receives the same emphasis, a text loses its natural flow. Como distributes the attention. He lets some words pass almost carelessly, so that another word takes on meaning by itself. The emotion lies not only in what he sings, but in the relationship between all those small decisions.

You can hear that in a ballad like Prisoner of Love. The melody can easily become solemn. Como keeps it moving, with enough warmth to make the promise believable. The orchestra may add colors, but his voice remains the place where the story comes together. He makes big emotions suitable for a small listening distance.

THE LIVING ROOM BECOMES HIS STAGE.

With the radio broadcasts of Chesterfield Supper Club, starting in 1944, that style gets a daily address. Radio brings a singer into homes where no one has bought a chair especially for him. He must fit into an existing evening. Como sounds as if he understands that there is also a conversation, a meal, or a long workday present in that room.

On Christmas Eve 1948, he makes his television debut. The new medium gives his voice a face: calm, friendly, without every gesture needing to be an event. His television work was later honored with induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1989. Yet it is interesting to sometimes imagine that familiar face away. Without the image, a very precise singer remains.

Television can make the difference between personality and performance invisible. Because Como appears relaxed, the music also seems to require little preparation. But a song must still begin at the right moment, an arrangement must breathe, and an ending must land. His ease is a result. It is not an explanation of how that result comes about.

GOLD ON ONE SIDE, MAGIC ON THE OTHER.

Catch a Falling Star and Magic Moments appeared on the same single at the end of 1957. Together they show how strong a light pop record can be. The first song has a melody that feels familiar almost immediately. The second holds a memory in a small, manageable form. There is little distance between the first encounter and humming along.

Magic Moments was written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Como gives the details space without overtly winking. The light accompaniment and whistling make the song recognizable, but the voice ensures it remains more than a nice arrangement. He treats a small memory as if it truly mattered to the one telling it.

At the first Grammy Awards in 1959, Como also won the award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance with Catch a Falling Star. It fits his position: an adult singer can reach a broad audience in the middle of a changing pop culture without replacing his entire personality. A clear melody and a convincing performance remain useful tools.

With Perry Como, you only hear the craftsmanship properly when you stop waiting for a display.

BEHIND THE HITS LIE THE ALBUMS.

Anyone who only knows a greatest hits collection misses an important part of Como. On So Smooth from 1955, his voice is given more time to build a mood. The title seems like a sales pitch, but it also describes a method: no rough transitions for their own sake, but a flowing line from melody to melody.

We Get Letters from 1957 and Saturday Night with Mr. C. from 1958 bring the singer closer to the listener who asks for a beloved song. The pleasure lies in recognition, but also in the way a familiar melody is reweighed. Como does not need to transform a standard spectacularly to make it sound personal.

On Como Swings from 1959, it helps to listen especially to the rhythmic relationships. The band moves, the accents are clear, and the singing does not need to constantly sit on top of it. A fraction of relaxation in a phrase can be enough to make the whole feel looser. Swing is here as much a matter of space as of emphasis.

On a record side, that becomes clearer than in a row of loose favorites. One song does not need to prove all sides of the singer. There can be alternation between lightness and seriousness, between a longer-held melody and a more compact phrase. The album form makes his calm presence something you can inhabit for a while.

A DIFFERENT ARRANGEMENT, THE SAME RECOGNITION.

The Scene Changes from 1965 brings Como to Nashville, with producer Chet Atkins and arrangements by Anita Kerr. It is a meaningful shift. His voice remains recognizable while the surroundings change. The softer connection between country and pop offers a different background for the same attention to a song.

You can hear a lesson about interpretation in it. A singer does not need to become a new character every time to reach new repertoire. Sometimes it works precisely when a familiar voice is placed in a different setting. The listener recognizes the character and meanwhile discovers other rhythms, other instrumental accents, and a different way of accompanying.

In 1966, Lightly Latin was released, followed by Perry Como in Italy. The latter record was recorded in May of that year at the RCA Italiana studios in Rome, with Nick Perito as arranger and conductor. Among the songs are Souvenir d’Italie, Anema e core, and Forget Domani. The record gives his Italian-American background an audible place without setting aside his familiar way of singing.

WARMTH IS MORE THAN CHRISTMAS.

For many listeners, Perry Como begins in December. His Christmas records make up a large part of his lasting presence. The original Perry Como Sings Merry Christmas Music dates from 1946; later follow, among others, Season’s Greetings from Perry Como and The Perry Como Christmas Album. They are different recording programs, not endless new names for exactly the same record.

However, many compilations and reissues also appear. That sometimes makes his catalog confusing. A new cover does not automatically mean new recordings. With Como, it pays to look at the original album and the sessions. That way, you also hear how the framing of his voice changes over the years.

The familiar Christmas feeling does not come only from sleigh bells or a choir. Como brings a form of hospitality. He lets a melody come in without overwhelming the listener. That same quality also works on an ordinary evening in March. His best records do not need a decorated living room to create intimacy.

EVEN IN THE SEVENTIES, THE DOOR REMAINS OPEN.

With It’s Impossible from 1970, Como reaches a large audience again. The title melody comes from Somos novios by Armando Manzanero, with English lyrics by Sid Wayne. Como does not make a demonstration of strength out of it. He holds the melody together and lets the accompaniment broaden the feeling.

And I Love You So follows in 1973. The title track by Don McLean fits a singer who does not need to exaggerate every sentiment. The words already have enough vulnerability; Como mainly needs to keep them understandable and believable. The accompanying album reaches the first place on the British album chart in January 1974.

That success is no reason to listen to the later records exclusively as a comeback. On Perry, Just Out of Reach, and the British recording project The Best of British, he continues to choose repertoire that an adult voice can carry. With So It Goes from 1983 and Today from 1987, the studio career continues even further. The sound becomes older, but the pursuit of clarity remains recognizable.

START WITH A SMALL GESTURE.

An introduction can be very simple. First put on Magic Moments and listen to how little emphasis is needed to bring a melody close. Then go to And I Love You So. The difference in period and production is large, but the relationship between voice and listener remains surprisingly familiar.

Then take a full album, for example So Smooth or Como Swings. One time pay attention especially to the accompaniment, and the next time to the ends of his phrases. You do not need to search for a hidden technical feat. It is about the cohesion: a breath, a pause, a tone that lingers just long enough.

On vinyl, the ritual of a record side helps to accept that pace. Not because the medium automatically makes every recording better, but because you jump to the next effect a little less quickly. Como rewards that attention with details that do not impose themselves. The calm remains attractive, even when you discover how much work is hidden in it.

View the PERRY COMO artist page for vinyl releases and more to discover.

Read on in JAZZ and POP.

Explore PERRY COMO – Songs For Christmas (1LP, Coloured Vinyl) and PERRY COMO – Christmas Essentials (1LP Vinyl) at SJELF. The product pages show the vinyl releases and the LP format.