PERRY COMO.

There are singers who immediately let you know how much a song demands of them. Perry Como does almost the opposite. A melody seems to emerge spontaneously from him, as if he had just found it during a conversation. That ease is his greatest quality and perhaps also the reason why you might underestimate him. Someone who forces nothing shows less clearly how much mastery he possesses.

Perry Como turns singing into a relaxed conversation. His voice keeps the melody clear without emphatically pushing every phrase forward. The accompanying arrangements add color to the songs, but leave enough room for quiet phrasing and subtle accents. That control may seem simple; it is precisely the feeling that a song flows effortlessly that is an important part of its appeal.

A full record demonstrates how different songs can share the same open, accessible tone. Standards, pop melodies, and carefully constructed arrangements each bring a different atmosphere. On vinyl, the selection is presented in a specific order. Listening to a LP side helps to hear the nuances between the tracks, from a light rhythmic opening to a ballad where the voice primarily carries the story.

Perry Como on vinyl fits well with a collection of classic pop and vocal jazz. Compare the available releases by repertoire and recording, especially when compilations bring together music from different periods. The product pages provide information about the performance of the LP. Listen to the way he ends a phrase and to the instruments that respond: the subtle choices make the relaxed exterior musically interesting.

Perry Como was born on May 18, 1912, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. Before music became his profession, he worked as a barber and owned his own business. This is no contrived publicity story about an ordinary boy. He truly possessed a trade and a livelihood when he joined Freddie Carlone's band in 1933. In 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, render a melody recognizably, and know when to leave space. A long career began here with practicality. You were a voice within a larger whole, and that whole had to work every night.

Read more in the Artist Story. Also explore the genre stories: jazz · pop.