6/3/2023 0 Comments Eddie fisher![]() Frank Sinatra recorded his version five days before Fisher. “I recorded pretty much whatever they put in front of me.” One of those songs was “I’m Walking Behind You,” which Fisher recorded April 7, 1953. … I didn’t,” he wrote in his 1999 autobiography, Been There, Done That. “Tony Bennett, Perry, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole even Bing Crosby, they all cared about creating a legacy, a catalog of songs that meant something. Frank Sinatra lost his record deal in 1952, and Elvis Presley wouldn’t walk through the door at Sun Records until August 1953, so Fisher lead the charge with a parade of post-war pandering. The melodrama of “Oh! My Pa-Pa” is smothering - it’s the kind of record we’d expect to hear in “The Godfather,” played on a Victrola by a momentarily wistful mobster just before he whacks or is whacked.īut the timing was right for the crooners to heave one last gasp. ![]() The strings are syrupy, the rhythms plod and they’re presided over by Fisher’s self-described “lyric baritone,” which had more in common with Scarlatti than sock hops. Most Fisher records today sound positively antediluvian, moreso than his contemporaries (Sinatra, Crosby, Como, Bennett). His consistent run of hits from 1952 to 1956 included million-sellers “Any Time” and “Tell Me Why,” plus “(You Gotta Have) Heart,” “Wish You Were Here,” “I Need You Now,” “Oh! My Pa-Pa” and “Cindy, Oh Cindy.” It’s starchy, sentimental stuff. The popularity of Fisher’s recording career confounds modern ears. ![]() He wouldn’t have had so much of the latter without surrendering so much of the former. But Fisher was beloved before he was belittled, earning a level of fame equal to his eventual infamy. Today, fame can be achieved in Napoleonic fashion, simply by declaring oneself famous, and contemporary celebrities suffer their falls from grace from lower and lower heights. Headlines last week included “1950s Singing Star Was Brought Low by Scandalous Love Life,” “The Tabloid Legacy of Eddie Fisher” and “Eddie Fisher: The Man Who Put a Gun to Liz Taylor’s Head.” But if we’re really going to talk about Eddie the Slimeball - which, of course, is what whets our contemporary media appetites - we have to discuss Eddie the Singer.įisher was a pioneer of tabloid notoriety he became best known for entertaining us not with his stiff old traditional songs but with his randy new romantic exploits - a mid-century turning point for the entertainment industry. In fact, don’t we have to, at least a little? Fisher’s obituaries move quickly through the two dozen hit songs to get to the scandalous affairs, the drug addiction, the good stuff. John Bush, All Music Guide (allmusic.We can talk about Eddie Fisher’s singing career, if we must. After two more RCA albums, People Like You and You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet, Fisher rarely recorded during the rest of his career, though he continued to perform around America. A return to RCA in the mid-’60s yielded a moderate hit with the LP Games That Lovers Play. His live album, 1963’s Eddie Fisher at the Winter Garden, was recorded for his own Ramrod label. Still, he never entered the Top 40 after 1956. The blitz of media publicity over the woman who lured him away from his wife boosted the public exposure of all three stars. His second film, 1960’s Butterfield 8, teamed him with Elizabeth Taylor, whom he married soon after. His success continued apace in 1954 with “I Need You Now,” and he starred in his first movie, Bundle of Joy, in 1956 – co-billed with his first wife, Debbie Reynolds. Fisher then gained his own top-rated television programs, Coke Time and The Chesterfield Supper Club. After one more big hit (“Wish You Were Here”) that year, he scored with the biggest year of his career in 1953 both “I’m Walking Behind You” and “Oh! My Pa-Pa” spent many weeks at the top of the charts. Two consecutive million-sellers, 1952’s “Any Time” and “Tell Me Why,” really made Eddie Fisher’s reputation as a major attraction. The exposure naturally led to a recording contract his first few singles for RCA, including “Thinking of You” and “Turn Back the Hands of Time,” spent time near the top of the chart. While working the borscht belt in upstate New York, he met Eddie Cantor and appeared on his highly rated radio show during 1949. One of the most popular male vocalists of the early ’50s despite a throwback style that recalled Al Jolson and Tin Pan Alley, Eddie Fisher scored four number one hits between 19 but is probably known best for his celebrity circles – his wives included Debbie Reynolds, Elizabeth Taylor and Connie Stevens.īorn in Philadelphia, Fisher began singing at an early age and made his first radio appearance while still in high school, singing with Buddy Morrow and Charlie Ventura. ![]()
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