Caiola, Al (7th September 1920-9th November 2016)

He was a guitarist, conductor and arranger born Alexander Emil Caiola in Jersey City, New Jersey to a family where his father was a barber. He had originally wanted to be a singer but turned his interest to the guitar which would become immense success.

He spent some of the earlier years of his career performing along with the singer and bandleader Bob Crosby in the 5^th Marine Division Band of the United States Marine Corps and saw action as a stretcher bearer in Iwo Jima in WWII and then was part of the occupying force in Japan after the bombs had been dropped in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He returned to the United States in 1946 and took studies in composition and music theory at the New Jersey College of Music before being hired as a staff musician by New York’s CBS Radio which saw him becoming an in-demand studio musician all over New York City and the surrounding area over the next five decades. In 1947 he married the sister of a childhood friend Rosalie Fiocco who became his lifelong partner.

He released a few singles in the early years but made his name performing on songs recorded by some of the best known artists of the time. These include “Venus” by Frankie Avalon, “Diana” by Paul Anka, “Stranger in Paradise” by Tony Bennett, “Galveston” by Glen Campbell, “Don’t Sleep in the Subway Baby” by Petula Clark, “Rave On” by The Crickets, “Splish Splash” by Bobby Darin, “Theme from a Summer Place” by Percy Faith, “On the Street Where You Live” by Eddie Fisher, “Arrivederci Roma” by Connie Francis, “It Doesn’t Matter Anymore” by Buddy Holly, “Stand By Me” by Ben E. King, “Let’s Talk About Us” by Jerry Lee Lewis, “Spanish Eyes” by Al Martino, “Chances Are” by Johnny Mathis, “The Yellow Rose of Texas” by Mitch Miller, “Santa Lucia by Elvis Presley, “Just Walkin’ in the Rain” by Johnny Ray, “A White Sport Coat” by Marty Robbins, “Breaking Up is Hard To Do” by Neil Sedaka, “Hats Off to Larry” by Del Shannon, “Mrs Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel, “It All Depends On You” by Frank Sinatra, “Butterfly” by Andy Williams along with countless others.

When the 1960s came around he got a contract with United Artists and started gaining attention in his own right. He had hits with the themes of “Bonanza” and “The Magnificent Seven” and a lesser chart entry with “From Russia With Love” in 1964 where he was backed by an orchestra with the arrangements regularly done by Don Costa. United Artists used him as a musician to record the theme songs for TV and films for commercial release such as “Gunslinger”, “The Rebel” and “Wagon Train”. He was also known for his diversity though and performed in many different genres of music on the continuous flow of albums that he was releasing.

Also during the 1960s he was and arranger and leader for The Living Guitars which was one of the Living series of groups produced by Ethel Gabriel for RCA’s Camden label.

In 1970 he started working with Avalanche Records and once again began his relentless recording of albums in a similar way to that of his time at United Artists. In 1976 he toured in Johannesburg, South Africa with Sergio Franchi and Dana Valery.

By the 1980s he was releasing more ethnic type music albums from countries such as Spain and Italy including In a Spanish Mood in 1982. He also toured Europe with Frank Sinatra in 1985 and still working in the 2000s he regularly toured with Eydie Gorme and Stephen Lawrence.

His extensive solo album output numbered more than fifty but a select few of them include All Strung Out, Ciao, City Guy Plays Country, Cleopatra and All That Jazz, Greasy Kid Stuff, Guitar for Lovers, Hit Instrumentals from Western TV Themes, Let the Sunshine In, The Magnificent Seven, Midnight in Moscow, The Power of Brass, Return of the Seven, Romantico, Solid Gold Guitar, Sounds for Spies and Private Eyes and Tuff Guitar.

Some of the many artists he worked with during his career, outwith those mentioned above, are Pearl Bailey, LaVern Baker, Harry Belafonte, Phil Bodner, Ruth Brown, Solomon Burke, Hoagy Carmichael, The Coasters, Rosemary Clooney, Benny Goodman, Morton Gould, Lionel Hampton, Herbie Hancock, Woody Herman, Rupert Holmes, Lena Horne, King Curtis, Eartha Kitt, Andre Kostelanetz, Clyde McPhatter, Hugo Montenegro, Buddy Morrow, Tony Mottola, Claus Ogerman, Hot Lips Page, Ray Peterson, Bobby Short, Clyde Stacy, Barbra Streisand and Chuck Willis.

Just a few of the other albums he can be heard on are The EP Collection by Frankie Avalon, Who Can I Turn To by Tony Bennett, When You Come to the End of the Day by Perry Como, 1946-1947 by Count Basie, Rawhide by Frankie Laine, Little Miss Dynamite by Brenda Lee, Cry Me a River by Julie London, Moon River and Me/Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Henry Mancini, Heartaches by the Number by Guy Mitchell, Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley, Cry by Johnny Ray, Rock ‘n’ Roll Robbins by Marty Robbins, The Best of the Columbia Years: 1943-1952 by Frank Sinatra, The Complete Columbia Albums Collection by Sarah Vaughn and numerous compilations.

He died in Allendale, New Jersey when he was 96 years old.

Sources:

Caiola, Al (7th September 1920-9th November 2016)

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