Ralph Marterie

Ralph Marterie 24 December 1914 - 10 October 1978 Was A Big-Band Leader Born In Acerra Near Naples Italy. Marterie First Played Professionally At Age 14 In Chicago. In The 1940s He Played Trumpet For Various Bands. His First Job As A Bandleader Was Courtesy Of The US Navy During World War 2. He Was Then Hired By The ABC Radio Network And The Reputation Built From These Broadcasts Led To A Recording Contract With Mercury Records. His Highest Success In The U.S. Charts Was A Cover Of "Skokiaan" In 1954. In 1953 He Recorded A Version Of Bill Haley's "Crazy Man Crazy" Which Is Generally Regarded As The First Rock And Roll Song. His Version Of "Crazy Man Crazy" Reached #13 On The Billboard Jockey Chart And #11 On Cashbox In June 1953. His Recordings Of "Pretend" And "Caravan" Also Made The Top 10. "Caravan" Sold Over One Million Copies And Was Awarded A Gold Disc. In 1957 He Hit #25 On The Billboard Hot 100 With "Tricky" And In 1957 He Hit #10 With "Shish-Kebab". His Compositions Included "Dancing Trumpet" "Dry Marterie" And "Carla".
Joel Whitburn's Pop Chart Research Books Say That Marterie's Version Of "The Song Of Love" Peaked At #84 For The Week Ending December 26 1955. However Billboard Magazine Did Not Put Out An Issue That Week And Marterie Never Recorded This Tune The Listing Is In Fact A Copyright Trap To Prevent Others From Stealing Whitburn's Work.
He Died On October 10 1978 In Dayton Ohio. Ralph Marterie Hit The Road In 1949 And Stayed There For Most Of The Next 30 Years. Long After Most Other Big Bands Had Traded In Their Buses For Studio Gigs And Other Sources Of Steady Employment Marterie Was Still Touring Mostly Through The Midwest Playing Country Clubs And American Legion Halls And Any Other Venue With A Bandstand. Marterie Migrated With His Parents To The U.S. In The Early 1920s And The Family Settled In Chicago Where His Father Played With The Civic Opera Orchestra. Music Rubbed Off Early On And By High School He Was Leading A Dance Band Culled From His Fellow Students And Friends. After Graduation He Got A Job Playing Trumpet In NBC Radio's Studio Orchestra In Chicago Where He Stayed Until World War Two. He Joined The Navy And Spent Most Of The War In Charge Of A Fleet Band. He Enjoyed Leading A Band And After The War He Returned To Chicago And Was Able To Get The Job Of Conducting ABC Radio's Chicago Studio Ensemble. This Led To His Being Offered A Contract With Mercury Records For Whom He Began Recording Occasional Singles In 1948. His Records Sold Well Enough To Convince Him To Form A Touring Band And Set Out On His Own. He Started Working In Wisconsin Michigan And Other Nearby States A Circuit He Would Return To Towards The End Of His Career. In 1952 His Cover Of "Caravan" Stayed On Billboard's List Of Top 40 Juke Box Hits For Over 10 Weeks. He Had A Few Minor Hits Through The End Of The 1950s All Of Them Covers Of Current Favorites Such As "Guaglione " "Tequila " And "Skokiaan." Marterie's Output For Mercury And Later United Artists And Musicor Is Pretty Impressive Considering That The Market For Big Band Music Was Steadily Diminishing Throughout His Career. Marterie Did Relatively Little Original Material--That Wasn't What His Audiences Were Interested In Anyway. Many Of His Recordings Are Standard Swing Fare Walking A Mid-Line Between Syrupy And Jazz But His Stereo Era Recordings Are Excellent Illustrations Of The Superb Audio Engineering That Characterized Mercury And Other Labels In The Late 1950s And Early 1960s. read less