Vocal legend Patti Page, 85, dies in Encinitas
Patti Page, one of the top-selling female pop-music singers in the history of recorded music, died Tuesday night in Encinitas. She was 85. The cause of death has not yet been determined.
“Patti passed away last night,” Michael Glynn, Page’s manager since 1996, said Wednesday morning from his Massachusetts office. “It was very sudden.”
A North County resident for more than 40 years, Page was renowned for such multimillion-selling hits as“The Tennessee Waltz,”“Allegheny Moon” and “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window?”
She was scheduled to receive a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award on Feb. 9 in Los Angeles. Ironically, Indian music legend Ravi Shankar, a longtime Encinitas resident, was to receive the same award.He died in La Jolla on Dec. 11 at the age of 92.
“Our industry has lost a remarkable talent and a true gift,” said Neil Portnow, the president and CEO of the Recording Academy, under whose auspices the Grammy Awards are presented. “She was an extremely talented artist known for her unique and smooth vocal style.”
Page’s final performance in her seven-decade career was a Nov. 20, 2010, concert in Waltham, Mass. Her final San Diego concert was May 30, 2010, at Moonlight Amphitheater in Vista, where she appeared as part of a lineup that also included Nickel Creek alum Sara Watkins.
In a 2005 U-T San Diego interview, Page played down her career longevity while reaffirming her love for the music that made her a star.
“I just kept singing, and the years just went by,” she said. “When the voice goes, I go.”
The cause of her death is not yet known, according to Glynn.
“I spoke with her a few days ago and she sounded great,” e said. “Even yesterday, she was in great spirits a had a visit with her son.”
Page was born Clara Ann Fowler on Nov. 8, 1927, in the Oklahoma town of Claremore. A North County resident since 1971, she moved in 1990 from Rancho Santa Fe to Solana Beach, where her son, Daniel O’Curran, resides. At the time of her death, Page was a resident at Seacrest Village Retirement Communities in Encinitas.
“She’d been dealing with health issues for about two years and had been in a nursing facility for the a last year and a half,” Glynn said.
Born into a family off 11 children, Page launched her career as a big band singer in the 1940s and recorded a small-group session with Benny Goodman in 1947. She scored her first solo hit, “Confess,” the same year. “Confess” is believed to be the first pop hit on which a pop singer overdubbed her own accompanying vocals, predating the first hit by Mary Ford and Les Paul by two years. Her first chart-topping hit came in 1950 with the song “With My Eyes Wide Open, I’m Dreaming.”
One of Page’s biggest hits, 1950’s “The Tennessee Waltz,” sold 10 million copies. It topped the pop charts, rose to No. 2 on the country charts and made the R&B charts -- a rare feat then and an almost unthinkable one now. Page also topped the pop charts in the early 1950s with “I Went To Your Wedding” and “(How Much Is That) Doggie in the Window?”
In her heyday, she was known as “The singing rage, Miss Patti Page.” During the 1950s, she hosted at least three TV shows -- “Music Hall” on NBC, “The Big Record” on CBS and “The Patti Page Show” on ABC -- although none of them aired for more than one season. She also acted in several films, most notably “Elmer Gantry” in 1960. In 1990 Page hosted the KPBS special “Jukebox Saturday Night II.”
In 1995 U-T San Diego interview, Page attributed the enduring success of her recording of “The Tennessee Waltz” to her ability to connect with the song’s lyrics on a deeply personal level.
“We had no money, but I don’t remember being unhappy,” she said, recalling her impoverished childhood. “But I do remember no presents at Christmas, although one Christmas there was a doll to be shared by the three youngest kids -- I was the second youngest. And when I was 7 or 8, desperately wanting a Mickey Mouse watch, I clipped the picture of a Mickey Mouse watch from the Sears Roebuck catalog in the outhouse. Then I pasted the picture of the watch on my wrist. It was just pretend, but it was the closest I could get to a Mickey Mouse watch.
“When I sing `Tennessee Waltz,’ I can see that poor girl in the song. People hear the words, and they cry in their beer. And I do some remembering.”
Page recorded 50 albums and scored 19 gold and 14 platinum singles in the U.S. (for sales of 500,000 and 1 million each, respectively). She won her first Grammy Award in 1999 for her 1998 album, “Live at Carnegie Hall: The 50th Anniversary Concert.”
Her most recent release was the 2008 album, “Best Country Songs.” She had been eagerly looking forward to receiving her Lifetime Achievement Grammy, according to Glynn.
“She sure was,” he said. “That was one of the last things I spoke with her about. I was making plans to arrange her transportation to attend.”
A memorial service for Page here is being planned, Glynn said. In addition to her son, Daniel, and daughter Kathleen Ginn, an Arizona resident, Page is survived by one of her 11 sisters, Peggy Layton, and by 14 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. Her first and second husband, Charles O’Curran and Jerry Filiciotto, are both deceased.
