By Dr. Al Carlos Hernandez
Born Florencia Bisenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona in El Paso, Texas, and raised in Southern California, the eldest of seven children, who would later change her name to Vikki Carr, began performing at the age of four singing Adeste Fidelis in Latin at a Christmas program. She was signed to a contract with Liberty Records in 1961.
She recorded He ‘s A Rebel, which first became a hit in Australia. That title was soon followed by the unforgettable release, “It Must Be Him,” which charged up the charts in England. One year later, the single was released in the United States and earned Carr three Grammy Award nominations. The international hit emerged again when she and the song were featured in the storyline of the Academy Award-winning movie Moonstruck. After “It Must Be Him” came a string of hits including With Pen In Hand, for which she received her fourth Grammy Award nomination, The Lesson, Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You and For Once in My Life.
A legendary star of the stage and screen Vikki Carr has captivated audiences nationally and abroad for over 50 years with her melodic voice and presence. She is one of the best?loved and most accomplished entertainers in the United States, Latin America, and Europe. In her illustrious career, she has garnered four Grammy Awards including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy, and has released over 60 best?selling recordings. She has performed for the Queen of England, five United States Presidents, wartime soldiers in Vietnam, and to sold?out audiences around the world. She has worked in radio, television, film, and theater.
Her music embraces four languages and she is among the first artists to bridge the cultures of the United States and Latin America, paving the way for many performers today.”
In addition to her many album releases, Vikki Carr has appeared on stage and television. She has starred in productions of South Pacific, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and I’m Getting My Act Together and Taking It on The Road. In 2002, she starred in the Reprise production of Steven Sondheim’s beloved musical “Follies” in Los Angeles, garnering glowing reviews from the LA Times, Hollywood Reporter, and Variety. Two years later, Los Angeles PBS affiliate, KCET, filmed a special Vikki Carr: Memories, Memorias, a salute to the English?language hits of the 1940s and 1950s originally composed by Latinos, and featuring guest appearances by Jack Jones, Pepe Aguilar, and Arturo Sandoval. PBS again tapped Vikki to host and star in a new production celebrating the music of Mexico, Fiesta Mexicana, which was featured on all PBS stations in 2008.
A frequent musical guest on primetime TV hit variety shows, including Dean Martin, Ed Sullivan, Perry Como, and Carol Burnett, Vikki also taped six specials for London Weekend TV. As an actor, she appeared on the Bing Crosby Show, Mod Squad, Fantasy Island, Baywatch, and many other shows. Vikki was the first female to regularly guest host for Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show.
The diversity of her rich voice is impressive. She can belt out the blues or touch the heart with a soft romantic ballad. Frank Sinatra said, “She possesses my kind of voice”, Dean Martin called her “the best girl singer in the business” and Bing Crosby and Ella Fitzgerald named her among their three favorite female singers of all time.
Elvis Presley was also very fond of her and even remarked on stage in Las Vegas many times that Vikki Carr was one of his favorite singers and that he liked her because “she sang from the gut” and introduced her at many of his personal appearances in which she attended.
Vikki Carr has received many prestigious awards throughout her illustrious career. She was presented with her Hollywood Walk of Fame Star in 1981, and has a long list of recognitions going back to the start of her career.
She has a very kind and youthful happy voice, who is funny and laughs easily. Here is an excerpt from our 90-minute interview:
Al Carlos Hernandez: When did you realize you had the gift of singing?
Vikki Carr: I have been singing since I was four years old, I sang ‘Silent Night’ and ‘Adeste Fidelis’ in Latin and my mother made me an angel dress out of a linen bed sheet and tree timing tinsels became my belt. I looked out into the audience and saw my mom crying. Afterword I ran up to her and asked her what was wrong. I was crying promising never to do that again, but she said, ‘No honey, I was so proud of you, and that’s when I knew had something special.
AC: Tell us a little about your singing technique? So many other singers have tried to emulate your style.
VC: I never realized that I had such a big voice, but as I held the mike close, I could see people covering their ears, I pulled the mike back a little. I am told that I have the best mike technique in the business because I know how to work it. I always tell the soundman once that my mike is set not to touch it. [she laughs] I know what I’m doing!
AC: So, you learned this doing the casino shows?
VC: In Vegas, you learn how to focus on your singing no matter what is going one around you. For example, you could be singing and without forewarning, they would turn off your mike and yell, “Jackpot!” You could be in the middle of a deeply emotional and gut-wrenching song, they cut your mike and a nasal voice would screech, “Jackpot on Machine number 35”! We would be trying to perform early in the morning and the drunks were there who missed their bus, we would open the curtain and come out Da-da-da! You look out at the audience and see only a few drunks. They would close the curtain, and we’d come out all over again. I was working with Wayne Newton and other great performers still learning the craft. It was a fun and wonderful time to be involved in the music scene.
AC: Tell us about your global hit, “It must be Him”.
VC: At first, I could not perform it on TV because I said ‘God’ in it. The TV people asked ‘can’t you say, ‘Dear Lord?’ I said no because we don’t talk that way. They did let me sing Can’t Take My Eyes Off You and the line I thank God I’m alive because it was upbeat and somewhat embedded in the song. Once the song hit number one in England it was re-released here in the states, and I could then perform it without any restrictions. FCC rules at that time were very strict. The biggest success I have had has come with the things I have fought for. This way you never have to look back and say, ‘What if….’
AC: I’m told you were the first female co-host of the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, what was that like?
VC: Johnny was a one of a kinda consummate professional. When they asked me to co-host the show they asked me who I would like on the show with me. I had just come back from entertaining the troops in Viet Nam with Danny Kaye, so I asked for him. The show’s producer, Fred DeCordova told me that they’ve asked Danny to come on their show before but that he always refused. My manager told me that I would have to ask him myself. Honestly, I didn’t think he’d agree, but I called Danny and shared with him what I was told, and he replied, “That what they said?” He then said, “Well we will show them that blood is thicker than show business.” It was a huge coo for me. Our show went on to evolve into a very big and spectacular night– also performing with Nolan Ryan and Sergio Mendez.
[She chuckles remembering the first night she co-hosted for Johnny Carson.] That first show, I came out, had no monologue, I just sang a song and afterward went over and sat in the guest chair. Ed McMann leaned over and reminded me, ‘Vikki, you are the host!’ I quickly got up and moved over to the host chair!
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