# The Four Aces

The Four Aces are an American male traditional pop quartet popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling songs include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Tell Me Why", and "(It's No) Sin". Other big sellers included "Shangri-La", "Perfidia", "Sincerely", and "Written On The Wind". “Love Is A Many Splendored Thing” won the Academy Award for Best Song in 1955. The original members, responsible for every song made popular by the group, included Al Alberts, Dave Mahoney, Lou Silvestri, and Rosario "Sod" Vaccaro.

## Career

Alberts went to South Philadelphia High School and Temple University and served in the United States Navy, where he met Mahoney. Originally, Alberts sang with Mahoney playing behind him, and later they added Vaccaro on trumpet and Silvestri on drums. They played locally in the Philadelphia area, and Alberts started his own record label, Victoria Records, when they could not find a distributor to release their first record, "(It's No) Sin". It sold a million copies, and Decca Records soon signed the group, billing them as The Four Aces featuring Al Alberts.
Alberts left the group in 1958 to try to make it as a soloist but never made the charts. He was replaced as lead singer by Fred Diodati, who had attended South Philadelphia High School a few years after Alberts. After Alberts had left the group, Mahoney and Vaccaro also left. Silvestri never left the group but led three new members: Diodati, Tony Alesi, and Joe Giglio. The Original Aces later asked Silvestri to rejoin the original group, and he did.
It was then that Diodati led a new line-up, which consisted of Diodati, Alesi, Giglio, and Harry Heisler. After almost 19 years with the group, Alesi developed a medical condition that forced him to leave the group. As of 2013 the Four Aces members were Diodati, Giglio, Heisler, and Danny Colingo. By 2019 Heisler had been replaced by Bob Barboni.
In 1975, Diodati, Alesi, Giglio, and Heisler were awarded the right to the name in a court suit in which the original members tried to re-establish their right. The court allowed the founding members to tour as "The Original Four Aces, Featuring Al Alberts", which they did, finally retiring the act in 1987. Diodati, Giglio, Barboni, and Colingo continue to legally use the name of the Four Aces and perform the songs made popular by the Original Four Aces.
The founding lead singer, Alberts, died of natural causes on November 27, 2009, at age 87. Mahoney died on July 12, 2012, of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 86. Silvestri died on January 27, 2013, at age 86. Vaccaro (born in 1922) died on April 5, 2013, at age 90.

## Singles

| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | Chart positions | Chart positions | Chart positions | Album |
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | US | CB | UK | Album |
| 1949 | "Baby, wha hoppen" b/w "Try, try again" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1951 | "(It's No) Sin" b/w "Arizona Moon" | 4 | 1 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1951 | "There's a Christmas Tree in Heaven" b/w "There's a Small Hotel" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1951 | "Tell Me Why" / | 2 | 2 | — | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1952 | "A Garden in the Rain" | 14 | 17 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1952 | "Perfidia" b/w "You Brought Me Love" (Non-album track) | 7 | 7 | — | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1952 | "Two Little Kisses" b/w "Who's to Blame" | 29 | 34 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1952 | "My Hero" b/w "Spring Is a Wonderful Thing" (Non-album track) | — | 20 | — | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1952 | "I'm Yours" b/w "I Understand" (from Sentimental Souvenirs) | 21 | — | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1952 | "Should I" b/w "There's Only Tonight" (Non-album track) | 9 | 16 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1952 | "Heart and Soul" / | 11 | 14 | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1952 | "Just Squeeze Me" | 20 | — | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1953 | "Ti-Pi-Tin" b/w "Heaven Can Wait" | — | — | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1953 | "La Rosita" b/w "Take Me in Your Arms" | 24 | — | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1953 | "I'll Never Smile Again" b/w "My Devotion" | 21 | — | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1953 | "You Fooled Me" b/w "If You Take My Heart Away" | 22 | 32 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1953 | "Organ Grinder's Swing" / | 17 | 18 | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1953 | "Honey in the Horn" | 24 | 23 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1953 | "False Love" b/w "Don't Forget Me" | 24 | 23 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1953 | "Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)" b/w "I've Been Waiting a Lifetime" (Non-album track) | 22 | 28 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1953 | "Stranger in Paradise" / | 3 | 1 | 6$^*$ | Mood for Love |
| 1953 | "The Gang That Sang Heart of My Heart" | 7 | 5 | — | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1954 | "Bandera (Texas Polka)" (Al Alberts solo) b/w "What More Is There" (Al Alberts solo) | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1954 | "Amor" / | 21 | 20 | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1954 | "So Long" | 26 | 20 | — | Heart and Soul |
| 1954 | "Three Coins in the Fountain" / | 1 | 1 | 5 | Mood for Love |
| 1954 | "Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine)" | 22 | 18 | — | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1954 | "Dream" / | 17 | 13 | — | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1954 | "It Shall Come to Pass" | — | 37 | — | Non-album Track |
| 1954 | "It's a Woman's World" b/w "That Cuckoo Bird in the Pickle Tree" | 11 | 15 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1954 | "Mr. Sandman" b/w "(I'll Be with You) In Apple Blossom Time" | 5 | 1 | 9 | Sentimental Souvenirs |
| 1955 | "Melody of Love" b/w "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (from Sentimental Souvenirs) | 3 | 1 | — | Mood for Love |
| 1955 | "There Goes My Heart" b/w "You'll Always Be the One" (Non-album track) | — | 15 | — | Mood for Love |
| 1955 | "Heart" b/w "Sluefoot" (Non-album track) | 13 | 12 | — | The Best of The Four Aces |
| 1955 | "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" / | 1 | 1 | 2 | Hits from Hollywood |
| 1955 | "Shine On Harvest Moon" | — | 45 | — | Non-album Track |
| 1955 | "The Christmas Song" b/w "Jingle Bells" | — | — | — | Merry Christmas |
| 1955 | "O Holy Night" b/w "Silent Night" | — | — | — | Merry Christmas |
| 1955 | "A Woman in Love" / | 14 | 16 | 19 | Hits from Hollywood |
| 1955 | "Of This I'm Sure" | 56 | 47 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1956 | "If You Can Dream" / | 62 | 34 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1956 | "The Gal with the Yaller Shoes" | 91 | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1956 | "To Love Again" b/w "Charlie Was a Boxer" (from The Four Aces Sing) | 43 | 26 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1956 | "I Only Know I Love You" / | 22 | 38 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1956 | "Dreamer" | 86 | 43 | — | Non-album track |
| 1956 | "You Can't Run Away from It" / | 20 | — | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1956 | "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)" | 45 | 10 | 29 | Hits from Hollywood |
| 1956 | "Someone To Love" / | 47 | — | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1956 | "Written on the Wind" | 61 | 39 | — | Hits from Hollywood |
| 1957 | "Bahama Mama" / | 53 | 36 | — | Beyond the Blue Horizon |
| 1957 | "You're Mine" | 76 | 45 | — | The Four Aces Sing |
| 1957 | "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" b/w "Three Sheets to the Wind" (from The Four Aces Sing) | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1957 | "Half of My Heart" b/w "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1957 | "How Do You Say Goodbye" b/w "I Would Love You Still" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "Rock and Roll Rhapsody" b/w "I Wish I May, I Wish I Might" | 66 | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "Saturday Swing-Out" b/w "Take My Heart" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "Heartache in Costume" b/w "Two Arms, Two Lips, One Heart" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "Roses of Rio" b/w "Hangin' Up a Horseshoe" | — | 89 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1958 | "The World Outside" b/w "How Can You Forget" (from Hits on Broadway) | 63 | 25 | 18 | Beyond the Blue Horizon |
| 1958 | "Ol' Fatso" b/w "Christmas Tree" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1959 | "No Other Arms, No Other Lips" b/w "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness" | 74 | 28 | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1959 | "Ciao, Ciao, Bambino" b/w "Paradise Island" (from Beyond the Blue Horizon) | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1959 | "The Five Pennies" b/w "Anyone Would Love You" (from Hits from Broadway) | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1959 | "Waltzing Matilda" b/w "The Wonder of It All" (Non-album track) | — | — | — | Beyond the Blue Horizon |
| 1959 | "Til Tomorrow" b/w "I Love Paris" (from Beyond the Blue Horizon) | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1960 | "Poor Butterfly" b/w "You Are Music" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1960 | "Dolce far niente" b/w "Searching" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1961 | "The Ballad of Patrick Henry" b/w "Me Without You" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1962 | "Lonely Hill" b/w "It's All Over but the Crying" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1963 | "Marina" b/w "When Will You Come Back to Me" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1965 | "Dans nos souvenir" b/w "Dis pourquoi" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks |
| 1969 | "Always Keep Me in Your Heart" b/w "Didn't We" | — | 120 | — | A Time for Us |
| 1969 | "I Started a Joke" b/w "Summer Won't Be Summer" | — | — | — | A Time for Us |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or not released in the territory ||||||
$^*$ "Stranger in Paradise" charted in 1955 in the UK

## Awards and recognition

The Four Aces were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001. The Four Aces were inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame in 1988.

## Other uses

In the 1930s a vocal group recorded under the name The Four Aces (A Human Orchestra). They vocalized not only the lyrics but all instrumental parts of their music, recording on the Decca label in the UK.
In 1948–49, Bill Haley fronted a group called the Four Aces of Western Swing – often referred to as simply The Four Aces. The style of music this group played was country and western, and it was with the group that Haley recorded his first singles for the Cowboy Records label in 1948. The group disbanded in 1949, and Haley went on to form The Saddlemen, which later became Bill Haley & His Comets.