page_title: Andy Russell (singer)
section_title: Records
hierarchical_section_title: Andy Russell (singer) / Career begins / Records
caption_attribution_description: English: Andy Russell Capitol Records 1946
context_page_description: Andy Russell was an American popular vocalist, actor, and entertainer of Mexican descent, specializing in traditional pop and Latin music. He sold 8 million records in the 1940s singing in a romantic, baritone voice and in his trademark bilingual English and Spanish style. He had chart-busters, such as "Bésame Mucho", "Amor", and "What a Diff'rence a Day Made". He made personal appearances and performed on radio programs, most notably Your Hit Parade, in several movies, and on television. During this initial phase of his career, his popularity in the United States rivaled that of crooners Frank Sinatra and Perry Como.
  In 1954, he relocated to Mexico where he became a star of radio, television, motion pictures, records and nightclubs. He toured extensively throughout Latin America, Spain, Portugal and Cuba, and hosted the television variety program El Show de Andy Russell in Argentina from 1956–65.
  Upon returning to the United States, Russell continued to record. His 1967 single "It's Such a Pretty World Today" reached #1 on Billboard Magazine's Easy Listening Chart.
context_section_description: While he was with Rey, Russell's bilingual vocals had caught the attention of lyricist and composer Johnny Mercer, who asked Russell to cut a record for his fledgling Capitol Records.
  Russell narrowed his choices down to three songs. He then chose the bolero "Bésame Mucho," with music and Spanish lyric by Mexican composer Consuelo Velázquez, English lyric by American composer Sunny Skylar, and backing by the Al Sack Orchestra. He sang "Bésame Mucho" bilingually, the first vocalist to offer Spanish and English treatments to popular songs, often with a chorus in English followed by a chorus in Spanish, and, in doing so, displaying his Latin background.
  The 1942–44 musicians' strike threatened to derail Russell's career before it had even begun. Union President James Petrillo had set the date of July 31 where no union musician could record for any record company. This caused record producers to scramble to get vocalists and musicians into recording studios to get the recordings done before the deadline. Russell was able to make a test record with the George Siravo orchestra under the deadline.  Mercer paid him $150 for both sides of his first record.
  Russell's first charted hit became the smash "Bésame Mucho" which reached #10 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Chart in the United States. It sold over one million copies. Velázquez heaped huge praise on Russell by stating that the worldwide success of "Bésame Mucho", which would become the most recorded Mexican song in history, effectively began with his rendition and recording of the song. A review of this song stated that the Spanish Mexican influences were obvious, with Russell's Spanish contributing to a soft and effective crooning job.
  That same year he also had another huge hit, which became another signature tune "Amor", music by Mexican composer Gabriel Ruíz, Spanish lyric by Mexican lyricist Ricardo López Méndez, English lyric by Sunny Skylar, and backed by the Al Sack Orchestra. It reached #2 and was taken from the musical film Broadway Rhythm. The flip side of this record was "The Day After Forever".
  Russell had two more hits that year: "What a Diff'rence a Day Made", original title "Cuando vuelva a tu lado" (When I Return to Your Side), music and Spanish lyric by Mexican composer María Grever with English lyric by American lyricist Stanley Adams and backed by the Paul Weston Orchestra. It reached #15 and was paired with "Don't You Notice Anything New?" The other hit was "I Dream of You", which reached #5 and was paired with "Magic Is the Moonlight".
  1944 was a banner year for Russell. Such success was unprecedented for a "kid from East Los Angeles", albeit a very talented, hard-working, and cocky kid. He was a part of the era when popular singers, or crooners, were beginning to take the spotlight away from the bands. Crooners such as himself, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Dick Haymes and Perry Como each had his own unique style.
  As the youngest of all the crooners in this era, Russell drew his style from those who had come before, especially Haymes. Russell was viewed as the typical crooner, in the Sinatra style, who extended and drew out the words, while adding delightful shades and nuances to the phrases in his songs. He was not considered a bolero singer in the classic sense (of Latin America singers), but his execution of romantic songs had some of the best and most sincere phrasing. Russell's 4 top-ten hits on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart in 1944 sold millions of records, and opened the door later in the decade for touring around the country and appearances on radio programs, motion pictures, and television. By late 1944, he was declared by the Mutual Broadcasting System to be the "idol of the crew-cut and bobby-sox set, and one of the nation's top-ranking romantic balladeers".
  In 1946, his next big hit was "I Can't Begin to Tell You" which reached #7, and was from the film The Dolly Sisters. The next big hit came later in 1946: a two-sided hit with "Laughing on the Outside" which reached #4, and "They Say It's Wonderful" which reached #10, (from the Broadway show Anni
caption: Capitol Records recording artist Andy Russell
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