Artistic controls

[leeann]

I'm not sure how to phrase this question, but to what extent did Mario
Lanza have control over the quality and release of his music during
his lifetime? I know we read that he did not want the Albert Hall
concert released, for example. But what about other songs and albums?
And that would include the best--Mario! and Caruso Favorites, for
example, as well as the low points (Broadway).

I'm guessing it varied with different contractual arrangements.
Thank you. Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

That's an interesting question, Lee Ann. I think that under normal
circumstances Lanza would have listened carefully to the playback of
any recording that he'd just made, and discussed it with the conductor
and producer. RCA producer Richard Mohr once commented that Mario was
always willing to do retakes if necessary, although why RCA didn't
insist on retakes in *some* instances is a mystery to me! (I'm
thinking of things like the 1950 Cielo e Mar, which really should have
been redone.)

But Mario would presumably have had the final say when it came to
deciding which take of a particular song or aria was to be released.
Where multiple RCA takes exist (or *remakes* at a later time in the
case of Because and For You Alone), I'd say that the best version was
usually selected, with the notable exception of the 1950 Vesti la
Giubba. Here, RCA released two takes -- one on the official Great
Caruso LP and the other on a 45rpm -- but overlooked the superior
*third* take, which has never been released:

http://www.4shared.com/account/file/83225808/b3e9588e/Vesti_la_Giubba_--_unreleased_RCA_take_1950.html

This rendition is not as good as the actual Great Caruso film version,
and certainly not in the class of the 1958 recording (Mario's
definitive Vesti in my book), but it's still a gripping piece of
singing. To my ears, it's superior to the other 1950 RCA takes from "E
se Arlecchin" onwards and is less problematic pitch-wise. (He was
having a very "sharp" day at that particular session!)

When it came to compilation albums, eg, the 1958 You Do Something to
Me (which I've always felt was the best RCA compilation LP released
during his lifetime), RCA would send a list of tracks to Lanza for
approval.

As for concept albums, my guess is that RCA's A & R (Artist &
Reportoire) people would have generally come up with the ideas (eg,
operetta: the Cavalcade album; show tunes: Lanza on Broadway), and
Mario would then have selected the titles he wanted to sing from a
list of selections. But if Terry Robinson is to be believed -- and I'd
say he's right in this instance -- the "Mario!" album was Lanza's
idea. According to Robinson, RCA had wanted him to record the Caruso
Favorites album in December 1958, but Lanza asked them to delay it so
that he could first record an all-Neapolitan album of songs that he'd
grown up with. If this story is true, then it's tantalizing to
consider how differently those two albums might have turned out if
they'd been recorded in the opposite order!

[Joseph Fagan]

While this was true for the studio numbers, I wonder if there was enough time for him to this for the "radio" numbers?? ....considering how little time he had  for what became the "coke" recordings.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Joe: No, I imagine that on many occasions there wasn't enough time
for Mario to listen to the various takes he'd recorded on the Coke
Shows. In the case of something like Maria Mari', he probably never
heard the final version, as it was patched together from two or three
takes. (There were five in all, from memory.)

Incidentally, about 25 years ago, when I was in Britain, I was briefly
shown an analysis of (all?) the Coke recordings that was presumably
written by someone at RCA in preparation (I assume) for selecting
material for the Coke compilation albums. From what I can remember,
there were some fairly astute comments. I'd love to see that document
again.