Vic Damone is one of the enduring legends of American pop music. His early days were spent as an usher who longed to take the stage at New York City's legendary Paramount Theater. On August 30, 1947, he got his wish when his first hit "I Have But One Heart" reached #7 on the Billboard Chart. Befriended by Frank Sinatra and encouraged by legends like Perry Como and Tommy Dorsey, Damone had one of the greatest voices ever recorded covering such Lerner and Loewe classics as "On the Street Where You Live" and "Gigi" while making other numbers, like "You Do", his own.
In "Singing Was the Easy Part", Damone tells the whole story of his life – and what a life it's been! A mob boss tried to throw him out the window of the Edison Hotel in New York City when he broke off an engagement to the boss's daughter. He was married to a string of glamorous women including the beautiful Anna Pierangeli and the tempestuous Diahann Carroll. When he got to Hollywood, Judy Garland gave him his first screen test, he got drunk for the first time with Ava Gardner at Chasens and he went golfing regularly with George Burns and Jack Benny. Oh yeah, there's also the story about how he took a nude chorus girl into the steam room of the Sands Hotel where Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin were relaxing between shows. All that - and much more - makes "Singing Was the Easy Part" a rollicking star-studded memoir from the great Vic Damone.
VIC DAMONE was one of the greatest crooners in the American songbook for over sixty years.
David Chanoff writes on subjects that range from literary history to foreign policy for publications including the
New York Times Magazine, the
Washington Post and
The New Republic and is author of several books, including a collaboration with Ariel Sharon on his autobiography.
Larry King (1933-2021) was an Emmy, Peabody, and CableAce award-winning broadcaster, interviewer, renowned journalist, and bestselling author. As the host of CNN’s Larry King Live for twenty-five years, he conducted interviews with celebrities, politicians, and entrepreneurs, among many non-famous people over a career that totaled more than 60,000 interviews. Between 1982 and 2001, he wrote a regular column for USA Today, and in 2012, he cofounded the company Ora TV which produced his web series Larry King Now, exclusively streamed by Hulu.
King’s books include Powerful Prayers: Conversations on Faith, Hope, and the Human Spirit with Today’s Most Provocative People, Truth Be Told: Off the Record About Favorite Guests, Memorable Moments, Funniest Jokes, and a Half Century of Asking Questions, and My Remarkable Journey.
