"Gina" is a song written by

Leon Carr Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again f ...

and

Paul Vance Joseph Paul Florio (November 4, 1929 – May 30, 2022), known professionally as Paul Vance, was an American songwriter and record producer, primarily from the 1950s until the 1970s. His most successful song compositions, all written with Lee Poc ...

Background

The song first appeared in an episode of the CBS television series '' Diagnosis: Unknown''. It was subsequently recorded in 1960 by a vocalist named Johnny Janis (1928-2017). Arranged and conducted by

Glenn Osser Abraham Arthur "Glenn" Osser (August 28, 1914 – April 29, 2014) was an American musician, musical arranger, orchestra leader, and songwriter. His birthname was Abraham (Abe), but much of his work was under the name Glenn; he can be found with re ...

, "Gina" was released as a single that year by

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

(catalogue no. 4-41797). It did not chart.

Johnny Mathis recording

In 1962,

Johnny Mathis John Royce Mathis (born September 30, 1935) is an American singer of popular music. Starting his career with singles of standard music, he became highly popular as an album artist, with several dozen of his albums achieving gold or platinum s ...

recorded his version of "Gina". Produced by

Ernie Altschuler Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born c ...

, and arranged by

Don Costa Dominick P. "Don" Costa (June 10, 1925 – January 19, 1983) was an American conductor and record producer. He discovered singer Paul Anka and worked on several hit albums by Frank Sinatra, including ''Sinatra and Strings'' and '' My Way''. ...

, it was also released by Columbia (catalogue no. 4-42582). This time, it became a hugely successful hit, peaking at #2 on the U.S. adult contemporary chart, #6 on the U.S. pop chart, and #8 on the Cashbox chart.

References

External links

* 1962 songs 1962 singles 1963 singles Songs with music by Leon Carr Songs written by Paul Vance Johnny Mathis songs The Casinos songs Columbia Records singles Liberty Records singles {{1960s-single-stub