"That's Amore" is a 1953 song by composer

Harry Warren Harry Warren (born Salvatore Antonio Guaragna; December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981) was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song ...

and lyricist

Jack Brooks Jack Brooks may refer to: * Jack Brooks (cricketer) (born 1984), English cricketer *Jack Brooks (footballer) (1904–1973), English footballer *Jack Brooks (lyricist) (1912–1971), British-American lyricist *Jack Brooks (American politician) (1922� ...

, and became a major hit and

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a Handwriting, handwritten (and often Stylization, stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and ...

for

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

, who first recorded and released it that year. ''Amore'' () means "love" in Italian.

History

The song first appeared in the soundtrack of the Martin and Lewis comedy film '' The Caddy'', released by Paramount Pictures on August 10, 1953. Lewis commissioned Warren and Brooks to write songs for Martin to sing in the movie. According to Lewis, he personally paid them $30,000 secretly in the hope that one would be a hit for Martin. In the film the song is performed mainly by Martin, with Lewis joining in and then the other characters in the scene follow. It received a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Original Song The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is presented to the ''songwriters'' who have composed th ...

of that year, but it lost to " Secret Love" from '' Calamity Jane'' starring

Doris Day Doris Day (born Doris Mary Kappelhoff; April 3, 1922 – May 13, 2019) was an American actress, singer, and activist. She began her career as a big band singer in 1939, achieving commercial success in 1945 with two No. 1 recordings, " Sent ...

. The song remains closely identified with Dean Martin. ''That's Amore'' was used as the title for a 2001 video retrospective of Martin's career; and his son,

Ricci Martin Ricci James Martin (born Ricci Crocetti, September 20, 1953 – August 3, 2016) was an American musician and singer. He was a son of Dean Martin. He established his band, The Pack. In 1977, he released the album ''Beached'' in collaboration wit ...

, titled his 2002 biography ''That's Amore: A Son Remembers Dean Martin''. As an iconic song, "That's Amore" remains a secondary signature song. Music critic Joe Queenan has described the song as "A charming, if goofy, parody of popular Neapolitan organ-grinder music," and observed "That's Amore was one of many songs from the early Fifties that helped rehabilitate Italy's image as a land of magic and romance that had somehow been lured from its festive moorings by the glum fascist

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (; 29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who founded and led the National Fascist Party. He was Prime Minister of Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 until his deposition in 194 ...

Chart performance

The track that was used for the single released by

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

was recorded on August 13, 1953, (Session 3098; Master 11694-6) at Capitol Records' studios at 5505 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California, with the orchestra conducted by Dick Stabile. On November 7, 1953, Martin's

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

of the song, with "You're the Right One" (which was recorded at the same session as "That's Amore") on the flip side, peaked at No. 2 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' charts.

References

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History

Chart performance

References

Notes

Further reading