Guy Mitchell (born Albert George Cernik; February 22, 1927 – July 1, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor, successful in his homeland, the UK, and Australia. He sold 44 million records, including six million-selling singles. In the fall of 1957, Mitchell starred on the eponymous ABC's ''The Guy Mitchell Show''. He appeared as George Romack on the 1961 NBC western

detective A detective is an investigator, usually a member of a law enforcement agency. They often collect information to solve crimes by talking to witnesses and informants, collecting physical evidence, or searching records in databases. This leads th ...

series '' Whispering Smith''.

Life and career

Born of Croatian immigrants in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, at age 11 he was signed by

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...

Pictures, to be a child star, and performed on the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

on KFWB in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. After leaving school, he worked as a

saddle The saddle is a supportive structure for a rider of an animal, fastened to an animal's back by a girth. The most common type is equestrian. However, specialized saddles have been created for oxen, camels and other animals. It is not kno ...

maker, supplementing his income by singing. Dude Martin, who had a

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

broadcast in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

, hired him for his band. Mitchell served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

for two years in World War II, then sang with

Carmen Cavallaro Carmen Cavallaro (May 6, 1913 – October 12, 1989) was an American pianist. He established himself as one of the most accomplished and admired light music pianists of his generation. Music career Carmen Cavallaro was born in New York City, Un ...

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

. In 1947 he recorded for

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

with Cavallaro's band, but left due to

food poisoning Foodborne illness (also foodborne disease and food poisoning) is any illness resulting from the spoilage of contaminated food by pathogenic bacteria, viruses, or parasites that contaminate food, as well as prions (the agents of mad cow disea ...

. He went next to

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and made records for King Records as Al Grant (one, "Cabaret", appeared in the Variety charts). He won on the radio show '' Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts'' in 1949 as a soloist. Mitch Miller, in charge of talent at

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese conglomerate Sony. It was founded on January 15, 1889, evolving from the A ...

, noticed Cernik in 1950. He joined Columbia and took his new stage name at Miller's urging: Miller supposedly said, "my name is 'Mitchell' and you seem a nice 'guy', so we'll call you Guy Mitchell." Bob Merrill wrote hits for Mitchell. In the 1950s and 1960s Mitchell acted in such movies as '' Those Redheads From Seattle'' (1953) and '' Red Garters'' (1954). He appeared in "Choose a Victim", a 1961 episode of ''

Thriller Thriller may refer to: * Thriller (genre), a broad genre of literature, film and television ** Thriller film, a film genre under the general thriller genre Comics * ''Thriller'' (DC Comics), a comic book series published 1983–84 by DC Comics i ...

''. In 1990, he appeared in several episodes of the BBC drama series

Your Cheatin' Heart "Your Cheatin' Heart" is a song written and recorded by country music singer-songwriter Hank Williams in 1952. It is regarded as one of country's most important standards. Williams was inspired to write the song while driving with his fiancée ...

as the fictional country singer Jim Bob O'May, singing several standards including his own hit "

Singing the Blues "Singing the Blues" is a popular song written by Melvin Endsley and published in 1956. The song was first recorded and released by Marty Robbins in 1956. It is not related to the 1920 jazz song "Singin' the Blues" recorded by Frank Trumbauer a ...

". His first hit was " My Heart Cries for You" (1951). Other hits included " Heartaches by the Number", "

Rock-a-Billy Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western musical styles such as country with that of rhythm and ...

" (a crossover into the rock and roll field), " The Same Old Me", and his biggest hit, "

", which was number one for 10 weeks in 1956.

Death

Mitchell died on July 1, 1999, aged 72, at Desert Springs Hospital in

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

of complications from cancer surgery.

Tribute

In 2007, to commemorate what would have been his 80th birthday, the English division of SonyBMG released ''The Essential Collection'' CD. His song " Heartaches by the Number" was part of the soundtrack of the 2010 video game '' Fallout: New Vegas''.

Singles discography

Best known songs

*" My Heart Cries for You" (1950) *"

The Roving Kind ''The Roving Kind'' was a nationally syndicated American television show distributed by Bill Burrud Productions, which aired on KCOP-TV, Los Angeles, from 1964 to 1968. The series made its debut on September 24, 1965. The show featured producer ...

" (1951) *" My Truly, Truly Fair" (1951) *" Sparrow In The Treetop" (1951) *"

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

" (1952) *" She Wears Red Feathers" (1953) *"Belle, Belle, My Liberty Belle" (1951) *" Feet Up (Pat Him On The Po-po)" (1952) *" Heartaches by the Number" (1959) *" Knee Deep in the Blues" (1957) *" Look At That Girl" (1953) *"Ninety Nine Years (Dead or Alive)" (1956) *"Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie" (1953) *"

" (1957) *"The Same Old Me" (1960) *"

" (1956) *"

" (1950) *"Cloud Lucky Seven" (1953) *"Unless" (1951)

Re-recorded songs

In February 1982 he re-recorded 20 of his popular songs with new musical backings (in stereo) at the Audio Media Studio in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and ...

for Bulldog Records (No. BDL 2041 in the UK). The album was entitled "20 Golden Pieces of Guy Mitchell" (not to be confused with "20 Golden Greats" by Mitchell released in 1979). The songs on the album are:- Side 1 #Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania #Feet Up (Pat Him on the Popo) #Heartaches by the Number #She Wears Red Feathers #Sparrow in the Tree Top #Sippin' Soda #Rockabilly #Cuff of my Shirt #Cloud Lucky Seven #Chicka Boom Side 2 #Pretty Little Black Eyed Susie #Side by Side #Music, Music, Music #The Rovin' Kind #My Heart Cries for You #My Shoes Keep Walking Back #Call Rosie on the Phone #My Truly, Truly Fair #Knee Deep in the Blues #Singin' the Blues

References

External links

Guy Mitchell Appreciation Society site
belle49.freeserve.co.uk

"The Interlude Era" site], earthlink.net * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mitchell, Guy 1927 births 1999 deaths United States Navy personnel of World War II Traditional pop music singers Starday Records artists Columbia Records artists People from the Las Vegas Valley Western (genre) television actors 20th-century American singers Singers from Detroit 20th-century American male singers Deaths from cancer in Nevada