Listen to Joe Pesci cover The Beatles in 1968
It seems as though Joe Pesci has been the Joe Pesci we know and love forever. The legendary Oscar-winning actor has some notable signatures, including his diminutive stature, fowl-mouth, and rugged features that make him as intimidating as he is enthralling. But Pesci wasn’t always this way. In fact, as a young adult, Pesci wasn’t even interested in being an actor at all.
Instead, Pesci saw his future in music. While growing up in Newark, New Jersey, Pesci was caught up in the doo-wop scene that was popular in the 1950s. Pesci was friendly with a local star by the name of Francesco Stephen Castelluccio. Even though Castelluccio was nearly a full decade older than him, Pesci was chummy enough with the singer to introduce him to his childhood friend, Bob Gaudio. Castelluccio had changed his name at that point to Frankie Valli, and with Gaudio, he would form The Four Seasons in 1960.
Not long after, Pesci was singing and playing the guitar with local groups around New York and New Jersey. For a brief period of time, Pesci was the guitarist in Joe Dee and the Starligters, who had previously scored a number one hit in the US with the song ‘Peppermint Twist’.
Eventually, Pesci landed his own opportunity to record an album in 1968. Billed as Joe Ritchie, Pesci recorded an album of pop music standards called Little Joe Sure Can Sing! Released on the Brunswick Records label, the album is more in line with the kind of Brill Building pop music that was still filtering out of New York at the time. The major difference was that Pesci wanted to show off his love of The Beatles.
Little Joe Sure Can Sing! features three songs written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney: ‘Got to Get You Into My Life’, ‘Fixing a Hole’, and ‘The Fool on the Hill’. Evidently, Pesci was a McCartney fan. The album is filled out with other standards of the time, including The Bee Gees’ ‘To Love Somebody’ and ‘And the Sun Will Shine’.
Pesci never completely abandoned his singing career. After his success in cinema was solidified, Pesci returned to the studio to record Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just For You, an album of lounge jazz that also features Pesci rapping on the songs ‘Yo Cousin Vinnie’ and ‘Wise Guy’. Pesci even released an album, Still Singing, as recently as 2019.
Check out ‘The Fool on the Hill’ down below.
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