Ralph Marterie born 24 December 1914

Ralph Marterie (24 December 1914 - 10 October 1978, Dayton, Ohio, USA., was a musician, arranger and one of the last of the big-band leaders who was to enjoy consistent commercial success.

Marterie was born in Accerra, near Naples, Italy and whist still a child his parents emigrated to the USA, where his father joined the orchestra of the Chicago Civic Opera. Ralph was still a teenager when he started playing trumpet with Danny Russo's Oriole Orchestra. He went on to play in local theatres and with other bands in Chicago, which was at that time the country's largest musical centre outside New York. Consequently, Marterie never had to leave the city to find work, joining the NBC staff orchestra where he played under conductors such as Percy Faith and André Kostelanetz. During World War II  

Ralph formed his very first band in Chicago, in 1946. One of his earliest engagements was at the 'Melody Mill' Ballroom, where radio airtime made the band well known through-out the Midwest. His big opportunity came when Mercury Records signed him in 1951, and gave the band a big build up. It is interesting to note that Ralph formed the band at the end of the big band era. Still, other leaders were willing to give the band-leading business a try. Ralph's new band debuted in 1951; the same year that Billy May organized his big band. The following year, 1952, saw the start of the Sauter-Finegan orchestra. In 1953 Les and Larry Elgart formed their short lived band, while, in the mid 50's Maynard Ferguson brought his band to fruition. Marterie led a US Navy band, then after the war he returned to Chicago as a leader with ABC radio.

                                    

Marterie toured with his band throughout the 1950s, appearing at Frank Dailey's Meadowbrook on the East Coast as well as The Hollywood Palladium on the West Coast. At times, Bill Walters, Janice Borla, and Lou Prano, were vocalists. They had a radio show sponsored by the Marlboro Cigarette Company. They appeared on WGN's "The Cavalcade of Bands" television show. After Mercury Records, the orchestra recorded for United Artists and for Musicor. Between 1952 and 1957 he had a number of big singles; "Pretend," a cover of Duke Ellington's "Caravan," and "Skokiaan" all made the Top Ten. 

Much of his material was precisely the kind of innocuous pop instrumental that rock & roll blew out of the water, yet Marterie was one of the first mainstream musicians to cover a rock & roll song. His cover of Bill Haley's "Crazy Man Crazy" (itself one of the first rock & roll records to make the Top 20) made number 13 in 1953. Earlier, Marterie actually had a small hit with a cover of a Woody Guthrie tune, "So Long (It's Been Good to Know Ya)." Isolated sides like "Bumble Boogie" proved that he could swing respectably when the mood took him, but Marterie generally stuck to a placid groove, despite the presence of electric guitar on sides like "Caravan."

As rock & roll gained steam, the trumpeter actually added some basic R&B motifs on "Tricky" in 1957, resulting in a Top 30 hit; the same year, "Shish-Kebab," with its twangy pre-surf guitar lines and snake charmer melody, gave him his last Top Ten hit. Marterie’s output for Mercury and later United Artists to which he moved in 1961 is remarkable considering the market for big band music was progressively shrinking throughout his career. He recorded over 60 singles including swing standards, novelties, Latin jazz and lush pop ballads that often spotlighted his trademark sound of trumpet twinned with guitar. 

Marterie was still touring with a band until his death in Dayton, where he had just played a one-nighter in October 1978. The daughters of Ralph Marterie held onto his music library and personal memorabilia for many years, but in late 2001 placed an ad in International Musician, offering more than 100 scores written for his band, in lots of 10 at $700 each. Then, in January 2005, scores and other personal items were listed on Ebay with a buy-it-now price of $2,500, then re-listed in March, with a starting price of $2,200. Other memorabilia is in the hands of private collectors. 

(Edited from Big Band Database, AllMusic & Discogs)