Singer April Stevens (1929 - 2023)

[Zoneboy]

https://tinyurl.com/3478wd7r

Today is another sad day to say goodby. April Stevens passed away this morning.

April Stevens (born Caroline Vincinette LoTempio; April 29, 1929) is an American singer best known for her collaborations with her younger brother, Nino Tempo.

April and Nino were born in Niagara Falls NY and moved to California when they were kids.

Stevens has recorded since she was twenty two years old. Her most popular solo recording was her RCA Victor recording of "I'm in Love Again" (music and lyrics by Cole Porter). Accompanied by an orchestra arranged and conducted bymHenri René, Stevens' recording peaked at No. 6 on the pop chart in 1951. Her follow-up, "Gimme Me a Little Kiss, Will Ya, Huh?" made it to No. 10 later that year, and her next release, "And So to Sleep Again", hit #27
Stevens returned to the U.S. chart in 1959 with the song "Teach Me Tiger", which caused a minor uproar for its sexual suggestiveness and consequently did not receive airplay on many radio stations. The song peaked at No. 86 on the Billboard Hot 100
Stevens is best known for her 1963 Atco Records recording of "Deep Purple" with her brother Antonino LoTempio (singing under the stage name Nino Tempo). A standard song that Larry Clinton and His Orchestra and band vocalist Bea Wain had popularized in 1939, the Stevens and Tempo version reached No.1on the Hot 100 on November 16, 1963, and No.17 in the British charts. The song won the 1963 Grammy Award for Best Rock and Roll Recording. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a Gold disc.
The duo also enjoyed a 1964 follow-up hit in the U.S. with the standard song "Whispering The recording, which had an arrangement similar to their recording of "Deep Purple", reached No. 11 on the Hot 100 singles chart. They also had chart success with "All Strung Out", which reached No. 26 on the American Hot 100 in 1966. Later that year, the single "The Coldest Night of the Year" was released on Atlantic 584048 in the UK.[4] A solo single by Stevens was issued in December 1967, a double-sided single of "Wanting You" with "Falling in Love Again" on MGM 1366 in the UK and MGM K 13825 in the US. "Wanting You" became a Northern soul classic.
In the Netherlands, the duo enjoyed a No. 5 hit in early 1973 with their version of "(Where Do I Begin?) Love Story".
In her 2013 autobiography, Teach Me Tiger, Stevens said she was born in 1929. She admitted to taking years off her age, and her brother, Nino, going along with it This was supposedly due to their competition with acts in their late teens and early twenties that were dominating the record charts in the 1960s

[1960'sTVfan]

She was a pretty lady and a good singer, sad news that she has passed away.

[Hawkee]

Wasn't Deep Purple that song with the lyrics " When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls and the stars begin to twinkle in the night"? I thought it was a cute song and April Stevens and Nino Tempo were so cute singing it. Did April Stevens have other hits she sang with her brother too?
Bestie

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by LaBestia

Wasn't Deep Purple that song with the lyrics " When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls and the stars begin to twinkle in the night"? I thought it was a cute song and April Stevens and Nino Tempo were so cute singing it. Did April Stevens have other hits she sang with her brother too?
Bestie

Yes that's the one! It has been my brother's favorite song his whole life. Donny and Marie re-recorded it in the 70's. As for her other recordings I am not familiar with any. RIP April

[1960'sTVfan]

I wonder if she was named April because she was born in the month of April. And by coincidence she also passed away in the month of April.

My favorite Nino and April 45 RPM record is Whispering, with Tweedlee Dee on the flip side. For a 1963 recording, Tweedlee Dee has a surprisingly harder rock/power pop sound and it has some cool sounding guitar work.

[Dude111]

Very sad