Nino Tempo

Nino Tempo is best known for his duo with his sister, April Stevens, which produced a number of popular recordings in the '60s, notably "Deep Purple." He also had a long career as a session musician, and in the '90s belatedly embarked on a career as a jazz musician. The son of Sam Lo Tempio, a grocer, and his wife Anna, Tempo began performing in recitals at age three and was a winner on the Major Bowes amateur show at four. At seven, he spent a week singing with Benny Goodman's orchestra in Buffalo, NY, an experience that inspired him to take up the clarinet, though his main instrument turned out to be the tenor saxophone. (He also plays guitar.) The family moved to California to further the artistic interests of the children when Tempo was still young, and he became a child film actor, first appearing unbilled in The Story of G.I. Joe (1945) and George White's Scandals (1945), then with credit in The Red Pony (1949). Meanwhile, his younger sister Carol Lo Tempio (born in 1936) unexpectedly became a recording success before he did. While record shopping, she was approached by Tony Sepe, the owner of the small independent label Laurel Records, who asked if she could sing. She recorded "No No No Not That" for Laurel under the name April Stevens, then moved to the equally tiny Society Records in 1950 for several releases. The records were not hits, but Stevens was signed to the major label RCA Victor Records, where a revival of the 1924 Cole Porter song "I'm in Love Again," credited to Henri Rene & His Orchestra featuring April Stevens, peaked in the Top Ten in July 1951. Stevens earned top billing on the follow-up, a revival of the 1926 song "Gimme a Little Kiss, Will Ya Huh?" that reached the Top Ten in August. Stevens' third and last chart single of the period was a...