Ralph Marterie

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Ralph Marterie (24 December 1914 - 10 October 1978) was a big-band leader born in Acerra, Italy. In the 1940s, he played trumpet for various bands. His highest success in the U.S. charts was a cover of "Skokiaan" in 1954. In 1953 he recorded a version of Bill Haley's "Crazy, Man, Crazy", which is generally regarded as the first rock and roll song. His version of "Crazy, Man, Crazy" reached 13 on the Billboard jockey chart and 11 on Cashbox in June, 1953. His recordings of "Pretend" and "Caravan" also made the Top 10. "Caravan" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. In 1957, he hit 25 on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Tricky", and in 1957 he hit 10 with "Shish-Kebab". His compositions included "Dancing Trumpet", "Dry Marterie", and "Carla".