The Four Aces are an American male traditional pop quartet popular since the 1950s. Over the last half-century, the group amassed many gold records. Its million-selling songs include "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", "Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", and "(It's No) Sin".

Career

Alberts went to South Philadelphia High School and Temple University and served in the United States Navy, where he met Mahoney. Originally, Alberts sang with Mahoney playing behind him, and later they added Vaccaro on trumpet and Silvestri on drums. Mahoney died on July 12, 2012, of complications from Alzheimer's disease at age 86. Silvestri died on January 27, 2013, at age 86. Vaccaro (born in 1922) died on April 5, 2013, at age 90.

Singles

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|-

! rowspan="2"| Year

! style="width:400px;" rowspan="2"| Single (A-side, B-side)<br /><small>Both sides from same album except where indicated</small>

! colspan="3"|Chart positions

! rowspan="2"|Album

|-

|- style="font-size:smaller;"

! style="width:40px;"| US<br />

! style="width:40px;"| CB

! style="width:40px;"| UK<br />

|-

| rowspan="1"| 1949

| style="text-align:left;"| "Baby, wha hoppen"<br /><small>b/w "Try, try again"</small>

| —

| —

| —

| align=left rowspan="1"|Non-album tracks

|-

| rowspan="3"| 1951

| style="text-align:left;"| "(It's No) Sin"<br /><small>b/w "Arizona Moon"</small>

| 4

| 1

| —

| align=left rowspan="2"|Non-album tracks

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "There's a Christmas Tree in Heaven"<br /><small>b/w "There's a Small Hotel"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Tell Me Why" /

| 2

| 2

| —

| align=left|Sentimental Souvenirs

|-

| rowspan="8"| 1952

| style="text-align:left;"| "A Garden in the Rain"

| 14

| 17

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Perfidia"<br /><small>b/w "You Brought Me Love" (Non-album track)</small>

| 7

| 7

| —

|align=left|Sentimental Souvenirs

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Two Little Kisses"<br /><small>b/w "Who's to Blame" </small>

| 29

| 34

| —

|align=left|Non-album tracks

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "My Hero"<br /><small>b/w "Spring Is a Wonderful Thing" (Non-album track)</small>

| —

| 20

| —

|align=left|Sentimental Souvenirs

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "I'm Yours"<br /><small>b/w "I Understand" (from Sentimental Souvenirs)</small>

| 21

| —

| —

|align=left|Heart and Soul

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Should I"<br /><small>b/w "There's Only Tonight" (Non-album track)</small>

| 9

| 16

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Heart and Soul" /

| 11

| 14

| —

| align=left rowspan="5"|Heart and Soul

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Just Squeeze Me"

| 20

| —

| —

|-

| rowspan="10"| 1953

| style="text-align:left;"| "Ti-Pi-Tin"<br /><small>b/w "Heaven Can Wait"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "La Rosita"<br /><small>b/w "Take Me in Your Arms"</small>

| 24

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "I'll Never Smile Again"<br /><small>b/w "My Devotion"</small>

| 21

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "You Fooled Me"<br /><small>b/w "If You Take My Heart Away"</small>

| 22

| 32

| —

|align=left|Non-album tracks

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Organ Grinder's Swing" /

| 17

| 18

| —

|align=left|Heart and Soul

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Honey in the Horn"

| 24

| 23

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "False Love"<br /><small>b/w "Don't Forget Me"</small>

| 24

| 23

| —

|align=left|Non-album tracks

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Laughing on the Outside (Crying on the Inside)"<br /><small>b/w "I've Been Waiting a Lifetime" (Non-album track)</small>

| 22

| 28

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Stranger in Paradise" /

| 3

| 1

| 6<sup>*</sup>

|align=left|Mood for Love

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "The Gang That Sang Heart of My Heart"

| 7

| 5

| —

|align=left|Sentimental Souvenirs

|-

| rowspan="9"| 1954

| style="text-align:left;"| "Bandera (Texas Polka)" (Al Alberts solo)<br /><small>b/w "What More Is There" (Al Alberts solo)</small>

| —

| —

| —

|align=left|Non-album tracks

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Amor" /

| 21

| 20

| —

|align=left rowspan="2"|Heart and Soul

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "So Long"

| 26

| 20

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Three Coins in the Fountain" /

| 1

| 1

| 5

|align=left|Mood for Love

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine)"

| 22

| 18

| —

|align=left rowspan="2"|Sentimental Souvenirs

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Dream" /

| 17

| 13

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "It Shall Come to Pass"

| —

| 37

| —

|align=left|Non-album Track

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "It's a Woman's World"<br /><small>b/w "That Cuckoo Bird in the Pickle Tree"</small>

| 11

| 15

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Mr. Sandman"<br /><small>b/w "(I'll Be with You) In Apple Blossom Time"</small>

| 5

| 1

| 9

|align=left|Sentimental Souvenirs

|-

| rowspan="9"| 1955

| style="text-align:left;"| "Melody of Love"<br /><small>b/w "There Is a Tavern in the Town" (from Sentimental Souvenirs)</small>

| 3

| 1

| —

|align=left rowspan="2"|Mood for Love

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "There Goes My Heart"<br /><small>b/w "You'll Always Be the One" (Non-album track)</small>

| —

| 15

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Heart"<br /><small>b/w "Sluefoot" (Non-album track)</small>

| 13

| 12

| —

|The Best of The Four Aces

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing" /

| 1

| 1

| 2

|align=left|Hits from Hollywood

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Shine On Harvest Moon"

| —

| 45

| —

|align=left|Non-album Track

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "The Christmas Song"<br /><small>b/w "Jingle Bells"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|align=left rowspan="2"|Merry Christmas

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "O Holy Night"<br /><small>b/w "Silent Night"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "A Woman in Love" /

| 14

| 16

| 19

|align=left| Hits from Hollywood

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Of This I'm Sure"

| 56

| 47

| —

|align=left rowspan="4"|Non-album tracks

|-

| rowspan="9"| 1956

| style="text-align:left;"| "If You Can Dream" /

| 62

| 34

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "The Gal with the Yaller Shoes"

| 91

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "To Love Again"<br /><small>b/w "Charlie Was a Boxer" (from The Four Aces Sing)</small>

| 43

| 26

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "I Only Know I Love You" /

| 22

| 38

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Dreamer"

| 86

| 43

| —

|align=left|Non-album track

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "You Can't Run Away from It" /

| 20

| —

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)"

| 45

| 10

| 29

|align=left|Hits from Hollywood

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Someone To Love" /

| 47

| —

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Written on the Wind"

| 61

| 39

| —

|align=left|Hits from Hollywood

|-

| rowspan="5"| 1957

| style="text-align:left;"| "Bahama Mama" /

| 53

| 36

| —

|align=left|Beyond the Blue Horizon

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "You're Mine"

| 76

| 45

| —

|align=left|The Four Aces Sing

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Yes Sir, That's My Baby"<br /><small>b/w "Three Sheets to the Wind" (from The Four Aces Sing)</small>

| —

| —

| —

|align=left rowspan="7"|Non-album tracks

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Half of My Heart"<br /><small>b/w "When My Sugar Walks Down the Street"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "How Do You Say Goodbye"<br /><small>b/w "I Would Love You Still"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| rowspan="6"| 1958

| style="text-align:left;"| "Rock and Roll Rhapsody"<br /><small>b/w "×I Wish I May, I Wish I Might"</small>

| 66

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Saturday Swing-Out"<br /><small>b/w "Take My Heart"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Heartache in Costume"<br /><small>b/w "Two Arms, Two Lips, One Heart"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Roses of Rio"<br /><small>b/w "Hangin' Up a Horseshoe"</small>

| —

| 89

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "The World Outside"<br /><small>b/w "How Can You Forget" (from Hits on Broadway)</small>

| 63

| 25

| 18

|align=left|Beyond the Blue Horizon

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Ol' Fatso"<br /><small>b/w "Christmas Tree"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|align=left rowspan="4"|Non-album tracks

|-

| rowspan="5"|1959

| style="text-align:left;"| "No Other Arms, No Other Lips"<br /><small>b/w "The Inn of the Sixth Happiness"</small>

| 74

| 28

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Ciao, Ciao, Bambino"<br /><small>b/w "Paradise Island" (from Beyond the Blue Horizon)</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "The Five Pennies"<br /><small>b/w "Anyone Would Love You" (from Hits from Broadway)</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Waltzing Matilda"<br /><small>b/w "The Wonder of It All" (Non-album track)</small>

| —

| —

| —

|align=left|Beyond the Blue Horizon

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Til Tomorrow"<br /><small>b/w "I Love Paris" (from Beyond the Blue Horizon)</small>

| —

| —

| —

|align=left rowspan="7"|Non-album tracks

|-

|rowspan="2"|1960

| style="text-align:left;"| "Poor Butterfly"<br /><small>b/w "You Are Music"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "Dolce far niente"<br /><small>b/w "Searching"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| 1961

| style="text-align:left;"| "The Ballad of Patrick Henry"<br /><small>b/w "Me Without You"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| 1962

| style="text-align:left;"| "Lonely Hill"<br /><small>b/w "It's All Over but the Crying"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| 1963

| style="text-align:left;"| "Marina"<br /><small>b/w "When Will You Come Back to Me"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| 1965

| style="text-align:left;"| "Dans nos souvenir"<br /><small>b/w "Dis pourquoi"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

|rowspan="2"|1969

| style="text-align:left;"| "Always Keep Me in Your Heart"<br /><small>b/w "Didn't We"</small>

| —

| 120

| —

|align=left rowspan="2"|A Time for Us

|-

| style="text-align:left;"| "I Started a Joke"<br /><small>b/w "Summer Won't Be Summer"</small>

| —

| —

| —

|-

| colspan="6" style="font-size:90%;" | "—" denotes releases that did not chart or not released in the territory

|}

<sup>*</sup> "Stranger in Paradise" charted in 1955 in the UK

Awards and recognition

The Four Aces were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001.

The Four Aces were inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame in 1988.

Other uses

In the 1930s a vocal group recorded under the name The Four Aces (A Human Orchestra). They vocalized not only the lyrics but all instrumental parts of their music, recording on the Decca label in the UK.

In 1948–49, Bill Haley fronted a group called the Four Aces of Western Swing&nbsp;– often referred to as simply The Four Aces. The style of music this group played was country and western, and it was with the group that Haley recorded his first singles for the Cowboy Records label in 1948. The group disbanded in 1949, and Haley went on to form The Saddlemen, which later became Bill Haley & His Comets.

References

  • 'The Four Aces' Vocal Group Hall of Fame Page
  • Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame

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