Patti turns new Page in Primm

Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2005 | 9:52 a.m.

When: 10:30 p.m. Saturday; pre-show cocktail hour at 9:30 p.m.

Where: Whiskey Pete's Showroom in Primm

Tickets: $36.95

Information: (800) 386-7867

Patti Page may no longer be the rage she once was, but the 77-year-old native of Claremore, Okla., is still able to entertain her many fans after almost 60 years in show business.

"I don't play Las Vegas anymore," Page said during a recent telephone interview from her home in Solana Beach, Calif. "They want superstars, and I'm not a superstar anymore."

But once upon a time she was one of the biggest stars in the music industry.

One of 11 children, Page (Clara Ann Fowler) grew up in near poverty in a small town 30 miles northeast of Tulsa.

The Fowler Sisters sang in church and later on local radio.

Page's singing talent was discovered by a touring band leader when she was working for a Tulsa radio station. She was persuaded to leave radio and join the band.

After she was booked on the famed Don McNeil's "Breakfast Club," Page's career took off.

She was the first female artist to join Mercury Records, whose stable of artists included Vic Damone and Frankie Laine.

Her first major hit was 1948's "Confess," followed by "I Don't Care If the Sun Don't Shine" and "With My Eyes Wide Open I'm Dreaming" (her first million record seller).

Among her biggest hits were "Tennessee Waltz" (10 million records), "Mockingbird Hill" and "Would I Love You, Love You, Love You."

She has sold more than 100 million records and has 15 gold records to her credit.

She first appeared in Las Vegas in 1949 at the Thunderbird. From '50 to '61, she performed at the Desert Inn, Dunes, Flamingo, Frontier and Landmark.

These days she performs at some of Las Vegas' satellite venues.

Saturday she will be at Whiskey Pete's in Primm.

"It has been great performing in Primm," Page said.

She also is a big draw in Laughlin, Reno and Lake Tahoe.

Page still performs about 30 concerts a year, and still makes records -- her latest was released in May, "For Sentimental Reasons."

"We took the audio off some old 15-minute TV shows -- so it's actually recorded live," she said. "We added about 22 songs for a two-disc CD package."

Last year she released "Sweet Sounds of Christmas."

When she is not busy recording and performing, she and husband Jerry Filiciott are occupied raising two granddaughters, Page White, 10, and Sarah White, 12.

Page says the children keep her at home a lot.

"I never really like to be away from home that much at one time, but now for the past nine years our grandchildren have lived with us," she said.

She and Filiciott split their time between their home in California and their maple farm in New Hampshire, where they manufacture Patti Page's Maple Syrup.

"When we bought the farm in 1987, it had a lot of maple trees on it, so we decided to get into the maple syrup business," Page said. "But it's too expensive to sell in stores, so we sell it over the Internet.

They also make an organic pancake mix.

The products are available online at misspattipage.com.

She says traveling isn't a major problem for her.

"I'll travel wherever the gig is," Page said. "It's just as easy to get home from Pittsburgh as it is from anywhere else."

She recently performed in Branson, Mo., a first for her. She was the opening act for the "Branson Follies."

"I performed for six weeks in Branson," she said. "It was wonderful."

Branson is a four-hour drive from Tulsa, where one of her sisters lives.

"She stayed with me for the six weeks that I was in Branson," she said.

But it is still music that drives her.

"I have never stopped performing," said Page, who pioneered the technique of over-dubbing on recordings.

Page says today's music leaves a lot to be desired.

"To me, some of it is not music at all," she said. "And I couldn't tell you which artist is which -- and anymore you don't really know if the person is really singing; they can do the dubbing right onstage in front of the audience."

Fans won't have to worry about whether Page is singing. It's all her.

"I know I have some fans in the Las Vegas area," she said. "I want to thank them for all the years they've been listening and to invite them out to hear me again."

Toxic Grammy

Toxic Audio, an a cappella group that recently completed an engagement at the Luxor, has been nominated for a Grammy for their participation in a benefit concert for the Actors' Fund of America in September 2004.

It is the group's first nomination.

Ghostlight Records released a CD of the benefit concert of the musical, "Hair," which was announced as one of five nominated for Best Musical Show Album in the 48th Annual Grammy Awards.

The winner will be announced Feb. 8.

Wild Comedy

Vince Vaughn's "Wild West Comedy Show" will be at Mandalay Bay at 8 p.m. Monday.

Vaughn, star of such films as "Wedding Crashers," "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story" and "Swingers," hosts the show, which has been touring the country.

Also appearing will be comedians Bret Ernst (headliner of the Montreal Comedy Festival and currently on Comedy Central's "Premium Blend"), Ahmed Ahmed (MTV's "Punk'd" and Comedy Central's "Tough Crowd") and Sebastian Maniscalco (HBO's "New Faces" comedy special and Comedy Central's "Premium Blend").

Tickets are $75 and $110. For information, call 632-7580.

Jerry Fink can be reached at 259-4058 or at jerry@lasvegassun.com.