Dick Farney

Farnésio Dutra e Silva (14 November 1921 – 4 August 1987), better known as Dick Farney, was a Brazilian (jazz) pianist, pop-composer, and "crooner", popular in Brazil from the late 1940s to the mid-1970s and 1980s. He began playing piano as a child as his father taught him classical music and his mother taught him how to sing. In 1937, he debuted as a singer on the show Hora Juvenil of Radio Cruzeiro do Sul in Rio de Janeiro, performing the song "Deep Purple", composed by Peter DeRose. Farney was taken by César Ladeira to Radio Mayrink Veiga to host the programme Dick Farney, the Voice and Piano. He then formed the group Os Swing Maniacos, alongside his brother Cyll Farney on drums. The band accompanied Edu da Gaita for the recording of "Indian Song" by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. From 1941 to 1944, Farney was a crooner with the orchestra of Carlos Machado at the Casino da Urca, when gambling was still allowed in Brazil. In 1946, he was invited to the United States after meeting the arranger Bill Hitchcock and pianist Eddy Duchin at the Copacabana Palace Hotel. In November 1947, Farney had a Billboard chart hit with the song "I Wish I Didn't Love You So", which made number 13. In 1947 and 1948, he appeared on many radio shows for NBC, particularly as a regular singer with the The Milton Berle Show. In 1948, he performed at Vogue, a nightclub in Rio de Janeiro. In 1959 he had his own TV program, The Dick Farney Show, which was aired by TV Record - Channel 7 in São Paulo. The following year, he formed Dick Farney and His Orchestra, and played at many events. In 1965, he was the co-star of the Dick and Betty Show on the newly created TV Globo - Channel 4, Rio de Janeiro, presented by himself and Betty Faria. Farney was the owner of the nightclubs Farney's and Farney's Inn, both in São Paulo. He also formed a trio with Sabá in 1971. From 1973 to 1978, he played piano and sang at the nightclub Chez Régine in Rio.

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