Quick Facts
Biography
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 David Rose. Dick was taken by César Ladeira to Radio Mayrink Veiga to host the program "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, he 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 1947 and 1948 he appeared on many radio shows of NBC, particularly as a regular singer at 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. In 1960 he formed the band Dick Farney and His Orchestra and played at many events. In 1965 he had the Dick and Betty Show on the newly created TV Globo - Channel 4, Rio de Janeiro, presented by himself and Betty Faria.
He 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.
Discography
- 1944 - The Music Stopped (fox)/Mairzy doats (fox-trot) - with the Ferreira Filho Orchestra - Gravadora Continental
- 1944 - What's new? (fox-trot) - crooner do conjunto Milionários.
- 1944 - San Fernando Valley/I love you
- 1944 - I don't want to walk without you
- 1945 - This love of mine/The man I love
- 1946 - Copacabana/Barqueiro do rio São Francisco - with Eduardo Patané
- 1946 - Era ela/Ela foi embora
- 1947 - Worth Duckin' (parody of the Duckworth Chant, on A side of V-Disc 799, with Leroy "Slam" Stewart on bass and scat-singing)
- 1947 - Just an Old Love of Min (Peggy Lee/Dave Barbour)/For Once in My Life (Fisher/Segal) with Paul Baron and his Orchestra
- 1947 - Marina/Foi e não voltou
- 1947 - Gail in Galico/For sentimental reasons
- 1948 - Ser ou não ser/Um cantinho e você
- 1948 - Meu Rio de Janeiro/A saudade mata a gente
- 1948 - Esquece/Somos dois…
- 1949 - Ponto final/Olhos tentadores
- 1949 - Junto de mim/Sempre teu
- 1950 - Não tem solução/Lembrança do passado - gravadora Sinter
- 1951 - Uma loira/Meu erro
- 1951 - Canção do vaqueiro/Nick Bar
- 1952 - Mundo distante/Não sei a razão
- 1952 - Luar sobre a Guanabara/Fim de romance
- 1952 - Sem esse céu/Alguém como tu
- 1953 - Perdido de amor/Meu sonho
- 1953 - Nova ilusão/João Sebastião Bach
- 1953 - April in Paris/All the things you are
- 1953 - Speak low/You keep coming back like a song
- 1954 - Copacabana/My melancholy baby
- 1954 - Tenderly/How soon - Majestic Records
- 1954 - Somebody loves me/There's no sweeter word than sweetheart
- 1954 - Marina/For once in your life
- 1954 - Grande verdade/Você se lembra?
- 1954 - Outra vez/Canção do mar
- 1954 - Tereza da praia/Casinha pequenina - with Lúcio Alves
- 1954 - Música romântica com Dick Farney-
- 1954 - Sinfonia do Rio de Janeiro
- 1955 - A saudade mata a gente
- 1955 - Foi você/Tudo isto é amor
- 1955 - Dick Farney e seu Quinteto
- 1955 - Bem querer/Sem amor nada se tem
- 1955 - Dick Farney on Broadway
- 1956 - Jingle bells/White Christmas/Feliz Natal
- 1956 - Jazz Festival
- 1956 - Jazz after midnight
- 1956 - Meia-noite em Copacabana com Dick Farney
- 1956 - Dick Farney Trio
- 1957 - Un argentino en Brasil/Nem fala meu nome
- 1957 - O ranchinho e você/Só eu sei
- 1957 - Toada de amor/O luar e eu…
- 1959 - Este seu olhar/Se é por falta de adeus
- 1959 - Esquecendo você/Amor sem adeus
- 1959 - Atendendo a pedidos
- 1960 - Dick Farney em canções para a noite de meu bem
- 1960 - Dick Farney e seu jazz moderno no auditório de O Globo
- 1960 - Dick Farney no Waldorf
- 1961 - Somos dois/Uma loura
- 1961 - Dick Farney Jazz
- 1961 - Dick Farney Show
- 1961 - Jam Session
- 1962 - Dick Farney apresenta sua orquestra no auditório de O Globo - featuring Leny Andrade
- 1965 - Meia-noite em Copacabana
- 1967 - Dick Farney, piano e Orquestra Gaya
- 1972 - Penumbra e romance
- 1973 - Dick Farney
- 1973 - Concerto de Jazz ao vivo
- 1974 - Dick Farney e você
- 1974 - Um piano ao cair da tarde
- 1975 - Um piano ao cair da tarde II
- 1976 - Dick Farney
- 1976 - Tudo isso é amor - with Claudette Soares
- 1977 - Cinco anos de jazz
- 1978 - Dick Farney
- 1978 - Tudo isso é amor II
- 1979 - Dick Farney: o cantor, o pianista, o diretor de orquestra - série Retrospecto - gravadora RGE
- 1981 - Noite
- 1983 - Feliz de amor
- 1985 - Momentos
- 1987 - Dick Farney "ao vivo" (Arte do espetáculo)