Charlie's Notes: A Memoir

by Cherie Kerr

Kerr, Cherie

367 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 2004

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cherie Kerr’s memoir of her father Carluchi (Charlie) DePietro is “a true American story” in every sense of the phrase. It is a book about the aspirations of turn-of-the-century European immigrants, it is a book about the hopes and dreams of their children, and it is a book about the American love affair with popular music and the silver screen.

Charlie was born in upstate New York to Italian immigrants Francesca and Eugene DePietro. When it becomes apparent to Francesca that Eugene will never provide her with the lavish lifestyle she craves, she emerges as the story’s monster, forcing her five-year-old daughter into virtual slavery (to make up for the servants they couldn’t afford) and taking every opportunity to make her husband and family miserable.

Eugene, a hardworking tailor, endured his miserable marriage by losing himself in his work, his music and his children. He instilled a love for music into his children, especially in his two eldest boys, Charlie and Joe, providing them with violin lessons, encouraging them to practice for hours a day, and proudly tailoring little suits for them to wear at their radio debut.

When the story isn’t overdosing on the horrors wreaked by Francesca, it focuses on Charlie’s enduring passion for music, which, during his adolescence, begins to take a decidedly jazzy turn. He and his brother play in a local band, where Marge, Charlie’s future wife, joins them. The couple eventually migrates to California where Charlie, now playing guitar and string bass, pursues his musical dreams in earnest.

He attains a certain amount of success in Tinseltown, landing background musician roles in dozens of films and playing at private parties, rubbing elbows with such luminaries as Bob Hope, Jack Benny, George Burns, and John Wayne. In a scene that is arguably the book’s most dramatic, Charlie gets a insider’s glimpse of Judy Garland’s powerful artistry when the singer, obviously drugged out and inebriated at one of her own parties, is miraculously able to belt out a powerful rendition of the then-new song,“The Man That Got Away” before wobbling back to her table. The song’s lyricist, Ira Gershwin, could be seen nearby, silently weeping.

Although Charlie never pursued his dreams at the expense of his family, Hollywood’s glitter seems to have gotten into the eyes of his memorist daughter, who very occasionally seems to exaggerate the star qualities of her parents. When her “sultry and sexy and stunning” mother, Marge, was first observed dancing by her father, she “appeared as spunky as Claudette Collberte, as sumptuous as Marlene Dietrich and as stylish as Mary Pickford.” Charlie, while desperately maneuvering through a crowded room to meet this combination of female stars, ostensibly “looked like Fred Astaire, zigzagging his way on his toes.” Charlie’s own good looks which apparently “reeked of sexuality,” once made Elizabeth Taylor do a double-take which “indicated she obviously found him dazzling.” It’s hard to know just what Ms. Taylor was thinking, but it’s obvious that Kerr has stars in her eyes; at times some of her inferences seem a bit over the top.

Kerr is a tremendously detailed writer and she occasionally gives more detail than necessary (I didn’t really want to read an entire paragraph describing Francesca’s huge, middle-aged, misshapen breasts) but when she focuses on Charlie’s passion for and pursuit of music, this attention to detail provides for a tremendous sense of time and place and makes her writing almost cinematic, quite appropriate for a book largely set in Hollywood. Her wonderful storytelling ability pulls the reader in until we’re so involved with Charlie’s “notes” that we are whole-heartedly rooting for him to achieve his dreams.

Did he achieve them? He didn’t become a household name, but if he wanted to live a life dedicated to music, he most definitely achieved his goal. His story, just like a beautifully written song, will linger long in the mind of the read