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She died April 17, 2023. (age 93)
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I'm very sad to hear this. "Deep Purple" by the brother and sister duo is one of my all-time favorite oldies. Her real name was Carol, but she performed under the moniker "April Stevens."
I believe her brother, Nino Tempo, is still alive. He's 88 years old.
April Stevens Dies At 93
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Baby Weemus, I've Been Carrying A Torch For You So Long That I Burned A Great Big Hole In My Heart
Last edited by Taz (April 19, 2023 12:36 am)
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I enjoyed her and Nino's music. Deep Purple was great, but my favourite of theirs was "All Strung Out".
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alangee wrote:
I enjoyed her and Nino's music. Deep Purple was great, but my favourite of theirs was "All Strung Out".
You're right on alangee. Brings back some very fond memories - beautiful song, probably one of the Top 20 on my personal playlist. One step further: my second favorite of the two is "You'll Be Needing Me Baby" despite that it only charted #133 on the Bubbling Under List. That one was written by David Gates.
Last edited by Little Rich (April 21, 2023 3:15 am)
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She was from Niagara Falls, and the Niagara Gazette has now published an obit for her that may be of interest to some here.
Music world mourns loss of Falls native and Grammy winner April Stevens
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Lorne wrote:
She was from Niagara Falls, and the Niagara Gazette has now published an obit for her that may be of interest to some here.
Music world mourns loss of Falls native and Grammy winner April Stevens
Unfortunately, I can't read it, when I click on the link I get this notification:
451: Unavailable due to legal reasons
We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, contact ngedit@niagara-gazette.com or call [url=tel716) 282-2311](716) 282-2311[/url].
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mroldies wrote:
Unfortunately, I can't read it, when I click on the link I get this notification:
451: Unavailable due to legal reasons
We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, contact ngedit@niagara-gazette.com or call [url=tel716) 282-2311](716) 282-2311[/url].
I don't know if accessing it via the Clear This Page website will help with this problem or not, but you can give it a try at
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Lorne wrote:
mroldies wrote:
Unfortunately, I can't read it, when I click on the link I get this notification:
451: Unavailable due to legal reasons
We recognize you are attempting to access this website from a country belonging to the European Economic Area (EEA) including the EU which enforces the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and therefore access cannot be granted at this time. For any issues, contact ngedit@niagara-gazette.com or call [url=tel716) 282-2311](716) 282-2311[/url].
I don't know if accessing it via the Clear This Page website will help with this problem or not, but you can give it a try at
Thank you Lorne,
Now I can read it. Interesting!
In 1994, the U.S. Air Force asked for permission to play “Teach Me Tiger” as a morning wakeup tune for a group of astronauts on a mission in space. Stevens enthusiastically agreed and after the astronauts returned to Earth, the Air Force arranged for her to meet them all in person.
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She passed in April, but for some reason, April Stevens' hometown paper, The Buffalo News, only decided to pay tribute to her in late June. Normally, I wouldn't bring it up again, but the story contains one fascinating tidbit about their biggest hit, and one of my all-time favorites, "Deep Purple."
"When they had been rehearsing it, Ms. Stevens’ brother hadn't memorized the lyrics, so she recited them and he sang along in falsetto. A friend liked it, so they decided to try it for the recording. Tempo did the arrangement and played harmonica; Glen Campbell was guitarist. They recorded it at the end of their session and wrapped it up in 14 minutes."
Amazing how a serendipitous accident wound up being one of the things that makes the record special.
April Stevens, 93, teamed with brother Nino Tempo for No. 1 hit song in 1963