Career

Alberts went to South Philadelphia High School and Temple University, and served in the United States Navy, where he met Mahoney. Originally, Alberts sang with Mahoney playing behind him, and later they added Vaccaro on trumpet and Silvestri on drums. They played locally in the Philadelphia area, and Alberts started his own record label, Victoria Records, when they could not find a distributor to release their first record, "(It's No) Sin". It sold a million copies, and Decca Records soon signed the group, billing them as The Four Aces featuring Al Alberts.

Alberts left the group in 1958 to try to make it as a soloist, but never made the charts. He was replaced as lead singer by Fred Diodati, who had attended South Philadelphia High School a few years after Alberts. After Alberts had left the group, Mahoney and Vaccaro also left. Silvestri never left the group, but led three new members: Diodati, Tony Alesi, and Joe Giglio. The Original Aces later asked Silvestri to rejoin the original group, and he did.

It was then that Diodati led a new line-up, which consisted of Diodati, Alesi, Giglio, and Harry Heisler. After almost 19 years with the group, Alesi developed a medical condition that forced him to leave the group. As of 2013 the Four Aces members are Diodati, Giglio, Heisler, and Danny Colingo. These members sing all the songs the original Four Aces had made popular at one time.

In 1975, Diodati, Alesi, Giglio, and Heisler were awarded the right to the name in a court suit in which the original members tried to re-establish their right. The court allowed the founding members to tour as "The Original Four Aces, Featuring Al Alberts", which they did, finally retiring the act in 1987. Diodati, Giglio, Heisler, and Colingo continue to legally use the name of the Four Aces and perform the songs made popular by the Original Four Aces.

The founding lead singer, Alberts, died of natural causes on November 27, 2009 at age 87. Mahoney died on July 12, 2012 of complications from Alzheimer's Disease at age 86. Silvestri died on January 27, 2013 at age 86. Vaccaro died on April 5, 2013 at age 90.

Awards and recognition

The Four Aces were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001. The Four Aces were inducted into the Philadelphia Music Alliance Walk of Fame in 1988.

Singles

Year	Single (A-side, B-side)	Chart positions			Album
		US	CB	UK
1949	"Baby, wha hoppen"	-	-	-	Non-album tracks
1951	"(It's No) Sin"	4	1	-	Non-album tracks
	"There's A Christmas Tree In Heaven"	-	-	-
	"Tell Me Why" /	2	2	-	Sentimental Souvenirs
1952	"A Garden In The Rain"	14	17	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Perfidia"	7	7	-	Sentimental Souvenirs
	"Two Little Kisses"	29	34	-	Non-album tracks
	"My Hero"	-	20	-	Sentimental Souvenirs
	"I'm Yours"	21	-	-	Heart and Soul
	"Should I"	9	16	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Heart and Soul" /	11	14	-	Heart and Soul
	"Just Squeeze Me"	20	-	-
1953	"Ti-Pi-Tin"	-	-	-
	"La Rosita"	24	-	-
	"I'll Never Smile Again"	21	-	-
	"You Fooled Me"	22	32	-	Non-album tracks
	"Organ Grinder's Swing" /	17	18	-	Heart and Soul
	"Honey In The Horn"	24	23	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"False Love"	24	23	-	Non-album tracks
	"Laughing On The Outside (Crying On The Inside)"	22	28	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Stranger In Paradise" /	3	1	6*	Mood For Love
	"The Gang That Sang Heart Of My Heart"	7	5	-	Sentimental Souvenirs
1954	"Bandera (Texas Polka)" (Al Alberts solo)	-	-	-	Non-album tracks
	"Amor" /	21	20	-	Heart and Soul
	"So Long"	26	20	-
	"Three Coins In The Fountain" /	1	1	5	Mood For Love
	"Wedding Bells (Are Breaking Up That Old Gang of Mine)"	22	18	-	Sentimental Souvenirs
	"Dream" /	17	13	-
	"It Shall Come To Pass"	-	37	-	Non-album Track
	"It's A Woman's World"	11	15	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Mr. Sandman"	5	1	9	Sentimental Souvenirs
1955	"Melody Of Love"	3	1	-	Mood For Love
	"There Goes My Heart"	-	15	-
	"Heart"	13	12	-	The Best Of The Four Aces
	"Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" /	1	1	2	Hits From Hollywood
	"Shine On Harvest Moon"	-	45	-	Non-album Track
	"The Christmas Song"	-	-	-	Merry Christmas
	"O Holy Night"	-	-	-
	"A Woman In Love" /	14	16	19	Hits From Hollywood
	"Of This I'm Sure"	56	47	-	Non-album tracks
1956	"If You Can Dream" /	62	34	-
	"The Gal With The Yaller Shoes"	91	-	-
	"To Love Again"	43	26	-
	"I Only Know I Love You" /	22	38	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Dreamer"	86	43	-	Non-album track
	"You Can't Run Away From It" /	20	-	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Friendly Persuasion (Thee I Love)"	45	10	29	Hits From Hollywood
	"Someone To Love" /	47	-	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Written On The Wind"	61	39	-	Hits From Hollywood
1957	"Bahama Mama" /	53	36	-	Beyond The Blue Horizon
	"You're Mine"	76	45	-	The Four Aces Sing
	"Yes Sir, That's My Baby"	-	-	-	Non-album tracks
	"Half Of My Heart"	-	-	-
	"How Do You Say Goodbye"	-	-	-
1958	"Rock and Roll Rhapsody"	66	-	-
	"Saturday Swing-Out"	-	-	-
	"Heartache In Costume"	-	-	-
	"Roses Of Rio"	-	89	-
	"The World Outside"	63	25	18	Beyond The Blue Horizon
	"Ol' Fatso"	-	-	-	Non-album tracks
1959	"No Other Arms, No Other Lips"	74	28	-
	"Ciao, Ciao, Bambino"	-	-	-
	"The Five Pennies"	-	-	-
	"Waltzing Matilda"	-	-	-	Beyond The Blue Horizon
	"Til Tomorrow"	-	-	-	Non-album tracks
1960	"Poor Butterfly"	-	-	-
	"Dolce Far Niente"	-	-	-
1961	"The Ballad Of Patrick Henry"	-	-	-
1962	"Lonely Hill"	-	-	-
1963	"Marina"	-	-	-
1965	"Dans nos souvenir"	-	-	-
1969	"Always Keep Me In Your Heart"	-	120	-	A time for us
	"I Started A Joke"	-	-	-

* "Stranger In Paradise" charted in 1955 in the UK

Other uses

In the 1930s a vocal group recorded under the name The Four Aces (A Human Orchestra). They vocalized not only the lyrics, but all instrumental parts of their music, recording on the Decca label in the UK.

In 1948-49, Bill Haley fronted a group called the Four Aces of Western Swing - often referred to as simply The Four Aces. The style of music this group played was country and western and it was with the group that Haley recorded his first singles for the Cowboy Records label in 1948. The group disbanded in 1949 and Haley went on to form The Saddlemen, which later became Bill Haley & His Comets.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]