SC: Miss Page, you're so well known for crossing over between styles. How did that happen? Was it planned?
PP: I don't think anything was planned. I don't think it's ever really planned. I crossed over from pop to country. I was put in the pop field by Mercury, and I always used to tease them, "If you'd put me in the country field, I would have been a superstar by now." I just don't know that they knew how a record could appeal to everyone as it did with Tennessee Waltz. It was on all three charts at the same time - rhythm and blues, country and the pop.
SC: But you've managed to keep producing hits as public tastes change. How does that happen? Are you leading public taste?
PP: [Laughing] No… I really don't know… I had a manager… and when I would tell him that I should record something like this he wouldn't agree with me. You know, I missed out on a lot of things because nobody would listen. I think that's the cry of a lot of artists. I recorded thousands of albums, it seems, for Mercury - but people don't know that I can sing anything other than sippy songs like Doggie in the Window.
SC: Do you think of yourself now as a jazz singer? Or a country singer?
PP: No, I don't. I've never put myself in any category.
SC: How do you keep your voice in such good shape?
PP: Well, I don't know that either. I don't drink, and I don't smoke any more. I did at one time, but I grew up and realized that if I kept on smoking, I wouldn't have a voice. I try to take care of my voice - and I guess I'm doing the right thing!
SC: Do you exercise your voice?
PP: No. I do realize that as I grow older, I must spend more time just singing. Because if you don't use it, you're gonna loose it eventually.
SC: How involved are you in the arrangements of your songs, the orchestration?
PP: Well, I don't know that I'm involved that much. When we go into putting a show together and getting new material, I'll work with the pianist in the studio - not dictate, because I don't write music and I don't arrange. But I can show whoever is gonna do the arrangements the effect that I would like on stage. Writing an arrangement for the stage is different than writing it for a record. You need more dynamics when you're in person.
SC: It must feel very different not to have a live audience there when you're recording.
PP: Yes, but it's one of the things that I do enjoy a lot. It's just getting in there in that little booth and being separated from everybody. You're just there with yourself and you're not worried about what other people are hearing. I really have never had a producer tell me how to sing - and maybe I should have. I really have asked a few, "How would you like this to sound? If you would let me know, I'll see if I can attain it." And I don't get too much reaction!
SC: What's been the most difficult thing to manage in your career?
PP: I think the most difficult thing is being in the right place at the right time. I was never part of the A Crowd. I never vied for the social end of it - maybe I should have. I'm not too unhappy about that. But as I've progressed in my years, I realize that I probably should have done more than I did. My name is not out there with the powers that be, people who are innovative in the record industry…
SC: But you were the first person to dub - the first double-voicing [in the song Confess, 1948]. You've been considered very innovative in the work that you've done.
PP: But they have given that accolade to Les Paul! He deserves his accolades, but he was the first instrumentally. Somewhere out there, they'll give me that credit - probably when I'm gone!
SC: What advice do you have for singers that are just starting out?
PP: Well, I've always had the same advice - to treat it as a business,
not as a fun fun thing!