Jean Valli

{{Short description|American country singer (born 1926)}}

Jean Valli (born May 13, 1926) is an American hillbilly music singer.{{Cite web|url=https://www.hillbilly-music.com/artists/story/index.php?id=13522|title=Texas Jean Valli |orig-date=December 18, 2023 |date=April 12, 2025|website=www.hillbilly-music.com}} Born Jean Vadala in on 13 May 1926, she was raised in Carbondale, Pennsylvania and started playing country-western music and yodeling at age 9 with her own radio show at age 13.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/warren-times-mirror-and-observer/136783358/ |title=Jean Valli to perform at Chautauqua Fair |publisher=Warren Times-Mirror and Observer |date=July 18, 1970 |via=newspapers.com }} By age 17, she was not only an entertainer but also a promoter recruiting top country music stars to shows she promoted. After high school she moved to Syracuse, New York where she got a job performing on country station WOLS. She later toured New York State including with country singer Hank Williams Sr.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-tribune/49511401/ |title=Digging Up Country Roots: Former Carbondale Resident's Career was Medley of Love for the Music |first=Josh |last=McAuliffe |date=July 9, 2006 |publisher=The Scranton Times-Tribune |page=F1 |via=newspapers.com }}

In the early 1950s she performed with Milton Berle when he hired her for his Kentucky Mountaineering Act, touring with him in the summer and playing clubs in Las Vegas, as well as being featured on Berle's TV show for five years.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lewistown-daily-news-country-western-ent/170438870/ |title=Country western entertainers from 'Grand Ole Opry' to perform at Fair |publisher=Lewistown Daily News |location=Montana |date=June 17, 1970 |via=newspapers.com }} She played bass fiddle and guitar and wrote country songs,{{cite news|first1=Geoff |last1=Herbert|access-date=2024-12-14|title=Long before 'Jersey Boys,' Frankie Valli stole his name from a Syracuse hillbilly singer|url=https://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/2014/06/jersey_boys_frankie_valli_name_syracuse_singer_jean_valli.html |date=20 June 2014 |website=www.syracuse.com |publisher=The Post-Standard}} and was considered one of the top female yodelers. Also, she was known to be able to impersonate other artists such as Lefty Frizzell, Kitty Wells, and Wanda Jackson. In 1970, she toured with Grand Ole Opry type country music shows and fairs.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/scrantonian-tribune-jean-valli-due-at-wa/170438965/ |title=Jean Valli Due At Wayne Fair |date=July 19, 1970 |publisher=The Scrantonian Tribune |via=newspapers.com }} She was an active performer around the same time as June Valli, which caused some mix-ups.{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/asbury-park-press/136741120/ |title=Show Notes: Night Life |first=Barry |last=Robinson |date=June 16, 1964 |publisher=Asbury Park Press |via=newspapers.com }}

Valli took on a teenage singer named Francesco "Frankie" Castelluccio as a protege in 1953. At a meeting with record producers, Valli introduced Castelluccio as her brother, thus giving Castelluccio his stage name, Frankie Valli.{{cite book|first1=Robert|last1=Reynolds|title=The Music of the 4 Seasons Featuring Frankie Valli|url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Music_of_the_4_Seasons_Featuring_Fra/PetjDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=texas+jean+valli&pg=PA8&printsec=frontcover|publisher=Lulu.com|date=7 July 2018|isbn=978-1-387-92709-8|via=Google Books}}