Luigi Creatore is a American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 and record producer

Record producer

A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

.

From a musical family, Creatore began his career as a writer. After serving with the United States military during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, in the 1950s he became a writer then partnered with his cousin Hugo Peretti

Hugo Peretti

Hugo E. Peretti was an American songwriter and record producer.Born in New York City, Hugo Peretti began his career as a teenager, playing the trumpet in the Borscht Belt in upstate New York...

 to form the songwriting team of Hugo & Luigi

Hugo & Luigi

Hugo & Luigi were an American record producing team, made up of songwriters and producers Luigi Creatore and Hugo Peretti, who shared an office in New York's Brill Building...

 that evolved to producing records. In 1957, they bought into Roulette Records

Roulette Records

Roulette Records is an American record label, which was founded in late 1956, by George Goldner, Joe Kolsky, Morris Levy and Phil Khals, with creative control given to producers and songwriters Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore. Levy was appointed as director...

 where they both wrote songs for various artists such as Valerie Carr

Valerie Carr

Valerie Carr is an African-American singer. Her most fondly remembered single is probably "I Talk Too Much," her answer song to Joe Jones' 1960 hit, "You Talk Too Much".-Career:...

 and produced major hits for Jimmie Rodgers

Jimmie Rodgers (pop singer)

James Frederick "Jimmie" Rodgers is an American singer. He is not related to the country singer of the same name.-Career:...

 including "Honeycomb

Honeycomb (song)

"Honeycomb" is a popular song written by Bob Merrill in 1954. The best-selling version was recorded by Jimmie Rodgers and charted at number one on the Billboard Top 100 in 1957. "Honeycomb" also reached number one on the R&B Best Sellers chart and number seven on the Country & Western Best Sellers...

" (Billboard # 1

Number-one hits of 1957 (USA)

This is a list of number-one songs in the United States during the year 1957 according to Billboard magazine. Prior to the creation of the Hot 100, Billboard published multiple singles charts each week...

) and "Kisses Sweeter Than Wine

Kisses Sweeter than Wine (song)

"Kisses Sweeter than Wine" is a popular love song written by The Weavers in 1950, and a hit for Jimmie Rodgers in 1957 and Frankie Vaughan in 1958.-History:...

" (Billboard # 3), and "Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again

Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again

"Oh-Oh, I'm Falling in Love Again" is a popular song written by Al Hoffman, Dick Manning, and Mark Markwell and published in 1958.The best-known recording of the song was done by Jimmie Rodgers, charting in 1958. It debuted on the charts in February, and spent 11 weeks on the charts that spring,...

" and "Secretly

Secretly

The best-known recording of the song was done by Jimmie Rodgers, charting in 1958, reaching number three on the U.S. pop chart and number five on the country chart....

".

Two years later, Creatore and Peretti signed a deal with RCA Records

RCA Records

RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...

 where they produced crooner Perry Como

Perry Como

Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como was an American singer and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century he recorded exclusively for the RCA Victor label after signing with them in 1943. "Mr...

. In addition, they produced Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

 and Ray Peterson

Ray Peterson

Ray Peterson was an American pop music singer who was best remembered for singing "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Corrine, Corrina" in the 1960s.-Career:...

 and wrote English lyrics for the song "The Lion Sleeps Tonight

The Lion Sleeps Tonight

"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...

" (with the original bulk of the song written by Solomon Linda

Solomon Linda

Solomon Popoli Linda , also known as Solomon Ntsele , was a South African Zulu musician, singer and composer who wrote the song "Mbube" which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and gave its name to the Mbube style of isicathamiya a cappella popularized later by...

), producing the hit for The Tokens

The Tokens

The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-scoring 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...

. With George David Weiss

George David Weiss

George David Weiss was an American songwriter and former President of the Songwriters Guild of America.-Career:...

 they co-wrote "Can't Help Falling in Love

Can't Help Falling in Love

"Can't Help Falling in Love" is a pop song originally recorded by American singer Elvis Presley and published by Gladys Music, Elvis Presley's publishing company. It was written by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss. The melody was based on "Plaisir d'Amour" but with a different...

" for RCA's mega-star, Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley

Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....

. Peretti and Creatore also wrote the Presley hit single Wild in the Country

Wild in the Country

Wild in the Country is a 1961 film drama starring Elvis Presley in which he portrays a troubled young man from a dysfunctional family who pursues a literary career. The screenplay was written by playwright Clifford Odets.-Synopsis:...

. He and Peretti left RCA in 1964 to join Weiss in writing a musical about the American Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

. Titled Maggie Flynn

Maggie Flynn

Maggie Flynn is a musical with a book by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore, and George David Weiss and music and lyrics by Peretti, Creatore, and Weiss....

(starring Shirley Jones

Shirley Jones

Shirley Mae Jones is an American singer and actress of stage, film and television. In her six decades of television, she starred as wholesome characters in a number of well-known musical films, such as Oklahoma! , Carousel , and The Music Man...

) it briefly ran on Broadway

Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...

 in 1968.

In the 1970s, Creatore and Peretti owned part of Avco Records

Avco Records

Avco Records was a record label started in 1968 by Hugo Peretti, Luigi Creatore and Joseph E. Levine as Avco Embassy Records. In the late 1960s, they released a psychedelic rock album by the group Bead Game, titled Welcome. The Embassy name was dropped in 1971 making the label Avco Records...

 and then established H&L Records

H&L Records

H&L Records was a record label founded by Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore after they left Avco Records. They took The Stylistics with them....

 which they operated until retiring at the end of the decade. Among their successes were recordings by The Stylistics

The Stylistics

The Stylistics are a soul music vocal group, and were one of the best-known Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s. They formed in 1968, and were composed of lead Russell Thompkins, Jr., Herbie Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith, and James Dunn. All of their US hits were ballads, graced by the...

 and The Softones

The Softones

The Softones are a "sweet soul" group from the city of Baltimore, Maryland. Their biggest hits were: "My Dream", "Can't Help Falling in Love", "I'm Gonna Prove It", "Carla My Love", and "That Old Black Magic".-History:...

. They also won the 1977 Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album

Grammy Award for Best Musical Show Album

The Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album has been awarded since 1959. The award was given only to the album producer, and to the composer and lyricist who wrote at least 51% of the music which had not been recorded previously....

 as producers for Bubbling Brown Sugar.

His play An Error of the Moon, an exploration of the relationship between the actor Edwin Booth

Edwin Booth

Edwin Thomas Booth was a famous 19th century American actor who toured throughout America and the major capitals of Europe, performing Shakespearean plays. In 1869 he founded Booth's Theatre in New York, a spectacular theatre that was quite modern for its time...

 and his brother John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth

John Wilkes Booth was an American stage actor who assassinated President Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre, in Washington, D.C., on April 14, 1865. Booth was a member of the prominent 19th century Booth theatrical family from Maryland and, by the 1860s, was a well-known actor...

, was performed off-Broadway

Off-Broadway

Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...

until October 10, 2010.

External links

• website for the production of An Error of the Moon.