He released a handful of independent records before signing with United Artists in 1965. Several singles made the adult contemporary charts between 1966 and 1969, including “There Must Be a Way” (1967; No. 13); “All the Time” (1967; No. 19); “Oh What It Seemed To Be” (1968; No. 35) and the movie theme song “Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell” (1969, No. 38). Surprisingly, Roselli’s signature tune, “Mala Femmena,” only mustered its way to No. 135 on the Billboard "Bubbling Under" chart in 1963. He eventually released more than 30 albums: “Life & Love Italian Style” (1965; No. 96); “The Great Ones!” (1965; No. 145); “There Must Be a Way” (1967; No. 191); and “Core Spezzato” (1969; No. 184) were the most successful. Roselli owns the rights to his back catalogue and has released most of his early albums on compact disc.
Although Roselli was constantly in the shadow of Frank Sinatra (the Sinatra and Roselli families lived on the same street in Hoboken), Roselli carved out a healthy niche for himself, particularly among the Italian-American community. Although he never enjoyed the mainstream success of such Italian-American performers as Frankie Laine, Dean Martin, Vic Damone, Perry Como or Jerry Vale, he could easily fill such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Copacabana. In the ‘90s, he was a dependable sellout at New York's Westbury Music Fair and Trump Plaza in Atlantic City.
“Making the Wiseguys Weep: The Jimmy Roselli Story,” written by David Evanier, was published in 1998.
Mala Femmena
Jimmy Roselli Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Cchello ch'hê fatto a me,
St'ommo t'avesse acciso...
E vuó' sapé pecché?
Pecché 'ncopp'a 'sta terra,
Femmene comm'a te,
Nun ce hanna stá pe' n'ommo
Onesto comm'a me...
Tu si' na malafemmena...
A st'uocchie hê fatto chiagnere,
Lacreme 'e 'nfamitá...
Femmena,
Tu si' peggio 'e na vipera,
Mm'hê 'ntussecato ll'ánema,
Nun pòzzo cchiù campá...
Femmena,
Si' doce commo zzuccaro...
Peró 'sta faccia d'angelo,
Te serve pe' 'nganná!
Femmena,
Tu si' 'a cchiù bella femmena...
Te voglio bene e t'odio:
Nun te pòzzo scurdá...
Te voglio ancora bene,
Ma tu nun saje pecché...
Pecché ll'unico ammore
Si' stato tu pe' me!...
E tu, pe' nu capriccio,
Tutto hê distrutto oje né'...
Ma Dio nun to pperdona
Chello ch'hê fatto a me...
Femmena,
The lyrics of Jimmy Roselli's song "Mala Femmena" are about a man who was hurt and betrayed by a woman he loved dearly. He begins by saying that if he had done to someone what she did to him, he would have been killed. He then goes on to explain that women like her do not belong in the world, because they make honest men like him suffer. He insinuates that she is a bad woman, calling her a "malafemmena," meaning bad woman in Italian.
He then says that she made him cry, that she is worse than a snake, that she has ruined his soul and that he cannot live anymore. He remarks that she is beautiful and sweet like sugar, but her angelic face is just a mask she uses to deceive people. He cannot forget her, but he hates her for what she has done to him.
Line by Line Meaning
Si avisse fatto a n'ato Cchello ch'hê fatto a me
If he did to someone else what he did to me
St'ommo t'avesse acciso...
He would have killed you...
E vuó' sapé pecché?
And do you want to know why?
Pecché 'ncopp'a 'sta terra, Femmene comm'a te, Nun ce hann'a stá pe' n'ommo Onesto comm'a me...
Because on this earth, women like you, cannot be with an honest man like me...
Femmena, Tu si' na malafemmena...
Woman, you are a bad woman...
A st'uocchie hê fatto chiagnere, Lacreme 'e 'nfamitá...
In your eyes, you have made tears of shame fall...
Femmena, Tu si' peggio 'e na vipera, Mm'hê 'ntussecato ll'ánema, Nun pòzzo cchiù campá...
Woman, you are worse than a viper, you have burned my soul, I cannot live anymore...
Femmena, Si' doce como zzuccaro...
Woman, you are sweet like sugar...
Peró 'sta faccia d'angelo, Te serve pe' 'nganná!
But that angelic face serves you to deceive!
Femmena, Tu si' 'a cchiù bella femmena...
Woman, you are the most beautiful woman...
Te voglio bene e t'odio: Nun te pòzzo scurdá...
I love you and hate you: I cannot forget you...
Te voglio ancora bene, Ma tu nun saje pecché...
I still love you, but you don't know why...
Pecché ll'unico ammore Si' stato tu pe' me!...
Because you were my only love!...
E tu, pe' nu capriccio, Tutto hê distrutto oje né'...
And you, for a whim, you destroyed everything today...
Ma Dio nun t'i'o pperdona Chello ch'hê fatto a me...
But God will not forgive you what you did to me...
Femmena
Woman
Contributed by Chase A. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@lonestarfriend
Fantastic!! In my opinion, based on the quality and power of his voice, it's unfortunate he wasn't as famous as he should have been.
@albiondi4078
One of the highlights of my 40 year plus musical career was when Jimmy Roselli made a surprise visit and performed about six songs at the Hollywood terrace in Bensonhurst Brooklyn during one of the weddings my band was performing at around 1987 or 1988 . Jimmy was a close friend of the father of the groom and unknown to us till the last moment were we informed about Jimmy coming in to do a performance which we would have to back him up. Someone came over to us and said 'A famous singer is going to come up and sing with you guys in a few minutes, don't say anything, don't announce him, just give him the microphone'. We still didn't know who was singing with us at that point. A few minutes later when we were on a break Jimmy Roselli and his piano player comes walking in and after about a 5 minute talk with his piano player we began to play and accompany the great Jimmy Roselli. I remember he sang 'mala femina' and also did a beautiful rendition of 'my melancholy baby' with the verse which no one really knows or hears anymore which is even more beautiful than the chorus of the tune itself. When Jimmy finished performing he turned to me and said with a very serious tone "what's your name'? I responded 'Al Biondi'. Jimmy gave me a hearty hand shake and a warm nod of approval and proceeded to leave the wedding hall. I felt really great and proud to have performed with such a great artist on the fly with no warning or rehearsal. I'm very fortunate to have had some of the best musicians in the business in my band and i think Jimmy recognized that. I'll never forget that night, it is one of my favorite memories of my life in the music business. Al Biondi saxophonist/band leader.
@paulmercogliano5816
Al, thanks for sharing your memory of Jimmy Roselli. I just discovered this video clip and it brought back fond memories of my family. I wish I had the chance to meet him and thank him for his contribution to music.
@albiondi4078
@@paulmercogliano5816 Thank you Paul! Jimmy really contributed a lot to the world of music, a very nice man and an Italian American we can be really proud of! Al
@paulmercogliano5816
@@albiondi4078 God bless you and thanks for the kindness of your reply. Jimmy impressed me as being a talented gentleman. And oh, what a voice....our paisan could sing! The fond memories continue!
@albiondi4078
@@paulmercogliano5816 Because of the wonderful recordings he left behind for us to all enjoy Jimmy can never really be gone. He remains immortal forever thanks to these great records. Thanks Paul
@paulmercogliano5816
@@albiondi4078 Al, you are absolutely right. We are blessed to have experienced his music back in the day, and we are blessed that it was preserved in recordings and now available on the Internet. Thanks for your insightful posts.
@patrickdichiro3654
What a beautiful voice. And he sang with a perfect Napolitano accent!
@fulpdean
Jimmy was the best Italian singer in my book ! Could have gone way further then he did , but I think he was always happy making the wise guys weep
@miguelcorona5561
Mean Streets Brougthme here!! Love this Song!!