1… Read Full Bio ↴Musical groups in three genres have shared the name The Four Aces.
1. The Aces, initially known as "The Four Aces" were a Jamaican vocal group who are best known for their work with Desmond Dekker, but who also recorded without him. The initial line-up of the Aces was Clive Campbell, Barry Howard, Carl Howard, and Patrick Howard. The group came to the attention of Dekker, who supported them when they auditioned for Leslie Kong at Beverley's studio in 1965. The producer employed the group as backing singers for Dekker, recording many hits with him including "The King of Ska" (where they were credited as His Cherry Pies), "Get Up Adinah" (on which they were credited as the Four Aces"), huge hits such as "007 (Shanty Town)" and "Israelites", and the winner of the 1968 Festival Song Contest, "Music Like Dirt". By 1967 the only remaining original member was Barry Howard, along with Winston Samuels. Dekker's international success led to overseas tours, but the Aces were not taken along, Samuels refusing to fly, stating "Rastas did not fly on iron birds", and Barry Howard having already decided to emigrate to the United States. Instead they stayed in Jamaica and recorded without Dekker. They had a Jamaican hit in 1970 with "Mademoiselle Ninette", and by 1971 the line-up had again changed, with Barry now rejoined by Carl Howard. A string of hits followed with "Reggae Motion", "Take a Look", "Oh I Miss You", Call Me Number One", "Be My Baby", and "Sad Sad Song", and they had a near hit in the pop charts in 1973 with "Working on it Night and Day". Little more was heard from the group until 1982 when they released "One Way Street".
2. An American singing quartet which was inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2001. The group is well-known for a plethora of hits, including: "Love is a Many-Splendored Thing", " Three Coins in the Fountain", "Stranger in Paradise", "Shangri-La", "Perfidia". All of the group's major hits were first performed by the original four members: Al Alberts (originally Albertini), Dave Mahoney, Lou Silvestri, and Rosario "Sod" Vaccaro. Although all were from Chester, Pennsylvania, Alberts and Mahoney actually met in the Navy. They formed a duo, with Alberts singing and Mahoney playing behind him. Later adding Vaccaro on trumpet and Silvestri on drums, the group played in the Philadelphia area. When they could not find a label which would release their record, "(It's No) Sin," Alberts started his own label, Victoria Records. "(It's No) Sin" sold a million copies! DECCA Records soon signed the group, billing them as The Four Aces Featuring Al Alberts. In 1956, Alberts left The Four Aces to try to make it as a soloist, but never made the charts. He was replaced as lead singer by Fred Diodati, another Philadelphia product. Over the years, as the remaining original members left, Diodati chose new singers to replace them. The right to "The Four Aces" name eventually landed in court. In 1975, Diodati was awarded the right to the name and continued to tour under it. The founding members, who again wanted to tour, were allowed to use the name, "The Original Four Aces, Featuring Al Alberts." The latter group retired in 1987. The Four Aces are still touring. (A link to their appearances is listed below.)
3. Cajun fiddler Leo Soileau was the second Cajun musician to record his works. This occurred in the late 1930s. The Four Aces was the name of his second string band (the first had been The Rhythm Boys). Soileau reitred from music in the 1940s with the demise of the string band sound.
Stranger In Paradise
The Four Aces Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I'm a stranger in paradise
All lost in a wonderland
A stranger in paradise
If I stand starry-eyed
That's the danger in paradise
For mortals who stand beside an angel like you
Out of the commonplace into the rare
Somewhere in space I hang suspended
Until I know there's a chance that you care
Won't you answer this fervent prayer
Of a stranger in paradise?
Don't send me in dark despair
From all that I hunger for
But open your angel's arms
To this stranger in paradise
And tell him that he need be
A stranger no more
Take my hand
The Four Aces's song "Stranger in Paradise" is a romantic ballad about a man who finds himself in a wonderland, or paradise, but feels lost and insignificant compared to the angelic woman he's standing next to. He describes how he's starry-eyed and suspended in space, mesmerized by her beauty and grace. He fervently asks her to take his hand, to not leave him in dark despair and to open her angel's arms to him. He wants her to tell him that he need no longer be a stranger.
Line by Line Meaning
Take my hand
I'm asking you to physically take my hand as a gesture of trust and willingness to explore this unknown place together.
I'm a stranger in paradise
I feel out of place and uncertain in this beautiful, exotic location that is so different from anything I know.
All lost in a wonderland
A stranger in paradise
I am completely captivated and disoriented by the beauty and magic of this unfamiliar place, which is both thrilling and unnerving.
If I stand starry-eyed
That's the danger in paradise
For mortals who stand beside an angel like you
If I become too awestruck by your beauty and grace, it can be dangerous for me because you seem too perfect for mortality and I fear I may never measure up.
I saw your face and I ascended
Out of the commonplace into the rare
Somewhere in space I hang suspended
Until I know there's a chance that you care
As soon as I saw your face, I felt like I transcended the ordinary and entered a realm of rare beauty and potential. However, until I feel that there's a possibility that you might feel the same way, I feel like I'm frozen in space, waiting and hoping.
Won't you answer this fervent prayer
Of a stranger in paradise?
Please, can you respond to my desperate request as a stranger in this unknown and mysterious land?
Don't send me in dark despair
From all that I hunger for
I am afraid that if you reject me or turn away, I will be plunged into a hopeless and despondent state of mind, filled with pain and longing.
But open your angel's arms
To this stranger in paradise
And tell him that he need be
A stranger no more
Instead, I hope that you will welcome me into your life and embrace me as one of your own, so that I can finally feel like I belong and am no longer an outsider in this beautiful world.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: George Forrest, Robert Wright
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Steve52344
Great lead -- Al Alberts -- and strong tight harmonies. One of the very best pop vocal groups of the era. Powerful tag on this one. Love it.
David Barnett
Although I had not hit my teen years at this time, this is the pop music that imprinted on my soul. Those days before the emergence of rock 'n roll are now long gone and part of another world, but it's often I visit that world via this kind of music.
Andy Pandy
This is a great version of this classic - even better than Tony Bennett's version in my opinion. Great lead vocal and harmonies. Love the jazzy latin percussion coming in halfway through too. Thanks for the upload.
Margarita Betancourt Riquelme
Excelente grupo uno de mis favoritos y esta es una maravillosa canción. Para mí es una de las mejores versiones que oí en Inglés
Julito Longkines
This is the best version of all, in my opinion. I had their album when I was about 15 or 16 years and kept on playing this song. Tony Bennett's version is good, but this is better. I have this song in my iPhone and in my laptops - at home and at the office. It's like a medicine for me - once I play it, it would give me enough energy and inspiration.
Opaula Morgan
The Four Aces with their
beautiful harmony, Al Albert's on lead, with just one of their many hit songs that brings back so many memories of the 1950's.🌹
Corrie121
Memories of the 1950's recalled on listening to this great song. Thanks for sharing this great version.
usetheforceluke12
Don't forget to thank the Russian composer Alexander Borodin, whose Polovtsian Dances from Prince Igor provided the melody for this song
Coop '39
Amen
the rockabillie
Great version.