TITO PUENTE - AUTOGRAPH NOTE SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: LOU MONTE - HFSID 34081

TITO PUENTE and LOU MONTE
The salsa king and novelty vocalist sign autograph notes to interview host George Sanders. Both are rare autographs.
Autograph Note signed: "To George -/Thank you for a wonderful/and may you always/have the greatest of everything -/Sincerely/Tito Puente", 8x10. Also signed on verso: "To George/My Best Pal/Always/Lou Monte". Each side has a newspaper photo affixed. Monte's photo features him showing a record album to host George Sanders. TITO PUENTE (1923-2000), born in Spanish Harlem, was called "the King of Latin Music." At the peak of his popularity in the 1950s, Puente brought mambo, cha-cha and other Latin music to a wider US audience, and had his biggest hit album, Dance Mania (1958). Puente, a Navy veteran of the Pacific theater of World War II, attended the Juilliard School of Music on the G.I. Bill. He won five Grammy awards, and appeared in several films, including The Mambo Kings (1992) and the documentary Calle 54 (2000). Tito Puente, Jr., carries on his father's musical traditions in the same genres. Italian-American singer LOU MONTE (1917-1989) scored many hit novelty songs, many with an Italian twist. He had his first million-selling record, "Pepino the Italian Mouse" in 1962, with a flip side spoof of George Washington crossing the Delaware while complaining that his pizza is cold. Other hits included the Christmas-themed "Dominick the Donkey." His "Lazy Mary" gets played during the seventh inning stretch at Shea Stadium and now at Citi Field. Radio/TV interview host George Sanders collected autographs from guests on his show. Edges lightly frayed from binding. Lightly toned. Otherwise, fine condition.