 This photograph and marquee caption above, dated April 19, 1913, appeared in the New York Star newspaper advertisement for Deiro's first performances at "The New York Palace" (week of April 21, 1913). |
Welcome to the official website for Guido Deiro, the great Italian-American accordion performer, recording artist, composer, and teacher, who, along with his younger brother Pietro Deiro, was of paramount importance in the popularization of the piano-accordion in the early 20th-century and the inauguration of the 50-year "Golden Age of the Accordion" (1910-1960).
This website will attempt to dispel some of the widespread (and wildly inaccurate) myths about accordion history which have been accepted as facts for more than fifty years, and to set the record straight about Guido Deiro's actual and documented accomplishments in the field of early 20th-century American music, such as:
1909, February: Guido Deiro was the first star of the piano-accordion (first concert: Guerrini Musical Instrument Manufacturing Company, San Francisco)
1910, May: Guido Deiro was the first piano-accordionist to perform on the vaudeville stage (Orpheum Circuit, Salt Lake City, Spokane & Seattle)
1910, June 15th: Guido Deiro was the first piano-accordionist to perform as a soloist on the vaudeville stage (American Theatre, San Francisco)
1910: Guido Deiro was the first to coin the name "piano-accordion"
1910s: Guido Deiro was the highest paid accordionist (and perhaps even the highest paid musician) on the vaudeville circuit; he commanded an incredible $600 per week.
1911: Guido Deiro was the first piano-accordionist to make sound recordings (Columbia Records and Edison Cylinders)
1911: Guido Deiro wrote a hit song -- his Kismet was the theme song of a successful Broadway musical (1911) and was also featured in two Hollywood movies (1921, 1930)
1914: Guido Deiro married the beautiful actress and sex symbol: Mae West
1922, Spring: Guido Deiro was the first piano-accordionist to perform on a radio broadcast (8MK Detroit)
1928: Guido Deiro was the first piano-accordionist to star in a sound motion picture: GUIDO DEIRO--The World's Foremost Piano-Accordionist (Warner Brothers Vitaphone)
 Italo-American Accordion Mfg. Company Advertisement, circa 1935 |
To explore our 80+ web pages devoted to this great accordion pioneer, view 128 historic images, hear twelve sound files of Guido Deiro's actual recordings, and discover a fascinating chapter from America's rich popular musical history, please click on the Contents link below.
We hope you enjoy your visit to GuidoDeiro.Com. Your comments are always welcome and may be e-mailed to the executive director of this website, Guido Deiro's son: Count Guido Roberto Deiro, at countdeiro@earthlink.net for publication on our Readers' Letters page.
This site went online on May 14, 2001
Site created by Henry Doktorski under the direction of Count Guido Roberto Deiro.