Decades before New Jersey native Joe Pesci won an Oscar for Goodfellas, cracked us up in Home Alone and the Lethal Weapon films and made “the two yoots” – uttered by his character Vincent Gambini in the 1992 hit comedy My Cousin Vinny – an essential pop-culture catchphrase, the actor was a budding recording artist on Brunswick Records.
Continuing its tradition of re-issuing must-hear blasts from its culturally impactful past, the classic indie R&B label is releasing Little Joe Sure Can Sing!, Pesci’s long out of print and up till now nearly impossible to find album, to all major streaming and retail outlets. Originally released on vinyl in 1968, the collection was released November 5, 2021 on Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, Pandora, Deezer, YouTube, Amazon, Napster, and more.
Recorded under the moniker “Joe Ritchie,” the jazz, pop, and blues-influenced 10-track collection feature unique renditions of three Beatles classics (“Got To Get You Into My Life,” “Fixing a Hole,” “The Fool On the Hill”), three vintage late 60’s Bee Gees gems (including “To Love Somebody”), Mel Torme’s “Born to be Blue,” Eddie Jones’ “Let’s Stop Fooling Ourselves” and “Stop and Say Hello,” originally recorded by Pesci’s childhood friend and fellow “Jersey Boy” Frankie Valli.
“Before Joe Pesci became a film legend, he was a singer,” says Rich Kamerman, COO/Label Manager of Brunswick Records, whose iconic artists and hits included Jackie Wilson “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher”) and the Chi-Lites (“Have You Seen Her”). “Unlike the soul and R&B that Brunswick was best known for, the artist billed as ‘Joe Ritchie’ delivered inspired versions of several early Bee Gees classics, paid tribute to the Lennon-McCartney songbook, and got bluesy on a Mel Torme gem, among the ten tracks on Little Joe Sure Can Sing!
“What could have been a mere curiosity from the distant past is actually a lost classic begging to be discovered by new generations of music lovers,” he adds. “Original vinyl copies continue to be sought-after collectibles, but now everyone can enjoy the album on their favorite streaming and download sites.”
Brunswick CEO Paul Tarnopol – son of the late Nat Tarnopol, who was President of the label during its 60’s-70’s heyday – adds that the original release of the “Joe Ritchie” album was a bit of a mystery. “Between 1960 and 1970,” he says, “Nat had transformed Brunswick from a label best known for Lawrence Welk and Brenda Lee records into an R&B powerhouse with artists like Little Richard, Jackie Wilson, Lavern Baker, Gene Chandler, the Young-Holt Unlimited and the Chi-Lites. The ‘Little Joe’ album was released right in the middle of this renaissance.
“Since Nat passed away before Goodfellas, My Cousin Vinny and JFK made Joe Pesci a triple Oscar-winning superstar, Nat Tarnopol was never asked why he released the Pesci album on a label with a roster of entirely soul and rhythm and blues artists.”
Little Joe Sure Can Sing! makes a unique cameo appearance in the new film The Many Saints of Newark, a prequel to the famed HBO series The Sopranos. Ray Liotta’s character is a jazz junkie whose nephew brings him albums to listen to behind bars. The cover of the Pesci album is seen alongside others like jazz legend Miles Davis.
Though officially “retired” from acting, Pesci has appeared in several films throughout the 2000s, most notably and recently, The Irishman, which reunited him with Robert DeNiro and director Martin Scorsese, whom the actor had first collaborated with on Raging Bull.
In 2005, Pesci was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.
Join us for McCarter at the Museum - renowned performing artists in one-night only events at the Princeton University Art Museum.
Jason Robert Brown is a four-time Tony Award-winning composer and lyricist of The Last Five Years, Parade, Songs for a New World, 13, The Bridges of Madison County, Honeymoon In Vegas and The Connector, has performed as a soloist or with his band in venues around the world, including sold-out shows at the London Palladium and Carnegie Hall. His albums as a singer-songwriter include Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes and How We React and How We Recover on Ghostlight, and Coming From Inside the House and Live In Concert with Stephen Sondheim on Concord.
With Special Guest Tony nominee Betsy Wolfe. Tony Award-nominated actress Betsy Wolfe is currently starring as Audrey in the acclaimed Off-Broadway production of Little Shop of Horrors, following her recent Broadway run as Madeline Ashton in the hit musical Death Becomes Her. She previously originated the title role in Joy, the new musical inspired by inventor Joy Mangano, and earned a 2023 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her celebrated performance as Anne Hathaway in & Juliet. Other Broadway credits include starring as Jenna in Waitress, Cordelia in the acclaimed revival of Falsettos, Bullets Over Broadway, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Everyday Rapture, and 110 in the Shade, as well as her critically acclaimed performance as Cathy in the Off-Broadway revival of The Last Five Years. Wolfe made her Metropolitan Opera debut in Die Fledermaus and has appeared as a guest artist with more than 65 symphony, pops, and philharmonic orchestras worldwide, including the New York Philharmonic and BBC Symphony Orchestra, with performances at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center. Her screen credits include First One In, Estella Scrooge, CBS’s Instinct, and the film adaptation of The Last Five Years. Wolfe is also the co-founder of BroadwayEvolved, the acclaimed musical theatre training program she launched in 2018 to train and mentor the next generation of theatre artists.
A limited number of early access tickets for McCarter Director’s Circle members and members of the Museum’s Partner Circle are available, on sale Wednesday, September 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM. General public on sale begins Friday, September 18, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Please be aware there is no public drop-off or parking at the Museum. For visitors with mobility needs, please contact the Museum at least three business days in advance of your visit to request special access to the Museum via Elm Drive. Call 609-258-3788 and select option 1 to speak to a visitor services staff member, or email Louise Barrett at [email protected].
