The group formed around leader Frank Virtue (January 21, 1923 – June 11, 1994), who played the
violin as a child and took up the guitar and the
double bass as a teenager. He continued with the latter as a member of the
Philadelphia Orchestra and studied orchestration at
Temple University. He enlisted in the
Navy in 1945 and became bandleader of the Regular Navy Dance Band in
United States Naval Training Center Bainbridge. He was discharged in 1946 because his father, who had been diagnosed with
cancer, could no longer support his family. Virtue considered putting together a
big band but, due to financial constraints, assembled an amplified trio instead, with Ralph Frederico on the
piano and
Steve Rossi on the guitar. Virtue named the band the Virtuoso Trio after their formation in 1947. The single also became a
sheet music smash, selling well worldwide. His original studio, in the basement of his house on Fayette Street, was where "Guitar Boogie Shuffle" was originally recorded.
Collectables Records released a collection of Virtues instrumentals in 1993 as
Guitar in Orbit. ==References==