Sinatra’s ‘I Remember Tommy’

Posted on May 15, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Sinatra and Sy Oliver

“I Remember Tommy”, a vocal jazz and classic pop album with Frank Sinatra, arrived in 1961 as a very affectionate praise to Tommy Dorsey. It’s one of the first Reprise Records produced by Sinatra. Sinatra choosing this as a concept album makes sense because Dorsey is one of the top legendary band leaders of all time. Dorsey helped Sinatra rise toward stardom. He set an example for Sinatra in areas like breath control or what it means to be a professional.

Another Dorsey alumnus, Sy Oliver, came on board adding to the affection praise of such a master musician. Oliver in his own right was a fantastic arranger and musician who also came up the ranks with the help of Dorsey. Oliver was the first of a few African Americans to work on a white band. He guided the Tommy Dorsey band from Dixieland to Big Band. Oliver has several unaccredited swing charts for Sinatra during the Columbia period.

Together with a 36 piece orchestra the result is sensational. The album includes mostly songs that were pieces of the Dorsey’s and Sinatra’s repertoire, furnished with faintly new renditions. The idea of the new renditions seemed like a wise idea, but some may suggest that these recordings failed to compare even slightly better than the original versions.

The album still has merit. Sinatra’s breath control during this recording is mentioned in Gene Lees’ review of the album. He mentions Sinatra’s remarkable control in phrasing the lyrics.

Sinatra fans will praise the album for the existence of a small number of pearls within the album. Those pearls make it all worthwhile to own “I Remember Tommy” – as part an iPod library. A fine example is “Polka Dots and Moonbeams,” a pop hit with the Dorsey Band, was the first song that put Sinatra on the charts.

Did I mention nostalgia? Any fan will tell you that the album arouses a longing for the good-old-days of big band music and dancing to the talents of Sinatra, Dorsey and Oliver.

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Sinatra ’57 in Concert

Posted on May 8, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

In 1999, Artanis Records released the bootleg copy of the “Sinatra ’57 in Concert”. The copy consisted of Sinatra’s performance live in June of 1957 – completely digitally remastered. Like most of Sinatra’s recordings, whether bootlegged or not, this particular unauthorized material was very popular.

The children of Frank Sinatra decided to stem the bootleg market and release the recordings to create legitimate editions. I must admit it was a very smart move on his family’s part. The process is great for Sinatra fans and music lovers at large, but some may argue that the product is comparably expensive. Still, as a wonderfully remastered recording with plenty of all-embracing liner notes, you can’t help but appreciate the talent of Sinatra. “Sinatra ’57 in Concert” just might become your favourite recording.

Full of information about the show and its recording is invaluable for any fan. The recording is the best Sinatra you’ll ever hear from the 1950s. He is live and spontaneous with songs like Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, “The Lady is a Tramp”, “I Won’t Dance” and “I Get a Kick Out of You”. Hearing him perform live would make any listener want to buy tickets to see and hear Sinatra perform on stage as if he was still with us today. His voice is at times uneven but excellent – Why not hear Sinatra uneven? He’s having a great time with the audience as well as the musicians. The whole recording is fueled by jazz and the singer’s wit.

He does “My Funny Valentine” as a playful reading – very unique and colorful. Sure he bungles some lyrics while singing “The Tender Trap”. This is what makes this album so unique and a treasure for any Sinatra fan. He’s loose and free from the trappings of a studio recording. Plus, the recording captures one of his creative high point.

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The Rat Pack Live at the Sands

Posted on May 1, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Capitol Records released two Rat Pack albums that were a collection of studio recordings featuring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis, Jr. as well as an earlier unissued live recording of the three performing. “The Rat Pack Live at the Sands” is a must for any Sinatra fan.

From 1960 to 1965 and of course for a short time in 1988, the three singers put on shows together intermittently, and their performances have been showcased through different entertainment media. The three hooked up when Martin had an engagement in the Sands in Las Vegas in 1963. Sinatra with his Reprise record label recorded the performance, and afterwards totally determined against issuing any album from that recording. Sinatra’s blatant refusal to turn the recording into an album should spark any Sinatra or Rat Pack fans as to what is on the recording. Well, now you can find out. It is worth a listen – there is nothing similar on this planet.

You might wonder if those three really did perform off the cuff or was it as scripted as any performance that we are accustom to being entertained by. With that, Capitol released the recording in 2001 and the bulk of it sounds familiar to those who have encountered a typical Rat Pack show — spontaneity, colored humor and delightful songs by all three singers.

Bill Zehme, who wrote the “New York Times” bestseller “The Way You Wear Your Hat: Frank Sinatra and the Lost Art of Livin’, in his liner notes, quotes pianist Bill Miller saying that “maybe 30 percent of the act was ad libbed, usually by Dean” which sounds about right.

The listener might get giddy with anticipation as Martin starts off with comical rephrasing of standards, such as a rendition of “I Love Paris” performed as “I Love Vegas.” Sinatra takes his cue with six straight songs, and then he and Martin laugh it up before giving way to a brief set by Davis. Many of the jokes are all too familiar as repeats from earlier performances, yet some come across new. The point to owning this album is listening to their sense of camaraderie, such an appreciation and pleasure.

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Sinatra in Good Company

Posted on April 24, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Reprise Records released “Sinatra & Company” in 1971 with Eumir Deodato arranging and Morris Stoloff conducting tracks 1 through 7 and Don Costa arranging and conducting tracks 8 through 14. The album obviously is a mixture of two types of themes because “Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim” recorded another album in 1969, yet Reprise made the decision to not release their second album, Sinatra-Jobim. Instead seven out of the ten songs planned for their record appeared on the first side of “Sinatra & Company”.

With that junction, Eumir Deodato (full name Eumir Deodato de Almeida), a Brazilian born pianist, composer, record producer and arranger, flourished in the jazz realm but customarily is celebrated for eclectic melding of big band and combo jazz with varied elements, including rock/pop, Brazilian/Latin, and symphonic or orchestral music. The Deodato and Sinatra partnership made an ideal collaboration with Sinatra’s ability to develop fresh music and tantalize his fans.

Fortunately or unfortunately the album is obviously a different flavor compared to the recordings on first album, Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The difference is due to the fact that each album has a different arranger. Deodato arranged the tracks for “Sinatra & Company” and Claus Ogerman for the first album. Deodato is looser and clearly more fun while Ogerman is quite and unobtrusive. Both styles are popular, just different. Sinatra sings with more force than the earlier album, yet the nuances in his voice blends well with Decadato’s charts. The second side of the album contains a pop connection that is very entertaining. Costa, who is a long-time Sinatra collaborator, uses material that shines with the intent to be commercially successful. He directs material with some of his best soft rock influences ever produced. Of course, the sound doesn’t fit with bossa nova from side one of the album. It’s almost like getting to albums in one.

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Sinatra’s Capitol Years

Posted on April 17, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Capitol Records released its compilation of Frank Sinatra recordings (1953 -1961) through “The Capitol Years” album in 1990 to correspond with his 75th birthday. The three compact disc compilation is filled with a large quantity of Sinatra classics during his stellar career at Capitol.

The tracks are a full line up of his songs, although disjointed and not organized by linear means; more like hearing all the various moods lodged together in one collection. The compilation also delivers singles — revealing a nice break from the album format.

The three-album set offers plenty of wonderful music that any Sinatra fan will adore. “I’ve Got the World on a String” is Sinatra’s first collaboration with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. The song became a favorite of Sinatra’s to open a concert or Las Vegas show. “All of Me” is yet another great recording Sinatra did with Riddle after he had been singing it for more than 10 years. “In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning” is another true Sinatra classic to hit our deepest wounds. Although the song was meant for Nat King Cole, Sinatra was fortuitous to record the hit song with Riddle. That in itself is an interesting story. Many consider “Wee Small Hours” his finest work ever. Riddle also worked with Cole, and their success together was anything but mediocre. One of Cole’s most popular songs as well as the biggest selling single – Mona Lisa – was arranged by Riddle but he gave credit to Les Baxter.

Interestingly, Nelson Riddle was known for being the Sinatra’s greatest arranger, but he never received a Grammy working with Sinatra like Billy May, Gordon Jenkins or Ernie Freeman. The album is filled with gems and the set is a great sampler to appreciate the singer’s achievements during the Capitol years.

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