Ol’ Blue Eyes Sings ‘Bein’ Green’

Posted on February 21, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Don Costa teamed up with Sinatra once more, bringing Ol’ Blue Eyes out of retirement and into the main stream of a hit album. “Ol Blue Eyes is Back” makes for an appropriate title. Though, fans would like to argue that he never really retired – just played some golf and travelled while doing special appearances for charities and such.

Costa and Sinatra working together, once again, made the so-called comeback a real treat for fans. The long-time arranger and conductor for Sinatra produced this album in 1973 and it was released by Reprise Records. Costa also does some arranging and conducting.

But, Gordon Jenkins, another long-time Sinatra collaborator, also signs on to help with the arranging and conducting. Having Jenkins team up as well made a special combination of titles.

The title says exactly what it says. Ol’Blue Eyes came out of retirement. It brought on excessive publicity campaigns that lead to a commercially successful album, gaining a gold status and hitting just below the Billboard and UK top-ten charts.

A TV special came out of the album’s success with two Emmy nominations. The album sounds different from Sinatra’s prior four albums, but instead Sinatra decides to jettison present pop hits for collection of songs from up and coming songwriters. Joe Raposo, best recognized for his influence on the television series “Sesame Street”, which he composed the theme song and such classics as “Bein’ Green” and “C is for Cookie”.

Sinatra asserted that he wanted the album to be composed entirely of Raposo’s compositions. The record label frowned on that idea and won their perspective over Sinatra – keeping him to four. Reportedly, Sinatra and Raposo were good friends with Sinatra attending Raposo’s parties in New York around the 1960s with well-known friends and cronies. All though not verified, Joseph Schwartz mentioned Sinatra was taken with Raposo’s piano-playing skill and commonly referred to him to others as “Raposo at the piano” or “the genius”.

Sinatra also sings songs from several contemporary film and Broadway tunes. “There Used to Be a Ballpark” and “Send in the Clowns” are standouts with, rightly so, Gordon Jenkins delicate and sublime arrangements while Sinatra sings brilliantly.

Some will say the album lacks substantial ingenuity in the song writing – a typical response of the 1970s. Culture between traditional pop versus corrupted rock-pop made it hard for a song writer like Raposo to find his expression with a legend like Sinatra. But still, the album was a commercial success. The success speaks clearly that Sinatra carried on as an entertainer far beyond any of his contemporaries or even new entertainers on the rise.

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Sinatra’s ‘My Favorite Valentine’

Posted on February 14, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

I am sure you will agree with me when I say Frank Sinatra’s songs are synonymous with love songs. A true Sinatra fan, I am sure, has his or her very favorite Sinatra love song.

What a better way to say “I love you” than with a Frank Sinatra song. Though, some of Sinatra songs are torch songs with love lost – angst.

“Look to Your Heart” is the third collection album of Frank Sinatra singles and B-sides with long-time collaborator Nelson Riddle. The album is a fine example of those favorite torch songs sung by Sinatra.

The vocal jazz and classic pop album was released through Capitol in 1959, although it was recorded between 1953 and 1955 when Sinatra’s film and television career was hitting one of its highest points. He won an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity in 1955. Interestingly a couple of long-lost songs from the 1955 live television musical version of Our Town, where Sinatra played the Stage Manager with Paul Newman, are included in the in album. “I Could Have Told You,” a favorite torch song eventually became a standard. “Same Old Saturday Night’ reflects his new-found swing and wackiness with “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” suggesting his inclination towards living a rather pleasure-seeking, hell-bent lifestyle complete with beatnik bongos.

After listening to this album for awhile, one notices the eclectic arrangement of songs. None really fit together, but each song is a pleasure in itself. One can’t help but appreciate Sinatra’s versatility as a singer with such songs as the uplifting and rhythmic “Same Old Saturday Night” to the whimsical and delicate “Fairy Tale.” Despite the fact that the collection reached the Top Ten, there is no compact disc reissued of this album, aside from “The Capitol Years” 21 disc box set. All of the tracks also materialize in the box set “The Complete Capitol Singles Collection”.

With that said, I have to admit “My Favorite Valentine” song by Sinatra is very appropriate for today. A perfect way to say “I love you” — a perfect gift for any Sinatra fan.

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Sinatra Academy Award Winners

Posted on February 7, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Simply called “Academy Award Winners” was released in 1964 by Reprise Records with long-time collaborator Nelson Riddle arranging and conducting songs from the vaults of the Academy Awards.

Frank Sinatra sings Oscar winners for Best Song, ranging from the first winning song “The Continental” in 1934 to “Days of Wine and Roses” in 1962. The album is stylish, professional and exclusive with some true diamonds even though their performances are not as illustrious as Sinatra’s and Riddle’s earlier collaborations. But still, they are winners and rightly so.

The songs are for the most part enjoyable for any fan or newcomer to Sinatra. Especially the way Sinatra brings charm and life to otherwise desolate “Days of Wine and Roses” with Riddle’s entertaining and light arrangement. The rendition makes for a nice addition to any library.

Yet, the album comes across as individual songs versus a cohesive group of conceptual songs that play nicely together. Certainly not a concept album, though, you would think that was the case by just looking at the album’s title.

Decidedly, certain moments play unparalleled like “The Way You Look Tonight” is an exceptional performance in a light, swinging tone that sparkles. Originally it was Fred Astaire’s greatest hit song, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1936. Astaire sings the song to Ginger Rogers while she is busy washing her hair in an adjacent room. Apparently, Rogers’ character is feeling anything but beautiful at the time – a very memorable Rogers and Astaire scene. Written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, “The Way You Look Tonight” is a standard to say the least. Fields remarked, “The first time Jerry played that melody for me I went out and started to cry. The release absolutely killed me. I couldn’t stop, it was so beautiful.”

Another song on the album, “All the Way”, is not far behind in quality with “Three Coins in a Fountain” just as good as “The Way You Look Tonight.” Interestingly, Sinatra passed up Riddle’s suggestion of the classic “Lullaby of Broadway” for other less great songs..

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Sinatra Gets You Under His Skin

Posted on January 31, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Reprise Records wanted to match the Frank Sinatra’s success at Columbia Records as well as Capitol Records. The goal was to create a successful issue of compilations from Sinatra’s hit songs. For obvious reasons, the album would be a hit – actually the album sold very well. “Sinatra’s Sinatra” was an attempt to compile formerly released 12 songs and re-recorded them for a 1963 release.

Long-standing colleague, Nelson Riddle, who was also a very popular bandleader, arranged and conducted the album. You just don’t get any better when these two artists working together.

The historical recording also includes two fresh charts of “Oh! What It Seemed to Be” and “Nancy (With the Laughing Face)”. Couple of Sinatra’s leading hits and, of course, most celebrated songs was picked by himself. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, a Cole Porter song from 1936 Hollywood musical Born to Dance. Performed in the movie by Virginia Bruce, the hit song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Song that same year. The Porter song is considered by many the greatest single ever recorded by Sinatra with Riddle. Sinatra recorded a version as a duet with Bono of U2 for the album Duets in 1993.

Although, some speculate the 1963 rendition with Riddle isn’t as magical as the original 1956 recording.

“Young at Heart” is another sure fire hit with many memorable performances. “All the Way” is one of the best singles Sinatra ever performed and recorded. Taking the turn as the song for the movie The Joker Is Wild, it won an Academy Award for Best Song in 1957. The hit single also ran on the billboard charts for thirty weeks, becoming a Sinatra standard he would time and again perform throughout his career.

“Sinatra’s Sinatra” is an enjoyable recording, yet you can’t help but want more and more magic compared to the first recordings. In its own right, “Sinatra’s Sinatra” is brilliant, entertaining and time-honored.

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‘Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!’ Spot Light on Carefree Sinatra

Posted on January 24, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

1956

“Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!” was produced by one of Frank Sinatra’s long-time collaborators Voyle Gilmore. The fourth studio album was recorded in 1956 by Sinatra for Capitol Records.

Once again, Sinatra teams up with Nelson Riddle, who arranges and conducts a powerful yet subtle swinging album that is upbeat, jazzy and brash. As you listen to the album, you can’t help but notice Sinatra bounces off the hard-hitting horns while at the same time floats romantically along the breezy sounds of the woodwinds.

Comparing this album with Sinatra’s earlier albums about tragic love gone wrong, “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!” puts the spot light on Sinatra’s carefree and easy-going side. He is hip, bubbly, energetic and bold with standards like “You Make Me Feel Young,” “Love is Here to Stay” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.”

Even with light and cheery songs such as “Makin Whoopee” and “Anything Goes” Sinatra delivers a deep romantic ballad. One can’t help but feel the vibration of Sinatra’s expansive and fluid voice with the ultimate precision of clarity – Sinatra knew how to accentuate the vowels between the consonants.

1957

For the first time ever, “Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!” scored as the number one album in the U.K. for three weeks. The popular album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2000. The success of the album continued in 2003 when Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “500 greatest albums of all time” ranked the album number 306.

An interesting note for collectors, the 1956 album cover showed Sinatra turned away from the young couple and in 1957 the album cover was altered with Sinatra facing them. The final album cover stayed the same and is used even today with every CD released.

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