As they do for many artists, Turner Classic Movies will be showing several famous and not so famous Frank Sinatra films on Sinatra’s birthday, December 12. Films to be shown include Come Blow Your Horn, It Happened In Brooklyn and the classic Pal Joey.
Check TCM for the schedule.
Frank Sinatra joined up again with Nelson Riddle for a collection of Sinatra B-sides and singles. Riddle arranged and conducted all the back up for “This is Sinatra Volume 2”.
The album was released in 1958, similar to “This is Sinatra!” produced in 1956. Seven new songs were recorded toward the end of 1957. They were then added to the album.
You can listen to such songs as “Everybody Loves Somebody,” “I Believe,” “You’ll Always Be the One I Love,” “If You Are But a Dream,” “It’s the Same Old Dream,” “Time After Time” and “Put Your Dreams Away.”
Sinatra was the first singer to introduce “Time After Time” in 1947 which was arranged by Axel Stordahl and recorded for the movie It Happened in Brooklyn, starring Sinatra, Peter Lawford, Kathryn Grayson and Jimmy Durante. The post-World War II feel-good movie also contains six songs written by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne.
It Happened in Brooklyn was by and large well received by the trades and movie goers. Variety noted that “Much of the lure will result from Frank Sinatra’s presence in the cast. Guy’s acquired the Bing Crosby knack of nonchalance, throwing away his gag lines with fine aplomb. He kids himself in a couple of hilarious sequences and does a takeoff on Jimmy Durante, with Durante aiding him, that’s sockeroo.”
Most of the songs in “This is Sinatra Volume 2” were first recorded by Sinatra during the 1940s. In the fact that most of them pertain to dreams, it’s very likely the songs were meant for a concept album that probably never reached completion.
The album reached number 8 on the Billboard album charts and number 3 on United Kingdom charts. Today, the collection of songs only shows up on compact disc within “The Capitol Years 2” disc box set. The original album has been out of print for long time. Majority of the tracks show up on the box set “The Complete Capitol Singles Collection”. Other tracks appear on the three-disc compilation called “The Capitol Years”.
Reprise records released a holiday album in 1968 featuring Frank Sinatra and his children: Nancy Sinatra, Tina Sinatra and Frank Sinatra, Jr. Together they sing with a perfect title that says it all – “The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas”.
Two long-time Sinatra arrangers, Don Costa and Nelson Riddle, arrange and conduct the tracks with the Jimmy Joyce singers as backing vocals. The album illustrates the diversity and talents of Sinatra’s children. For the next three decades, we discover how devoted they were to their father. How much they shared his love of entertainment, working on and off in the industry. Frank Jr. became his father’s band leader, Nancy had a successful singing career and Tina won a Golden Globe for producing a miniseries about her father’s life.
Many consider the holiday album an old-fashion or behind the times because of the dated material and album cover showing each family member dressed in white. Still, the album is unique in that Sinatra gives the floor to his children.
Riddle and Costa appear to be working well together on this recording with Riddle taking on Costa’s smooth, vibrant orchestrations as a cue for his arrangements. Costa holds himself strong with full-size orchestrations in a charming style.
Notably, the Sinatra family is completely different as a collaboration compared to Sinatra. Frank barely holds court on the recording except for two solos such as “The Christmas Waltz” and “Whatever Happened to Christmas?” Most of the family tunes are carefree and playful, not at all serious excluding “The Bells of Christmas.”
“The 12 Days of Christmas” is completely reworked into a modern version that would be fun for anyone to sing with lyrics like “Five Ivory Combs.” “I Wouldn’t Trade Christmas” makes an ideal song to sing with the whole family, keeping the festive spirit light-hearted with an upbeat tone. The original album went out of print for over 30 years and was reissued on compact disc in 1999 and worth playing during the holiday season.
In 1964 Reprise Records brought to the recording studio Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Waring and The Pennsylvanians to create a traditional Christmas album called “12 Songs of Christmas”.
A long list of arrangers and conductors makes for an impressive production with such notables as Roy Ringwald, Dick Reynolds, Jack Halloran, Nelson Riddle, Harry Simeon, Bob Thompson and Harry Betts.
Only five of the twelve tracks consist of vocals by Sinatra with Crosby doing his fair share while sharing a few songs with Sinatra. All three talents combined together keep the Christmas album snugly warm and pleasing to the ear.
Sinatra and Crosby worked well together. Both respectful of each others talent and ability to master their voices like a musician masters his instrument. Crosby was known for giving Sinatra advice to the pitfalls of fame and fortune. One would like to think that Sinatra listened and held that advice to his heart.
Both worked on the film “High Society” where, today, fans can see the two masters work together in harmony. Still a popular DVD rental, with a co-star Grace Kelly, the classic is a wonderful movie to watch during the holiday season. One can’t help but enjoy the camaraderie the two legends share on the silver screen.
Unlike their previous album “America, I Hear You Singing”, this “12 Songs of Christmas” shot to the top ten of the pop charts. Sinatra sings traditional Christmas songs with comfort and rather melodious for the wintery season. His voice is deep, particularly with “The Little Drummer Boy”.
Sinatra and Crosby harmonize in a swinging fashion with “Go Tell it on the Mountain” with Sinatra’s tenor blending beautifully with Crosby’s bass. “We Wish You The Merriest” goes back-and-forth with Sinatra and Crosby being buddies in a energetic way while they sing the lively classic Christmas tune.
Of course, Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians as a choral create full, opulent sounds in perfect sync with classic holiday sensitivity. The album is a rare find, but the tracks are found on “Nothing but the Best” and “Complete Reprise” box set.
“A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra” was recorded in the summer of 1957 and was originally released by Capitol Records as the first long-running Christmas album by Frank Sinatra.
Long-time collaborator Gordon Jenkins arranged and conducted what Saxophonist Stan Getz called “the greatest Christmas album anybody’s ever made.”
Together with the Ralph Brewer Singers and a 21 piece orchestra, Jenkins created the ideal wintery wonderland of the holiday spirit, including sleigh bells, angelic choirs and quivering strings — a style that only Jenkins could pull off with proper fanfare.
The album opens with “Jingle Bells” a bouncy and jazzy tune as Sinatra scat sings with improvised sound and phrasing like a musical instrument with his hip background singers spelling out the famous words in the song. It is quite a delight to experience.
Keeping to his style of composing songs, Sinatra cozies up to the recently written “Mistletoe and Holly.” It is obviously an instant classic full of melodic wonder. Sinatra sings sounds of magic to Mel Torme’s “The White Christmas” while at other moments he sings distant and relaxed like in “The First Noel.” We are taken on journey of an old fashioned Christmas and clearly Sinatra is having the time of his life.
Some Sinatra fans may wonder if the Christmas album is really a jazz album. NPR introduced the album in their Basic Jazz Record Library because “A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra” is for sure a great holiday present for anyone’s library. Two songs are available to enjoy at NPR’s website – “Jingle Bells” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” — pure joy. And some listeners my think the album is well-worn, but as a 1950’s Sinatra Christmas album, any fan is going to love it.
In time the album went platinum. It was reissued in 1963 by Capitol with another cover art and a new title, “The Sinatra Christmas Album”. The same title was also featured on the album’s initial 1987 compact disc pressing. The 1999 compact disk added two more Christmas songs that Nelson Riddle arranged and conducted — “White Christmas” and “Christmas Waltz”. The original title and cover were ultimately restored until 2001 when the art was changed from the 1957 version.
Sinatra in the News
