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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Sinatra and Riddle’s Greatest Collaboration

Posted on January 17, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

“The Concert” started as a promising renewal of Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle collaboration. The production turned out to be the finest of the era.

Sinatra is at his very best singing performances at the same time he displays jubilant sentiment. Riddle offers one of his finest arrangements most noticeable in the ballad “I Have a Dream” from the Broadway hit “The King and I”.

Reprise Records released the album in 1963 with the title referring to the grand orchestra. Undoubtedly, a Sinatra fan can agree, this was the largest ever collaboration that Sinatra and Riddle brought together, particularly, for this recording.

With that said, the title should not confuse you into thinking that it is a recording of a true live performance, even though the premise was simple. Clearly above all other early albums this Reprise album is purely enjoyable and may be hard to beat as the overall best. I can see Sinatra and Riddle proudly listening to the final rendition; thinking, “We did a dam good job.”

Reportedly, “The Concert Sinatra” is Riddle’s favorite of all Reprise albums. Interestingly too, is that it was initially recorded with 35mm tape.

With the composition of Richard Rogers the album’s cream of Broadway show tunes stand out brilliantly as Sinatra sings light and subtle. In spite of the rather large number of musicians, the orchestration is not domineering or arrogant. It’s more like grand and far-reaching with epic scenery for the best-loved songs such as “Lost in the Stars”, “Soliloquy” and “You’ll Never Walk Alone”.

All stunning songs demonstrate Sinatra’s extensive emotional reach with melodramas like “Ol’ Man River” to tender, warm and romantic “Bewitched”. Without a doubt this is a very fulfilling album that outshines all other Sinatra albums of this era. Some fans my say that he put his heart and soul into this album, and every bit of it is worth a listen over and over again.

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My One and Only Sinatra

Posted on January 10, 2012 by kennamc Leave a comment

Nelson and Sinatra

Frank Sinatra fans can’t help but take a look and listen to 1956 Capitol Records release of “This is Sinatra!” because the album contains both Frank Sinatra B-sides and singles.

Sinatra joined up with arranger and conductor Nelson Riddle. Riddle is known for being a long-time collaborator, and he orchestrated some of Sinatra’s greatest tracks, but never won a Grammy with him.

This album marks the first ever collection of his singles and unfortunately the album has not been reissued as a compact disc. You can find the album in The Capitol Years Twenty-One Compact Disc Set.

Another interesting note about the tracks is that they are within the box set The Complete Capitol Singles Collection and different Capitol re-releases. So, a true Sinatra fan can easily pick up the album and listen to some Sinatra highlights of his former hits.

Such highlights focus on former hits with such artists as June Christy, Nat “King” Cole, and Dean Martin and of course we get to hear Sinatra by himself. When the album was release, it became very popular and a “must own” for any true fan at the time.

This popular album starts with the unruly “I’ve Got the World on a String” featuring wonderful tracks like “South of the Border,” “Learnin’ the Blues,” “The Gal That Got Away,” and even movie theme songs like “Young at Heart,” “Three Coins in a Fountain,” and “The Tender Trap.” “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” and “Rain”. Sure there are gloomier ballads for those days of wine and roses, but you can’t help but appreciate the collaboration between Sinatra and Riddle.

The display of depth in his singles is astounding. The shear, sparkling passionate ballad “My One and Only Love” is an original he sings that instantly becomes a much-coveted standard, yet the song is rarely associated with Sinatra. Although “This Is Sinatra!” has not been in print for several decades. It is a diamond to be found in various Capitol Records compilation and reissues.

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