Posted on 05/14/2018 11:25:22 AM PDT by Twotone
Frank Sinatra was the most influential popular singer of the 20th century – not just because of a six-decade career of big hit records, but because his taste in music and the longevity of his success helped shape and expand the American Songbook. Not all icons survive death: I think of Leonard Bernstein or Bob Fosse, both at their passing the most celebrated practitioners in their respective fields, or Bing Crosby, the biggest selling recording artist of all time at the time he left us, and these days little more than a guy who gets played on the holiday channels in the month before Christmas. Either because of inept stewardship of the legacy, or a reputation that depended on live presence to maintain the conceit, or a combination of both, even the most dominant pop culture celebrity can dwindle away to the point where a decade later on no-one can quite recall what all the fuss was about. With Frank Sinatra, the opposite seems to have happened. When the gravelly old bruiser of the global stadium tours finally expired in 1998, it made it easier for a younger generation to see the man in his prime: the best singer of the best songs by the best writers in the best arrangements. Just about everything short of his morning mouthwash gargles has been excavated, digitally remastered and released on CD. And, if that's not enough, younger fellows like Michael Bublé and Robbie Williams can build huge careers on what are essentially karaoke performances of Sinatra staples, relying on the sheer power of his charts for "Come Fly With Me", "For Once In My Life", "One For My Baby" to deflect just enough retro-cool their way.
(Excerpt) Read more at steynonline.com ...
Sinatra was brilliant in his choices of which songs to record.
During WWII, “Stars and Stripes” did a poll of the soldiers over their favorite singer.
It came down to Roy Acuff and Frank Sinatra. Acuff was the winner. My how times have changed.
Before vinyl records started getting popular again, I collected thousands of vinyl records at estate sales for pennies on the dollar. I’ve got multiple copies of pretty much everything he ever made. Some of those records have become my favorites. It truly is timeless. No wonder it is featured in so many romance movies.
He also had a fun detective radio show called, “Rocky Fortune”. Also great stuff.
I remember the “Route 66” theme by Nelson Riddle.
I thought I knew everything but I have not heard of Roy Acuff. Times do change.
I could never stomach the Kingston Trio, or any folk music for that matter. As for Sinatra, he continued singing long after he should have stopped. His voice had crapped out but he wouldn’t admit it.
But Sinatra will go down as one of the great philosophers.
Kant — “To be is to do.”
Nietzsche — “To do is to be.”
Sinatra — “Do be, do be, do.”
I grew up country and knew of Roy Acuff. But darned if I could tell you one song he sang. Ernest Tubb and Kittie Wells yes, but not Mr. Acuff.
Two of his big ones were “The Wabash Cannonball” and “The Great Speckled Bird”.
Like I said, during the early 40s he was more popular than Frank Sinatra.
Yes, it was a bit painful to listen to him at the end. And his voice sure changed over his life. What he sounded like as a young man with Tommy Dorsey was quite different from when he was in his prime.
Ernest Tubb and Kittie Wells I know.
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