Sinatra

Mark Steyn's website ^ | May 17, 1998 | Mark Steyn

[WarrenC]

A great read, I thought.

[Chi-townChief]

Ring-a-ding-ding ...

[stylin19a]

It's STILL Frank's world..we just get to live in it.

[headsonpikes]

Thanks.

[Conservative4Ever]

Thanks for the post...it is a great read. Sinatra will always be for me the consumate swing singer. Cool, assertive, with that certain golden something in his voice. Grew up listening to my Mom's Sinatra records..have CD's of most of the albums. Great listening music.

Red

[Cicero]

Excellent article. I missed it the first time. In fact, until he started commenting on the Bush campaign (and made an enduring impression on me with his wit, as seemingly the only reporter who had a clue what kind of guy Bush was) I didn't even know Mark Steyn existed.

[r9etb]

He learned breath control ...

Listen to Frank's version of Old Man River ... now that was breath control. He sings a couple of slow bars, hits this looooonnnnnnng low note, which would kill most anybody, and then he goes and sings about 4 more bars before he finally takes a breath.

It's an astonishing feat.

[GOPrincess]

Oh, yeah.... "The Concert Sinatra" is one of my favorite albums. His breath control is stunning. (My favorite, though, is one I think is overlooked in favor of "Wee Small Hours" and "September of My Years"...I play "Nice & Easy" over and over. Sinatra's voice was at its peak. Could listen to him sing "How Deep is the Ocean?" and "Fools Rush In" forever.)

Steyn's description of "Come Fly With Me" is perfect.

Sorry to read elsewhere on FR he may have been fired by the NATIONAL POST...didn't David Frum resign from the POST recently? Thanks for posting this great piece. For those of you unaware, Steyn has started doing a weekly appearance on Hugh Hewitt's radio show...not sure what day.

[r9etb]

Another thing about Frank was his rythms -- there was nothing at all straightforward about it. I once read a column by a guy who was talking about it -- just try to sing along with him, and stay with him. "I've Got You Under My Skin" is a prime example -- he stretches some notes, compresses others, and gives the song a bounce that mere mortals can't match.

Peter Sinatra, who toward the end led Frank's orchestra, talked about this: it was always a challenge to match up the orchestra with what Frank was doing.

And finally, those horn sections ....

[GOPrincess]

If you haven't read them yet, the books by Charles Granata and Will Friedwald on Sinatra's recordings/recording sessions are great.

My husband plays trombone...he comments from time to time on the brass, etc., when we're listening :). He's also spent some time studying a couple of Riddle's arrangements (obtained from the university in Tucson which has Riddle's collection)...he's been teaching himself arranging as a hobby and is fascinated by that kind of thing. Stories like May arranging "Come Fly With Me" are something else, huh?

[Biblical Calvinist]

PETER Sinatra ? I'm sure you meant to say FRANK Sinatra JR, who conducted for his Dad during the last years of Sinatra's performing career.

[r9etb]

I'm sure you're right. My bad.

[r9etb]

My husband plays trombone...he comments from time to time on the brass, etc., when we're listening :).

I always point it out to my kids, in hopes that they'll be interested. My daughter plays trombone, so maybe it'll stick with her.

[Free ThinkerNY]

[Zack Nguyen]

Is there a good "Greatest Hits" album I could purchase? What should I look for?

[PeteyBoy]

My all-time favorite song is the first cut---"I Have Dreamed". Great article.

[GOPrincess]

Great that your daughter plays trombone! It just might stick with her...hearing Sinatra sing "Lost in the Stars" from "The Concert Sinatra" makes me think of my own childhood, because my dad played that a lot :).

I had a pleasant surprise about a year ago, I heard an unexpected sound coming out of my then 13-year-old daughter's room, peeked in and discovered she was doing her homework while her head was bouncing to the rhythm of Frank singing "You Make Me Feel So Young." She continues to "borrow" from our Sinatra shelf on occasion, says the upbeat albums make her feel good :) :).

[GOPrincess]

For one single "Greatest Hits" type compilation I recommend "Classic Sinatra: His Greatest Performances 1953-1960," which came out a couple years or so ago. Should be easy to find (online I like Amazon and Tower Records). It has many of his greatest tracks including a couple of the songs mentioned in posts above.

The thing you do miss out on with a "Hits" compilation, though, is that starting in the '50s his albums were designed with each song chosen to fit a certain theme or mood. You can't go wrong with most of his '50s-'60s albums for Capitol and Reprise. For a single title to get you started I'd go with the upbeat "Songs for Swingin' Lovers!" (This is the one that's my teenager's favorite.)

If you start browsing Sinatra on Amazon you should turn up a couple really good lists by Amazon customers reviewing some of Sinatra's other "theme" albums.

Hope you'll enjoy! :)

[GOPrincess]

"My all-time favorite song is the first cut---"I Have Dreamed"."

Definitely sublime :).

[capt. norm]

The most electrical music moment in my life happened a number of years back. The place was Navy Pier in Chicago. Starting up his live performance, Frank hit the first line in "My Kind of Town" and the crowd erupted like Mt. St. Helens.

For Chicago, Frank may have been an adopted son, but they didn't love him any less than did Hoboken, N.J.