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Eight Sinatra Surprises
by David Bittinger
Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald were mutual fans who joined up for superb duets and had similar repertoires. Is it possible to call one of them primarily a “jazz singer" and one not? Yeah, it's possible. Listen to Ella scat on How High The Moon and you hear a genius singer who came from jazz territory and could riff like an instrumentalist. Frank really wasn't a jazz singer and had just one little joke scat, “dooby dooby doo," ...
Continue ReadingSinatra In The Studio
by Bill Gottlieb
This article was first published at All About Jazz in December 1998. Back in 1947, I covered, for kicks, a Frank Sinatra Columbia record date, produced in New York at Liederkranz Hall. There was an acoustically superb studio large enough to handle the sumptuous, full-fiddle orchestra assembled by Axel Stordahl, the leader and arranger. In the band were many of the city's top studio musicians, a stimulating sight. Dominating the scene was Sinatra, the one-time ...
Continue ReadingThe Rat Pack vs. the Kids in the Kitchen: Are Those Our Only Choices?
by Con Chapman
It was a more important anniversary than most so we decided to splurge on a local restaurant that always gives me buyer's remorse when I get the check. My wife and I are both getting up in years and we eat out at what she used to jokingly refer to as “blue hair hours," when you can get the early-bird special if you want. In that time slot the crowd consists of senior citizen guys and their wives, ...
Continue ReadingFrank Sinatra: The Capitol Records Albums, 1954 to 1959
by Dan McClenaghan
After stints in the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands, Frank Sinatra began his solo recording career in 1947 with Columbia Records. This association lasted until 1950. He switched labels in 1954, moving on to Capitol Records. Songs For Swingin' Lovers (Capitol, 1954) was his first release for the label. It was the beginning of an unparalleled output of excellence in recorded music. Nobody has done it better. He stayed with Capitol until 1961 when he started his own label, ...
Continue ReadingFrank Sinatra: Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra is without question a recording achievement of importance and historical magnitude. Producers Charles L. Granata and Andreas Meyer have delivered an experience that sources and reconstitutes important Sinatra mid-20th Century material. It will fascinate Sinatraphiles and enlighten those interested in “The Voice's" artistic development from crooner to swing icon. Included in the album are eight Great American Songbook classics that Sinatra recorded for Columbia Records circa 1950 with swinging big bands. Those ...
Continue ReadingFrank Sinatra: Myth, Reality and a Critic Standing in Line at Arby’s
by S.G Provizer
The mere act of re-releasing a 1960 Frank Sinatra album speaks to the fact that his name still creates ripples when tossed into the cultural pond; still has the power to inspire a reaction when other other vocal stars of yore have receded into distant memory. An ocean of ink has been spilled in portraits and musical criticism of the “Chairman of the Board," some of it merely respectful, most adulatory. Long ago, the rough, mafia-inflected edges were smoothed out ...
Continue ReadingChuck Granata: On Sinatra, The Beach Boys, and Johnny Mandel
by Nicholas F. Mondello
Chuck Granata is a record and radio producer, author, music historian and archivist. He has written four books on music and sound recording: Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording (Chicago Review Press, A Capella Books, 1999), Wouldn't it be Nice: Brian Wilson and the Making of the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds (Chicago Review Press, A Capella Books, 2003), Making Records: The Scenes Behind the Music (with legendary record producer Phil Ramone) (Hyperion Press, 2007) and the ...
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