David A.
Well-Known Member
Note: Posted this about four years ago on our previous forum and I'd be damned if this didn't make its way to this forum.
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I'm sure I've made this claim about Sinatra several times around these parts.
I'm sure I've also mentioned at some point that I've been a huge fan of his work since I was 12 years old. And I find his life to be quite fascinating. Not just a mob connections (which are somewhat exaggerated) and the women and the swinging Rat Pack swagger. In fact, I find that stuff to stand in direct contraction with what Sinatra the artist was able to create.
Now, I understand that I'm typing this up with the intention of posting it up on a forum that consists of fairly young listeners. I'd venture to say that the average age of our forum members is, what, maybe 29? That's just a really rough guess. We talk about rock and roll history and synth-pop and the next big thing. Hell, that's part of why Vinyl Me, Please exists to begin with: to shine a light on artists that deserve real attention.
But I can't help but feel compelled to share my feelings about Sinatra's catalogue because I really think that he achieved something incredible during his peak years. Between 1953 and 1960, the man produced a dozen masterful albums. He was recording for Capitol Records at that point, his career in an upswing after that dismal era where the man was dropped by Columbia Records and by his agency, MCA, and by his film studio, MGM. Oh, and there was the Ava Gardner affair and the back-taxes.
But let's focus on the artistry and just how good he was in his early 30's:
That smooth legato and exceptional breath control was so precious. But, again, he went through rough times. His vocal cords ruptured on stage at the Copacabana in 1949 or 50 and he was unable to sing for months.
Alan Livingston at Capitol took a flyer on Sinatra and it was essentially a rebirth of the guy.
Notice that rougher, yet still honeyed tone. His interpretive phrasing has jumped ten-fold in the 9 years between his recording of Someone to Watch Over Me with Axel Stordahl in 1945 and with Nelson Riddle in 1954.
The man was not a songwriter. The songs that Sinatra performed were the product of Tin-Pan-Alley and Broadway composers whose melodic gifts were unparalleled. George and Ira Gershwin wrote Someone To Watch Over Me, for instance. Porter, Kern, Berlin, etc.
But Sinatra had exceptional taste for material, save for the occasions when he was pressured for a hit single by, say, A&R guys. That's actually how Mama Will Bark came to be. But I digress.
Sinatra was never a singles artist. His work lied in the album. Specifically the concept album, which I contend is his creation. And it's birth can be traced to several recording sessions done in early 1955:
Again, another collaboration with arranger Nelson Riddle, whose use of strings is never saccharine or kitschy. The emotions on this album are quite real. 16 tales of lost love, all told in a semi-coherent manner. If there is a story, it's loosely told, certainly. Tommy, this is not. But there is a logical starting point and ending point for this album. And this album is obviously a response to Sinatra's tempestuous relationship with Ava Gardner.
_________________________
I'm sure I've made this claim about Sinatra several times around these parts.
I'm sure I've also mentioned at some point that I've been a huge fan of his work since I was 12 years old. And I find his life to be quite fascinating. Not just a mob connections (which are somewhat exaggerated) and the women and the swinging Rat Pack swagger. In fact, I find that stuff to stand in direct contraction with what Sinatra the artist was able to create.
Now, I understand that I'm typing this up with the intention of posting it up on a forum that consists of fairly young listeners. I'd venture to say that the average age of our forum members is, what, maybe 29? That's just a really rough guess. We talk about rock and roll history and synth-pop and the next big thing. Hell, that's part of why Vinyl Me, Please exists to begin with: to shine a light on artists that deserve real attention.
But I can't help but feel compelled to share my feelings about Sinatra's catalogue because I really think that he achieved something incredible during his peak years. Between 1953 and 1960, the man produced a dozen masterful albums. He was recording for Capitol Records at that point, his career in an upswing after that dismal era where the man was dropped by Columbia Records and by his agency, MCA, and by his film studio, MGM. Oh, and there was the Ava Gardner affair and the back-taxes.
But let's focus on the artistry and just how good he was in his early 30's:
That smooth legato and exceptional breath control was so precious. But, again, he went through rough times. His vocal cords ruptured on stage at the Copacabana in 1949 or 50 and he was unable to sing for months.
Alan Livingston at Capitol took a flyer on Sinatra and it was essentially a rebirth of the guy.
Notice that rougher, yet still honeyed tone. His interpretive phrasing has jumped ten-fold in the 9 years between his recording of Someone to Watch Over Me with Axel Stordahl in 1945 and with Nelson Riddle in 1954.
The man was not a songwriter. The songs that Sinatra performed were the product of Tin-Pan-Alley and Broadway composers whose melodic gifts were unparalleled. George and Ira Gershwin wrote Someone To Watch Over Me, for instance. Porter, Kern, Berlin, etc.
But Sinatra had exceptional taste for material, save for the occasions when he was pressured for a hit single by, say, A&R guys. That's actually how Mama Will Bark came to be. But I digress.
Sinatra was never a singles artist. His work lied in the album. Specifically the concept album, which I contend is his creation. And it's birth can be traced to several recording sessions done in early 1955:
Again, another collaboration with arranger Nelson Riddle, whose use of strings is never saccharine or kitschy. The emotions on this album are quite real. 16 tales of lost love, all told in a semi-coherent manner. If there is a story, it's loosely told, certainly. Tommy, this is not. But there is a logical starting point and ending point for this album. And this album is obviously a response to Sinatra's tempestuous relationship with Ava Gardner.