Willard's Wormholes

My fascination with Frank Sinatra began in the 70s, mostly as a kitsch interest sparked by his wonderfully awful 60s movies. But, his larger-than-life persona was always intriguing, even if it was hard to reconcile Sinatra The Artist – which he most certainly was – with Sinatra The Brute. His classic albums (In The Wee Small Hours, A Swingin’ Affair, Only The Lonely, and much of his Reprise work) are ripe for discovery by connoisseurs of any ilk willing to invest the time. But, what helped me to appreciate Sinatra was his live work, and I became a fanatic in the process – boring my rocker buddies over the years with these and other Francis Albert releases. The early bobby-soxer stuff is as dull to me as much of this might be to you, but Sinatra’s more mature voice from the 50s, 60s & 70s is like that of a soulful storyteller’s, whose nuance and inflection conveys more than the words themselves. He could milk a simple phrase or a studied, smokey pause like nobody’s business, all while abusing his instrument with Jersey tough guy talk amidst effortless bouts of artistry. Note how, live, Frank substitutes a “hipper” variation of the lyric – often just a single word, just to mark his turf – but rarely before the second chorus or bridge. Like any true superstar, his magnetism made it all seem worthwhile. Above all, Sinatra was a slave to a good song, and it took him decades to finely hone his phrasing and instincts. To best understand his talent, just spend some time with his second-rate imitators to hear how it shouldn’t be done. But, there’s plenty of pudding below, if you’re at all interested in the proof. Really big thanks to Kwai Chang for the re-ups.

Sinatra At The Sands (1966)
Classic Sinatra, in front of a brassy Count Basie Orchestra and a ringside audience, ready and eager to be in on every inside joke Frank reworks for the late show. This is where the 60s Sinatra legend is personified – utterly confident on his own turf, in front of a small drinking crowd at The Sands in Las Vegas, where he worked as a shareholder (his well-worn monologue even addresses remodeling costs). During the drinking ballad, “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road),” you’ll hear a pin drop-quiet barroom crowd hanging on Sinatra’s every nuance. And, if you’re of the age demographic that thinks Nirvana invented musical tension & release, listen to Frank chew the concept into stool-sized chunks (a year before Kurt was born) on the kickin’, Quincy Jones arrangement of “Fly Me To The Moon,” below. Amazon.

Come Fly With Me (3:45)
I’ve Got A Crush On You (2:43)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin (3:44)
The Shadow Of Your Smile (2:31)
Street Of Dreams (2:16)
One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (4:41)
Fly Me To The Moon (2:51)
One O’Clock Jump (Instrumental) (0:54)
The Tea Break (Monologue) (11:48)
You Make Me Feel So Young (3:22)
All Of Me (2:56)
The September Of My Years (2:57)
Luck Be A Lady (4:40)
Get Me To The Church On Time (2:22)
It Was A Very Good Year (4:02)
Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me (3:19)
Makin’ Whoopee! (4:24)
Where Or When (2:46)
Angel Eyes (3:26)
My Kind Of Town (3:05)
A Few Last Words (Monologue) (2:31)
My Kind Of Town (Reprise) (1:00)
Sinatra And Sextet: Live In Paris (1962/1994)
When this first surfaced in 1994, it quickly became one of Sinatra’s best live releases, largely because there weren’t that many to choose from. A full, 25 song live concert from Paris, 1962. This show was actually part of a 30-city international tour to benefit hospitals and charities. Longtime pianist Bill Miller leads the vibes/piano/guitar sextet. France was lucky enough to toast the serious, artistic side of Sinatra, who made his Parisian debut with this show. In The States in 1962, however, Frank was busy living large via bad movies and the shenanigans of The Rat Pack. Amazon.

Introduction (By Charles Aznavour) (1:04)
Goody, Goody (1:12)
Imagination (2:26)
At Long Last Love (2:16)
Moonlight In Vermont (3:34)
Without A Song (2:42)
Day In-Day Out (2:41)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin (3:02)
I Get A Kick Out Of You (3:06)
The Second Time Around (2:49)
Too Marvelous For Words (1:49)
My Funny Valentine (2:57)
In The Still Of The Night (3:32)
April In Paris (2:40)
You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You (3:58)
They Can’t Take That Away From Me (1:53)
Chicago (That Toddling Town) (2:24)
Night And Day (4:21)
I Could Have Danced All Night (2:44)
One For My Baby (5:45)
A Foggy Day (2:16)
Ol’ Man River (3:52)
The Lady Is A Tramp (3:45)
I Love Paris (1:49)
Nancy (With The Laughing Face) (2:29)
Come Fly With Me (3:01)

FRANK SINATRA, DEAN MARTIN & SAMMY DAVIS, JR.
At Villa Venice, Chicago Vol. I & Vol. II (1962)
The Rat Pack… where do you even begin? What amazes me most about these guys is that the audience – and The Pack themselves – actually believed that all this was the coolest of the cool. That, somehow, the brazen drunkenness (real or not), wife-cheating and negro humor was the height of sophistication and the epitome of a hip, swingin’ lifestyle. To hear it today, it all seems so… sad. But, in The Pack’s defense, the early 60s was the dawn of a new American era, with all new liberties, freedoms and excesses to explore. And, that’s what The Rat Pack was all about… exploring excess. Sinatra was a male fantasy role model, like Hugh Hefner, and crowds lucky enough to catch The Rat Pack live bore witness to a spectacle that will never happen again in this “enlightened” day and age, for better or worse. At The Villa Venice is a well-known 2CD bootleg that underground fans have long cherished, until Frank’s Estate got around to releasing the officially edited version, The Summit. Vol. I & Vol. 2 are both at Amazon, despite their bootleg status. Now that the record biz has been decimated by online sharing, it appears all but legal to buy physical bootlegs these days.


1
Parody: When You’re Smiling/The Lady Is A Tramp (4:19)
Comedy Monologue (3:35)
(I Left My Heart In) San Francisco (4:20)
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter) (1:41)
Medley: Volare/On An Evening In Roma (2:25)
Goody Goody (1:38)
Chicago (2:14)
When Your Lover Has Gone (2:49)
Monologue (6:37)
Please Be Kind (4:00)
You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You (3:31)
What Kind Of Fool Am I? (3:31)
Out Of This World (3:48)
Monologue (2:22)
Hey There (1:44)

2
Impressions Of Singers/All The Way (7:04)
Comedy By All Three (18:18)
I Can’t Give You Anything But Love (1:03)
Too Marvelous For Words (0:48)
Pennies From Heaven (0:47)
A Foggy Day (1:29)
Comedy (1:19)
Embraceable You (1:59)
The Lady Is A Tramp (1:40)
Where Or When (1:08)
Impressions By All Three (3:52)
Birth Of The Blues (1:49)
Nancy (With The Laughing Face) (4:41)
Me And My Shadow (4:02)
Sam’s Song (3:00)
Birth Of The Blues/Closing By All Three (2:57)

FRANK, SAMMY & DEAN
The Summit-In Concert (1999)
As a result of the Sinatra Estate’s involvement, this is a heavily redacted version of the exact same Villa Venice concert, above, condensed to a single CD and released in 1999 as an expensive gold disc produced by Tina Sinatra. The sound is better, but the editing robs listeners of the full, Rat Pack experience. Even though, it should be noted, The Pack’s repeat-listening value is severely limited to begin with, especially considering the jokes weren’t very funny the first time around. Still, it’s prime ’62 Rat Pack. Amazon.

Fanfare & Introduction (0:59)
Medley: When You’re Smiling/The Lady Is A Tramp (4:07)
(I Left My Heart In) San Francisco (3:18)
I’m Gonna Sit Right Down (And Write Myself A Letter) (1:50)
Medley: Volare /On An Evening In Roma (2:28)
Goody Goody (1:34)
Chicago (2:16)
When Your Lover Has Gone (2:39)
Monologue (1:34)
You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You (2:29)
Out Of This World (3:52)
What Kind Of Fool Am I? (3:18)
Medley: She’s Funny That Way/Hey There (3:49)
Impressions Of Singers/All The Way (5:49)
A Toast/Movie Routine (6:38)
Medley (18:26)
Impressions Of Actors (3:29)
The Birth Of The Blues (2:29)
Me And My Shadow (3:05)
Sam’s Song/The Birth Of The Blues (Reprise) (4:37)

FRANK, SAMMY & DEAN
The Rat Pack Live At The Sands (1963/2001)
Great sounding live Rat Pack show from The Sands in Vegas, released in 2001. The recording and production is crisp, even if the jokes are as stale as the previous year’s. Musically, Frank is pretty much playing it straight, and his pals must have gotten the memo, because they don’t “drunkenly” interrupt his solo set as they did previously. The comedic patter has been rehearsed by time, even if the audience still thinks they’re seeing a wild, freeform show. To The Pack’s credit, it sounds it. A well recorded distillation of The Rat Pack experience for newcomers, though not as complete or chaotic as the early days. Amazon.

Fanfare And Introduction (0:25)
Medley: I Love Vegas (4:59)
Monologue (1:31)
June In January (3:21)
Monologue (1:44)
Via Veneto (2:15)
Medley: Volare/On An Evening In Roma (2:22)
Introduction: Ring-A-Ding Ding (Instrumental) (0:17)
I Only Have Eyes For You (2:16)
Call Me Irresponsible (2:12)
My Heart Stood Still (2:53)
Please Be Kind (2:36)
I Have Dreamed (2:56)
Luck Be A Lady (5:05)
Dialogue (7:28)
Medley: Marianne/Dance With A Dolly/You Are Too Beautiful (8:26)
The Lady Is A Tramp (4:01)
All The Way (Impressions) (5:40)
Dialogue (1:52)
Guys And Dolls (3:34)
The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game In NY) (2:47)
Introductions (4:11)
The Oldest Established (Permanent Floating Crap Game In NY) (0:30)
Closing: Ring-A-Ding Ding (Instrumental) (1:00)


The Main Event (1974)
The Main Event was an exciting, bombastic, live television broadcast, produced by Jerry Weintraub, filled with spectacle, pomp & circumstance and far too many boxing metaphors. The “event” was Sinatra’s return to the stage, just a couple of years after telling the world he was retiring. The show was seen by so many people, it’s often mistakenly considered the “epitome” of the Sinatra experience for those of a certain age. Though, the truth is, Frank was rusty here. He regained most of his chops in the coming years, but The Main Event was the last big live album of Frank’s career. Check out Sinatra’s tongue-ready, lyrical ad-lib in “Lady Is A Tramp…” “She loves the free, fine, wild, knocked-out, coo-coo, groovy wind in her hair…” You’re killin’ me, Frank. Amazon.

Main Event Tribute By Howard Cosell/Overture (3:12)
The Lady Is A Tramp (3:02)
I Get A Kick Out Of You (4:37)
Let Me Try Again (3:27)
Autumn In New York (2:46)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin (4:45)
Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (2:49)
Angel Eyes (8:33)
You Are The Sunshine Of My Life (2:50)
The House I Live In (6:42)
My Kind Of Town (3:02)
My Way (4:57)

Live In Australia 1959 (1997)
For years this concert was only available as a bootleg entitled A Tour de Force, until Blue Note put it out as 1997′s Live In Australia, 1959. It’s unique, as Sinatra is heard here with a small, vibe-led, Red Norvo Quintet, recorded over two nights down under. The sound quality leaves a lot to be desired, especially for a Blue Note release, but the performance is a keeper. I ended up hanging onto my original 80s boot, just because it was hard to tell them apart. Listen for yourself on an easy going “Come Fly With Me,” below. Amazon.

Perdido (0:28)
Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea (Instrumental) (5:09)
I Could Have Danced All Night (2:46)
Just One Of Those Things (2:30)
I Get A Kick Out Of You (3:05)
At Long Last Love (2:26)
Willow Weep For Me (3:50)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin (3:16)
Moonlight In Vermont (3:43)
The Lady Is A Tramp (4:41)
Sinatra Speaks (1:35)
Angel Eyes (2:54)
Come Fly With Me (2:54)
All The Way (2:41)
Dancing In The Dark (2:17)
One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (5:14)
All Of Me (3:02)
On The Road To Mandalay (4:16)
Night And Day (4:16)

Seattle, Washington June 9, 1957 (1957)
A popular bootleg release for decades, until issued on a gold disc in 1999 by Sinatra’s Artanis label as Sinatra ’57 – In Concert. The sound is pretty good for a boot, if not sonically deep, while Frank sounds totally relaxed, shaping a set comprised of mostly upbeat tunes, both smooth and swinging. This is about five years after Frank was dropped by Columbia Records. In 1953 Frank made a comeback in the film, From Here To Eternity, and signed to Capitol Records, sparking a major resurgence like no one had before him. As a result, Frank sounds confident here, not long before the debut of the totally arrogant Sinatra persona of the 60s. Another Sinatra bootleg that’s available at Amazon.

You Make Me Feel So Young (3:26)
It Happened In Monterey (2:34)
At Long Last Love (2:29)
I Get A Kick Out Of You (3:01)
Just One Of Those Things (3:19)
A Foggy Day (2:40)
The Lady Is A Tramp (3:26)
They Cant Take That Away From Me (1:52)
I Won’t Dance (3:47)
Sinatra Dialogue (4:54)
When Your Lover Has Gone (3:01)
Violets For Your Furs (3:33)
My Funny Valentine (2:41)
Glad To Be Unhappy (4:11)
One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (4:09)
The Tender Trap (3:13)
Hey Jealous Lover (2:30)
I Got You Under My Skin (4:11)
Oh! Look At Me Now (3:14)

Live From Las Vegas (1986/2005)
There’s some filler on this collection of material culled from a 1986 show at The Golden Nugget in Vegas, but it’s worth a listen to study how an old pro on the ropes keeps fighting. Sinatra’s voice was still solid in the mid 80s, but it was, naturally, showing signs of stress. His world tours were not helping matters. I saw him in 1991 and was kind of shocked by the degradation. Still, now that McCartney & The Stones have reset the age bar for the rock era, serious careerists should be taking notes from Sinatra about surviving in a chew ‘em up business. After all, this is a guy whose career wrote virtually all of the rules of singing stardom – trailblazing everything from frenzied teenagers and iconic fame to cookie-cutter movies and the conquering of Las Vegas. Frank did it all, before Elvis and The Beatles, and kept singing for audiences up to his 80th birthday. We’ll have to wait and see if Jagger can make it to 2023. Amazon.

A Lovely Way To Spend An Evening (Instrumental) (0:39)
I’ve Got The World On A String (2:25)
What Now My Love (2:44)
I Get A Kick Out Of You (4:59)
My Heart Stood Still (3:28)
Luck Be A Lady (5:04)
I’ve Got A Crush On You (2:32)
Mack The Knife (4:31)
Monologue (2:00)
The Girls I Never Kissed (4:03)
For Once In My Life (2:53)
Someone To Watch Over Me (3:47)
Maybe This Time (2:52)
I’ve Got You Under My Skin (4:22)
Only One To A Customer (3:45)
I Have Dreamed (3:23)
My Way (4:01)
New York, New York (3:56)
Bows (You Are There) (Instrumental) (0:44)

Sinatra 80th: Live In Concert (1987/1995)
This one lacks any recording information, so many naturally thought it was an 80th birthday celebration concert. In fact, it was released on Frank’s 80th birthday, while the music was mostly recorded in Dallas in 1987, with a few tracks coming from 1988, Detroit. Sinatra 72nd: In Concert, however, just didn’t have the same ring. By this time, Sinatra was working more modern material into his repertoire (two from Stevie Wonder, here), which always seemed to fit Frank like a cheap suit, especially when his 70 year old chops were waning. Many remember his attempts at The Beatles’ “Something” – complete with an ill-timed JACK! inserted into the lyric – a song he would repeatedly, and cluelessly, credit to Lennon & McCartney. This album, thankfully, does not sink that low. The “My Way” ending, however, is from the Duets album. WTF? Amazon.

You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
What Now My Love
My Heart Stood Still
What’s New
For Once In My Life
If
In The Still Of The Night
Soliloquy
Maybe This Time
Where Or When
You Will Be My Music
Strangers In The Night
Angel Eyes
New York, New York
My Way