<-- This is my favorite Frank. In his 40s and 50s, he was confident, sophisticated, still handsome, and as far as I'm concerned, maybe the best-dressed man who ever lived. This Frank is also the Frank who hung around with Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and the rest of the boys and made movies with them. And who recorded the music I like best of all his career.
I know little of the music of his early career, and most of what I've heard from 1970 on doesn't light a fire under me - it may take a bit longer for me to grow into those eras - but his albums from about 1954-1967 help make up the soundtrack to my daily life and have for a few years.
One of the first songs of his that I remember enjoying is "That's Life." I remember my ex and I belting it out in the car together. At the time, it was just a fun song to sing, but lately, as life's challenges get scarier and the stakes get higher, and the least little setback becomes a very big deal, when I hear this, I am reminded that well, that's life. Failure isn't the end of the world.
"My Kind of Town" was another of the first few I remember getting stuck in my head for days. I like big, splashy music, if you haven't guessed by now, and especially the sort that keeps tempting me to burst into song like I'm in a musical. (As I can't sing to save my life, I avoid the temptation, at least until I'm alone in the car.) This one starts slow, but becomes so catchy that eventually, you've just got to sing along or you might explode. The lyrics and music are great, but I'm not convinced that if someone looked at them written down without having heard the song that they'd ever guess how swingy and infectious it is. That much is all Frank's doing.
Wikipedia says he recorded two versions of "The Lady Is a Tramp," but I'll swear I've heard at least one other one. I love any and all of them. And "(Love is) the Tender Trap," "Swingin' On a Star," "Fly Me to the Moon," and "My Blue Heaven" are also all in frequent rotation.
If you'd like to give a try to any of them that you don't already have, help yourself.
Frank Sinatra - That's Life
Frank Sinatra - My Kind of Town
Frank Sinatra - The Lady Is a Tramp
Frank Sinatra - My Blue Heaven
Frank Sinatra - Fly Me to the Moon
Frank Sinatra - Swingin' On a Star
Frank Sinatra - (Love is) the Tender Trap
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2 comments:
I can't believe nobody's comment'n on these Frank posts yet. Perhaps they will soon enough, but hey, thanks for sharing...
No, thank you for commenting. :) I was surprised at first, but as I think about it, I'm really not - Frank is consistently one of my least popular downloads. :( I was starting to think I was all alone out here.
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