Here’s a Centennial celebration worth celebrating about. In honor of Old Blue Eyes’ 100 birthday, Columbia/Sony Legacy have put together a glorious 4 disc set that features Sinatra’s radio broadcasts from 1935-1955. Going back all the way to his debut on the airwaves on station WHN when he sane with his three friends from Hoboken for a rendition of “S-H-I-N-E” and advancing on to the period when he was just breaking out of his skinny bobby socker image in 1955 and take seriously as a vocalist, this collection allows you to see Sinatra’s evolution as a changing artist that changed singing forever.
For the Sinatra fanatic, you’re getting scores of tunes that Sinatra never recorded before as well as unfamiliar arrangements of Sinatra standards to make you perk up your ears. Historically, there are announcements about the D-Day invasion, bantering with Bing and Bob, appearances with Nat “King” Cole and Benny Goodman and even a hip jive tune with Slim Gaillard, with vintage commercials and pitches for War/Peace bonds thrown in for atmosphere.
If you only know Sinatra by his booze and broads Rat Pack years, you’re going to be in for a delightful treat. Many people consider his “high voice” period his best one, as youthful wonderment mixes with amazing chops on pieces like “That Old Black Magic” and a dreamy “Lover Come Back To Me.” And if you didn’t know, NO ONE says the word “you” like The Chairman, making every song intimately personal as if he’s looking right through your eyes. The arrangements by longtime friend Axel Stordahl are the perfect framework for Sinatra’s romantic tone as on the lush “Close To You.” You also get some fun charts by Raymond Scott (of cartoon music fame in later years and) on “It’s De-Lovely” and “My Heart Stood Still” in the earlier years before he guests on other bands like the Hit Parade Orchestra as well as big bands lead by the likes of Johnny Green and Ziggy Elman.
During this era, radio and movies were the major ways that people learned about artists, and Sinatra was one of the most influential. During the time he was with Columbia Records with Mitch Miller as his musical director, Sinatra sang just about everything, which eventually wore out his voice and causing him to take some time off to recuperate from the strain of the singing, as well as the stinging of his failed relationship with Ava Gardner. You can hear the depth of his voice change by the time you get to the mid 50s with “It’s Alright with Me” when it’s Sinatra and Graham Forbes at the piano or the quartet readings of “A Hundred Years from Today” and “This Can’t Be Love.”
If you’re an aspiring vocalist, you’re going to learn a lot from His Master’s Voice here. For fans of swing, this is the thing, and if you’re a Sinatra buff, this is just enough!
Sony Legacy