Ring-A-Ding-Ding, everybody!
This here year, 2015, is going to be a real gas — it’s the 100th Birthday of one Francis Albert Sinatra — and here at TCOTS we’re going be swingin’ down that old lane of memories all year long in honor of The Chairman Of The Board.
Now most of those cats who are honoring Ol’ Blue Eyes are going to give you a list of their 100 favorite songs, but your old pally, Bob Belvedere, is gonna fly a little higher and give you the 100 Best Performances ever recorded and released on vinyl and CD. That’s right, hep cats, every Friday between now and Frank’s 100th Birthday on the 12th of December, you’ll be invited to jet yourself off to Bobsville, pour your lovely or handsome self some Jack Daniels and soar to where the air is rarefied. Along the way, we’ll pause for some tunes that didn’t make the List [Hell, he recorded over 1,400 of ‘em] and we’ll countdown my favorite albums.
Francis Albert will be your pilot and Bobby Bell your navigator.
So sit back easy in your easy chair, fasten your seatbelts, and let’s take off in the blue…
100 – IT’S A WONDERFUL WORLD
Music & Lyrics: Jan Savitt, Harold Adamson, Johnny Watson
Recorded: 19 May 1961
From the album Swing Along With Me [aka: Sinatra Swings]
A perfect song to uplift the Spirits when you’re feelin’ low, this swinger, arranged by the great Billy May, is the go-to antidote for whatever’s ailing you…
99 – I’M BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
Music & Lyrics: Duke Ellington, Harry James, Don George, Johnny Hodges
Recorded: 10 April 1962
From the album Sinatra And Swingin’ Brass
Turn your lamp down low…
98 – LET ME TRY AGAIN
Music & Lyrics: Caravelli, Michel Jourdan, Paul Anka, Sammy Cahn
Recorded: 21 June 1973
From the album Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back
The 1970’s. Frank’s voice is rough after his retirement and subsequent return. Here’s a song full of that 60’s/70’s bombast that was so popular [Impossible Dream, anyone?], but he takes it and shows all the others how to do it right, how to avoid the bombast and over-the-top show, just wringing-out sincere emotion. Marvellous…
See you Friday, when we’ll get on our regular posting schedule as we head-off again to Bobsville.
Don’t forget to also keep checking out Pundette’s Sinatra 100 countdown and Mark Steyn’s. It’s a swingin’ world.
If you’re having trouble tracking down the performances on this List, contact me at Robert[dot]Belvedere[at]gmail[dot]com and I might be able to help you.
