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Ring-A-Ding-Ding, everybody!
Here at TCOTS, we’re celebrating Frank Sinatra’s 100th Birthday by counting down what I think are his 100 best performances on Vinyl and CD. All of the songs on the List have been released on either one or both mediums. Interspersed with the countdown will be Honorable Mentions that didn’t make the List and a countdown of what I think are his best 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…
82 — Just In Time
Music & Lyrics: Betty Comden, Adolph Green, Jule Styne
Recorded: 09 December 1958
From the album Come Dance With Me
Those of us who didn’t find true love until middle age can relate to this one. ‘Nowhere to go’ became ‘I found my way’…just in time. Billy May’s arrangement sparkles like the Fourth Of July.
81 — Just One Of Those Things
Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter
Recorded: 07 April 1954
From the album Swing Easy
The first song off of Sinatra’s second album for Capital, this tune sets the concept/mood for the rest of the record. The love affair is over and it’s time to pine away. But that doesn’t mean it’s wrist-slicing time — you can be down, but still swing it eaaasy in your easy chair. When first released on it’s own, Swing Easy contained only eight songs because it appeared on the original type of LP: the ten inch 33¹/³, but lack of space didn’t prevent Francis Albert from expertly creating a coherent and whole living atmosphere. A great deal of his success here is due to his decision to make this lively tune the kick-off song. Goodbye, goodbye, so long, and amen, indeed, baby.
80 — It’s Nice To Go Trav’ling
Music & Lyrics: Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen
Recorded: 08 October 1957
From the album Come Fly With Me
Cahn and Van Heusen wrote this specially to be the last song on the Come Fly With Me album and it’s a nice touch after the whirlwind time we’ve just had going around the world, partying and romancing. Frank perfectly captures that feeling many of us get as we head home from vacation: ‘It’s very nice to go trav’ling but it’s oh, so nice to come home’. I believe he also contributed the last set of lyrics which are spoken:
No more Customs…
Burn the passport…
No more packin’…
And unpackin’…
Light the home fires…
Get my slippers…
Make a pizza….
I dedicate this one to Mark Steyn, who is always, it seems, on the road somewhere creating mischief and upsetting the ‘Beautiful People’…
See you next Friday as we head-off again to Bobsville.
Don’t forget to also keep checking out
Pundette’s Sinatra 100 countdown
& Mark Steyn’s Sinatra Songs Of The Century.
It’s a swingin’ world.
If you’re having trouble tracking down any of the performances on this List, contact me at Robert[dot]Belvedere[at]gmail[dot]com and I might be able to help you.
