"Sinatra: New York", new boxed set

[duaneiac]

"Sinatra: New York" Five-Disc Boxed Set Features All Previously Unreleased Live Performances of Ol' Blue Eyes in 'The Apple'

Collection Highlights Performances Recorded Between 1955 and 1990 at Iconic New York City Venues; Available from Reprise November 3

LOS ANGELES, August 17 -- Frank Sinatra may have been born in Hoboken, New Jersey, but the Chairman of the Board always held a special place in his heart for the city that never sleeps -- "The Apple," as he called it. From a surprise appearance with Tommy Dorsey in 1955 to a 1990 concert at Radio City Music Hall, "Sinatra: New York" follows the singer onstage at various iconic New York City venues, living out one of his most famous lines: "If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere." The five-disc boxed set (4-CD/1-DVD) of previously unreleased live performances will be available November 3, at all retail outlets, including http://www.sinatra.com/ , for a suggested list price of $79.99 (physical) and $34.99 (digital).

The 71 previously unreleased performances gathered here (55 on CD/16 on DVD) capture the singer giving his electrifying best, reminding listeners why
Sinatra's celebrated baritone has been hailed as "The Voice." The set, produced by Charles Pignone, features deluxe packaging with rare, never-before-seen photos, tributes from Martin Scorsese, Tony Bennett, Yogi Berra, and Twyla Tharp, liner notes by Nat Hentoff, and essays by William Friedkin, director of "The Exorcist" and "The French Connection"; George Kalinsky, official photographer for Madison Square Garden for over 40 years; Tom Young, engineer for Sinatra; Joe and Sal Scognamillo, owners of Patsy's Italian Restaurant in New York City; and Frank Sinatra Jr.

"Sinatra: New York" begins in February 1955, at the Manhattan Center, where
Sinatra made a surprise appearance with Tommy Dorsey and his band during a
concert celebrating the group's 20-year anniversary. Sinatra, who first became a star singing with Dorsey in the early '40s, sang a trio of his biggest hits with Dorsey: "Oh! Look At Me Now," "This Love Of Mine" and "I'll Never Smile Again," a song that spent 12 weeks at #1 in 1940. The remainder of the first disc was recorded in September 1963, at the United Nations. To celebrate U.N. Staff Day, Sinatra sang at the organization's Manhattan offices, accompanied only by pianist Skitch Henderson, who incidentally played on Sinatra's first solo recording session in 1942. During the show, the duo performed "I Have Dreamed" and "My Heart Stood Still" from "The Concert Sinatra," an album released earlier that year.

Sinatra "retired" in 1971, at the age of 55, but returned in 1973, with "Ol'
Blue Eyes Is Back." A year later, he launched a tour to benefit an international
children's charity that included a show at New York's Carnegie Hall. The second disc features classics such as "I've Got You Under My Skin" and "Come Fly With Me." Sinatra also performed Joe Raposo's "There Used To Be A Ballpark" and "You Will Be My Music" from "Ol' Blue Eyes."

From October 1974, the third disc contains the first night of Sinatra's
two-night stand at Madison Square Garden. The second night was televised and dubbed 'The Main Event' concert. With the famous arena set up for a boxing match -- complete with ringside seats -- Howard Cosell introduced Sinatra before the singer took the stage wearing boxing gloves. Bill Miller conducted Woody Herman's Young Thundering Herd as the band accompanied Sinatra on signature hits ("The Lady Is A Tramp," "My Way"), ballads ("Let Me Try Again," "Angel Eyes"), and "Autumn In New York."

The final CD returns to Carnegie Hall for a sold-out June 1984 show, and Sinatra taps his extensive songbook for an eclectic evening of music that spans four decades: "Fly Me To The Moon"; "Pennies From Heaven"; "My Way"; and "Come Rain Or Come Shine." The second half of disc four, from Radio City Music Hall in June 1990, finds Sinatra performing with an orchestra conducted by his son Frank Sinatra Jr., and includes such hits as "Strangers In The Night," "Mack The Knife," and "Theme From New York, New York."

"Sinatra: New York" closes with a DVD containing the singer's June 25, 1980,
concert at Carnegie Hall. At the time, the two-week engagement set a record for the venue by selling out in just a day. The shows followed the release of 1980's "Trilogy," Sinatra's ambitious triple-album comeback that featured "The Theme From New York, New York." Sinatra mixes "Summer Me, Winter Me" from that album with his hits "I've Got The World On A String" and "I've Got You Under My Skin." Foreshadowing the follow-up to "Trilogy" is "The Gal That Got Away"/"It Never Entered My Mind," a medley that would appear on "She Shot Me Down" in 1981.

"Sinatra: New York" Track Listing

Disc 1

Manhattan Center, 1955
1. Introductions: Martin Block and Tommy Dorsey
2. "I'll Never Smile Again"
3. "Oh! Look At Me Now"
4. "This Love Of Mine"

United Nations, 1963
5. "Too Marvelous For Words"
6. "They Can't Take That Away From Me"
7. "I Have Dreamed"
8. Monologue
9. "A Foggy Day"
10. "My Heart Stood Still"
11. "I Get A Kick Out Of You"

Disc 2

Carnegie Hall, April 8, 1974
1. Overture: "All The Way" / "My Kind Of Town" / "You Will Be My Music"
2. "Come Fly With Me"
3. "I Get A Kick Out Of You"
4. "Don't Worry About Me"
5. "If"
6. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"
7. Medley: "Last Night When We Were Young" / "Violets For Your Furs" / "Here's
That Rainy Day"
8. Bows - "You Will Be My Music"
9. Monologue
10. "My Way"
11. "You Will Be My Music"
12. "I've Got You Under My Skin"
13. "Send In The Clowns"
14. "That's Life"
15. Bows - "My Way"
16. "There Used To Be A Ballpark"
17. "My Kind Of Town"
18. Bows - "My Way"

Disc 3

Madison Square Garden, October 12, 1974
1. Overture: "It Was A Very Good Year" / "All The Way" / "My Kind Of Town"
2. "The Lady Is A Tramp"
3. "I Get A Kick Out Of You"
4. "What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?"
5. "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"
6. "Let Me Try Again (Laisse Moi Le Temps)"
7. "Send In The Clowns"
8. "My Kind Of Town"
9. Monologue
10. "Autumn In New York"
11. "If"
12. "I've Got You Under My Skin"
13. "Angel Eyes"
14. "The House I Live In"
15. "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life"
16. "My Way"
17. Bows - "My Way"

Disc 4

Carnegie Hall, June 1984
1. "Fly Me To The Moon"
2. "Luck Be A Lady"
3. "This Is All I Ask"
4. "Come Rain Or Come Shine"
5. Monologue
6. "My Way"
7. "Teach Me Tonight"
8. "Pennies From Heaven"

Radio City Music Hall, June 1990
9. "For Once In My Life"
10. "Strangers In The Night"
11. Monologue
12. "Mack The Knife"
13. "Summer Wind"
14. "Theme From New York, New York"
15. Bows - "Good-Bye"

DVD

Recorded at Carnegie Hall, 1980
1. "I've Got The World On A String"
2. "The Best Is Yet To Come"
3. "The Lady Is A Tramp"
4. "When Your Lover Has Gone"
5. "This Is All I Ask"
6. "I've Got You Under My Skin"
7. "Summer Me, Winter Me"
8. "Street Of Dreams"
9. Medley: "The Gal That Got Away" / "It Never Entered My Mind"
10. "I Can't Get Started"
11. "Send In The Clowns"
12. "Come Fly With Me"
13. "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry"
14. "You And Me (We Wanted It All)"
15. "The Song Is You"
16. "Theme From New York, New York"

[paulmock]

From October 1974, the third disc contains the first night of Sinatra's
two-night stand at Madison Square Garden. The second night was televised and dubbed 'The Main Event' concert. With the famous arena set up for a boxing match -- complete with ringside seats -- Howard Cosell introduced Sinatra before the singer took the stage wearing boxing gloves."

That is a complete and utter untruth! Video shows Mr. S taking the stage in his tuxedo "bare-fisted".

To those interested...Mr.S was in terrible voice on the October 13th ABC special "Sinatra: The Main Event". This concert from the prior evening is a SUPERIOR performance showing him in much better voice with a better selection of tunes. It is worth the price of the box set alone to get this concert !

[page]

Can I ask why this thread is in the 'music beyond jazz'- section? Or is mr. Sinatra not be considered jazz anymore?

[duaneiac]

It's a tough call, Page, but in my view, Sinatra wasn't really a jazz singer. I know it might sound crazy to make the argument that a singer who recorded with the bands of Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman wasn't a "jazz" singer.

I think of Sinatra in sort of the way that Rosemary Clooney described herself: "I'm not a jazz singer, but I can sing with jazz musicians". That's an important distinction. Sinatra (like Clooney) started out as a big band singer and as a result of that he learned rhythmic flexibility and swing phrasing -- important qualities that he carried with him throughout his career. Not all singers have learned those traits, as Rod Stewart's attempts to sing the same material Sinatra did readily prove. But jazz singers have those traits plus more, the ability to improvise (even if they don't always display that ability). Sinatra -- "scooby dooby doo"s aside -- wasn't much of an improviser; once an arrangement was done to his satisfaction, that was it, that was the way that song would be performed at every concert, every night. He is one of my very favorite singers, but I don't think of him as a jazz singer.

[duaneiac]

Originally Posted by paulmock

To those interested...Mr.S was in terrible voice on the October 13th ABC special "Sinatra: The Main Event". This concert from the prior evening is a SUPERIOR performance showing him in much better voice with a better selection of tunes. It is worth the price of the box set alone to get this concert !

I kind of recall watching this show on TV when I was a kid (or at least part of it since I don't think my parents were Sinatra fans so they may have changed the channel during the show.) Was it a "live" broadcast? Was there any particular reason why his voice would be so much different from one night to the next?

[page]

Ok Duane, now I understand. Thanks for explaining. You are right about that, I didn't think of it that way.

[pele_trane]

Originally Posted by duaneiac

It's a tough call, Page, but in my view, Sinatra wasn't really a jazz singer. I know it might sound crazy to make the argument that a singer who recorded with the bands of Harry James, Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Woody Herman wasn't a "jazz" singer.

I think of Sinatra in sort of the way that Rosemary Clooney described herself: "I'm not a jazz singer, but I can sing with jazz musicians". That's an important distinction. Sinatra (like Clooney) started out as a big band singer and as a result of that he learned rhythmic flexibility and swing phrasing -- important qualities that he carried with him throughout his career. Not all singers have learned those traits, as Rod Stewart's attempts to sing the same material Sinatra did readily prove. But jazz singers have those traits plus more, the ability to improvise (even if they don't always display that ability). Sinatra -- "scooby dooby doo"s aside -- wasn't much of an improviser; once an arrangement was done to his satisfaction, that was it, that was the way that song would be performed at every concert, every night. He is one of my very favorite singers, but I don't think of him as a jazz singer.

And yet, as I have read, Miles Davis, who is clearly a jazz musician if there ever was one, apparently based his sense of jazz phrasing on Sinatra.

[paulmock]

Originally Posted by duaneiac

I kind of recall watching this show on TV when I was a kid (or at least part of it since I don't think my parents were Sinatra fans so they may have changed the channel during the show.) Was it a "live" broadcast? Was there any particular reason why his voice would be so much different from one night to the next?

Yes! "Sinatra:The Main Event" was broadcast "live" in the Eastern/Cental time zones and tape delayed elsewhere to a 9PM start. The LP/CD and the DVD differ greatly as Mr. S was so bad on Oct 13th that Reprise used recordings from other venues to get the LP out in a timely fashion. The DVD shows all the warts.

Why was his voice so different from one night to the next? Mr. S led a hard-driven, stay up all night lifestyle. That, plus the fact that he was not in the best of shape and had recently returned from a 2 year hiatus from singing, etc. etc. etc. led to the differences in the Oct 12th and Oct 13th performances.

[paulmock]

I got this baby at Amoeba this morning and (like the previous Vegas set) it is a winner from beginning to end...production, presentation, information, and especially SOUND. The DVD is an awesome restoration of a concert that has been "booted about" since 1980. It is now "official" and is beautiful in both audio and video.