Movie Night: Sinatra: All or Nothing At All (2015)

Hello Friends,

Grab your popcorn and pull up a stool, its Movie Night again on Vinyl in the Valley! 

Tonight we're watching a 2015 documentary in two parts on the life and times of Frank Sinatra, produced by HBO and directed by Alex Gibney (Going Clear, Mr. Dynamite, Catching Hell, Client 9).

Four hours of Ol' Blue eyes?  Well pour some bourbon on the rocks, we're staying up late tonight!

Sinatra: All or Nothing at All takes an even-handed, warts-and-all look at Frank Sinatra and his life as one of the most important cultural icons of the 20th Century.  Using lots of first person accounts, including lots of footage from Sinatra himself, the documentary cleverly frames itself around Sinatra's 1971 "Retirement" concert in Los Angeles.

The file uses the 11 songs that Sinatra hand-picked to represent his entire career at the time of his "retirement" as chapters to in its story.  In case you're wondering, here's the setlist from that June of 1971 "retirement" concert:

All Or Nothing At All
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
I’ll Never Smile Again
Ol’ Man River 
That’s Life 
Try A Little Tenderness
Fly Me To The Moon 
Nancy (with the Laughing Face)
My Way
The Lady Is A Tramp
Angel Eyes

Sinatra's life and career is weaved into the fabric of America's 20th Century and the documentary touches on many of these aspects.  Personally, we wished it would have been a little more salacious with the sex-stuff, the mob-stuff, the Kennedy-stuff, etc. But that's because we're degenerates who get off on that sort of thing!

Oh and more Ava Gardner!  yowsa!

  

At least the documentary devotes only about 10 minutes to cover Sinatra's post-retirement career from 1971 until his death in 1998.  

Drink up all you people, order anything you see...

We give this one two raised cocktail glasses!  

We'll see you next time, friends, until then the Tiki Bar is closed*.  

(* not really)

Hi-Fi Holidays: A Jolly Christmas

Frank Sinatra - "A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra" (1957) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

We're kicking off our Holiday festivities tonight with some Ol' Blue Eyes on the turntable. 

Incidentally, we're also celebrating the Chairman on the Board's birthday today (December 12th)-- he would have been 98!

A Jolly Christmas is Sinatra's second holiday album and first holiday record for Capitol. With the chorus and orchestra arranged and conducted by frequent Sinatra collaborator, Gordon Jenkins, the record tows the line between the jazzy-sentimentality of Sinatra's earlier records and the light-hearted corniness of some his late 50's, early 60's recordings. 

Its a record of two sides.  Side One being the "fun" side with secular classics like "Jingle Bells", "The Christmas Song", "Mistletoe & Holly", "I'll Be Home for Christmas", "The Christmas Waltz" and "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas".

Side Two is the more religious side with carols like "Silent Night" & "Adeste Fideles".

Both sides are good, but be forewarned merrymakers, this is not exactly a swinging Christmas record. The songs and arrangements are excellent, but the tone is mellow and contemplative.  Tiki T. and I are enjoying this one admiring our newly decorated tree while enjoying a glass bottle of wine or two!

Frank Sinatra - The Christmas Waltz

Happy Birthday you big goomba! 

RATING: 4.5 oh by gosh by gollies out of 5

Come Fly With Me

Frank Sinatra - "Come Fly With Me" (1958) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

If you can use some exotic booze, there's a bar in far Bombay that has Ol' Blue Eyes on the turntable tonight.  

Come Fly With Me is one of Sinatra's "concept" albums with all the songs being about globe-trotting to strange and romantic lands.  It also marks his first collaboration with arranger, Billy May. 

The album kicks off with the inviting title track, written especially for Frank by Sammy Cahn & Jimmy Van Heusen.

It ends with the upbeat "It's Nice to Go Trav'ling" where the tired gypsy traveler returns home and turns his attention away from the frauleins and senoritas to a quiet night at home where he burns his passport, lights a fire, puts on his slippers and makes a pizza!  (Literally, the last words spoken on this record is "make a pizza"!)

In between the departure and the return, there's "The Isle of Capri", "Moonlight in Vermont", "Autumn in New York", "The Road to Mandalay" (based on a Rudyard Kipling poem), "April in Paris",  "London By Night", "Brazil" and a "Blue Hawaii".

Overall its one of Sinatra's most fun and jauntiest records. 

FUN FACT # 1: This album was nominated for album of the year at the very first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1959.  It lost out to Henry Mancini's Music from Peter Gunn!

FUN FACT # 2: Frank Sinatra was supposedly upset with the album cover because he thought it looked like an ad for TWA.  I've never had their coffee, but I really like the TWA Tea!

RATING: 4.5 Paddles Chonkin' from Rangoon to Mandalay out of 5

Witchy Woman

Nelson Riddle & his Orchestra - "Witchcraft!" (1965) - Pickwick 

Hello friends,

October's here and we're celebrating Halloween all month long here on Vinyl in the Valley!

Best known for his soundtracks and famous arrangements for the likes of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Linda Ronstadt, et al, Nelson Riddle actually had a pretty successful recording career himself!

The highlights on this LP are his lush and jazzy instrumental versions of the title track, "It's So Nice to Have A Man Around the House", "You Fascinate Me So", "Darn That Dream", "Blue Safari" and especially, "Playboy's Theme".

The instrumentation is big in spots and sublime in others.  The devil's in the details like the vibraphone in "Darn That Dream", for instance, or the background guitar on "Blue Safari".  

And check out this little minx on the LP's cover... nothing says dim the lights, light some candles and fire up the old Ouijia Board like a sexy brunette, a black cat, and a cigarette-smoking skull!

"Nice pussy"

RATING: 4.5 cigarette-smoking skulls out of 5

September in the Rain

Frank Sinatra - "Sinatra's Swingin' Session!!!" (1961) - Capitol Records

Hello Friends,

Tonight on Vinyl in the Valley we're rocking out to some late Capitol-era Frank Sinatra.  Ol' Blue Eyes is in peak form on this 1961 release covering such classics as "When You're Smiling", "Blue Moon", "Paper Moon", "September in the Rain", "My Blue Heaven" and "Always."

Backed by Nelson Riddle's fiery and upbeat orchestra, these tunes are among the fastest tunes ever recorded by Sinatra.  Some tunes-- like "Paper Moon" and "My Blue Heaven"-- almost seem like they've been recorded in double-time.  Hey Frank... pass those jazz salts down this way!  A swingin' session indeed!

RATING:  4 Leaves of Brown Coming Down out of 5

Any Old Time

Artie Shaw & his Orchestra - "Any Old Time" (1958) - RCA Victor

Hello friends,

Tonight on the turntable we've got Jazz's favorite introvert, Artie Shaw.

This compilation, released in 1958, contains tracks recorded between 1938 & 1945 and was released four years after Shaw permanently retired from music.  RCA's Down Beat Jazz Milestone series are pretty good compilations that usually contain 22 to 24 minutes of music per album side.

Hailing from New Haven, Connecticut, Artie Shaw (born Arthur Jacob Arshawsky) was one of the Big Band Era's most famous bandleaders.  Known as the "King of Clarinet", he was an introvert and perfectionist; sort of the thinking man's Benny Goodman.  He died in 2004 after spending many years self-exiled in Europe and a small fortune in divorce court. Shaw was married 8 times, including to the actresses, Lana Turner & the future Mrs. Sinatra, Ava Gardner!  ("Hey Frank! How's my dick taste?")

The LP's titular tune features Billie Holiday on lead vocals.  Shaw was one of the first white bandleaders to hire a black lead vocalist to tour with him!  Good for him!  



Other great tracks include "It Had to Be You", "All I Remember Is You" (featuring Helen Forrest on vocals), "St. James Infirmary" (featuring "Hot Lips" Page on vocals), "These Foolish Things Remind Me of You", "Love Me A Little" (featuring Lena Horne), and the outstanding, nine-minute, "Concerto for Clarinet."

RATING: 4.5 Guess Who's Not Fun at Parties out of 5  

The Night We Called It a Day

Frank Sinatra - Where Are You? (1957)

Hello friends!

Feeling a little lonely this evening?  Feeling like the world has beat you down?  Do you just not care anymore?

Well then, you've come to the right place! 

On tonight's "Vinyl in the Valley", we're pouring our scotch & sodas on the stiff side while our favorite blue-eyed crooner woos us with some of his most melancholy ballads.

Now be warned, this is ain't the upbeat, globe-trottin', swingin' Sinatra style that we've come to know and love.  This is the morose, end-of-his-line torch singer who goes home to a dark apartment-- smelling of booze and stale cigarettes-- with two dollars left in his pocket, some dame's number illegibly scribbled on a book of matches and with enough personal regrets to keep him sleeping 'til Tuesday!

Where Are You?-- which was later re-released as The Night We Called It A Day-- is a lesser-known LP from Sinatra's incredible Capitol Years.  Here, the orchestra is conducted by Gordon Jenkins (a departure from frequent Sinatra collaborator, Nelson Riddle) whose lush arrangements only accentuate the loneliness and fragility heard in the great singer's voice.  From the longing strings on the opening title track to the bluesy, yearning closing number-- "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home?"-- this is some heartbreaking shit!

RATING:
5 too many drinks after 'last call' out of a possible 5