[sinatraphiles] October 14 - THIS DATE IN SINATRA HISTORY

From: Scott Henderson <scott@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: sinatraphiles@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 2020 08:32:57 -0400

Studio

NONE

Radio

1944 Your Hit Parade
Network: CBS
Program #491
Time: 9:00-9:45 P.M. (Rebroadcast October 15, 1944 12:00-12:45 A.M.)
Sponsor: Lucky Strike
Script By: Tom Langan
Script (Final As Broadcast)
1. How Many Hearts Have You Broken (7) - Frank Sinatra
2. Rise 'N' Shine - Orchestra
3. Time Waits For No One (5) - Hit Paraders
4. Dance With A Dolly (4) - Joan Edwards
5. commercial
6. All God's Chillun Got Rhythm - Orchestra
7. Swinging On A Star (8) - Joan Edwards & Group
8. It Could Happen To You (6) - Frank Sinatra
9. Deep In The Heart Of Texas (With Yippees) - Orchestra & Hit Paraders
10. station break
11. I'll Be Seeing You (9) - Joan Edwards
12. Zing Went The String Of My Heart - Orchestra
13. commercial
14. It had To Be You (3) - Hit Paraders
15. Is You Is Or Is You Ain't (2) - Joan  Edwards
16. commercial
17. I'll Walk Alone (1) - Frank Sinatra

1949 Light Up Time
Taped: No Date (might be Oct. 6)
Sponsor: Lucky Strike Cigarettes
Network: NBC
Show #30
Broadcast: 4:00-4:15 PM PST (Repeat: 8:00-8:15 PM PST)
Starring: Frank Sinatra & Dorothy Kirsten
Jeff Alexander And The Orchestra
1. opening
2. The One I Love - Frank Sinatra
3. commercial 1
4. Maybe It's Because - Dorothy Kirsten
5. Mad About You - Frank Sinatra
6. commercial 2
7. I'm Coming Virginia - Frank Sinatra & Dorothy Kirsten
8. closing

Television

1950 The Frank Sinatra Show
Network: CBS
Location: New York City
Script Dated: October 14, 1950
Show: #2
Sponsor: sustaining
Time: 9:00 P.M.-10:00 P.M.
Writers: Harry Crane
Producer: Irving Mansfield
Director: John Peyser
Announcer: Ken Roberts
Orchestra Conducted By: Axel Stordahl
Guests: Brian Aherne, Ben Blue, Mary Mayo, Sid Fields, Condosa & Brandon (dancers), The Whipoorwills

(see articles below)

Concerts

1935 Orpheum, San Francisco, CA (October 10-16)
The Hoboken Four
touring with the Major Bowes' Radio Amateurs

1939 Panther Room, Hotel Sherman, Chicago, Illinois (September 9 - October 27)
Harry James and his Orchestra w/Frank Sinatra

1940 White City Ballroom, Ogden, Utah (October 14, 1940 - One Nighter)
Key Performers: Frank Sinatra, Connie Haines, Buddy Rich, Ziggy Elman, Pied Pipers
Tommy Dorsey and his "Screenland Dance Orchestra"

1941 Meadowbrook, Cedar Grove , New Jersey (October 9 October 28)
Tommy Dorsey and his Orchestra w/Frank Sinatra

1943 Wedgwood Room, Waldorf Astoria, New York City (October 1 - November 30)

1944 Paramount Theatre, New York City (10-11-44 to 10-29-44)
Frank Sinatra with The Raymond Paige Orchestra
O.A. Eileen Barton, Ollie O'Toole, Pops & Louie
Film: Our Hearts Were Young And Gay
NIGHT CLUBS - VAUDEVILLE
Paramount, New York

1949 Thalheimer's Store in Richmond, Va

Frank Sinatra drew 6,500 fans for his performance on
the roof of Thalheimer's Store in Richmond, Va on Friday
afternoon.Designated the "Tobacco Festival King," Sinatra
kicked off a celebration of his 10 years in show business
during his three-day visit to the Tobacco City. He dutifully
plugged his new radio show "Light-Up Time," sponsored
by Lucky Strike. Dorothy Kirsten accompanied Frank
and they took over the Saturday night Hit Parade
on NBC. This special broadcast of the popular radio show
was only one of many stops made by the stars for American
Tobacco Company. Sinatra can soon be seen in the MGM
production "On The Town" and RKO's "It's Only Money."

Ed O'Brien
Frank's appearance on the Hit Parade would be
his swan song. He appeared on 191 broadcasts in
the 1940's. "On The Town" would open to rave reviews
at Radio City Music Hall on 12-9-49. A few critics did
express reservations that MGM dropped some of the better
songs from the smash Broadway musical. The replacement
tunes were considered inferior. "It's Only Money" would be
retitled "Double Dynamite" and have its premier on 12-25-51.
The original credits had Sinatra with top billing. The December
51 release gave him third billing behind Jane Russell and
Groucho Marx.

1953 Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (13-26)
Frank Sinatra & Orch (8) with Bill Miller, Nicholas
Bros.(2),Charles Nelson, Bek Steiner, Bryon Balmer,
Copa Girls (10), Ray Sinatra Orch (12); no cover or
minimum

1963 Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
Monday evening
Frank was the host/narrator for the Israel
Histadrut Anniversary.
A host of celebrities including Leslie Uggams
performed.
note: A friend was in attendance. Frank did a
drop-dead ballad reading of "A Foggy Day," with
a Riddle chart.

Emacs!

1976 New Haven Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT
Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller
1.  I Write the Songs
2.  Where or When
3.  Stargazer
4.  The Lady Is a Tramp
5.  Embraceable You
6.  My Funny Valentine
7.  Get Along Without You Very Well
8.  For Once in My Life
9.  Like a Sad Song
10. This Is All I Ask
11. Never Gonna Fall in Love Again
12. Empty Tables
13. It Was a Very Good Year
14  Night and Day
15. My Way

1978 Radio City Music Hall, New York City (14-22)
Saturday
Vinnie Falcone conducted a 50 piece orchestra
Key Musicians: Joe Malin (concertmaster), Irv Cottler (drums), Al Viola (guitar), Gene Cherico (bass)
OA: Fifth Dimension
OA: Jackie Gayle
Gate: $ 1 million
1. New York, New York
2. Night and Day
3. At Long Last Love
4. The Lady is a Tramp
5.. Someone to Watch over Me
6. Here's That Rainy Day
7. My Funny Valentine
8. Baubles, Bangles and Beads
9. The Gal that Got Away
10. It Never Entered my Mind
11. That's What God Looks Like to Me
12. Maybe This Time
13. Autumn in New York (light years removed from October 13, 1974!)
14. You and Me
15. The Tender Trap
16. Lonely Town
17. The Oldest Established Permanent Crap Game in New York
18. Remember
19. My Way
20. America the Beautiful

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien provided the above song list from the opening night performance, October 14, 1978. He then emphasized that if you are looking for a demarcation point in the great Sinatra renaissance, Radio City is the spot. There had been a fallow period after the comeback, especially in 1976 and 1977, but, by mid-1978, Sinatra was a different performer.

The shows were longer, most of the dross had been eliminated from his program, the singing was vastly more assured and he was in great shape. He had an almost Spartan-like quality to his appearance. Vinnie Falcone was the conductor-arranger- pianist when Sinatra opened at Radio City in October of 1978.

The shows were spectacular in every sense of the word. Sinatra was doing a 20-song program with great numbers by Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Cahn & Van Heusen, the Gershwins plus exciting new tunes like "You and Me" and "New York , New York ".

Unfortunately, O'Brien continues, the engagement was pretty much unheralded due to a newspaper strike in the Big Apple. Truly a shame, because it was a great new beginning that would extend well into the next decade at an amazing level of artistic brilliance. The musicians who played many of the performances during this era refer to them as 'recitals'. They truly were, in the best sense, that conceit.

Sinatraphile Vance Adair then writes: "Yes, an historic concert that heralded the birth of Sinatra was the elder statesman of popular song. It is extraordinary to think that when most performers of his vintage would have been content to wallow in the nostalgia of their glory days, Sinatra reinvented himself yet again.
I love the voice from 1978 until around 1986, Adair continues. Sinatra invests his songs with a different kind of energy, but he remains unmistakably himself throughout. As I have said before, some of the credit must go to Vinnie Falcone.."

Sinatraphile Ed Spiegel then comments about the specifics of Sinatra's reinvention of himself over the decade while remaining true to the music and maintaining strong audience acceptance would make for a singular and fascinating study. No performer has done anything comparable to what he achieved in all those years.

It doesn't just happen, Spiegel emphasizes. Without intelligence, determination, understanding the marketplace, drive, regularly examining and sharpening his skills, choosing the right people to work with, and many other factors, Sinatra could have wound up a memory along with so many others after Columbia Records, MGM pictures, and the talent agency MCA dropped him. Even before that, he was always looking to grow musically.

In response, OBrien writes that guitarist Al Viola remembered working with Sinatra in 1946-47. Al was guitarist with the Page Cavanaugh Trio. They did nightclubs, concerts, radio, and recordings with Sinatra. Al said that Sinatra was way ahead of his time musically. He devised swinging jazz charts with the Trio and was amazed at the musical intelligence that Sinatra displayed.

Later in the 40s, Sinatra was way ahead on the long-playing record. In interviews back then, he talked about the opportunities the LP afforded for storytelling and concept work. Of course, he would take full advantage of those possibilities with Nelson Riddle at Capitol. And he created those great concept albums. Did it all according to the people who worked with him back then.

O'Brien sends along a review, written by Jacques leSourd of the New York Journal News, published on Monday, October 16, 1978, and an advance piece from the Village Voice written by Arthur Bell and published on October 9, 1978.

1979 Civic Center, Providence, Rhode Island
Orchestra Conducted By: Vincent Falcone, jr.
1. The Song Is You
2. Just The Way You Are
3. I've Got The World On A String
4. The Lady Is A Tramp
5. Yesterday
6. Something
7. I've Got You Under My Skin
8. The Best Is Yet To Come
9. I Can't Get Started
10. monologue
11 My Kind Of Town
12. All The Way
13. Bewitched
14. You And Me
15. Street Of Dreams
16. It Was A Very Good Year
17. New York, New York
Notes: TT 70mins.

1982 Resorts International, Atlantic City, New Jersey
Orchestra Conducted By: Vincent Falcone, jr.
1. I've Got The World On A String
2. Come Rain Or Come Shine
3. I've Got You Under My Skin
4. Summer Me, Winter Me
5. The Lady Is A Tramp
6. monologue
7. My Kind Of Town
8. Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
9. Change Partners
10. A Day In The Life Of A Fool T. Mottola instrumental
11. Send In The Clowns T. Mottola on guitar
12. The Best Is Yet To Come
13. When Your Lover Has Gone
14. second monologue
15. New York, New York
Notes: TT 62mins.

1987 Nassau Coliseum, Uniondale, New York
Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller
1. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life
2. What Now My Love
3. My Heart Stood Still
4. Moonlight In Vermont
5. Summer Wind
6. You Will Be My Music
7. More Than You Know
8. Mack The Knife
9. What's New
10. Bewitched
11. Angel Eyes
12. If
13. When Joanna Loved Me
14. For Once In My Life
15. Lonely Town
16. New York, New York
17. Where Or When
18. Maybe This Time
19. September Of My Years
20. The Lady Is A Tramp
Notes: TT 78mins.

1992 Radio City Music Hall, New York City (8-17)
Orchestra Conducted By: Frank Sinatra, Jr.
with Shirley MacLaine
1.  Come Fly With Me
2.  A Foggy Day
3.  For Once in My Life
4.  Come Rain or Come Shine
5.  The Lady Is a Tramp
6.  The House I Live In
7.  Strangers in the Night
8.  Barbara
9.  I Get a Kick Out of You
10. The Best Is Yet to Come
11. Soliloquy
12. Mack the Knife
13. One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)
14. My Way
15. Medley: Let's Sing It (with Shirley MacLaine) & You Make Me Feel So Young (with Shirley MacLaine) & Witchcraft (with Shirley MacLaine)
16. Theme From New York, New York

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EXTRA

1940 White City Ballroom, Ogden, Utah
Emacs!

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1950 The Frank Sinatra Show

Variety
10-18-50

Ed O'Brien:
After the opening week disaster, Paul Dudley
was replaced as producer. The new producer, Irving
Mansfield, was a former press agent. John Peiser
replaced Hal Green in the director's chair. Dudley
remained with the show as a writer. CBS was paying
him $1,200 a week. He would produced Sinatra's new
radio show "Meet Frank Sinatra." The radio show had
been postponed twice due to the tremendous difficulties
with the TV production. Show was set for a 10/22 debut,
but, at the last moment, it was shelved for a third time,
finally making it on the air,10/ 29.
The writing staff of Hugh Whitlock Jr, Howard Snyder,
Harry Crane and Dudley pulled out all the stops in the
week preceding the second show of the series.Set
designer Nelson Baume was asked to create more
original sets and The Ben Blue Family, comprised
of Sid Fields, Roberta Lee, Joey Walsh, Pat Gaye
and Blue, did intense rehearsals leading up to the
Saturday broadcast.
Frank Sinatra was much more relaxed the second
week and in fine vocal form. He opened the show
with two tunes arranged by George Siravo: "My
Blue Heaven" and "Nevertheless. The skits with
Blue and guest Brian Aherne received a great
deal of applause and laughter from the audience
Frank, Ben and Brian sang "Me And My Shadow."
Siravo was again the arranger for Frank's excellent
rendition of "A Foggy Day," followed immediately
by a scathing parody of "The Cry Of The Wild Goose."
There were vocals by Mary Mayo and The Whipoorwils.
Mayo was so impressive the previous week, CBS immediately
signed her for an unspecified number of appearances on
the Sinatra show. Frank closed out the proceedings with the
Arlen-Mercer classic "Come Rain Or Come Shine."

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1978 Radio City Music Hall, New York City (14-22)

BELL TELLS
by
Arthur Bell

On October 14, Frank Sinatra opens a one week
stint at Radio City Music Hall. If his closing per-
formance at London's Royal Festival Hall is an
indication of what's to happen here, I recommend
that you push, shove, kick, bribe bamboozle, black-
mail:: Do anything short of murder to get tickets.
Sinatra in London was better than any popular
entertainer I have ever seen on a concert stage.
Age has not only mellowed; it has made his
voice more persuasive, his persona more accept-
able, the truth of the trivial lyrics he sings more
profound. Gone are the frills. He just strolled on,
without fanfare, and went into an up-tempo version
of "Night and Day," followed by "At Long Last Love"
and "The Lady Is A Tramp." It was wonderful to see
him relatively slender, wearing a bow tie, feet far apart,
swaying, tilting ever so slightly toward the percussion
section, caressing the microphone the way he used to
when he sang to Shelley Winters in "Meet Danny Wilson."
And how he sang ! On "My Funny Valentine," he crooned
the word "unphotographable" so that his voice sounded
like a bass fiddle. On "It Never Entered My Mind," he told
of ordering orange juice for one, and I was certain he was
sighing the saddest lyric ever written. Tasteful. Masterful.
Thrilling. I can't wait to see him again. Whatever his per-
sonal vendettas, his moods, his temperament, I salute
Frank Sinatra as an artist. The young can learn from him.

Village Voice
October 9, 1978

Sinatra At Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall obviously will enjoy its most
prosperous eight-day period ever with Frank Sinatra
drawing absolute capacity. The engagement has been
transformed into an event because of the clamor to get
in, the presence of top theatrical figures in the audience,
but mostly by the Chairman of the Board himself.

   Sinatra continues to be the consummate entertainer with
each engagement. He revels in his craft and his ability
to communicate. On stage, he seems to like people and
reaches out to them. He has a maturity and an innate love
for the songs he works with. Most have been with him for
years, but there are also new tunes that he periodically
introduces. His sense and appreciation of good musician-
ship is always evident. Sinatra dwells largely in the realm
of standards that are virtually classics, often because he
made them that.

  The audience seems to be the same that came up with
him from his days at the Paramount, even during the time he
was the vocalist with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. He
seems never to have dropped a song nor an admirer since
those days.

  He reprises many of the popular tunes during his long
career. There were some notables omitted, but generally,
he provides a most pleasing musical portrait of his life and times.
At one point, he was ready to relax and chat, but calls from
the audience were too much to indulge in such a session.

  His orchestra, under the direction of Vincent Falcone,
is of philharmonic proportions. It is also impressive musically,
and  shows careful rehearsal. The acts that came with Sinatra
also get the benefit of this huge corp of tootlers, and the crew
entire works behind his accompanying talent..
Variety
10-18-78

IN REVIEW:
SINATRA EXCELLENT IN RADIO CITY DEBUT
NEW YORK
Frank Sinatra was back in town to give the
Big Apple a special Autumn luster on Saturday
night. Outside Radio City Music Hall, the season's
first chilly breezes blew; inside, it was all romantic
warmth.
How appropriate that Sinatra should appear at the
Music Hall! Both he and it are national monuments of
a sort-with special meaning for New Yorkers. And both
appear to have a new lease on life after a period of
endangerment.
Sinatra, his voice strong and rich and pure, sounded
better than he had in years. Gone were the cracklings
and hesitancies of recent vintage (especially noticeable
in his Madison Square Garden concert of 1974), and the
singer was plainly basking in his renewed self-confidence.
This was the opening night of a 10-performance engage-
ment for Sinatra at the Music Hall, produced by Lee Gruber
and Shelly Gross. If you haven't got tickets-or perhaps
a well-connected relative -you're out of luck. The engage-
ment is completely sold-out.
The capacity first night crowd of 6,000 was, politely
enthusiastic (with the exception of a few vocal souls
in the balcony, whom Sinatra swiftly subdued), but
the general atmosphere was one of reverent appreciation.
If there were any erstwhile bobbysoxers in this audience-
and there surely must have been- their adolescent hysteria
had long since yielded to grownup reserve. ( In this audience
were Gov. Hugh Carey and actor Gregory Peck, along with
a number of New York firemen to whom Sinatra had given
free tickets.)
For his part, the 60 year old Sinatra, his gray hair
fashionably close-cropped, approached his task
with good humor but also with consummate professional
seriousness- making sure, for instance, to note the name
of every composer, lyricist and arranger for all numbers.
He sang 20 songs in all, ranging from such standards
in his repertoire as "The Lady Is A Tramp" to a new tune
by Elton John, simply entitled "Remember." Sinatra
started the program, quite appropriately with the John
Kander-Fred Ebb song "New York, New York," which
Liza Minnelli sang in the movie of the same name.
Indeed Sinatra seemed at his best with the relatively
new Kander-Ebb material, which always lends itself
to bravura performance by charismatic performers.
The other Kander-Ebb song that Sinatra sang
magnificently was "Maybe This Time," from "Cabaret"
(also originated by Liza).
A nod to Cole Porter came early in the program
with "Night and Day" and "At Long Last Love,"
both Sinatra specialities of course, and later
he performed a medley of songs from three
films which had played in Radio City, and
in which he had starred-"The Tender Trap,"
"On the Town" and "Guys and Dolls."
--Jaques leSourd
Journal News
Monday
October 16, 1978

Ed O'Brien:
Due to a newspaper strike in the city, there were no major
reviews in New York of Sinatra's triumphant 10 day engagement.The attendance
for the 10 shows topped 62,000. Sinatra had 4,000 seats set aside for the
New York City firemen in memory of his father. Tickets were spread
out over the 10 performances, all in the third mezzanine. Frank asked
the firemen to attend the shows in their uniforms.

---------------------------------------------------------

SPECIAL DISCUSSION THE AUTUMNAL SINATRA

On October 14, 2008, Sinatraphile Vance Adair introduced a discussion of the Autmnal Sinatra: As we know, autumn is a season that is closely associated with Frank Sinatra and not only on account of its wistful evocations in some of his most famous songs (and, of course, in the landmark album with Gordon Jenkins). Long before he became unequivocally "old," Sinatra was able to conjure up a mood in his ballads that evinced a bittersweet and wry intelligence.

Autumn is the age of ambivalence, a poetic sage once said. For me, Adair writes, it is this nuanced calibration of profits and loss, of dreams squandered and loves won that informs the subtleties of Sinatra's ballad singing (even when the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is nowhere explicitly to be found in the lyrics.)

It is the timbre of the voice, however, that makes me think of Sinatra was the quintessential sound of autumn; a voice that is burnished, crisp and vibrant with the hues of a life that was lived perhaps not wisely but too well.

It would be great to know what connections Sinatraphiles make between Sinatra and this time of year, Adair observes. To get things started, I have posted below a concert review by the redoubtable Stephen Holden of the New York Times. And it is Sinatra in autumn in every conventional sense.

September 1987: Frank Sinatra was in high spirits at Carnegie Hall on Thursday evening:

"I'm healthy, I'm happy, I'm in love, and that's how I feel," he announced while introducing "I've Got the World on a String," the final song of his concert. The singer than tore into the Ted Koehler-Harold Arlen standard, turning into an almost saveagely gleeful affirmation of what it must feel like to be an aging lion three months shy of 72 and in fine fettle.

"The most remarkable thing about Mr. Sinatra in the autumn of his years is the emotional volatility he continues to project onto whatever songs he touches. Unlike the vast majority of seasoned pop singers, Mr. Sinatra doesn't try to hold onto an image of his younger self. He may have performed the same song hundreds of times before, but his current interpretation springs directly out of the moment and situation at hand.

"At Thursday's show the first performance of aan eight-night engagement the emphasis was more on moody, upbeat rreflections than on swinging exuberance. After opening with a ruminative, slow-paced "My Heart Stood Still," Mr. Sinatra made a joking remark about his age. Referring to 78-year-old Lionel Hamptron, who performed a short opening set, he said , "Between the two of us, we're older than one of the sphinxes."

"Over the course of the evening, the singer worked his way through a selection of well-chosen standards, sprinkled with modern pop ballads by David Gates, Joe Raposo, and others. One was repeated reminded that the kind of pop music Mr. Sinatra represents is a rapidly vanishing species. Also dead are not only most of the great songwriters, but also the three principal orchestra arrangers of the evening's program, Nelson Riddle, Gordon Jenkins, and Don Costa. And William B. Williams, the local disk jockey and friend of the singer whom he remembered in words that brought tears to his eyes as he spoke them, has died as well.

"Mr. Sinatra, however, goes on.. And in 1987 he is not afraid to let the cracks and crevices in his voice express toughness, fatigue, and hesitancy when those feelings and attitudes fit into an interpretive concept.

"The singer brought interesting new resonances to much that was very familiar. "Where or When" was light and sexy. "What Now My Love" and " Lonely Town " became sepulchrally dark meditations on solitude. "My Heart Stood Still" and "I Have Dreamed" were shaped into proud assertions of marital devotion. For "Mack the Knife," the singer became a tough guy cutup. The little known Jerry Leiber-Mike Stoller ballad, "The Girls of Summer," was delivered as a wrenching acknowledgement of youthful longings. "The Gal that Got Away" and "It Never Entered My Mind" were skillfully combined in a medley in which they extended and commented on one another. The evening's most amusing moment came with the singer's introduction of " New York , New York " as "the national anthem."

"The concert's dramatic tour de force was Mr. Sinatra's rendition of Billy Bigelow's "Soliloquy" from "Carousel" with bits of dialogue and gesture. In an interpretation that fearlessly touched extremes of toughness and tenderness, the singer, the character, and the song seemed to become indivisible."

Ed O'Brien responded to Adair's observations and Holden's review by pointing out that Sinatra did his best autumnal work with his close friend Gordon Jenkins. The poet Paul Verlaine wrote "The long sobs of the violins of autumn pierce my heart." Jenkins' charts for Sinatra certainly did. He responded to the bittersweet sounds of weeping strings and conveyed the beauty and great sadness inherent to the season.

"Where Are You" is the most autumnal of all Sinatra's efforts to capture both the splendor of the season and the underlying somber note that it brings. Are there any songs more quintessentially autumnal than " Lonely Town ," "I Think of You," "There's No You," "The Night We Called it a Day," "I Cover the Waterfront," "Maybe You'll Be There," and "Where is the One." The cold, windy autumn night is palpable in every phrase sung by Sinatra.

"September of My Years" conjures up for O'Brien the vest-wearing middle-aged Sinatra finding affirmation in song after song. Here the singer is almost defiant in the face of the inexorable march of time that autumn so marvelously represents metaphorically in these September ruminations. "A Long Night" has the desolation of late autumn when the sky is gray and the trees stand barren in the fields.

But if I had to pick one song that most represents for me Sinatra in autumn, it would be his 1974 recording of "Just As Though You Were Here." I see this lonely man in his apartment and then the October walk in the park. He speaks of fragile dreams and how distant and time leave such doubt in his heart. It is just do autumnal.

"Autumn in New York " was sung by Sinatra in a most romantic way. I like it a great deal, but have come through the years to also greatly admire the much darker interpretation Billie Holiday brought to the song.

Finally, we come to Sinatra's recording of "Indian Summer." Has any poet ever captured the ephemeral nature of life better than Al Dubin when he wrote "fading away, ending too soon." Sinatra's reading of his lyrics captures the essence of all that autumn represents. I fervently wish that Sinatra had recorded "Early Autumn." I would dearly love to hear to hear Sinatra evoking the marvelous visual imagery Johnny Mercer created with his memories of autumn.

Jonathan Schwartz told me many years ago a marvelous story of Sinatra on an autumn night in 1952, O'Brien says. This lonely little guy was walking down a New York avenue , wearing a top coat and hat, hands in his pockets, at the nadir of his life and career. A very famous songwriter saw Sinatra coming up the street and crossed the avenue to avoid him. Sinatra never forgot that moment. Perhaps he sang of it in the loneliness of a recording studio when autumn leaves began to fall.

Adair commended O'Brien for his excellent post, adding that autumn provided such a rich strain of imagery in countless Sinatra songs. Jenkinsonian strings were the backgrop on so many occasions and never as effectively as on "September of My Years." If ever there was a perfect marriage of theme, singer, and arranger, then this was it.

As I have said before, Adair continues, "Indian Summer" is a recording that always moves me particularly since the timbre of tthe voice had darkened noticeably by that time. It is not done in the conventional ballad style and it is all the more affecting for it (so often when he sang of summer it was of a summer in retreat: "The Summer Knows" and the deceptively jaunty "Summer Wind" spring to mind).

I would also nominate "Just as Though You Were Here" as a wonderful example of the singer in autumn, Adair writes. I am tempted to also add "My Shining Hour" from 1979. Everytime I listen to this song I marvel at the tenderness and longing Sinatra brings to the song which is, perhaps surprisingly, essentially about loneliness.

O'Brien asks Adair if he had heard the recording of "My Shining Hour" in July of 1979. The difference between that effort and the redo in September is remarkable. The latter required eight takes a tone higher than July and it is, in my opiniinion, the finest recording on "The Past." Billy May agreed with me on that one. Sinatra never sang it in concert for some reason.

Adair says that he has never heard the July version of the song. It is certainly my favorite from "The Past" an entire rrecord that can hold its own with many of Sinatra's finest albums. Too bad we didn't get a full ballad collaboration with May "Come Cry with Me" would have been a perfect title.

O'Brien says that he'll never forget asking Billy May why he never did a ballad album with Sinatra. There was a long pause and then May said, "You would have to ask Frank." Indeed.

Kenny Lucas:
After serving 4  years in the Military, stationed in Germany from 1977-1980, I
returned to N.Y. in 1980. I went to Carnegie Hall every year during the decade of the 80's,
that FS appeared, and, usually for 2 or 3 performances, I look back on those years of
seeing Frank to me, at the top of his game.

Ed O'Brien:
I share your sentiments. He was beyond splendid. The musicians who worked
with him were in awe of his presence and command on a stage. I have many, many reviews
from that time and almost everyone is a rave. Critics could not find enough superlatives to
celebrate his artistry. A Truly remarkable time.

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[sinatraphiles] October 14 - THIS DATE IN SINATRA HISTORY

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