Hi Ed,
I interviewed vibraphonist Frank Flynn in 1999 about his work with Sinatra. He
said he was talking to Billy May one afternoon on the sidewalk outside of a Los
Angeles radio studio where they had just completed “The Stan Freberg Show.”
After they had been talking for a few minutes Billy looked at his watch and
said, “I’ve got to get going. I have to write three charts for Frank for his
recording session tonight.” It was 4 pm, and the session started at 8 pm,
which meant Billy had to write three arrangements in four hours…and one of the
songs was “Come Fly With Me.” I was astounded that Billy could turn out such
high quality work in such a short time. As you know, the chart on “Come Fly
With Me” is outstanding, as well as the ones for the other tunes on the date
(“Blue Hawaii,” “Around The World,” “It’s Nice To Go Trav’ling,” and “Brazil”).
Unbelievable!
Guy Alan Livingston told me that Billy would write charts as they drove
into the studio at nine in the morning. Livingston marveled at the incredible
level Billy attained on these rush jobs. The musicians, I interviewed,
considered Billy to be a genius. Not even Riddle was that highly regarded.Ed
On Oct 10, 2022, at 9:43 AM, eob101 ("eob101") <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
E17697 Come Fly With Me
(Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)
Maraville Music Corp./Cahn Music Co. (ASCAP)
Arranged & Conducted by Billy May
-6 (3:17) CD: CDP 724383595228 Sinatra 80th "All The Best"
CD: CDP 7-48469-2 Come Fly With Me
CD: C2-94777 The Capitol Years
LP: SW920 Come Fly With Me
note: Sammy Cahn wrote some grear lyrics for Frank Sinatra and
Jimmy Van Heusen contributed some great melodies.You caneasily run off 25 to 30
songs that became a treasured part of the Sinatra canon. We have heard them
thousands of times and theystill resonate today. But I would argue this is the
best song theywrote for him. Frank sang it in clubs, concert hall and arenas
forfive decades. Frank sang the song with such exuberance. He embraced the
joyous hedonism of the lyrics with a total senseof joie de vivre. This is the
Sinatra who was filled with the thrilland excitement of being alive. Billy May
wrote an arrangement that so complements the singer. And Madison Avenue has
helped to make his recording timeless with many ads featuring the Sinatra
vocal. I feel the song continues to hold up 65 years after the great Capitol
recording. Just marvelous.Ed
