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
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 can
easily run off 25 to 30 songs that became a treasured part of the
Sinatra canon. We have heard them thousands of times and they
still resonate today. But I would argue this is the best song they
wrote for him. Frank sang it in clubs, concert hall and arenas for
five decades. Frank sang the song with such exuberance. He
embraced the joyous hedonism of the lyrics with a total sense
of joie de vivre. This is the Sinatra who was filled with the thrill
and 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
