Frank Sinatra

I took a course in Project Management in 1999 / 2000. I did a project in a team of 8, and I was not the leader. No, I was the lead programmer. The project leader was a kid in his 20s named Franco. And Franco was a fan of Frank Sinatra. So he’d bring CDs to the computer lab and we’d listen to Sinatra while we worked. And I would tease him. Tony Bennett did this song better I’d say. And Franco would go nuts. WHAT?? TONY BENNETT?!?!?? YOU CRAZY???

The first few tracks come from some kind of collection that I picked up at the library, then the rest comes from The Best Of Frank Sinatra, which is his Capital stuff, then Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits and Frank Sinatra’s Greatest Hits Vol 2, both of which have his Reprise hits.
This is a small section of the 65 top 100 singles he had between 1955 and 1975.

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Frank Sinatra:

• Learnin’ The Blues – We just heard this by Gisele MacKenzie. A number one hit in the summer of ’55.
• In The Wee Small Hours Of Morning
• The Tender Trap – A song about falling in love. From winter 55 / 56.
• As Time Goes By – From Casablanca. There are hundreds of versions, and even one by Harry Nilsson.
• Young At Heart
• Hey! Jealous Lover – A top 5 hit as 1956 drew to a close.
• All The Way – A top 5 hit as 1957 drew to a close. Many people did this one, and check out Neil Sedaka.
• Witchcraft – From winter ’58. cf That Old Black Magic.
• Chicago – I was in Chicago in 1971, and I saw some obscure relatives, on my mother’s side, went to the science museum. Judy Garland did this too. It was a hit for Frankie in the autumn of ’57, the flip side of All The Way.
• Come Dance With Me
• Only The Lonely – The album this came from was called Frank Sinatra Sings for Only The Lonely, and it’s one of those albums that shows up in everyone’s list of great albums. This is not the Roy Orbison song.
• High Hopes – A dumb song, sorry. From the fall of ’59.
• Nice ‘N’ Easy – From the fall of 1960.
• Put Your Dreams Away For Another Day
• Strangers In The Night – The song that put Sinatra back on the map. This was number 1 in the summer of ’66.
SOMETHING IN YOUR EYES WAS SO INVITING
SOMETHING IN YOUR SMILE WAS SO EXCITING
SOMETHING IN MY HEART TOLD ME I MUST HAVE YOU
Written by Bert Kaempfert
• Summer Wind – One of those summer romance songs. From the autumn of ’66.
• It Was A Very Good Year – A song of yearning, and nostalgia, and false memories. The orchestral arrangement is extraordinary, alternating full strings and pizzicato, with oboe obligato in just the right places. I’m guessing Nelson Riddle.
• Somewhere In Your Heart – From the winter of 1965. It has those piano triplets going down, kind of like what Dean Martin’s records sounded like.
• Forget Domani – It sounds like he is saying “forget the money.” From the summer of ’65. I don’t remember it.

Frank And Nancy Sinatra:

• Somethin’ Stupid – Nancy, of course, was his daughter, and she had her own career. It’s a bit sick, I guess, this duet, which was number 1 in the spring of ’67.

Frank Sinatra:

• That’s Life – With a cool organ lead, this was a hit in the winter of 1966 / 1967. Another episode of Philosophy with Frank.
• Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day) – From the spring of ’65. That’s what she lives for, sings Frank. Just a bit condescending.
• The World We Knew (Over And Over) – Poor guy is obsesses, but I can understand that. He should get over it though. From the summer of ’67.
• When Somebody Loves You
• This Town – I wonder who plays that harp. This is from the fall of ’67. I don’t know what town he’s singing about, but I suppose it could be anywhere.
• Softly, As I Leave You – A beautiful song – cowardly, but beautiful. Matt Monroe put it in the UK chart in ’62, and Frankie put it in the charts in the fall of ’64.
• My Way – A French song called Comme D’Habitude (roughly “Like Always” or literally “By Habit”). Paul Anka wrote English lyrics and handed it to Sinatra, who made something of a signature song out of it. Considering how closely this song is identified with Sinatra and his career, it’s surprising that it only ever reached number 27 on Billboard, and that was in the spring of ’69, just when labelmate Sammy Davis was singing I Gotta Be Me. Elvis did this later, and his version was also a hit, just after he died, but Frankie owns it. Anka himself recorded it, and his version is nothing to sneeze at.
• A Man Alone
• Cycles – A small hit in the fall of ’68, and a kind of precursor to My Way. I’ve always liked this one. Maybe it’s the faux Floyd Cramer piano
• Green – This is the Kermit the Frog song from Sesame Street. It’s not so strange really, Van Morrison also did it.
• Love’s Been Good To Me
• I’m Not Afraid
• Goin’ Out Of My Head – A hit for Little Anthony & The Imperials in 1964, and The Lettermen made a medley out of it in 1968, with Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, and Sinatra put it back on the chart toward the end of 1969.
• Something – George Harrison wrote this, and The Beatles recorded it for Abbey Road. It was the only number 1 hit The Beatles had that Harrison wrote. You want to hear a good cover, listen to Joe Cocker. Sinatra does it ok, but he doesn’t really get it.
• What’s Now Is Now – The aftermath of an affair. Frank is very big about it.
• Star!
• The September Of My Years – Bobby Goldsboro did The Autumn Of My Life. Same idea.