What was so great about Frank Sinatra?

[Taverner]

Some folks just LOVE LOVE LOVE Sinatra

For me, I could care less...but then again I like very little music from before 1950.

So Sinatra fans, what was it about him?

[RagAss]

1. Don't know...I was a Dino fan...

To me Frank tried too hard to be cool....For Dino it was natural.

[Left Is Write]

2. Oh geez, you are REALLY trying to start flames this afternoon, aren't you?

[trof]

3. You had to be there. Sorry.

[crimsonblue]

4. men idolized him

because they all wanted to be rich, alcoholic, womanizing, chain smoking, good looking, smooth talking, singer maestros.

[trof]

10. You say that like it's a bad thing.

;-)

[crimsonblue]

13. not that there's anything wrong with that.

:D

[Fran Kubelik]

5. His voice.

[PeaceNikki]

7. Yes! And the lyrics...

I'll fly you to the moon, baby.

[flvegan]

6. Everything. He defined cool.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

8. The man could sing a song.

And some of his best work came out post-1950.

[Arugula Latte]

9. I don't care for his "croony" slow songs, but I love his swingin' stuff ...

"Fly Me to the Moon," that sort of thing. Just a great voice.

[blogslut]

11. His phrasing

Sinatra was one of the first American crooners to emote in his songs. In other words, he was more than just a fellow with a nice voice, singing the song as it was written. He gave songs personality. Close your eyes and listen to this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=53sCut6XxZE

Now, compare the emotion in that voice to (the big deal singer of the previous generation) Bing Crosby:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eih67rlGNhU

Hear the difference?

[Taverner]

14. Interesting - Bing sounds very stuffy in comparison

Sinatra definitely seems more relaxed

[blogslut]

15. yeppers

Frank changed popular music.

[mitchum]

28. Bing is the prototype for most of the "heroin vocalists"...

Iggy, Bowie, Nick Cave, early 70s Reed, etc...

[Taverner]

37. Except without the heroin

BTW...can you beleive I never heard the entire album for "Lust for Life" until last week when I downloaded it...

Man was I missing out those 30+ years!

That album's bloody brilliant

[mitchum]

42. It is a great record...

apparently, Iggy can only do great work when he essentially collaborates with others: Asheton Brothers, James Williamson, Bowie, Sales Brothers.
Left to his own devices, the results are not very good.

[Taverner]

43. Definitely - and those two Berlin Iggy albums had just as much Bowie in them

[XemaSab]

18. Bing has a beautiful voice

but he's singing the song about half again as fast as I think it should be. :shrug:

[blogslut]

20. I agree Bing had a lovely voice

But as I mentioned, the emotion is missing. It's not his fault, that's just the way songs were sung before Frankie came along and broke the mold. Hell, even Bing loosened up after Sinatra changed the rules.

[trof]

26. Crooners:

Crooner is an epithet given to a male singer of a certain style of popular songs, dubbed pop standards. A crooner is a singer of popular ballads and thus a "balladeer". The singer is normally backed by a full orchestra or big band. Generally, crooners sang and popularized the songs from the Great American Songbook. "Crooner" was originally used as a negative term, and many people given the term, such as Russ Colombo, did not consider themselves to be crooners. In an interview, Frank Sinatra said that he did not consider himself or Bing Crosby to be crooners.

Some crooners, most notably Nat King Cole, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby or Jean Sablon, incorporated other popular styles into their music, such as blues, dixieland and even native Hawaiian music. Crooning became the dominant form of popular vocal music from the late 1920s to the early 1960s, coinciding with the advent of radio broadcasting and electrical recording. For example, Bing Crosby's radio show, Kraft Music Hall (1935-1946) was heard by 50 million listeners every Thursday evening <1>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crooner

[blogslut]

34. Hey, I'm only 48

I didn't know that the term "crooner" was considered a pejorative. Thanks for the info.

Don't get me wrong. I like both Crosby and Sinatra. Of course, if I had to pick a male singer with the sweetest voice ever, I would pick Jim Reeves, with Nat King Cole coming in a close second and Marty Robbins coming up fast in third place.

Jim Reeves:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ztHcGoSS_vA

Nat King Cole:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=tFyKAUBkdOs

Marty Robbins:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RxAQwMNXlic

[Auggie]

52. That's it exactly...

and I think he knew a good arrangement too. Never tried anything too cute or gimmicky in orchestration.

[Sky Masterson]

12. I like him..Sue Me

http://youtube.com/watch?v=v9sp3vGTm5k
Guys and Dolls- Sue Me

[GoddessOfGuinness]

23. Sit down...You're rockin' the boat.

;-)

[Sky Masterson]

30. And the Devil will drag you under

By the sharp lapel of your checkered coat,
Sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down,
Sit down you're rockin' the boat.
I'll be Nicely.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=o7kzsZreG0o
Sit Down you're rocking the boat..Stubby Kaye

[GoddessOfGuinness]

32. After all that, a person could develop a cold.

[Sky Masterson]

33. Adelaide?

:P
http://youtube.com/watch?v=NCSl7rw4ERI
Adelaide's Lament

[Bucky]

16. Only a real mensch could survive a three way with Angie Dickinson & Joey Bishop

Also, he sang with confidence.

Musical fans are always just a little weird. I mean, the Beatles made okay music, but I really never thought it worth screaming about.

[driver8]

22. *cough, cough*... I almost spit out the water I was drinking when I read this!

Hooking up with Angie Dickinson, I could see -- she was a babe back in the day!

How drunk do you have to be to let Joey Bishop in on the act?

[mitchum]

29. "And there was always Peggy Lee down the block"...

as Sinatra'a valet wrote in his book

Apparently, Frank considered her to be "back up pussy"

[Pierre.Suave]

17. Just for you

I decided to listen to some Sinatra...

:P

[Swede]

19. He did it his way.

:shrug:

[blueknight]

24. i heard he had

a " HUGE " package, if you know what i mean :wow:

[Shell Beau]

61. What do you mean by that?

:shrug:




















:rofl: ;)

[Swede]

63. He really did it his way.

:rofl:

[GoddessOfGuinness]

21. Organic phrasing.

Nothing was contrived or forced. There was no trace of self-consciousness. He just sang the songs as they were meant to be sung.

[no name no slogan]

25. He could sing like a mofo

And btw, he produced most of his big hits in the 1950s and 1960s. ;)

[mitchum]

27. His mug shot from the 30s is the coolest one you will ever see

[KG]

31. mafia ties: you no lika his music, he breaka you face!

[grasswire]

35. Frank actually lost his vocal potential.....

...with an illness mid-way in his career. After that, his phrasing and breath control carried him through, but he no long was the crooner as in his earlier days. I think he was terribly sexy, but I happen to like Italians, and that kind of "cool."

BTW, it was Tommy Dorsey who urged Frankie to learn the phenomenal breath control that set him apart.

[whistler162]

36. True he wasn't as good as Mel Torme' but few where!

[Z_I_Peevey]

60. Harry Anderson, is that you?

:hi:

[grasswire]

67. Mel Torme was absolutely the best vocalist ever.

Absolutely.

[baldguy]

38. .

[Paladin]

39. Pull Up Sinatra's Rendition of "Summer Wind"........

....with Nelson Riddle's absolutely stunning big band charts, and see if you're still unimpressed. A definite contender for Coolest Song Ever.

No one ever enunciated or phrased a tune better than Sinatra. He grows on you with age and experience---something for you to look forward to.....

[azmouse]

59. I think his best was "One For My Baby and One More for the Road"

I'm not a Sinatra fan but that song and Summer Wind are really good.

[begin_within]

40. THIS is what was so great about Frank Sinatra:

http://www.dizzler.com/music/Frank_Sinatra/It_Was_A_Very_Good_Year

[MilesColtrane]

41. He always told a story when he sang a song instead of just singing the melody.

Great musicians from all genres recognized this quality in his delivery, including Miles Davis and Phil Ramone.

Sometimes it's hard to know just how much someone changed music when you've been listening to all those that came AFTER.

Artists like the Beatles, Hendrix, Charlie Parker, and Sinatra came up with something that no one had ever considered before, and everyone after that thought to themselves, "Why of course that's the way it should be."

[Tuesday Afternoon]

44. Maybe its a girl thing?

I dig him :shrug:

[Zavulon]

45. My sentiments exactly.

I've always regarded him as one of the most overrated performers who ever lived.

[Pierre.Suave]

53. Even more than the britney(s) today?

Wow...

[Zavulon]

72. I'd have to say yes, because

a.) I'm not familiar enough with the Britneys to judge their work, and b.) none of them have approached the legend status Sinatra did. The only celebrity I can think of who even approaches Sinatra is Lucille Ball, but that's just my stance because I despise her sort of humor.

[Flaxbee]

46. I never really got his appeal, either

Some say his voice was better when he was young, but to me his voice is very generic. Not a lot of soul in it. To each his own, though, I guess. :shrug: My sister loooooves him. Me - she can have him.

[Robeson]

47. Obviously, you've exposed yourself as a novice....

...I'll just leave it at that...

[Steerpike]

48. That's Funny you say that.

I was just listening to the best of Sinatra in my car on the way to work today. His vocal control, power and sustain are unmatched. He sings with an effortless that carries the listener into the heart of the song. Hey, I love Molly Hatchet and the Ramones too...

[WinkyDink]

49. Seriously, how can one "explain" the appeal of music of a time-period, let alone charisma?

Read.
Listen.

Frank was sui generis, even if some thought he was a Crosby derivative. He lived a life like no other, and sang it.

Ring-a-ding-DING!

[datasuspect]

50. i'm more a louis prima guy myself

[WinkyDink]

51. I suspect you mean "Keely Smith." ;)

[MrSlayer]

54. C'mon. The man never traveled anywhere with less than 2 cases of Jack Daniel's.

He was old school cool. He owned Hollywood, Vegas and the Billboard charts for over 20 years. He was an Oscar winning actor, Grammy winning recording artist and Emmy award winning TV performer. His offstage persona was as interesting as his on, if not more. He and his Rat Pack outdrank, outfucked and outworked anyone before and generally ruled the world of entertainment. He arranged two Presidential galas (Kennedy and Reagan), appeared with and performed for people from Martin Luther King to Anwar Sadat.

He had serious attitude. Sinatra was so much more than just old songs.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

55. I used to LOVE him...

Then I found out he never wrote any of his songs. Now I just like him. You have to admit though, that Rat Pack was cool as hell.
Duckie

[MilesColtrane]

57. He is what he is.

I don't hold it against Richard Rodgers that he didn't have a singing career.

Sinatra actually is credited as co-composer on seven tunes. (none of which became standards)

The man was smart enough to recognize which tunes were going to endure, and those were the ones, for the most part, that he sang.

[Starbucks Anarchist]

62. Many great singers never (or rarely) wrote their own material.

Elvis, for one.

A singer's job is to interpret the song, much like a director's job is to interpret the screenplay.

[WinkyDink]

64. You don't like opera, do you?

[YellowRubberDuckie]

66. No, but not because of the singer/songwriter issue.

[raccoon]

56. That's what I'd like to know. Eddie Fisher had a better voice, IMO.

I don't remember when either were real popular.

Ever heard that Johnny Fontane in THE GODFATHER was modeled after Sinatra?

[azmouse]

58. He couldn't hold a candle to Nat King Cole.

A few of Sinatra's song are good but for the most part he just didn't sing very well.

[Bake]

65. His voice was pretty average (if that, even), but he was COOL.

That's about it.

TONY BENNETT RULES!!!

Bake

[edbermac]

68. Great singer, banged first class poon, hung out with the Mafia.

What's not to like?

[MissMillie]

69. He's got chunks of guys like you in his stool

or something like that

[Blue_Tires]

70. he banged nancy while ronnie was powerless to do anything about it

[mvd]

71. He had a really smooth croon that had the "it factor"

He could make you feel happy, relaxed, or solemnly sad equally easily.

[TK421]

73. I never understood the fascination...I know some people who adore him

almost to the point of worship ( I shit you not on this ) He had a good voice, but not the greatest. My Dad liked him, but my Mom and I always detested him; every time you saw the guy he was surrounded by these thuggish individuals, these goons of his and he seemed to revel in it. Come to think of it, he actually seemed like a bit of a goon himself ( hey, I could be wrong about that ) but the way he carried himself seemed to me that he was someone who thought they couldn't be touched by anything....except death, of course, but that gets us all at some point. He had some good crooning songs, and they used to play him to death on the jukebox at the bar down the street from me.