You: Yes, yes, but the hidden jewel in his crown is of course 1981's Shot Me Down, his swansong album for Reprise, alas known only to the cognoscenti.
Him: Er ...
You: A magnificent artistic triumph from the Autumn of his career. Its theme of loss and regret, and the set-'em-up-Joe vocals evoke the torch-song masterpieces of his justly celebrated Capitol recordings.
Him: Yeah, but Watertown-
You: Is perhaps obscure enough for the mainstream fan, but something of an artistic mis-step and hardly the equal of She Shot Me Down, with its dark, brooding suite of saloon songs delivered with an understated authority by an artist at his mature peak. I'm surprised you haven't heard of it, actually. It's a cornerstone work and no serious collection is complete without it. I bought it on release, and, oh, excuse me, Miss?
Swell Dame: Gee, I'm sorry to interrupt, but I overheard you speaking with such elegant poise and consummate authority and would love to hear this album which has already played upon my heartstrings, perhaps in a suitably intimate setting such as your swank bachelor pad?
Exit You, a gal on yer arm and a stirring in yer loins.
There are so many "hidden jewels" in the Sinatra canon. I just came across his "Songs By Sinatra" radio shows which are golden. Also there's the Rocky Fortune series, where he acts, but doesn't sing. The best there ever was and the best there ever will be. Can't say anything more than that. (With all that, would love to get the link if you're so endowed.)
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, but have you heard Sinatra Conducts Tone Poems Of Color?
ReplyDeleteHere's yer shot of Sinatra.
I have heard Tones and also the album he conducted for Dean Martin. He wasn't perfect. :)
DeleteNot getting involved in another murder so soon.
DeleteNot really a Sinatra fan, but I'll listen with interest to this, thanks. My father was a fan, though strangely never bought any of his records except COME FLY WITH ME (in fact he hardly ever bought records - I think he was afraid of breaking them, he broke his Katherine Ferrier Blow The Wind Southerly) When he broke his hip I made him several Sinatra CDs, but he didn't play them and when he died I took them back and destroyed them. I guess I was upset he couldn't be bothered with what I'd done for him. Oh well. (Was I upset he had died? Well, that's another question....) I did buy two or three Sinatra LPs in the 60s, including his Rod McKuen album and the (much-maligned?/over-praised?) Watertown. Been a while since I listened to any Sinatra, but if I had to choose one of his I do appreciate it would have to be SEPTEMBER OF MY YEARS. a middle-aged man looking back over his life. It's sobering to think that when he recorded SHOT he was 65, which is still a number of years younger than I am now. Hmmm.
ReplyDeleteI kinda dig the DISCO Swoonatra. I think it only made the rounds as 45s. Maybe 12"-ers? '70s remakes...
ReplyDelete"All or Nothing At All," "Night and Day," are among them. (A total of just 2 or who knows how many "Disco Frank" tunes...?)
And after reading a blurb about it in last month's RECORD COLLECTOR, I sorta wanna here his "WORST" LP:
1970's Watertown
https://www.discogs.com/Frank-Sinatra-Watertown/master/157249
It sold pitifully few copies ("Hard to find" now - eg, a staple of cut-out bins and Goodwill shelves?) and was quickly deleted, according to some sources...
You did read the piece, didn't you, B.B.? We know all about
DeleteWatertown here.
Read the wha.... . . . O.K., no one said there was going to be WORK let alone HOMEWORK here.
DeleteRead this: "Peace!":
Hippie Frank in Duet To It mode, with daughter Nan comes to mind... The scarf instead of a neck-tie years...
About now I'd usually say Something Stoopid, but I can't think of anything write now.
I am sure one of the Four or Five will dig up and add a YOOTOOB vidiot link here for us all to enjoy, any time now... Smothers Brothers? Ed Sullivan??? Maybe they did Dick. Cavett, that is.
I like the album with Biggie Smalls - Blue Eyes In Bed Sty
ReplyDeleteI'll second that! But nothing is though ...
ReplyDeleteNice one! I can see the swell dames lining up outside already!
ReplyDeleteThank you, sir. Not sure I'm world-weary enough for this but I'm going to try...
ReplyDeleteYou don't have to listen to it, you just have to know about it, so you can pretend to have the above opinion about it, so you can shut people up who think Watertown is the hip connoisseur's Sinatra album.
DeleteThese days, I need cheering up more than sobbing into my shot glass, so I opt for the swingin' Sinatra, which never fails to get me whip-crackin' th' imaginary mic cord.
I think that the "ROCK SNOB'S DICTIONARY" was ghost-written by a certain Foam Head (Patent Pending)
Deletehttps://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4818133
To pair-uh-phrase that cat Mark Twain:
"A classic is (a rekkid) that everybody praises but nobody PLAYS... (or listens to)"
ThanksB.B. -- I somehow missed that book and am adding it to my wishlist. I remember that wonderful smug self-validating feeling back in the 90s when Esquire ran a similar series and I was hip to the cats that the other rock snobs were re-discovering at the time like Skip Spence, Nick Drake, Scott Walker, etc, etc. It required some effort (and financial investment) back then in the pre-napster era to maintain your hipster cred! Nowadays we're all spoiled with a gluttony of musical treasures shared by generous benefactors like Lord Farquhar.
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