Sammy & Buddy Kick It Into High Gear

One of the coolest and most exciting albums in my collection is an album featuring Sammy Davis Jr. with the Buddy Rich Orchestra recorded lived in Vegas in 1966. It is amazing. Record over two nights (or mornings) at the Sands lounge, this album is one of the best you will ever hear. Sammy is on fire. Buddy (as usual) is on top of it and the crowd is eating it up. I wish there was a video of this somewhere as it must have been one of the greatest shows to have been at. The shows started at 2:30 AM and were done as a special performance for the people who worked on the Vegas strip and would have been getting off of work at that time. All I can say is thank God they recorded it! You must check this out. Here's Sammy Davis Jr. and Buddy Rich with "The Sounds of '66". Enjoy!

Sammy Davis JR & Buddy Rich - The Sounds of '66

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2011: Day 19

Bobby Sherman sang so, um, politely yesterday it just makes me want to get away to a far off swingin' place. Find out where when you open the flap for today! Enjoy!

Advent Calendar 2011 Day 19

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2011: Day 15

Yesterday we found a classic Fleisher cartoon and today . . . who knows? You'll have to open the flap and find out! Enjoy!

Advent Calendar 2011 Day 15

Dartman's Advent Calendar 2011: Day 1

Welcome to this year's edition of Dartman's Advent Calendar! This whole month I'll be posting some great holiday content with a new window being opened every day. To keep the element of surprise, I'm just going to post the link and have you be surprised by what you get! Here's our first download of the season! Enjoy!

Advent Calendar 2011 Day 1

Ella On the Radio

I love Ella Fitzgerald. In my opinion, there was no one better. She was amazing. Over the years I have amassed quite a collection of Ella records. There are the standard ones that you can get anywhere but then I have a bunch or really cool ones that are much harder to find. I'm not just talking about bootlegs. I'm talking about recordings that were made way back when she was just starting out with the Chick Webb Orchestra. I have some really great albums from that era and beyond that I've rarely seen even on-line. It's one of those great albums that I am sharing with you today. It's a release from the great "Sandy Hook" label back in the 80s. I have a vary strong affinity for Sandy Hook records for several reasons. One; they were based in my home state of Connecticut and Two; they put out some of the coolest records featuring some amazing radio broadcasts from the golden age of radio. This album is no exception. It's a bunch of radio transcriptions from 1940 of Ella leading the Chick Webb orchestra. When Chick died in 1939, Ella took over the orchestra and continued to front it for many years. She had taken over as the leader when Chick started to become ill so the orchestra knew that it was the right choice. This album is extremely cool and shows Ella doing what she does best. Here is "Ella Swingin': NBC Radio 1940 Big Band Remotes". Enjoy!

Ella Swingin': NBC Radio 1940 Big Band Remotes

Spiderman Swings!

Here's a video clip of "The Shiny Lapel Trio", a great swing quartet (yes, I said a quartet name The Shiny Lapel TRIO) that I've been playing with for some time. Here's our version of Spiderman. Enjoy!

The February of Frank: A Look Inside Ol' Blue Eyes Part 6

Here is the last post for The February of Frank! As I stated yesterday, time got the best of me this month and as a result, I still have a lot of Sinatra items that didn't make it to the World of Wonder. So, keep on the lookout for those throughout the rest of the year. For now, here is the final part of the "Inside Sinatra" series. It's titled, "Inside September" and focuses on the recording sessions for the album, "September of My Years". The release of that album mixed with the releases of A Man and His Music and Strangers in the Night marked a surge of popularity in Sinatra's music. Both September of My Years and A Man and His Music won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Sinatra's performance of "It Was a Very Good Year" won the Grammy Award for Best Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards of 1966. Arranger Gordon Jenkins was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for the same song. This was the first album Sinatra and Jenkins had recorded together since 1959's No One Cares. Jekins and Sinatra would next work together on the 1980 album Trilogy: Past Present Future.
CBS-TV cameras were rolling the night Sinatra recorded "It Was A Very Good Year". The edited result was included in a Walter Cronkite CBS News special about the singer's 50th birthday, broadcast on November 16, 1965. Here is "Inside September". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-Inside September

BONUS:
Here's just a snippet of that Cronkite special for your viewing pleasure.

The February of Frank: A Look Inside Ol' Blue Eyes Part 5

With only two days left in The February of Frank, I have seem to almost run out of time in getting posts up. This month was a little tricky in that I wasn't as prepared as I normally am. It took me a bit longer to get things digitized and I found myself desperately trying to keep up with ever changing calendar. Add to all of that my taking care of my new son and becoming increasingly busy in my gigs at night and you have a strong case for trying to do too many things at once. However, none of you wish to hear my sob stories so I'll just say that as much as you've seen shared here during The February of Frank, it's nothing compared to what I still have left to share with you from my gigantic Sinatra collection. I guess I have to keep it in storage until the next time I can share a Sinatra goody with you. Until then, I am closing out the month with the final two volumes of "Inside Sinatra". Today we have "Inside Strings". "Sinatra and Strings" was originally released in 1962 and is one of the most critically-acclaimed works of Sinatra's entire Reprise period. It was Sinatra's first album with arranger Don Costa. "Sinatra and Strings" gave us some new takes on old songs that Frank had already recorded in the past. It would be his third recording of "Night and Day," his second recording of "Stardust" and his second recording of "All or Nothing At All" (Sinatra recorded the third and final version, the more commonly known swinging rendition, four years later for "Strangers in the Night"). The Reprise era, though not as popular as his Capitol era, is still considered to be a great time for Sinatra recordings and these sessions prove that the man was in full voice and power. Here is "Inside Strings". Check back tomorrow for the last post and the last volume of "Inside Sinatra". Until then, enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-Inside Strings

The February of Frank: Defining Definitive

Amongst the "unofficial" albums in my father's record collection is one entitled "The Definitive Sinatra". It's a collection of unreleased songs that were performed live on radio and in television during the 1950s. The quality is pretty good considering the source material and the record company (known as Chairman Records) went out of their way to let you know that "no echo or stereo effect was added to these recordings". An obvious jab at the Lucky Strike recordings that I shared with you earlier this month which had a stereo effect added. These recordings are great and not only are they performances that weren't released but they are also songs that Sinatra never recorded in a studio setting. Here for you now is "The Definitive Sinatra". One last note: there is one song from the original lp that I have failed to include. I have no idea where it went. It was there when I ripped it. Somewhere along the way, it was deleted from my computer. Since I am currently in LA and not in CT, I have no access to the original LP to rip that song. I promise that when I return next week I will re-rip the song and post it. Sorry.

The Definitive Sinatra

The February of Frank: Occhi D'Azzura Part III

Here is the third and final volume of "Sinatra Live In Italy". This time around, you get three great entertainers for the price of one! Recorded in Milano on April 6, 1989, this concert features not only Frank but Liza Minnelli and Samy Davis, Jr. as well! And out of the three volumes of the Italy recordings, this one is the best. One of the highlights is an incredible medley of some of Frank's biggest hits that seems to go on forever! You will love this one! Here is "Sinatra Live In Italy Volume III". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-Live In Italy Volume 3

The February of Frank: More of The Lost Capitol Tapes

A few posts back, I shared the first volume of "From The Vaults" which contained "lost" tracks from the recording sessions of the classic Capitol albums. As I stated there, "From The Vaults" was a privately circulated release from the mid 90s and only 1000 copies were originally issued. Along with that first volume was a second volume which featured mostly out-takes from the same recording sessions from 1955 to 1960 with additional tracks from a BBC broadcasted concert in 1953 and songs from the short lived "Frank Sinatra Show" that aired from 1957 to 1958. Trying to find a copy of this album can be quite pricey. But well worth it when you consider that the sound quality on the disc is absoutely masterful. This collection, much like the "Inside Sinatra" box set, shows Sinatra in complete control of his recording sessions. Here is "From The Vaults, Volume 2". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-From The Vaults Volume 2

The February of Frank: Franks and Deans

Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin were extremely close as friends and were both great admirers of each others work. They worked together for many years in films and as part of the Rat Pack. Throughout their careers, they would team up numerous times as a performing duo and sometimes adding other perfromers such as Liza Minelli to turn their act into a trio. They were known for their comic banter as well as for their singing and to see one of these performances would have been a pleasure. Unfortunately I was far too young at the time to have witnessed such a treasure of the entertainment world. But thanks to the fine art of bootleg recordings, I can witness some of this grandeur from afar. Here for you is one of those many nights when these greats shared a stage. It's a complete concert from June 10, 1977 in Chicago, Ill. The place was The Sabre Room and the sound is superb! Here is "A Swingin' Nigh At The Sabre Room". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin-A Swingin' Night At THe Sabre Room

The February of Frank: A Look Inside Ol' Blue Eyes Part 4

"I Remember Tommy" was Frank Sinatra's affectionate tribute to Tommy Dorsey, the legendary bandleader who helped elevate him to stardom. Arranged by Sy Oliver, who also gained attention through Dorsey, the album contains a number of songs that were part of the Sinatra/Dorsey repertoire, with new arrangements that highlight Sinatra's vocal more than the originals. The album was huge amongst fans of both Ol' Blue Eyes and of Dorsey. The sessions for this album are featured in this, the next installment of the "Inside Sinatra" series. I have often wondered why Frank didn't try to scour up a lot of the old members of the Dorsey band to do this album. It would have been great to hear Buddy Rich playing the drums behind the crooner. Anyway, here is "Inside Tommy". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-Inside Tommy

The February of Frank: The Hit Parade Records Part 2

Continuing on with the "unofficial" releases of Frank's performances from "Your Hit Parade" we have the next album in sequence. The title of the album is, yet again, "Frank Sinatra" and features ten more songs that Frank crooned his way through during those historic broadcasts throughout the 40s. These are some nice arrangements and as with the last album, the sound quality is what you would expect from radio broadcasts of the 40s. I have tried to clean them up a little but the source material is rough and crackly even if my vinyl is not. Here is that album. Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra (CAMERON Records 5004)

The February of Frank: Sinatra's Solo Duets

After yesterday's re-post of Sinatra's Duets, I thought it would be cool to do a feature on the Duets album from 1993. For those of you who don't know, this album was the last big firework in the Chairman's display. And what a firework it was! It was advertised as “The Recording Event of The Decade.” It features duets between Sinatra and other guest star singers from various genres; Sinatra personally chose the performers. Some of the performers appearing on the album were Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, Barbara Streisand, Bono, Anita Baker, Carly Simon, Tony Bennett and Gloria Estefan. The only problem in this whole "duets" album was that the songs were not originally recorded that way. In fact, the songs were recorded in their entirety by Frank first. After the songs were already recorded, that's when the "duet" partners came in and did their part. The actual "duets" were just the guest artists singing along to a pre-recorded track. Think of singing along to your favorite song and taping it on a tape recorder and you get the gist. It was because of the way this album was recorded that my father actually boycotted it. He felt that it was a sham. Sham or not, the album was a commercial success, selling over 3 million copies in the U.S and reaching #2 on the Billboard albums chart. Here for you now is not the completed Duets album but rather the recordings made by Frank before the "duet" partners were added. Here is "Frank Sinatra's Duets: Solo". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-Duets:Solo

BONUS:
Here's the video for "I've Got You Under My Skin" that was a duet with Bono. They made no bones to cover up how they recorded the album by emphasizing it with the way they produced the video!

The February of Frank: How To Swing Australian

Following the post from a few days back of Sinatra's concert with Red Norvo in Australia, 1959, we have another classic concert from the land down under. This time around we get to hear Frank in what many consider to be one of his best concerts, hands down. The date was December 2, 1961 at the Stadium in Sydney. It was the closing night of a three day engagement. From the moment he comes onto the stage until his exit, seventy five minutes and 23 songs later, Ol' Blue Eyes holds the audience in the palm of his hand! For years, a short, edited version of the concert circulated amongst bootleg collectors. Then, somehow, somewhere, the rest of the concert was discovered. Here for you is the complete show exactly as it was performed back in 1961. Here is "December Down Under". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-December Down Under (12/2/61)

The February of Frank: A Look Inside Ol' Blue Eyes Part 3

Continuing on with the "Inside Sinatra" series, today we get a glimpse into the recording sessions for the classic album, Moonlight Sinatra. This album was released in 1966 and was worked around the theme that every song on the album had something to do with the moon. There was "Moonlight Becomes You", "I Wished On The Moon", "Moon Love", "Reaching For The Moon" and so on and so forth. The title of the album is a play on Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata". The orchestra was led by the great Nelson Riddle. Here are those recording sessions from November 29 and 30 of 1965. Here is "Inside Moonlight". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-Inside Moonlight

The February of Frank: Wedding Bells Ring On Valentine's Day

Even though my wife and I are not big on Valentine's Day, we know that there are a lot of people who are and we respect that. I was going to let the holiday slide by without a mention but I figured I may as well tie it in to something with Sinatra. But what? Out-takes from "Songs For Swingin' Lovers" maybe? Well, in this day and age that has a whole new meaning so, no. But what? Then it hit me! My good friend, Kim Shattuck, from The Muffs and The Pandoras (and also from my single, "The Girl Named Female which you can download from I-Tunes, Amazon, E-Music and others) and her husband used a Frank Sinatra song as their wedding song. The song: Ring-A-Ding-Ding. So, as a public service to her and anyone else who has heard wedding bells in their lives, here is a whole album of the recording sessions for the classic, Reprise album, Ring-A-Ding-Ding! This is very cool! Happy Valentine's Day! Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-More Ring-A-Ding-Ding

The February of Frank: The Hit Parade Records Part 1

When I was a kid, my father would bring home records on a regular basis. And not just any records, he usually brought home some really cool items that I have rarely ever seen since. Two of these were records entitled, simply, "Frank Sinatra". These were collections of Frank's appearances on the popular "Lucky Strike Hit Parade" radio show. Your Hit Parade was a popular radio program that began in 1935 on which a group of singers sang the most popular songs of the week, counting down to #1. Frank spent two stints as a regular performer on the show, first from February 1943 (just after he had begun his solo career) to December 1944, and again from September 1947 to May 1949. He wasn't always pleased with the way things were done. Truth be told, Frank was constantly complaining about the songs being too tacky and the tempos being too "old fashioned" and "rigid". This would become something of a crusade for Sinatra that would carry on into his later career. He would always turn away the type of songs that he was made to sing on "The Lucky Strike Hit Parade". As a result, the recordings of those shows were never given the green light to be released. That didn't stop a small, unofficial record company called CAMERON Records from putting out a series of these long-thought -to-be -lost recordings in the late 70s and early 80s. The sound quality is what you would expect from a 40s era radio broadcast but the performances are delivered with every touch of class that Sinatra gave all of his performances. Tacky and old fashioned, yes, but the voice is still there! Here is one of those Lucky Strike albums. BTW, only 8 of the 10 tracks on this album are from "The Hit Parade". "I'm in the Mood for Love" is actually from the "Songs by Sinatra Show", while "Long Ago and Far Away" is from the "Vimms Vitamins Show". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra (CAMERON Records 5003)

The February of Frank: Frank Roasts Some Shrimp On The Barby

As early as 1939, Frank had turned down an offer by Red Norvo and his then wife, Mildred Bailey, to join their orchestra as the male vocalist, because he had already signed with Harry James. However, their relationship continued to be a close one, symbolized by Bill Miller, who, before becoming Sinatra’s regular in 1951, had worked extensively with the Norvo Big Band. Finally, in 1959, the crooner and the mallet master joined forces for a brief concert tour that would bring them around the world. One of the stops on that infamous tour was in Melbourne, Australia. On March 31, the combo would perform two sold out shows to the people of Australia. A recording of both events was made by some unknown Australian. The tape of the first show circulated for years amongst Sinatra fans and bootleggers alike. Eventually, the recordings of both shows made it into the posession of Capitol who put out the legal release, "With the Red Norvo Quintet: Live in Australia, 1959" on the Blue Note label. (without much remastering being done to improve the sound, btw) The majority of that album's material, however, comes from the second show as opposed to the boot that consisted of the first show alone. Here is the original bootleg recording featuring the first show of that day in Melbourne. If you have the Capitol/Blue Note release, this makes a great companion to it. Here is "A Tour De Force". Enjoy!

Frank Sinatra-A Tour De Force