"All the Way"
A Tribute to Frank Sinatra in Hollywood
by Roger Hall
Francis Albert Sinatra
Born: Hoboken, New Jersey, December 12, 1915
Died: Los Angeles, California, May 14, 1998
There have been many tributes paid this year
to
this superb popular singer.
This one is about his songs from the movies...
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"Time After Time" with Frank Sinatra
Unlike many teenagers growing up in the 1950s, l liked all kinds of popular music from rock n' roll to Broadway and Hollywood. Since my mom liked the songs recorded by Frank Sinatra, we had some of his recordings in the house.
The first time I remember hearing a movie song sung by Frank Sinatra on radio was "From Here To Eternity" a 1953 recording not sung in the film of the same name but it still became a Sinatra hit.
Other movie songs followed in the 1950s such as "Young at Heart"; "The Tender Trap" and the song that was my favorite and which James Kaplan in his fascinating book, Sinatra: The Chairman, describes this way:
The film's theme is a great Cahn-Van Heusen number, their best (and least ambivalent) love song, "All the Way."
The opening lush string opening of that song still gives me chills and demonstrates Nelson Riddle's genius as an ideal arranger for Sinatra.
I was pleased when "All the Way" was included on a CD I co-produced with American Classics honoring the centennial birthday of lyricist, Sammy Cahn (1913-1993). The CD includes all four of his Oscar-winning songs which were recorded by Sinatra: "Three Coins in the Fountain"; "All the Way"; "High Hopes"; and "Call Me Irresponsible." Also, Sammy received an Emmy for another hit song by Sinatra, "Love and Marriage," from the TV production of OUR TOWN in 1955, and that was the only time a song lyricst has received such an honor.
When I had my own radio program in the 1990s I played lots of
Sinatra recordings from the 1940s and 1950s, and especially Hollywood songs on a once weekly special I called "A Night at the Movies." My nightly program was called, "IN THE MOOD," from
the popular Glenn Miller recording featured in the 1941 20th Century-Fox musical, SUN VALLEY SERENADE.
This year marks the centennial of Sinatra's birth. But whatever the year, it's a thrill and a pleasure to listen to Sinatra sing, not just once, but
as the title of a Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn song for the 1947 movie IT HAPPENED IN BROOKLYN says it, Sinatra can sing
"Time After Time"!
--by Roger Hall
Your comments or memories are welcome. Send them to:
Frank Sinatra in Hollywood
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Frank Sinatra Sings "Time After Time"
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Frank Sinatra sings "All the Way"
CD tributes to Sinatra's favorite movie lyricist...
"It's Magic" - A One Hundredth Birthday Celebration of Sammy Cahn
A celebration by an ensemble of stellar cabaret singers of songs by Sammy Cahn (1913-1993), the only songwriter from the past to receive four Oscars and one Emmy for his lyrics, all of the songs originally recorded by his friend and admirer, Frank Sinatra.
This most enjoyable CD was made possible by a grant from American Music Recording Archive (AMRA).
A fan letter to Sammy Cahn:
I will always be indebted to you for the words you put in my mouth and all those you have favored me with...I have learned much from you about the proper use of our language, and for that I thank youse
- Love ya, Francis Albert [Sinatra]
A description of the lyricist:
Another member of the [Sinatra] posse was a fast-talking, wisecracking, breathtakingly talented little lyricist named Sammy Cahn.
- Sinatra: The Chairman, by James Kaplan, 2015
"High Hopes" A Memorial Tribute to Sammy Cahn
This CD
features a selection of Oscar music and Sammy Film Music Awards announced on WGBH-FM public radio in Boston. Also Sammy Cahn speaking about one of his Oscar-winning songs.
Produced by Roger Hall.
Recommended CDs with movie songs
SINATRA AT THE MOVIES
Twenty tracks of songs recorded during the 1950s for Capitol Records including two of the Academy Award-winning songs that Sinatra sang in the movies: "Three Coins in the Fountain" and "All The Way."
Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River and
other Academy-Award winning songs
This marvelous album was arranged and conducted
by the great Nelson Riddle, whose arrangement of
"The Way You Look Tonight" is a classic.
Retro CD Review:
Frank Sinatra in Hollywood, 1940-1964
6 CD Box Set (with hardbound book)
Producers: Didier C. Deutsch and Charles L. Granata. Co-Producers: George Feltenstein and Darcy M. Proper. Audio Restoration: Andreas K. Meyer, Sony Music Studios. Stereo Remixing & Remastering: Doug Schwartz, Mulholland Music; Andreas Meyer & Jen Wyler, Sony Music Studios. Bristol Productions Limited Partnership, under exclusive license to Reprise Records for the U.S. and WEA International Inc. for the rest of the world.
Rhino/Turner Classic Movies Music R2 78285
CD 1 (1940-1944) - 27 tracks (68:44)
CD 2 (1944-1948) - 33 tracks (74:36)
CD 3 (1948-1952) - 28 tracks (74:32)
CD 4 (1953-1955) - 27 tracks (71:29)
CD 5 (1955-1957) - 24 tracks (64:08)
CD 6 (1958-1964) - 21 tracks (66:16)
Rating: Excellent
With so many recordings of Frank Sinatra already available, why release another large box set like this one? Well, you may remember some or all of the films that Sinatra sang in - and you'll find them all here in one collection, from his Big Band years with Tommy Dorsey in LAS VEGAS NIGHTS to the Rat Pack gang in ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS.
It took seven years to compile these 160 tracks, carefully selected by Sinatra experts and faithfully restored to CD, many for the first time anywhere. In addition to the 6 CDs covering the years from 1940 to 1964, there is also a very attractive illustrated 120 hardbound book. The book contains the following sections::
- Preface by Leonard Maltin
- You're Sensational: A Personal Reflection by Michael Feinstein
- Restoring The Voice of Hollywood by Charles L. Granata
- Hollywood 's Golden Age: The Era of the Fabulous Movie Musical by Didier C. Deutsch
- Sinatra ! The Visual Voice by Will Friedwald
- Pal Joey : The Quintessential Sinatra Movie Musical by Scott Allen Nollen
- The Songs
- Alphabetical Track Index
- Credits
With so much worthwhile information, the book alone makes this set worth having. All the popular Sinatra movie songs are included on the CDs. Here are just a few:
"Dolores" and "I'll Never Smile Again" from Sinatra's first film LAS VEGAS NIGHTS (Paramount, 1941); "I Fall In Love Too Easily" from ANCHORS AWEIGH (MGM, 1945); "From Here To Eternity" - the song wasn't sung in the film of same title (Columbia, 1953); "You're Sensational" from HIGH SOCIETY (MGM, 1956); "All the Way" - the Oscar winning song from THE JOKER IS WILD (Paramount, 1957); "The Lady is a Tramp," "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and others from PAL JOEY (Columbia, 1957); "All My Tomorrows" and "High Hopes" - another Oscar winning song, from A HOLE IN THE HEAD (United Artists, 1959); "It's All Right With Me" and others from CAN-CAN (20th Century Fox, 1960); and "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" from ROBIN AND THE 7 HOODS (Warner Bros, 1964). Those are the familiar movie songs by Sinatra.
There are also many alternate takes or outtakes, promotional tracks, and interviews. They include: the Academy Award acceptance speeches for the movie short on tolerance - "The House I Live In (That's America To Me") and for Best Supporting Actor role in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY; a somewhat self-serving interview with Louella Parsons; promotional spot for PAL JOEY; and bonus selection on the last track of CD6: "Don't Be A Do-Badder" - a rare Vocal Tracking Session with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. You can hear how much fun they're having with the recording session, but the goal is a successful track. Sinatra mentions his notorious impatience with multiple tasks, saying at one point that he's going home to New Jersey. It's a shame the song itself is not very good - one of the few Van Heusen-Cahn clunkers. The ending is also quite abrupt.
Sound on the CD1 is not the greatest, but considering the age and fragility of these tracks, it's a wonder they could have been saved and restored. Not all the songs are classics either. It's well known that Sinatra wasn't thrilled with his role in THE KISSING BANDIT from 1949. The five songs from that film aren't much to brag about. But that's only a very small portion of this massive collection.
Most listeners will probably best remember the Sinatra movie songs from the 1950s and '60s. One of the songs I especially remember is "You My Love" by James Van Heusen and Mack Gordon from YOUNG AT HEART (Warner Bros, 1954). A beautiful song and it's great to have it included in an alternate mix with Sinatra, who is joined by the sweet voiced Doris Day. Another welcome addition is the famous "Soliloquy" from CAROUSEL (an unreleased 1955 Capital Records session master).
Some of the most popular songs of this era were written by Sinatra's songwriting team in residence: James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn. They wrote two of the three Oscar winners sung by Sinatra. Strangely the third Oscar winning song, "Call Me Irresponsible" from PAPA'S DELICATE CONDITION is not in this collection. It was sung in the film by Jackie Gleason but Sinatra's recording was the most popular one and certainly contributed to it winning an Oscar. Sammy Cahn also received an Oscar (with Jule Styne) for "Three Coins in the Fountain" in 1954. Fortunately, that song is included in the Sinatra in Hollywood collection.
I have a few minor quibbles. The box set design is very bland with its basic black used throughout. Why make it look so dreary, when Sinatra was so colorful an artist? Instead of having everything in black, it would have been better to have the box set sleeve printed in another color so it could be read when place on a bookshelf. Some of the pages in the book are printed over photos and are hard to read. This is a common practice among CD album designers. They just don't consider the reader - especially the older ones with poorer eyesight! On the plus side, the six CDs are easy to read within their case. Each one has a different photo of Frank Sinatra at the age when the recordings were made. The hardbound book and CD case slide easily inside the outside cardboard box.
Frank Sinatra in Hollywood would make a ideal addition to your Sinatra collection to hear some of the best singing from films of the past.
This is a treasured set of Sinatra movie memories.
Highest recommendation.
-- Roger Hall, Film Music Review, July 2002
Recommended New Publications
This is a raw and riveting account of Sinatra's turbulent life and career
from the year 1954 onward:
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SINATRA - The Chairman by James Kaplan
Celebrating the 100th birthday of Frank Sinatra is this well organized magazine format tribute publication titled, SINATRA from i-5 publishing which is well organized and well written, especually
the first article, "The Voices of Frank Sinatra" by Mike Daley.
Related AMP Links
Sensational Sinatra! - A Centennial Tribute
Film Music Review
