Rat Pack fans take note: Robin and the Seven Hoods, one of the classic Rat Pack films of the 1960’s, is being produced for Broadway in a production slated to premier in 2010. The original film, starring Frank, Dino, Sammy, and other semi-rat packers, was recently re-released as part of the The Rat Pack Ultimate Collection and was bundled favorites such as Ocean’s Eleven, Sergeants Three and Four for Texas.
Jo Stafford, a star member of the Pied Pipers during the early Sinatra/Dorsey days, has died at age 90.
After several delays, it appears that the two new Mobile Fidelity Sinatra releases will be available beginning August 5th. Amazon is taking advance orders for each. I’m personally looking forward to these releases as Mobile Fidelity has a well-deserved reputation for delivering audio quality that is superior to the studio releases. Product links are shown below:
Only the Lonely
Today I noticed that a seller has place a copy of the venerable Brunswick 8443 up for sale on Ebay. Long-time fans will no doubt recognize that as Sinatra’s very first commercial recording, made not long after he joined The Harry James Orchestra in 1939.
Over the years I’ve seen copies of this rarity go from anywhere between $750 all the way up to $3500, depending on condition and just how much the bidder REALLY wants a copy. They’re extremely rare. It will be interesting to see how this one turns out.
Few people are aware that Frank Sinatra had been offered the part of Harry Callahan in Dirty Harry. But, as this interview with Clint Eastwood reveals, that was precisely what happened. Eastwood’s role as Dirty Harry was, ultimately, a large part of what made him a film icon. It seems hard to imagine now what the series would have been like with Sinatra in the starring role. Different? Absolutely. Better? Maybe not; we’ll never know. But there are other roles one wishes Sinatra had received or completed: Sinatra made a great Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, but I’d be willing to bet most fans would rather have seen him as Sky Masterson instead. Sinatra’s abortive involvement in Carousel - he walked off the picture after learning he would have to film scenes for two different motion picture formats - survives, albeit only in musical form, with tracks recorded for the film appearing on Sinatra in Hollywood 1940-1964
One of the truly nifty features of Apple’s iTunes software is that it maintains a count of how many times a song is played. Whether you play the song while at your computer or on your iPod while on-the-go, iTunes is remembering what you like the most - and least - about your collection. Since I’m an early-adopter of technology, I’ve been listening to almost all of my music in this manner for about 6 or 7 years. During that time, iTunes has been keeping track of my favorites.
Today I thought I’d take a look at what Sinatra music I’ve listened to the most, on a song-by-song and album basis. I whittled the list down to the Top 25 and the results were somewhat surprising. For starters, half the list was consumed by songs from Christmas Songs By Sinatra and A Jolly Christmas From Frank Sinatra, both of which get heavy play during the holiday season. But keeping them on the list didn’t seem fair because I don’t generally listen to them at other times of the year. So I factored holiday songs out of the equation and ended up with the 25 Sinatra tunes I’m most likely to listen to throughout the year.
Continue reading ‘My Top 25 Favorite Frank Sinatra Songs’
According to Nevada Appeal, The History Channel recently recorded a segment on Sinatra’s former Cal Neva Lodge for their program “Cities of The Underworld.” Set to air sometime in December of January, the segment highlights the network of private tunnels beneath the lodge that were designed to allow high-profile guests and Sinatra himself to get around the facility without necessarily having the transit the casino floor.
Cities of The Underworld airs Monday evenings at 9PM on The History Channel.
Sinatra audiophiles take note: On June 30th, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs will be releasing newly-remastered versions of two of Frank Sinatra’s popular Capitol Records albums, Nice ‘n’ Easy and Only The Lonely. Both will be released as limited edition gold CDs. Mobile Fidelity has a well deserved reputation for wringing the absolute maximum quality sound from their remasters, always exceeding the original releases. These two, though pricey at around $30 each, will undoubtedly continue that tradition.
Links:
Only The Lonely - Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Remaster
Nice ‘n’ Easy - Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs Remaster
Today’s New York Times Real Estate section talks about the apartments and buildings of the famous. In particular, Frank Sinatra’s former 72nd St hangout is shown in great photo essay. I imagine it’d take a lot of clams to buy this place, not to mention renovate it from its present dilapidated state.
Nothing But The Best
