Search - Frank Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey :: Song Is You

"I'll Never Smile Again..."

Bobby Underwood | Manly NSW, Australia | 09/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"No fan of Tommy Dorsey or Frank Sinatra will want to miss this stunning collection of some of the best music ever made. This is Dorsey at his most melodic and Sinatra as he was evolving into the singer everyone would call, "The Voice." Soon young women known as bobby-soxers would be passing out during his songs.



Just looking at the tracks on this 5-disc set is enough to make any music lover swoon. Some will be familiar to everyone, others less so, as this collection encompasses everything Tommy Dorsey and his Big Band recorded with Sinatra fronting the band. Those who are only familiar with the Sinatra of the later fifties, after his vocal problems in Mexico, will be stunned by the silky smooth, almost angelic quality to Sinatra's perfect pitch and phrasing.



There is something to be said for the resonant quality added to Frank's voice later on, when his vocal chords hemorrhaged and it was feared his career was over. But hearing a very young Sinatra with one of the best of the Big Bands behind him is just incredible. It was an era of music that burned brightly and was too soon to pass into the romantic night.



There is a marvelous booklet included in this boxed set filled with nostalgia and memories of great music and those who made it. Those buying this just for Sinatra, however, may be a bit disappointed. Tommy Dorsey's band is fabulous here, and sometimes Sinatra's contributions to the songs are minimal. This was the case with all Big Bands of the era. The music and the band itself was the big draw, not the singer.



But Sinatra was so special it caused people to pause and listen, rather than dance, and though it was not his fault, it signaled a change for the music world that would, in the end, cause the Big Bands to fade into nostalgic memories of big ballrooms and dancing with your sweetheart.



These 5-discs are just about the music, however, and listening to them is like turning back the hands of time. Where else could you hear Sinatra singing with the crystal clear voice of Jo Stafford, the Pied Pipers in the background? There is a 1930's and early 1940's innocence to most of this collection. It was a time when the song was as important as the singer or the band. While you could scoop up an entire basket full of song classics from this boxed set, it is the songs you've never heard which make it so wonderful.



There is a romance to these songs which has now been lost. A lot of these songs are both romantic and fun, with terrific music surrounding the room and the song. Perry Como once stated in an interview that the difference between Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra was simply the Irish pixie vs. the Italian "all or nothing at all" attitude. Here in these Tommy Dorsey arrangements, Sinatra was closer to that Irish pixie of Bing's selections.



Yet as you listen to them all, which you certainly must, you can hear echos of the Sinatra that was to come. Along with the happier, more lilting or sweet songs, there is an occasional glimpse of the Sinatra going for what Perry Como would call, "the suicide song." There was something in his voice, even then, that was like a shadow hanging over the words of a song. It was a shadow which would reach its zenith with Frank's "Only the Lonely" album, now considered one of the greatest concept albums ever recorded.



There is a lighter and more romantic tone here, however, when a devastated Sinatra jumps into the middle of a Dorsey refrain. It is a more melancholy Sinatra who sings of love never coming back, perhaps because it had only been in his heart while he was being played a fool. Yet the beginning of that shadow is there if you listen closely.



This boxed set will make you feel as young and full of life as Sinatra was. It is a true joy hearing this blend of Tommy Dorsey's Big Band and Sinatra's voice. I owned this for years and nearly wore it out before losing it somehow in a recent move. I intend to replace it soon and anyone who hasn't heard it must. Even rare secondary takes on songs are included, giving us alternate versions we might never have otherwise heard. The technical quality is excellent and the music itself out of this world. No music lover can let this one get by them."

Riper at an early age

John Ellis | New York, NY United States | 07/18/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Frank Sinatra toughened into a pugnacious, coarse, humorless performer who never completely lost his touch musically, but here he is an artist with a sweet voice and touch, to the point of sounding feminine, which in singing is wonderful. Whether his later toughness was to cover his sensitivity is for pop psychologists to ponder but if you want to know why the crowds sighed for him, here is the evidence. I would not trade this box set for the entire collection of his later output. Particularly choice is the radio disk, live in front of an audience from various dates. He was truly inspired in that setting. Aging is inevitable, but as you can hear with his idol Billie Holiday that doesn't have to mean an ugly decline. In this style and era, Sinatra had no equal. As you can hear today with Barbara Cook, you can even ripen with age."