JSngry

As far as I'm concerned, these two albums are the "landmarks", at least from a purely musical standpoint: A synergy of creative arranging and jazzy singing that had been developing for several years reached it's full maturity here. It set a standard for generations of singers. But none topped this one. Riddle's writing is at times audacious, and Sinatra is in sync w/them like Miles was with Gil. And Joe Comfort on bass is the hero of more people who don't even know it than anybody I can think of. What this cat does on this album (and other Sinatra/Riddle collaborations) is the quite possibly the real reason why the "is Sinatra a jazz singer?" arguments even exist in the first place. Joe Comfort was a BAAAAAAD man! Quite simply, one of the darkest, deepest, and depressing pop albums ever made. Riddle's writing is more than a little Gil Evansish here (although truthfully, it's probably a matter of their common roots in the Impressionist composers that's on display), and Sinatra's singing is as vulnerable and mature as it's ever been. This is about as "anti=Sinatra" an albums as exists, if you want to define Sinatra as a purveyor of unmitigated cockiness and invulnerability. He gets DEEP into the pain of the material here. It's a remarkable album on many levels. Don't listen to it while you're even slightly depressed though - Sinatra's "suicide songs" label for some of his ballad work has never been more apt than it is here. Perhaps significantly, SONGS FOR SWINGING LOVERS was imitated, diluted, etc., by more people than could possibly be mentioned, but only a handful have even tried to venture into the land of ONLY THE LONELY. This is truly, in every sense of the word, a dark album, and pop ain't suppesed to go there, especially not this deeply. But as a musical accomplishment, I cannot speak highly enough of it. After these, it becomes a matter of further exploration/deepening appreciation (and frustration). I've never really warmed to the Columbia era material overall, but some of his later work for the label shows definite shades of things to come. And truthfully, the early Columbia material with arrangements by Axel Stordahl show a remarkable voice in full youthful flower - some of the phrasing on these records is pretty damn amazing, and the song selection is very often classic. But in spite of all that, I don't find a lot of depth in this material. Others do, though, so see for yourself. The Dorsey stuff is a mixed bag, imo, with the best stuff being where Sinatra serves as a "band singer". To that end, I really like the few sides he did with Harry James a lot more.

Sam is a very inspirational figure to many musicians and has been for five decades. You can bet that anybody who was asked to play on this album (and its companion) were more than happy to do so.

Remember what I said a while back about how the whole thing was about bizness, first and foremost? It is. And no aspersions being cast in saying that, just calling this song just exactly what it is (whatitiswhatitiswhatitis).

Not too much for the Prog-Rock stuff (his or anybody else's), but yeah, the pop stuff is DAMN good in all facets - writing, performing, and production. The guy's got some serious pop chops, and that ain't nuthin' to sneeze at. If it were that easy....

To call this song just exactly what it is (whatitiswhatitiswhatitis)?

Ah, but you still get Rabbit on "Indian Summer"...

I've crossed the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia numerous occasions. 876 high, 3030 ft long, the longest, single-span steel arch bridge in the western hemisphere. No big deal, because it's straight. The bridges that freak me out are the ones that climb vertically in an arch. A little bit of that is ok, but I've been on ones that go up at, like, 45-50 degree angles (or more, it seems), and the higher you climb, the freakier that gets. Then again, this new one is about 2.5 times longer the the one in WV, so it might get to me after a while. But as long as it's staight, I think I'd be cool.

From AMG: Originally released as Twink in 1967 (and changed because of the unrelated connotations the word has been saddled with since)...

Nordine is the God of Voiceover.

The guy they named the mountain after, right? wasn't that mountain named after the sports clothing? Mt. Eveready?

This doesn't seem to be an "official" EMI project. www.800tvmusic.com? Here'a their address from the site's FAQ page: Sinatra Concept Albums P.O. Box 17070 Colorado Springs, CO 80935 email is customerservice@c-music.com Definitely sounds like a licensing job to me.

I have a Pye LP with a rainbow-ish cover. Is that the original? It's not, is it? I've always likes it well enough. The focus of the palyers seems to wander here and there, but that's the nature of the beast.

The guy they named the mountain after, right?

Go ahead, ask. Just remember, Tom will be appearing as "the GM of New York-based jazz label, Blue Note Records (who) has been with Blue Note for 14 years", not tomatblunote, music fan and "one of the guys". I would expect the AAJ moderators to handle the discussion accordingly which, frankly, is how it should be, all things considered. It ain't how I'd like for it to be, but it ain't my world, dig?

YO!

What the cristicos write.

"But Chuck, think of the all projects your share of the PPV revenues could fund!"

Dot and Phillips are both under the Universal umbrealla now...

Joe, to pick a nit, it's TWINK - based on a cartoon character/strip of that name. I used to have the LPS of both it and COLORS (my preference of the two, by far, and something I might go so far as to call "essential" for those who are into the whole music/poetry thing), then gave them to a "friend" as a "thank you gesture". Oh well.... Nordine is a GAS. I think I started a thread on him here a few months ago. Larry Kart played golf him one time, it seems. Can't believe that there's no Word Jazz collection curretnly in print, that's just SO wrong. Search the used bins, and pray that justice prevails. But the more recent stuff is equally intriguing too, just not as "playful". Yeah, Ken Nordine is all right by me!

That Hicky-Burr thing was the theme song to Cosby's first sitcom, The Bill Cosby Show, the one where he played gym teacher/coach Chet Kincaide. Good show, w/lots of good music. Is this the soundtrack from that show? Some of the song titles suggest this.

A White Sport Coat With A Pink Crustacean Just for the title.

What's an older, urban, liberal, African-American Democrat doing liking jazz?

It's a good-natured poke at a quality retailer whose site is impossible to visit w/o dropping some bucks. As to who originated the phrase, I haven't a clue...

15 out of 16 nights, yes....

Way cool! What label?