Sinatra's voice definitely had two periods. The sound in his early
recordings is so sweet and so beautiful. Then there are the post-vocal
trouble (nodes, was it?) recordings, which are considerably raspier. And
yet, he had such great instincts for how to deliver a song that it doesn't
really matter. But I definitely prefer the earlier sound.
It's funny. As a child of the 60's, I grew up despising Sinatra. I
finally realized that it was because my exposure to him at that time was
from his television appearances, where he was trying to be hip and sing rock
songs, but in his normal style, which just came across as cheesy to me. I
saw a couple of clips like that in all the tv coverage of his death, and
just cringed at them. But I've gained so much respect for what he did in
his proper genre and have really come to love his voice and his approach to
songs. The same holds true of people like Dean Martin and Perry Como - I
hear them now and think, "What a lovely sound." I don't know if it's just
that I'm getting old or that I don't feel the need to separate my tastes so
stringently from those of my parents' generation any more. (Or maybe the
two are the same!)
I don't know that I agree with Karen that Nelson Riddle's arrangements
ruined Sinatra's voice (it COULD have been just a coincidence!), but I do
have to agree with her estimation of them. Does anybody remember the
recordings that Linda Ronstadt did with him in the 80's? I really looked
forward to hearing her in that repertoire, but his arrangements were just
awful. Waaaaaay overdone.
Lee Morgan
Mezzo-soprano
-----Original Message-----
From: Martha Merrill [mailto:mem_79@h...]
Sent: Friday, June 01, 2001 2:34 AM
To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [vocalist] Re: favorite singers
Pardon my ignorance, but what is the story behind your comment? I have only
heard Sinatra's 'golden oldies' probably recorded years ago, and they all
sounded lovely. When did this happen? Also, if I recall correctly, someone
mentioned Tony Bennett as one of their favorites...I do hope you mean his
past performances. Every time I have heard him perform in the last two
decades he has hardly sung one note...just that rhythmic speaking that some
people can get away with (ie Rex Harrison).
MM
From: Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
From: Karen Mercedes <dalila@R...>
"I blame Nelson Riddle for destroying Frank Sinatra's voice.
KM"
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