Welcome back to Frank's World, where I get to bore complete strangers by
waxing rhapsodic about the vast Sinatra universe.One thing about Frank Sinatra: he was not shy about letting people know what musicians and singers he admired (read a past post on Sinatra and Lester Young here). Probably the artist he complimented most, including Lady Day, was Ella Fitzgerald.
Ella Fitzgerald and Sinatra came up together during the big band era. They were both popular with the public during this time and were admired by other singers and musicians for having perfect pitch. They grew up in tough yet somewhat isolated neighborhoods outside New York City and were misfits in different ways, which ended up carrying through in their music.
Fitzgerald's "amateur" performance at
the famed Apollo Theater led to her professional career while Sinatra
won on the Major Bowes radio show, which was the American Idol
of its day. It still took Sinatra a couple years after that contest win
to break through. Vocalists weren't the stars in those days; the big
band leaders were.
Fitzgerald and Sinatra are the finest propagators of the Great American Songbook. Sinatra defined his career by being the first major star to dust off and record "forgotten" songs by the likes of Cole Porter and the Gershwin Brothers. Fitzgerald's songbook series was so successful that it pretty much bankrolled Verve Records. I've read that Sinatra stopped his own 1950s recordings from being collected into composer songbooks because he felt that Fitzgerald owned the format.
Each represents a jazz feeling in song, and both are based in swing instead of the blues. If Fitzgerald sometimes didn't read lyrics as deeply as Sinatra did she could scat better than anybody else in the business. I'm not always a fan of scatting, but Miss Fitzgerald turned it into a true art.
Check out Fitzgerald's brilliant rendition of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" with Paul Weston's band; her improvised performance actually conveys a deeper sense of Berlin's lyrics and melody than the composer did. This number matches the feeling of being glad to be alive. Fitzgerald in general seemed to bring out a similar euphoric feeling in Sinatra. Check out the way the two interacted in concert, with Sinatra literally sitting at her feet looking up at her with wonder and respect.
The feelings, of course, were mutual. Fitzgerald described herself as one of Sinatra's original bobby-soxer fans. For more Fitzgerald and Sinatra, you can listen to my superlative Frank's World Rhapsody Radio Station, which has "just-click" links for your Facebook and Twitter pages.
Fitzgerald and Sinatra are the finest propagators of the Great American Songbook. Sinatra defined his career by being the first major star to dust off and record "forgotten" songs by the likes of Cole Porter and the Gershwin Brothers. Fitzgerald's songbook series was so successful that it pretty much bankrolled Verve Records. I've read that Sinatra stopped his own 1950s recordings from being collected into composer songbooks because he felt that Fitzgerald owned the format.
Each represents a jazz feeling in song, and both are based in swing instead of the blues. If Fitzgerald sometimes didn't read lyrics as deeply as Sinatra did she could scat better than anybody else in the business. I'm not always a fan of scatting, but Miss Fitzgerald turned it into a true art.
Check out Fitzgerald's brilliant rendition of Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" with Paul Weston's band; her improvised performance actually conveys a deeper sense of Berlin's lyrics and melody than the composer did. This number matches the feeling of being glad to be alive. Fitzgerald in general seemed to bring out a similar euphoric feeling in Sinatra. Check out the way the two interacted in concert, with Sinatra literally sitting at her feet looking up at her with wonder and respect.
The feelings, of course, were mutual. Fitzgerald described herself as one of Sinatra's original bobby-soxer fans. For more Fitzgerald and Sinatra, you can listen to my superlative Frank's World Rhapsody Radio Station, which has "just-click" links for your Facebook and Twitter pages.
- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2008 All Media Guide, LLC.
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