Frank Sinatra

There's an interesting article on Frank Sinatra today online. I gotta say, I forget that Frank Sinatra has actual fans who are eager to hear whatever else there is left of his recorded output. It just doesn't occur to me in an ongoing way that they're out there. But God bless 'em, there they are.

So the article is a reminder, because I've heard it before but just space it off. It's definitely not my world to dwell in but theirs. To them he's The Voice, the greatest of the century, etc. The writer of this particular column even calls out Elvis, like Elvis might pretend to be the greatest of the century in the face of Frank. To me, personally, Elvis was a lot better than Frank, but I'm aware that I'm perpetually biased in Elvis' direction because of listening to him from my childhood.

As far as Frank was concerned, he was a guy that adults liked but seemed like an old guy by the time I paid any attention to him. And he had all those apparent unsavory connections that cemented it in my mind that he was someone I wouldn't want to be associated with. This is '60s and '70s stuff. I remember reading my grandmother's movie magazines about Frank and Mia Farrow, all that, and so he just didn't appeal to me.

But since then I've acquired a few Frank Sinatra CDs and have given him numerous shots. I've enjoyed them too, I must say. But really after a certain point it's just cranking out the same and more of the same, generic whatever with his own particular phrasing. Crystal clear, yes, but antiseptic and detached. There's not enough psychology in it. Reminds me of Bing Crosby who recorded songs on the golf course, then when he had that unpleasant task over with, got back to what he really wanted to do, which was play golf.

It's an interesting reminder, that there are all these songs out there, and that Frank's people are releasing them at a rate of one a year with another "Greatest Hits" collection that all his diehard fans already have. I like the column's point that in 12 to 13 years they might have an entire album of new material. Funny. It makes you wonder how someone could even become a Frank Sinatra completist now. You'd be scouring the earth forever to get all these tracks that are probably put out as limited editions, etc.

There's certain artists who have certain fans who don't give up their records easily. Which is why you hardly ever see a Frank Zappa record or CD in Goodwill. (They are there once in a while, but rarely.) Then you have all those ones that adults loved in the '50s and '60s but no one has loved since, and they're a dime a dozen, like Billy Vaughn, Englebert, Herb Alpert, and countless local, generic religious groups.

I'm rambling, but let me offer this point. You cannot be a self-respecting Goodwill store without at least five Herb Alpert records in stock at all times! And as for these countless local, generic religious groups of the past, you could collect them literally forever and still only have a tiny portion of the total output. The Happy Johnsons, The Server Sisters, The Lundstroms, the list is endless.

Let me conclude with one other point about Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley. Whichever one is "best," one thing is true of each. Their estates and companies wish they had worked these guys like dogs when they were alive. They should have shown up every morning with a stack of demos and said you guys aren't leaving this room till you've recorded at least 12 songs a day.