Knowing I’m a Frank Sinatra nut, Bill Knight (a regular contributor to the Community Word), recently sent me a note about Seth MacFarlane, the Family Guy guy, who’s just released an album of songs originally arranged for Sinatra. In an interview with NPR, MacFarlane says that Tina Sinatra, the singer’s daughter, offered him access to Sinatra arrangements, songs the Chairman never got around to.
Knight, once editor of the Prairie Sun, a music paper based here in central Illinois in the late 1970s and early 1980s, might recall an outlier among the many lists the paper printed. As a contributor to that publication, I remember filing my top 10 songs for 1980 along with other staff members of the rock and roll publication. I included a Sinatra song—”It Had to Be You,” off Frank’s Trilogy album released that year. I had it listed right there along with “Turning Japanese” by the Vapors, “Drivin’ My Life Away” by Eddie Rabbitt, and “What I Like About You” by the Romantics (I can’t remember my other favorites that year).
I’m not sure when I picked up the Sinatra habit, but it’s been a long time, obviously. I don’t know when I’ll hear Seth’s Sinatra stylings but, in the meantime, there’s always a list of Sinatra favorites.
1--“Summer Wind” -- This one followed up the huge hit “Strangers in the Night” that Sinatra had in 1966. I’ve always related the song to Cape Cod but the summer wind plays all over.
2—"I’ve Got You Under My Skin” -- This was my favorite Frank song for ages. The Nelson Riddle arrangement stands as a classic. It’s just one of the many great songs on the Sinatra-Riddle collaboration that produced Songs For Swingin Lovers, an album produced in 1956.
3—"Fly Me To The Moon” -- Off the 1964 album It Might As Well Be Swing, recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra and arranged by Quincy Jones. Sinatra wanted the version to swing hard, and it does. Tony Bennett, one of many who also recorded the number, shows that the song also works when you slow it down.
4—"The Way You Look Tonight” -- The song was originally performed by Fred Astaire in the 1936 film Swing Time. Composed by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields, the tune was on Sinatra’s 1964 album Sinatra Sings Days of Wine and Roses, Moon River, and Other Academy Award Winners. The TV campaign for Michelob beer in 1988 (that featured Sinatra) is what imprinted the song on my mind.
5—"Come Fly With Me” – Usually performed by Frank in concert, the Van Heusen-Kahn song appeared as the title track on Frank’s 1958 album of the same name. The number often turns up in film soundtracks such as Raging Bull (1980) and Catch Me If You Can (2002).
6—“Witchcraft” -- Another breezy swinger arranged by Nelson Riddle, “Witchcraft” was released in 1957.,
7—"It Had to Be You” – Off the bloated Trilogy: Past Present Future triple album that Sinatra released in 1980. The song is a true oldie, dating back to 1924, but Frank, now 65, takes his time and pours all those years of experience into it. The next song on that album, “Let’s Face the Music and Dance,” is another good one. Both were songs on the record that represented the past. “New York, New York” was the hit on the disc that was classified as the present. The less said about the future record, the better.
8—"Young at Heart” -- The song was such a hit in 1953 that the movie Sinatra was filming at the time with Doris Day was renamed to match the song title with the song included in the opening and closing credits .
9—"Pennies from Heaven” –- Sinatra first recorded the song in 1956 but it’s the second version, the one he did with Count Basie on Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First (1962) that makes the list. The song, arranged by Neal Hefti, longtime Basie collaborator, is an all-time favorite—even if they don’t make pennies anymore.
10—"The Best Is Yet To Come” – Another Count Basie number. Originally written for Tony Bennett by Cy Coleman and Carolyn Leigh in 1959, the song became a Frank Sinatra classic when he recorded it for his 1964 album It Might as Well Be Swing.
Honorable Mention:
“You Make Me Feel So Young” -- A classic pop tune first heard in 1946 for the Hollywood musical Three Little Girls in Blue. Frank Sinatra recorded the tune in 1956 for Songs for Swingin’ Lovers.
“I Thought About You” -- “Composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Johnny Mercer, yet another number from Songs for Swingin’ Lovers. The song "I Thought About You" is featured on the soundtrack of the 1996 film, Michael, the movie where John Travolta plays an angel.
“Somethin’ Stupid” – A song sung by Frank and daughter Nancy that spent four weeks at the top of the charts in 1967.