Release Date: November 10th 1956
Topped the chart:
24th February 1957 (for one week)
10th March 1957 (for one week)
24th March 1957 (for one week)
21st April 1958 (for one week)
Four weeks total
This is Sinatra collects the singles and B-sides released by Frank from his signing to Capitol in 1953 through to 1956, all arranged by now-regular collaborator Nelson Riddle. It is our first “Greatest Hits” compilation- a surprise we’re arriving here so late as it was such an easy way to produce an LP-length of songs consumers actually wanted to hear.
The fact that enough 45 releases could be collected to make an LP from a three-year period says a lot about how differently music was consumed back then. You’d expect such a short timeframe to create a sense of continuity to the releases, yet it still manages to be the same hodgepodge in terms of style and quality that you would expect from a full career retrospective. This is Sinatra manages to be a microcosm of Sinatra’s career and, though there is more good than bad in terms of song selection, the selections range from the stellar, through the tediously pleasant all the way through to miserable hard work.
Proceedings certainly start with a bounce thanks to I’ve Got the World on a String, one of Sinatra’s signature songs which features Riddle refusing to leave a stop unpulled. Sinatra floats over the top of the booming big band with ease, set against the explosive, orgasmic climax that features as the song’s final note. The string is cut far too quickly.
This upbeat mood doesn’t return until the glorious South of the Border. This is Sinatra at his most louche and romantic (swoon at the way he sings “mañana”) and is a joy, with a delicious double-bassline bubbling away under it all. The steps between these two bops are certainly slower, with two movie ballads bracketing a lumpen disaster. Three Coins in the Fountain deservedly won an Oscar, and it’s one of the few occasions that you can Sinatra really trying for something: romance, sadness, longing, while Riddle’s strings ache. From Here to Eternity is more disappointing after a bombastic opening that collapses into a milder affair, with Sinatra at his sleepiest.
In the middle sits Love and Marriage, a song that sits in American legend used as the theme tune to 80s sitcom Married With Children. On its own though, it’s hard work and doesn’t strike the cynical humour that it aims for. There’s something in Sinatra’s sarcasm in the era when his marriage to Ava Gardener was collapsing, but a bored-sounding Ol’ Blue Eyes is not something enjoyable to listen to. Even the orchestra gives up, oompahing out a “Shave and a Haircut” ending on bassoon- always a sure sign that an out-to-pasture “comedy” record in limping over the line.
(Love is) The Tender Trap gets the point across far more effectively as a highlight in the spottier second half. Young at Heart is a another winner in the closing moments, but when a singles collections features filler as forgettable as Learnin’ the Blues and My One and Only Love, one can’t help feeling that less might have been more in terms of releases.
As an overview of Sinatra singles of the era, This is Sinatra certainly gives an impression of what worked for 45 collectors at this time, but what this also tells us is that Sinatra might be the first “album” artist of the popular era. This is all good fun, but it pales in comparison to his perfectly sculpted albums in his Capitol years, like In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning or Songs For Swingin’ Lovers.
Score: 6/10
What do you think of This is Sinatra? Do you feel like Capitol chose the right songs? Are there any glaring omissions that you love? Please let me and everyone else know in the comments!
Tracklist:
1. I’ve Got the World on a String
2. Three Coins in the Fountain
3. Love and Marriage
4. From Here to Eternity
5. South of the Border
6. Rain (Falling from the Skies)
7. The Gal that Got Away
8. Young at Heart
9. Learnin’ the Blues
10. My One and Only Love
11. (Love is) The Tender Trap
12. Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me
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