Frank Sinatra

Francis Albert Sinatra (/sɪˈnɑːtrə/; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board", "Ol' Blue Eyes", and "The Voice", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.

Francis Albert Sinatra (/sɪˈnɑːtrə/; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board", "Ol' Blue Eyes", and "The Voice", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.

Francis Albert Sinatra (/sɪˈnɑːtrə/; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board", "Ol' Blue Eyes", and "The Voice", he is regarded as one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century. Sinatra is among the world's best-selling music artists, with an estimated 150 million record sales globally.

Watertown Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Watertown is Frank Sinatra's most ambitious concept album, as well as his most difficult record. Not only does it tell a full-fledged story, it is his most explicit attempt at rock-oriented pop. Since the main composer of Watertown is Bob Gaudio, the author of the Four Seasons' hits "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," "Walk Like a Man," and "Big Girls Don't Cry," that doesn't come as a surprise. With Jake Holmes, Gaudio created a song cycle concerning a middle-aged, small-town man whose wife left him with the kids. Constructed as a series of brief lyrical snapshots that read like letters or soliloquies, the culminating effect of the songs is an atmosphere of loneliness, but it is a loneliness without much hope or romance – it is the sound of a broken man. Producer Charles Calello arranged musical backdrops that conveyed the despair of the lyrics. Weaving together prominent electric guitars, keyboards, drum kits, and light strings, Calello uses pop/rock instrumentation and production techniques, but that doesn't prevent Sinatra from warming to the material. In fact, he turns in a wonderful performance, drawing out every emotion from the lyrics, giving the album's character depth.

Duets & Rarities: The Gold Collection is a two-disc set collecting 40 duets and rarities (natch) featuring Frank Sinatra. Most date from the '40s, his Columbia years, and most can be found on the gargantuan 12-disc set The Columbia Years (1943-1952): The Complete Recordings. The first disc features a few intriguing duets ("New York, New York" with Gene Kelly, "A Little Learning Is a Dangerous Thing" with Pearl Bailey, "Me and My Shadow" with Sammy Davis, Jr., even the oddball "Mama Will Bark" with Dagmar), some ostensibly grabbed from radio shows. The quality is sub-standard, though, and, despite the presence of a few novelties, none but the most rabid Sinatra collectors need bother with it.

Celebrate one of the most important and beloved entertainers of our time with the 7-DVD box set Frank Sinatra: Concert Collection, which contains over 14 hours of television and concert performances from the '50s to the '80s, including 4 previously unreleased specials, an exclusive compilation of vintage performances, and a 44-page book featuring rare photographs and notes by Sinatra scholar Bill Zehme. The definitive collection of Frank Sinatra's musical legacy as captured on film.

Alan & Marilyn Bergman, winners of two Academy Awards and members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, were husband and wife, and their professional collaboration produced memorable lyrics cherished by superstars from Bing Crosby, Tony Bennett and Johnny Mathis, to Sting, Barbra Streisand, and Frank Sinatra. This LP, and expanded CD and digital releases, highlights their great songs as sung by Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra was arguably the most important popular music figure of the 20th century. He came to the fore during the swing era of the 1930s and '40s, helped to define the "sing era" of the '40s and '50s, and continued to attract listeners during the rock era that began in the mid-'50s. He scored his first number one hit in 1940 and was still making million-selling recordings in 1994. This popularity was a mark of his success at singing and promoting the American popular song as it was written, particularly in the 1920s, '30s, and '40s.