Frank Sinatra: Primetime

On the year of his centenary, this DVD comes as a pretty terrific triple-header of Sinatra TV specials—one from '68 and another from '69 (2 years prior to his retirement from music and show biz). The 3rd special is from '76, several years following his return to the stage. It's a television special featuring Sinatra in the company of pop-country stars of the '70s (it presages his own two best-selling "Duets" albums from the '90s as well as Tony Bennett’s two Duets albums from the past 5-6 years)..No doubt Sinatra detractors (and he still has more than his share) will find support for their arguments against Sinatra the musician-singer, but his supporters will find just as many reasons to agree with Bob Dylan's recent assessment of Sinatra as the greatest artist of his or any of our life-times.For the best evidence in support of Dylan's assessment, go directly to the 3rd (last) telecast from 1977--a full 3 years following Sinatra's coming out of retirement. Ole Blue has never looked or sounded better. From the very opening Rodgers and Hart number--"Where or When"--Frank is completely comfortable in his own skin--relaxed, energetic, spontaneous--easily upstaging each of his guests as he meets them one by one--Loretta Lynn (why does Frank so resolutely "refuse" to exchange her gaze? My theory is that it's not so much about directing listener's attention on "him" as on "his music"--a significant difference), Leslie Uggams, Natalie Cole, Tony Bennett, John Denver, Dean Martin, and Robert Merrill (Metropolitan Opera star and occasional vocal instructor to Sinatra). Frank instantly "dwarfs" Bennett, visually and musically (though at age 88 Tony looks and sounds considerably stronger than he does here), and when it's Frank's turn to go up against the "statuesque" Natalie, he compensates for the height disparity (Frank is variously listed at between 5'6" and 5'8") by spinning (in both directions) with tight pirouettes no doubt remembered from his two movie roles with Gene Kelly.Dino has the smallest contribution in this edited version of the show. Surprisingly, Tony Bennett's tenor sounds mellow and even muted next to the biting, aggressive, full-bodied sound of Frank's solid and confident baritone. Listen to Sinatra attack the last "Where" of "Where or When"--not from below the pitch but from above it! --in a tenor range! (One can't help but sense that Tony would be a bit embarrassed were he to view this video today--his tan is darker than any Neapolitan's--and his toupee! did he borrow it from a big-haired Nashville brunette? -- it has to be seen to be believed. But no need to feel bad on Tony's account. If he had to yield the last century to Sinatra, he's more than made up for it as the class act of the 21st!)Even Sinatra can't make up for some of the "uncharacteristic" (I'm tempted to say "low") points of a concert which--though it's less weighed down by contemporary ephemera than the first 2 programs in this collection--still makes the following concessions to: 1. a guitar-playing / singer-song-writer (though Denver comes off nicely when he's harmonizing with Sinatra on "September Song") and 2. a Nashville brunette-- though, to Loretta's credit, she bends to Sinatra's repertoire by dueting with him on "All or Nothing at All" (but was it really Nelson Riddle's idea to set the song to a disco beat? Say it isn't so, Nelson! And was it his idea to compound this travesty with a disco beat behind Sinatra's latest reading of "Night and Day" (thank goodness I own six infinitely superior interpretations of the tune by Frank--making it easy to put this one behind me).The program, which had started with a bang, threatens to end in a complete fizzle with Sinatra singing an innocuous Anka period piece ("Everybody Ought to Be in Love") to each of the departing guests (what's wrong with "I'll Be Seeing You"?). At best, some face is saved when Anka's attempt seques into Frank taking the show out with his enduring, truly lovely (and without any disco beats!) "Put Your Dreams Away for Another Day."Even daughter Nancy conceded, when asked a few years ago why her father was never a TV star, that "he couldn't excel in everything." At times these programs suggest why. Not only did the Sinatra persona have too much “edge” for the cozy, warm-sweater world of TV, with its new country music folksiness, but the years of continuous smoking were producing a voice with a harder, and occasionally harsher, sound than anything heard from him in the three preceding decades. And there are moments when Sinatra’s intonation is slightly “off”—enough to produce discomfort in this pitch-conscious musician. Finally, the bows to contemporary pop music seem to suit Frank no better than any the other music giants who had come up in the age of swing—Ella, Peggy, Sarah, Carmen, Mel.world of music post-Bob Dylan).The 2nd program offers a deeper, fuller profile of Sinatra, who isn’t served badly by the less psychedelic visuals, occasionally placing him in a brown suit rather than the customary tux. There’s a vintage, representative ballad medley as well as some hard-swinging moments (“Please Be Kind” is a stand-out—better, in fact, that the several recorded examples in my collection). The review of Sinatra’s film career has numerous comical moments though, as a whole, the overdone modesty does too little justice by Sinatra as an actor (he not only comes off as apologetic but as self-critical to a fault, practically dismissing his entire film career as a mistake!). Moreover, some of the contemporary song selections—country and Rod McKuen tunes—don’t go far toward making Frank’s case that the inferiority of his acting is borne out by the superiority of his singing.The 3rd program has been made available on various collections of Frank’s Duets with high-profile entertainers. It’s a potpourri of hits and misses, mostly of the former. But as usual, Sinatra—the most riveting performer I’ve seen to take the stage—is inadequately represented on the television screen. I don’t recall a single moment during the five occasions when I caught him "live and in-person"—between 1967 and 1984—that was anything less than electrifying, spellbinding, enthralling (it made no difference whether my seats were in the front row or the nosebleed section—it was one man in a tux with a nothing more than a microphone, reprising the music from the Great American Songbook that he, more than any other artist, was responsible for “creating.”Why is the magic lacking on television (including his return in 1974 to the stage of Madison Square Garden)? Much of the answer is related to “space” and the resonance of a bigger-than-life voice (even on the most intimate ballads) from a persona that could influence a Miles Davis as much as the undeniable musicianship. The American Dream was not a congenital gift to Ole Blue: he scratched and clawed, willfully worked his way up the ladder, including the unscalable walls, to the impossible dream—a self-made, self-created "overachiever" whoe total triumph can be heard on 90% of his recordings—not just the timeless art of "Ole Blue" with Riddle during the Capitol years but the early emergence of “The Voice” during the Columbia years and "The Chair" who presided over his own label during the Reprise years.There’s only one filmed performance that I can recommend without a hitch. It’s a benefit in St. Louis circa 1965 featuring Sinatra and the Rat Pack (minus Joey Bishop, whose place is taken by Johnny Carson). On the uptempo tunes, a viewer can actually see, in ordinary black and white, a jazz performer so hard-swi)nging in his joyful immersion in the music that nothing else matters. (I had to view it a 3rd time to remember that it wasn’t shot in color.

The Chairman of the Board is a one off performer. Surrounded by other musicians and music genres of that era,Sinatra is Timeless.An entertainer like Frank comes along once in a century.

Sure miss this man's beautiful voice and the story of his evolving life! What an incredible life he lived and mostly "My Way"!! Dino, Sammy Davis, and Frank!! 'Oceans Three!!"

Watched it and of course another great DVD of Frank! Enjoyed it very much and will again.

I got this as a gift for my grandma and she loves it. It came in great quality.

If you’re a Sinatra fan you’ll love it.

picture quality terrible. ruins the experience

I purchased this for my boyfriend. He loved it. If you like Frank Sinatra, you will like this DVD. Had not seen any of these performances from Frank Sinatra before.

Diese DVD zusammenstellung ist perfekt und spiegelt wunderbar den Zeitgeist der 1960'er und 70'er wider! Ein muß für Sinatra Fans!!!

Great thanks.