But that’s a shame because there are some truly horrific examples
in the Sinatra canon, a couple of which I offer up for you today.
Singer and actor Francis Albert Sinatra (born 12 December 1915),
known as the ‘Chairman of the Board’ and ‘Ol' Blue Eyes’, Sinatra was one of
the most popular entertainers in the world. He began performing in the mid-1930s,
performed with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey and, after signing as a
solo artist with Columbia Records in 1943, became the idol of the bobby soxers,
selling out venues and starring in the weekly radio show Your Hit Parade
(more about that later).
He also forged a highly successful career as a film actor, appearing
in 60 movies and winning an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best
Supporting Actor in From Here to Eternity in 1953. Among his screen credits are
the hugely popular musicals On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls
(1955), and High Society (1956). He left Columbia and signed to Capitol,
releasing critically acclaimed albums including In the Wee Small Hours
(1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Only the Lonely
(1958), and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).
Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own label, Reprise
Records, and released a string of successful albums: through his lifetime he
sold over 150 million records. Sinatra may be best known for his string of
classic performances, from Fly Me To the Moon to Strangers in the
Night and, of course, My Way, but he also recorded a significant
number of clunkers during his career, especially in the early years. While with
Columbia he was often at loggerheads with Mitch Miller, then head of A&R at
the label. It was Miller who insisted that Sinatra record the execrable Mama
Will Bark, as a duet with shapely starlet Dagmar, which Billboard
dismissed as ‘a silly novelty piece [which] proves that Dagmar is better seen
than heard’. Legend has it that Sinatra was so angry with Miller that he never
forgave him: when the pair passed each other in a hotel lobby, Miller extended
his hand to greet the singer, but Sinatra snarled, ‘Fuck you! Keep walking.’
Then there’s Sinatra’s version of Woody Woodpecker. In
the 1940s Sinatra was starring on the radio show Your Hit Parade and, as
a consequence of this, was often called on to perform songs that were doing
well in the charts that week… one of which was Mel Blanc’s Woody Woodpecker,
a major hit in 1948. Although Sinatra’s lacklustre performance of this
monstrosity was never supposed to be released, in 1974 British budget label
Windmill Records put it out on a collection of Sinatra rarities, I’m
Confessin’, and the recording has been in circulation ever since.
Outside of his recording career, Sinatra’s somewhat
colourful personal life included turbulent relationships with wives Ava Gardner
and Mia Farrow, and rumours of his association with mob bosses followed him his
entire career, leading to his being investigated by the FBI for his alleged
relationship with the mafia. He became one of the best-known members of the Rat
Pack, an informal group of Hollywood stars and recording artists that originally
included Sinatra, Errol Flynn, Nat King Cole, Mickey Rooney, Judy Garland, Humphrey
Bogart and Lauren Bacall (Bacall and Sinatra were set to marry following Bogart’s
death, but Sinatra called the wedding off after shortly after the couple became
engaged, in mid-1958), but is probably best known for its Las Vegas iteration,
of Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Junior, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. In
1963 his son, Frank Junior, was kidnapped and Sinatra paid $240,000 ransom for
his safe return.
He died, aged 82, in May 1998, leaving behind an incredible
body of work, including the two songs I present for you today, Mama Will
Bark and Woody Woodpecker. Enjoy!
Download Mama HERE
Download Woody HERE
