Frank Sinatra “This is Sinatra!”

I’m absolutely certain that the orchestral intro, and then the opening lines, from the first song of this record, “I’ve Got the World on a String,” is my favorite beginning of any Sinatra song, or album, or maybe any album, period. It’s a song about how being in love is the best feeling ever, and he’s as convincing as anyone. That’s followed by “Three Coins in the Fountain” which is as corny as any song ever written, but for some reason I don’t mind, and I’m caught up in it. Next, “Love and Marriage”—ditto above. Twelve songs, every one of them great, all ingrained in my mind because I’ve listened to this a million times—it’s one of from my parents’ collection, from 1956—four years before I was born—it’s like I was listening to this for nine months or so before entering the cruel world. No album title is more apt, no exclamation point more deserved—but it’s not even an original Frank Sinatra album release, but a “compilation”—but with Sinatra that’s kind of beside the point, unless maybe you had all these songs as singles, or on other releases—and even then, this is thoughtfully compiled and sequenced—it creates a mood, sustains it, and each side ends with a melancholy one—“Rain (Falling from the Skies)” —with precipitation effects—and my favorite song on the record, “Don’t Worry ’Bout Me” —closing it. Most of it is excellent Nelson Riddle Orchestra. The album cover is crazy—full-size Sinatra head—you could buy an extra and cut it up and use it as a Halloween mask—but then you’d have to cut out the excellent eyes (looking more green than blue, here). He’s looking back over his right shoulder like he just did something wrong. It looks more like a photorealist painting than a photo—maybe it is. I forgot to mention “Learnin’ the Blues,” “The Gal That Got Away,” “South of the Border,” “Young at Heart,” “(Love Is) The Tender Trap”—well, all of them—more of a soundtrack to my life than any other record, I guess!

11.13.26