Frank Sinatra: The Chairman of the Board
Francis Albert Sinatra doesn’t sound very cool, does it? Who would have guessed the man with such a girly name would go on to be one of the most famous singers of any generation and respectfully earn the titles 'Ol’ Blue Eyes' and 'The Chairman of the Board'?
Way back before plastic pop and talentless synchronised dancing clones took over the popular music world, entertainers had a heart, a soul and a style like no other. At the front of the pack in the coolest era of music was Frank Sinatra. Having a way with words that would make the women swoon and the men want to be like him, Sinatra started his career in the thirties and didn’t let up until the nineties.
He played with the likes of Tommy Dorsey, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Nelson Riddle and even Bono from U2, while his career even branched into films with performances alongside Burt Lancaster (From Here to Eternity, winning an Oscar), Angela Lansbury (The Manchurian Candidate) and Gene Kelly (On the Town).
But although his acting brought him some welcome diversion during a bad period, it was always the singing that would make his name and his fame live on. His respect for the songwriter's lyric made the music his, and in Sinatra’s own words: “One thing I’ve always tried to reach for in my approach to a ballad is a respect for the lyric. I try to do it the way I think the writer would like to have had it done.”
So if work has got you down, if the bills won’t stop coming and the kids won’t stop screaming, then do yourself a favour and switch off your mobile phone, put away your laptop computer and mix yourself a martini or three. There’s simply no better legal way to bliss out than with Frank Sinatra on DVD.
On this DVD
In concert at the Royal Festival Hall in 1971, Frank is warmly introduced by Princess Grace of Monaco, who starred in High Society with him when she was just plain Grace Kelly. The set peaks early on with I’ve Got You Under My Skin and Something, then never really climbs again, even with My Kind of Town. Put it down to an older and slower Frank getting a little tired and the voice a little harsher. It’s not like he doesn’t try though, but it’s just not his best performance in my eyes.
Track List
You Make Me Feel So Young
Pennies From Heaven
I’ve Got You Under My Skin
Something
The Lady Is A Tramp
I Get Along Without You Very Well
Didn’t We?
One For My Baby
I Will Drink The Wine
I Have Dreamed (From The King And I)
My Kind Of Town
My Way
Don’t go expecting a picture and sound worthy of the latest and greatest blockbusters, because it just won’t be found on this set of DVDs. But it’s also not the fault of the transfer process either. As the cover slicks helpfully warn us: “Due to the nature of the original source material some slight audio/visual imperfections may appear in this programme.” Primarily shot for television broadcasts between ’65 and ’85, the images are all fullscreen and while far from perfect in condition are easily forgivable for the content they deliver. Colour quality on the source can vary a little, with sometimes natural looking colours to occasional oversaturation and a bit of bleeding, while whites vary from washed out to reasonably detailed under the glare of the lights. Shadow detail is fine, with the live concerts a bit flat in the crowd shots but passable because they’re brief. The audio is stereo Linear PCM, but is derived from original mono sources. Occasionally the limitation of this is fairly evident in the quality of many pieces, but from time to time Frank’s performance in some songs and DVDs are allowed to soar in a way that captures the mood and enthusiasm he has for the music and allows you to get carried away with the whole affair.
I’m not going to complain about the extras, or lack of extras, on this series. Frankly, the main features are good enough, even with their brief running times, that to ask for substantial extras on top of 10 great discs just seems bloody outright greedy. What we get is a catalogue of the Frank Sinatra DVDs available in this set with a track listing for each disc and a trailer for the series.