Book Review: "Sinatra, The Chairman" by James Kaplan

Author, James Kaplan, has a new best seller out, "Sinatra, The Chairman" that covers Frank Sinatra's life from the early 1950's until his death in 1998.  I did a review of James Kaplan's first book on Sinatra, "Frank, The Voice", (that covered Frank's life from birth to the 1950's)  I posted January 17, 2011 that covered Frank's life from birth to the 1950's.

The material in both books has been meticulously researched by James Kaplan in order to give the readers the most accurate picture of one of the most written-about men in the history of entertainment.  The footnotes for this new book number 878 which gives you an idea of the care that was taken for accuracy with Sinatra's history.

There have been many books written about Frank Sinatra but "Sinatra, The Chairman" is,  in my opinion, the book to read on the subject.  Kaplan's first book was also terrific but it covered a period that only a few of my readers had lived through with him.  His new book, "Sinatra, The Chairman" contains wonderful stories about the Frank Sinatra we knew and all the stars we grew up with.  It allows the readers test our memories and belief circles against the real reality of what was actually happening behind the curtain.

This is a major book with over 887 pages of stories that will delight, upset and educate you on what was really going on in the entertainment world when we were growing up and watch behind the velvet ropes.  It never gets boring and most will have a hard time putting this book down.  Kaplan is very careful to let the reader know when he is guessing about what Sinatra is saying or feeling at times, but he is rigorous in comparing first person knowledge from multiple sources to test his opinions. The bonus in this book is all the information it gives the readers about other entertainment giants of the time that we followed and loved in addition to the Sinatra story.

If you grew up during the "Rat Pack" area and could only read one book on Sinatra and this period in entertainment history, this would be the book to read!

                                                                   BOOK REVIEW
                 The Music Man Awards This Book It's Highest Rating 

" 4 Quarter Notes" 

For anyone that might not remember why Frank Sinatra was such a great singer and perhaps the best  ever singer of songs from the "Great American Songbook" listen to Frank singing "Body and Soul".  

                                      " 4 Quarter Notes" 

The Twenty Greatest Love Ballads Ever Written

La Quinta Lemon

Recently I googled the title of this post and I was somewhat surprised that I could not find any posting of a top 20 love ballads list that includes any of the spectacular songs from the "Great American Songbook". How can this be? In fact, on most of the list of ballads that I found, I was not familiar with many of the songs.  How sad that today's generation is only into "Pop" ballads and might never have the pleasure of listening to great love ballads that have survived more than a 100 years. This is not to say that there have not been some great love ballads written more recently because there has been many. There have also been some interesting recordings of classic "Great American Songbook" songs sung by young artists.

So I dedicate this list to both young and old who love great ballads sung by great singers.  It's a mix of new and old songs that should be on everyone's ballad playlist in no particular rank.

1. "Wild Horses"                                                       The Rolling Stones                            

2. "Just The Way You Are"                                     Billy Joel

3. "Body & Soul"                                                       Frank Sinatra

4. "Your Song"                                                           Elton John

5. "Unforgettable"                                                      Nat King Cole

6. "When a Man Loves a Women"                           Percy Sledge

7. "A Song For You"                                                  Leon Russell

8. "You Are So Beautiful"                                          Joe Cocker

9. "You've Changed"                                                  Eva Cassidy

10. "Something"                                                          Tanya Tucker

11. "The Shadow Of Your Smile"                              Tony Bennett

12. "Everything I Do, I Do It For You"                     Bryan Adams

13. "The Very Thought Of You"                                Tony Bennett & Paul McCartney

14. "I Will Always Love You"                                     Whitney Houston

15. "What's New"                                                          Nancy Wilson

16. "At Last"                                                                  Etta James

17. "Here's That Rainy Day"                                        Peggy Lee

18. "Smile"                                                                      Stephen Tyler & Chris Botti

19. "Evergreen"                                                              Barbra Streisand

20. "The Nearness of You"                                            Norah Jones

FRANK: THE VOICE, A NEW SINATRA BIOGRAPHY BY JAMES KAPLAN

It's been 13 years since Frank Sinatra died and he continues to be known and remembered by millions of people across the globe.  His music is still very popular as witnessed by TV re-runs of his music shows.  Sinatra even has his own radio station on XM radio called Seriously Sinatra that has a strong following of his fans who now can hear their favorite Sinatra songs all day and night if it pleases them. And his music still sells well today! This new book written by James Kaplan covers Sinatra's life from 1915 to 1954. I understand that it's the author's intention to write a second book covering the balance of Sinatra's life from 1954 until 1998. As a Sinatra fan, I had much interest in reading this period of Sinatra's life especially since I have read most of the other major biographies on Sinatra's life.  To get right to the point, if you are a Sinatra fan, you will enjoy this book.  That said, I did not find a lot of new stuff in this book, mostly a rehash of the stories and information I already knew. But I do think the chapters on Frank's early years did provide a better understanding of what would become the Sinatra personalities.  Yes, I think most of us know that Sinatra had many personalities, like "the good, the bad and the ugly".  Like many of the world's great artists, you have  to judge their talent and art separate from the personality from their art. Sinatra like most great artists was possessed by his art.  This can be clearly seen when reading about his early life and career.  Sinatra was convinced he not going to be just another singer.  Sinatra lived inside his music and its lyrics.  Kaplan shares the story of how before Sinatra would sing a new song, he would print out the lyrics and spend the next couple of weeks reading the lyrics as if he was reading a poetry.  He wanted to know precisely what the writer was trying to say.  Only after fully understanding the lyric would Sinatra work with the orchestra to record the song.  The result of this approach produced recordings that make audiences feel that Sinatra was always singing about his own life experiences.  It's clear that Frank's personality and character was frequently ugly, to say the least.  However, this is a statement that would fit many of the most gifted artists in our history. In order to love Sinatra you need to just focus on his music which became the best popular music ever recorded in the world.

Smokey Robinson's "Timeless Love" CD

I have been a Smokey Robinson fan for years especially when he was pouring out all his Motown hits. But today I want to talk about a CD that Smokey released on June 20, 2006 that I think didn't get enough attention in the music world. The CD is "Timeless Love" and it contains some great songs from the "Great American Songbook". The recent efforts of superstars to recording "Standards" like the ones from Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow, while great commercial successes,  don't do much for me musically. On the other hand,  I do credit these great artists for providing exposure to some great songs to their fans.  Smokey Robinson's "Timeless Love" is different because rather than singing these "Evergreens" in the style of Sinatra or Bennett,  in this CD Smokey interprets each song to perfectly fit his own unique style and voice. When Smokey creates an arrangement, the listener has no doubt that the unique sound he will hear is Smokey Robinson and not an imitation of another popular singer.  The voice and the arrangements are totally Smokey Robinson. Each time you hear the songs on this CD you will increase your appreciation for his talent.  That's what I experience and it's been one of my favorite CDs for the past couple of years.  Some of my personal favorites are:
            1. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" written by George & Ira Gershwin
            2. "I've Got You Under My Skin" written by Cole Porter
I think he interprets these great chestnuts beautifully.  I also liked:
            3. "You Go To My Head" written by John F. Coots
            4. "Our Love Is Here To Stay" written by George & Ira Gershwin
            5. "Time After Time" written by Jule Styne
            6. "I'm In The Mood For Love" written by Jimmy McHugh
If you want to hear some of these songs before you buy, click on the iTunes link on the top right of my blog. You can hear a little of all 13 songs on this great CD.  If any reader already has the CD or has heard it or are just purchasing it, I would love to get your comments.