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The early singles with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, the Columbia sessions with Axel Stordahl and then...the Capitol dates with Nelson Riddle that rewrote the script for popular singing that has lasted to this very day and probably will do for ever more.
Not that it was all Riddle.
Ideally, I should have included an album that contained some of his final Columbia recordings the singles that gave a foretaste of the future. The Things we Did Last Summer or The Birth of the Blues which was the single that really hit me. Prior to that eyeopener, every one I knew thought that Sinatra was old hat but, despite the tune being "old hat" this was Sinatra taking on Frankie Laine, Johnny Ray etc. and beating them at their own game. However, Columbia's A & R man, Mitch Miller lumbered him with Mama Will Bark a number that hastened his move to Capitol. At least Sinatra was saved the indignity of She Wears Red Feathers and Feet Up (pat him on the po-po!) - numbers that, nevertheless, put plenty of dollars into Guy Mitchell's poke.
However, this is as much my memories of discovering the albums and the circumstances surrounding them as it is about the great man himself. Others have dissected the recordings note by note in countless books and articles - they're all out there. Google Frank Sinatra and you'll find 34,000,000 items. In ten seconds time there will be 34,000,001.
Lance
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