On July 30, 1945, Frank Sinatra began recording his first album, titled “The Voice Of Frank Sinatra.”
The word “album” had a meaning at that time, since, before the release of the long-playing record, collections of several single records were published in a case similar to a photo album.
Later this name will be maintained, even to this day. When Columbia Records introduced the long-playing record format in 1948, the first title chosen was, precisely, “The Voice Of Frank Sinatra.” And the album has been converted to CD and digital format. It remains as alive and relevant as ever.
The album represents Sinatra’s artistic confirmation of his transcendence of the “teenage idol” label, and although it is not the first concept album in history, as some claim, it is a pioneer in presenting a cohesive approach to the theme of the songs and their sound patterns. It will set a precedent for the work of Sinatra and almost all soloists in the music world.
It is a wonderful collection of standards from the Great American Songbook, performed in a masterful, warm and intimate way by Frank and a small orchestra of nine musicians; musicians and listeners sway, dreamily, through classics such as “You Go To My Head”, “Someone to Watch Over Me” or “Try A Little Tenderness”, wrapped in the silk of the beautiful arrangements for strings, flute and oboe by Axel Stordahl.
The spirit of this work was echoed in Frank’s later works, such as “Close To You” (1956), “Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim” (1967) and songs like “It’s Sunday” (1983); Likewise, the singer re-recorded and performed several songs from this album in concerts during the rest of his career, which is definitive proof of the importance of this album in his musical heritage.
In 2003, a restored edition of the album was released on CD, expanded to eighteen songs of the same era and emotional character. If you don’t have it or haven’t heard of it, it can still be found in physical and virtual stores at a very affordable price, so I recommend that you get it.
TRACK LIST
1 “You Go to My Head”
2 “Someone to Watch Over Me”
3 “These Foolish Things”
4 “Why Shouldn’t I?”
5 “I Don’t Know Why”
6 “Try a Little Tenderness”
7 “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You”
8 “Paradise”
