“Don’t Worry About Me”
Frank Sinatra
Sinatra At The Sands With Count Basie And The Orchestra
1966, Reprise
This Exit: Songs from The American Popular Songbook are certainly what I’ve been listening to for the longest period of my life thus far, dating back as far as I can remember, and undoubtedly before that. My father, a singer who earned his degree in vocal studies from the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in 1970, always had Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennett, and Diane Schuur records playing in the house, among others, but Frank Sinatra was our favorite. On weekends, we’d listen to Jonathan Schwartz’s “Saturday With Sinatra” radio program—first on WNEW in New York, and then when it moved to WQEW—like it was a sporting event. (Mr. Schwartz still broadcasts every weekend from the studios in WNYC in New York City, and it hits everywhere else on XM satellite radio. I still listen to every show. Without Jonathan Schwartz telling me what the weather feels and looks like during the weekdays, the weather in New York City really doesn’t seem to be happening at all.) Sinatra’s most profound vocal contribution, according to my father, was in his phrasing. ”He sangs in a conversational tone,” he told me, “and that broke all the rules!” During Sinatra’s lifetime, he released a prolific sixty-six original albums, ten of them live recordings. Of all, and if we were forced to select only one, my father proclaims that Sinatra At The Sands With Count Basie And The Orchestra is the one to go into a cultural time capsule, and the best example of Sinatra the singer, the persona, the entertainer, and the myth. I second the selection, and it must be a testament to the artistry, cool, and permanence of this singer (and the singers of the American Popular Songbook, in general) that a son could span four decades (and counting) without once rejecting an interest in a music experience shared with his father since childhood. An additional note: Disc 2 of 2006’s 4-CD + 1 DVD “Sinatra: Vegas” boxed set contains the ornery, inebriated late show from this very same classic evening with the Count Basie Orchestra at The Sands.
