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exotica-digest          Monday, May 18 1998          Volume 02 : Number 111



In This Digest:

(exotica) Frank Sinatra
(exotica) FWD: <<some whimsy on a troubled day>>
(exotica) Re: big 10-inch
Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra
Re: (exotica) Sizes and speeds
Re: (exotica) If I knew Nat was coming, I'd have baked a  cake...
(exotica) Re: big 10-inch
Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War
Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra
Re: (exotica) James Bond Theme
(exotica) FRANK SINATRA - RIP
Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War
(exotica) All things to all people
(exotica) Playlist for The Single Eye, May 17
(exotica) and those drinks are nice too!
(exotica) Cook Laboratories
(exotica) Test Exotica-mail
Re: (exotica) Tretchikoff Styling...
(exotica) Tiki
(exotica) track list for John Zacherle: "Dinner With Drac" (bootleg CD)
(exotica) New to Exotica mailing list: My Vinyl Recliner
(exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues
Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 19:59:30 EDT
From: DJJimmyBee <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Frank Sinatra

Last year I read in a real black 'zine that Frank Sinatra used to walk from
gigs that made his black players and roadies enter clubs from the rear..The
brothers quoted said Frank was The Man when it came to racial fairness....they
said he took NO shit from NO body on NO level. I only wish I could remember
the (glossy) 'zine from which it came...It made me think of him on a new plane
and I only hope that when I play his songs from his 50's and early-mid 6T's
LPs tomorrow on the radio that it does him justice.....Jimmy/live from Bill
Marlowe's Sinatra Site


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 16:19:25 -1000
From: [e-mail] (Stephen Funk)
Subject: (exotica) FWD: <<some whimsy on a troubled day>>

>Here's a mild flirtation with whimsy, if it might be allowed on a
>sorrowful day.
>
>******
>
>Frank: How did all these people get into my room?
>
>Dino: This ain't yer room, pallie, this is the afterlife...heaven...the whole
>pearly-gates thing...you know, "The Apple."
>
>Frank: "...and all that mother jazz!"
>
>Dino: Hey, you ain't lost your step, daddy.
>
>Frank: Where the hell is Sam?
>
>Dino: You got that right.
>
>Sammy: Hey! Hey! Talking about me as if I was sent to that "devil"
>hangout. That
>ain't right.
>
>Frank: (goosing Sammy) Sure, it ain't right, booby, but what can a person do
>around these parts to raise fun?  You remember _fun_, right, Sam?  Hell, you
>done wrote the book....
>
>Sammy: By the way, Frank, forget about that "devil worship" thing...
>
>Dino: "Devil worship?" Youse means dat dose dere fingernails ain't real? I
>suppose you wears "Nair" hosery, too (and, I thought it was leotards). Hey,
>Frank-baby, check this-here guy's papers...
>
>Frank: "Frank-baby?"
>
>Sammy: Now, stop that!
>
>Frank: Boy. I sure have missed you guys.
>
>-------------------------
>Jay Hopkins

***     ***     ***
Steve Funk
([e-mail])
Anchorage, AK
USA




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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 17:47:06 -0700
From: Eb <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Re: big 10-inch

I own two 10-inches released in recent times: a feces-brown promotional
Butthole Surfers 10-inch (released in 1993) and Beck's oh-so-collectable "A
Western Harvest Field by Moonlight" 10-inch (released in 1994).

Eb




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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 20:28:44 -0500
From: [e-mail] (Hess Jeffery)
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra

I always sing along with Frank in my car to warm up my voice before every
gig in my non-exotica band.  His range is "somewhat" close to mine and
his songs are always easy to remember.  "Old Devil Moon" is by far my
ultimate-most high-fave Frank song ever!!!!


Seeya Blue Eyes,
Jeff Hess






































they put coffee in the coffee in brazil

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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 23:22:18 -0400
From: "m.ace" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Sizes and speeds

> I have a boxed set of 6 7" 16 2/3 RPMs.  It was manufactured by a
> company called Highway Hi-Fi expressly for the Chrysler Corporation.

Okay, I guess I'll descend into plug-ola after all. The "Highway Hi-Fi" article
at my site (URL below) covers Chrysler's whole experiment with in-car
turntables in detail, both the turntables (there were two generations -- one by
CBS (16 2/3 rpm), one by RCA (45 rpm)) and a listing of the "Highway Hi-Fi"
label records (manufactured by Columbia). Plenty of period illustrations also.

m.ace  [e-mail]
OOK   http://www.voicenet.com/~ecam/


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 19:27:40 PDT
From: "Jordana Robinson" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) If I knew Nat was coming, I'd have baked a  cake...

>What is the hippest record that you found in your parent's collection,
>exotica-wise?  For me, it would be "Le Sacre du Savage" de Les Baxter,
a 10"
>LP.


I wanted to reply to this before, but forgot.

My mom loved to play Yma Sumac's "Voice of the Xtabay" when I was
little, and seeing that in Incredibly Strange Music was what got me
actively looking for exotica records.  I didn't find anything too crazy
in my parents' records (did find Gabor Szabo's "Jazz Raga" in my
grandmother's records, later) but they do have a _lot_ of Sergio Mendes
(which I love) and Herb Alpert (which I'm indifferent about) which is
probably why I lean towards the ez stuff.

Wait, I did find an Arthur Lyman "Taboo" and Martin Denny "Quiet
Village," which I don't listen to very often, but it's nice to have them
in almost mint condition (my parents are very good about that sort of
thing).



Jordana Robinson
[e-mail]
www.geocities.com/SoHo/2157


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------------------------------

Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 19:35:54 PDT
From: "Jordana Robinson" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Re: big 10-inch

I took a triple 10-inch from the radio station while I worked there.  It
was by someone called Triplefastaction, I think.  Boring
alternative-type stuff, and not exotic at all, but someone asked about
"clever" 10-inch sets...

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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 12:13:51 +0100
From: [e-mail] (Kenny Brockelstein)
Subject: Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War

>The Beach Boys have certainly done their share of exotica,  a great
>example is Diamond Head on the Friends album.

They have some *very* weiiiird Hawaiian stuff on Smiley Smile as well - a
lot of the marimba stuff from Smile sounds suspiciously inspired by Martin
Denny and Les Baxter, and the "doing doing doing" vocals on Cabin Essence
must be a tribute to Esquivel! A lot of the percussion tracks are
remarkably Quiet Village-ish too. I think what people consider to be BB's
best music *is* very very exotica-ish. Sure, they didn't go with the
exotica 'image' but the actual music is true exotica IMO.

>Is any one here on the Beach Boy mailing list.  If so what is it like?

As if by some bizarre cosmical coincidence, I signed on to the Pet Sounds
mailinglist yesterday! Actually, there's two lists, one 'closed' and one
'open' and I joined the latter one. For every BB-fan, the list is a must
although there's some (it's inevitable I suppose) messages along the lines
of "Mike is and stupid egominded idiot" which frankly can be quite tireing
to read after a while. Those posts are thankfully in a minority, though.
It's a pretty serious list. There's A LOT of messages/day (a lot more than
on this list) so I recommend people to subscribe to the digest as opposed
to getting the messages one by one. Fellow exotica-listee Gloria has signed
on now too I believe, haven't heard from her yet but I gave her the
sub-info atleast which is:

A message to: [e-mail]

Write in the body: subscribe petsounds-digest

Alright, I'll see atleast you there, Chuck!

Kenny Brockelstein




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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 09:50:58 -0400
From: [e-mail]
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frank Sinatra

>=20
> Last year I read in a real black 'zine that Frank Sinatra used to walk =
from
> gigs that made his black players and roadies enter clubs from the rear.=
.The
> brothers quoted said Frank was The Man when it came to racial fairness.=
...they
> said he took NO shit from NO body on NO level.=20

Here are two excerpts from various Washington Post articles

"There were more serious controversies. In 1981 and 1983, in defiance
of               a United Nations cultural boycott protesting South
Africa's apartheid                  policies, Sinatra gave several
concerts in Sun City in the black homeland
of Bophuthatswana. He was criticized for insensitivity to the
aspirations of           oppressed blacks, a curious turnabout for
someone who had championed Nat King=20
Cole's and Sammy Davis's right to have homes in white Hollywood
neighborhoods =96=20
and who once slugged a Southerner for refusing to serve a black
musician."

and fnally this one

"Sinatra believed in God. But death, which he called the Big Casino,
left
him speechless. For days, Sinatra couldn't talk after the death of his
mother, killed when the plane he hired for her crashed into a mountain.
On
the phone with a dying Sammy Davis Jr., the two old friends simply held
onto their receivers, grieving beyond words.=20

He thought you should live every moment as it if were your last, that
too
much thinking wasn't good for a man. He fought, really fought, for his
privacy, but he hated being alone. Anything but boredom, especially
after
hours.=20

``You only live once,'' he liked to say, ``and the way I live once is
enough.''


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 11:32:04 EDT
From: LTepedino <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) James Bond Theme

In a message dated 98-05-06 09:24:48 EDT, [e-mail] writes:

<< There's been some debate over on the Zorn list about who wrote the James
Bond
 theme.  Barry claims it's his, but it seems it was credited to some other guy
(I
 forget the name).  Does anyone here know the real deal?
  >>
Sorry for the delayed response I haven't been checking my e mail over thelast
couple of weeks!

The "James Bond Theme" was actually written by John Barry. The story goes that
Monty Norman was hired to do the soundtrack to "Dr. No" and the producers
asked him to write a secret agent theme for the opening credits. Norman
basically expanded upon his already written "Underneath The Mango Tree" which
the producers found supremely underwhelming.

The producers had taken quick a liking to records by the John Barry Seven and
they enlisted Barry to come up with the theme (the track that drew their
attention was "Bees Knees" which appears on the CD John Barry The EMI Years
Vol 1 - and they asked Barry to write something similar to that composition).

As Monty Norman was contractually the composer for the film Barry was hired
under a "work for hire arrangement" (i.e. a flat fee) and was told he would
not be credited as per the producers contract with Monty Norman.

What was Barry paid? Approximately $300!!!!

That song has earned millions in royalties for Monty Norman throughout the
years. It is more out of stubborn embarrassment that Norman insists that he
wrote it. Barry naturally regards this as perhaps the best abnd the worst
business decision of his career - the worst for the payment arrangement, the
best - because of the career in film music that it lead to, which he always
wanted.

Perhaps the best answer to the argument comes form Barry who said that if
Monty Norman did write the theme as he said he did why didn't the producers
ask Norman to compose the subsaquent James Bond films!!

By the way you can hear the original (in stereo) John Barry Seven's pre-Dr, No
soundtrack version of "The James Bond Theme" on the CD John Barry The EMI
Years Vol 3 - which many consider to be the best version of the composition
ever recorded.

Ashley


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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 10:39:39 +0000
From: the_curator <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) FRANK SINATRA - RIP

=46olks

some of you will be interested in this, i imagine

>X-Sender: [e-mail]
>Mime-Version: 1.0
>Date: Fri, 15 May 1998 20:52:01 +0100
>To: [e-mail]
>From: Tony Morley <[e-mail]>
>Subject: FRANK SINATRA - RIP
>
>                 You are invited to join us at:
>
>
>                         DONE SWINGIN'
>                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
>        A wake for the 20th Century's greatest vocalist and
>       legendary rabble rouser. How He would have wanted it.
>
>             An appreciation of the life and work of:
>
>
>                    FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA
>                          1916 - 1998
>
>
>                      music  film  liquor
>
>
>        your hosts:     Tony Morley, Simon Hopkins, Niall McGinley
>
>        date:           FRIDAY MAY 22nd
>        venue:          ICA Bar, The Mall, London, SW1
>        doors:          9pm - 1am
>        entry:          =A34/=A33 concs.
>        dress code:     rat pack/black tie
>        drink code:     scotch straight up/vodka martini
>        more info:      0171 228 6616
>
>
>        PLEASE CIRCULATE THIS E-MAIL TO ANYONE THAT CARES...
>




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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 10:39:27 EDT
From: Stilgloria <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Mike Love Not War

In a message dated 5/16/98 2:15:02 AM, [e-mail] writes:

<<Fellow exotica-listee Gloria has signed
on now too I believe, haven't heard from her yet but I gave her the
sub-info atleast which is>>

Yes, I signed on and you hear instantly if you succeeded. I have gotten three
digests already. I've been a Beach Boy fan since 1962.
Gloria



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------------------------------

Date: Sat, 16 May 1998 15:57:30 -0400
From: Nat Kone <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) All things to all people

So let me get this straight.
He WAS music.
He embodied ALL music.
People could never say NO to him.  Especially the little people.  If he
said "dance", you'd dance.  Four hours later, you'd still be dancing, too
afraid to stop.
He was the MOST important, the GREATEST.
He was EVERYTHING.  He was the 20th Century.
"Duets" beat out Pearl Jam on the charts.  He still had it, baby.
He never recorded "Something Stupid".  He never recorded anything stupid.
Okay, just checking.
Nat



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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 02:10:48 -0400
From: cheryls <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Playlist for The Single Eye, May 17

"The Single Eye" can be heard every Sunday at 4pm on CKUT 90.3 FM in
Montreal, Canada, and is hosted by Brian and Cheryl. Comments &
questions welcome.

May 17 - Part 2 of our feature on the 15th International Festival
Musique Actuelle at Victoriaville (FIMAV) - acts we'd like to see at the
Festival - some will be appearing, some have appeared, and some...?

Sukia:  Dream Machine  "Contacto Espacial con el Tercer Sexo"

Holger Hiller:  Abacus; Koniginnen  "As Is"

The Ex and Tom Cora:  Hidegen Fujnak A Szelek  "Scrabbling At The Lock"

Lounge Lizards:  No Pain For Cakes  "Live In Berlin 1991 Volume 1"

The Bad Examples:  Krimi  "The River The Night The Moon Temptation And
You"

Stock, Hausen and Walkman:  Soil; Birthday Suit  "Dummy Run"

Solid Eye:  Flu Season Waltz  "Electromagnetic Field And Stream Of
Consciousness"

Laurent Pernice:  Le Cheval De Mer  "Sept Autres Creatures"

Negativland:  Pip Digs Pep  "Free"

Durutti Column:  Sketch for Dawn  "Domo Arigato"


[e-mail]
[e-mail]


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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 03:20:40 PDT
From: "Magnus Sandberg" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) and those drinks are nice too!

I have Robert Drasnins "Voodoo!" at work and listen to it often, without
getting tired of it. Lovely exotica.. Today I found an interview with
Drasnin at the Dionysus homepage. It may have been up a long time, and
maybe you all know about it... I dont know... but here is the URL:
http://www.indieweb.com/dionysus/bacchus/drasnin.html

- --
Drasnin on the current exotica revival:
 "I have nothing against it. I guess it's just a natural response to
these hectic times. You know, just kick-back, relax, and put on a
Hawaiian shirt." Drasnin is also quick to add "and those drinks are nice
too!"
- ---


And you must all buy Dionysios Chaino CD. (Even if your fortunate to
have the original LPs.) The tracks from Africana is amazing!
Ama-a-a-a-z-z-z-ing!

- --
Magnus



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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 06:49:27 -0500 (CDT)
From: [e-mail] (Mimi Mayer)
Subject: (exotica) Cook Laboratories

Mark Renwick wrote:

>Emory Cook produced some of the first LPs with very wide frequency
>response in the early fifties.  Most of his catalog was classical music.
>

So were the cat fights he captured on "Cook's Tour of Stereo" Cook's salute
to Stockhausen and the 12-tone boys?

Thanks for the info, Mark. Love the idea of Emory Cook as mad scientist of
stereo.

Mimi




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Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 09:38:09 -0400
From: Kerry Byrnes <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Test Exotica-mail

Test to see if messages to Exotica discussion group going through.
Thankss, Kerry


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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 08:20:53 -0700
From: "Carl Russo" <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Tretchikoff Styling...

- -----Original Message-----
From: Peter Hipwell <[e-mail]>
To: [e-mail] <[e-mail]>
Date: Thursday, May 14, 1998 5:13 AM
Subject: (exotica) Tretchikoff Styling...


Re that ubiquitous painting:

>> I happened to flip past the terrible Joe Pesci
>> film "Jimmy Hollywood" the other night, and what was hanging on his
>> apartment wall...? Yup, the one from the first Sound Gallery CD, I
>> think.

>Dozens of people will be thrilled to know that you can also see it in
>the background in the models' flat in "Carry On Loving", in its native
>context and era.

It also pops up in the Peter Cooke/Dudley Moore comedy BEDAZZLED and an
episode of MONTY PYTHON.

C. "Ratso" Russo





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------------------------------

Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 14:09:01 -0400
From: "Rajnai, Charles, NPG  NNAD" <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Tiki

in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas....

Another tasty LA location was the evocative Bahooka Ribs &
        Grog in the San Gabriel Valley town of Rosemead, featuring
        classic, extraordinary "tiki bar" decor that was little altered
        for the film.

surfing the chaos,
Charlieman



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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:19:38 +0200
From: Johan Dada Vis <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) track list for John Zacherle: "Dinner With Drac" (bootleg CD)

John Zacherle: "Dinner With Drac"
CD, Transylvania 6-5000 (bootleg), USA, 1997,
available from Norton: "http://members.aol.com/nortonrec/norton.html"

Dinner with Drac
Come with me to Transylvania
Pistol Stomp
Ghoul view commercial
Dummy Doll
Happy Halloween
Let's twist again
I was a teenage Caveman
Hello Dolly
A tisket, a casket
Surfboard 109
Coolest little monster
Clementine
Hurry, Bury Baby
Zacherie for president
Little red Riding Hood
Limb from Limbo Rock
The spider and the fly
A wicked thought
Igor
Spiderman Lullabye




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Date: Mon, 18 May 98 15:39:54 -0500
From: recliner <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) New to Exotica mailing list: My Vinyl Recliner

Hello there,

I've just recently signed up to this mailing list and I'd like to take
this opportunity to introduce myself.

Although I'm a newbie to the Internet I am just the opposite in the
Exotica/Lounge/Easy Listening world.
I've been a 50's and 60's easy listening LP collector for about ten years
now and for about eight of those years I've had the pleasure of doing a
weekly radio program centered around this music. My program is called My
Vinyl Recliner.

If you ever find yourself in the greater Portland, Maine area on a
Tuesday night be sure to tune into WMPG 90.9fm

Most weeks I'll feature some special topic, for instance last week I did
a Burt Bacharach Birthday tribute (featuring 10 versions of the Look of
Love). and tomorrow night, 5/19, I'll be doing a show called My Vinyl
T-Bone featuring  Buddy Morrow, Si Zentner, Kai Winding and other
trombonists from the Vinyl Recliner library of almost 2,000 lps. Also,I
usually prepare my schedule months in advance so, if there is any
interest in this shedule let me know and I will post it.

I pride myself on coining the term Vinyl Recliner Music (or just recliner
music for short) to describe this kind of music and I encourage others to
use it to as well as another term of mine "in-seam" music, which I will
describe in detail in a future posting.

If any one would like to read a history of My Vinyl Recliner and its
origins from a booklet I published last fall please e-mail and I'll send
an e-mail version of it to you.

Any questions?

Finally let me say that I look forward to all of your enthusiastic
postings and letters.


Frank

MY VINYL RECLINER---MUSIC FROM THE IN-SEAM OF THE 50'S AND 60'S


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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:13:08 -0400
From: Nat Kone <[e-mail]>
Subject: (exotica) Frankie's blues

I don't quite how to ask this but I've been thinking about something ever
since the tributes starting pouring in for the Chairman of the Board.
When I was younger, I could never associate "the blues" - as I was
introduced to it - with a lot of other music that people called blues.  I
couldn't make a connection between the Chicago blues, delta blues, country
blues that seemed to influence the Stones, Yardbirds, Mayall, Canned Heat
etc with this more sophisticated thing that people also called blues.  I'm
sure somebody this past weekend must have reiterated this idea that Sinatra
was also a "blues singer".  After all, if he embodied all American music,
he must have been a blues singer.  And I guess I can sort of see a
connection between him and Billie Holiday.  And maybe she was a JAZZ singer
but wouldn't somebody call her a blues singer too?
On the other hand, there's the Sinatra that I grew up with, the one who
railed against rock music, and who when he did start to "cover" rock songs,
chose the LEAST bluesy material.
Then there's the idea that rock music was an extension of the blues.
And I don't think anyone ever called Frank a "RHYTHM and blues" singer.
Then also somewhere there in my thought process are those stories about
Frank, the anti-racist, the friend to the black man, who broke the color
barrier here and there, most notably in Las Vegas.
On the other hand, if you were going to see a black singer in Vegas, it
wasn't going to be Muddy Waters or Lonnie Johnson.
I can't quite connect these thoughts but I think there is a connection.
When I was a teenager in the sixties, I remember one friend who hated rock
music and loved Sinatra.  I just thought he was hopeless.
Fairly recently I started hearing Frank's 50's material and I was surprised
that there was ANYTHING there to love.  I even started to like it and to
let some of that deep anti-Frank prejudice to slip.
Now I give him his due or what I think is due him but I still have this
nagging "rock is blues and he hated rock" thing to contend with.  Anyone?

Nat



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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 12:43:38 -1000
From: [e-mail] (Stephen Funk)
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

>I don't quite how to ask this but I've been thinking about something ever
>since the tributes starting pouring in for the Chairman of the Board.

>I can't quite connect these thoughts but I think there is a connection.
>When I was a teenager in the sixties, I remember one friend who hated rock
>music and loved Sinatra.  I just thought he was hopeless.
>Fairly recently I started hearing Frank's 50's material and I was surprised
>that there was ANYTHING there to love.  I even started to like it and to
>let some of that deep anti-Frank prejudice to slip.
>Now I give him his due or what I think is due him but I still have this
>nagging "rock is blues and he hated rock" thing to contend with.  Anyone?
>
>Nat

The Frank Sinatra vs. Rock Music question is a tricky one, there don't seem
to be any clear-cut answers.

Sinatra hated rock music? He made some statements to this effect, like
"Whatever it is I hope they find a cure for it", and so forth.

Yet, listen to "That's Life"... if that ain't blues, I don't know what is.
Then you have the 1968 TV special, "F.A.S. Does His Thing" where he
features and even sings along with The Fifth Dimension.

A few of his singles from the Capitol years (the more forgettable ones) are
clearly aimed at the "twisin'" pop jukebox market.

And of course, the controversial but undeniably chart-topping Duets
projects where Frank gave the go-ahead to having rockers overdub their
parts over his aging voice.

Personally, I think Sinatra was conflicted between the "Great American
Songbook" that he truly loved and could sell records with up to the 60s
(Porter, Berlin, Cahn/VanHeusen, etc.) and wanting to stay current and
popular with the young, record-buying public from the mid 60s on.

Sometimes the results could be disasterous (the "Night & Day" disco single
from 1977, for example. Or "Bad, Bad LeRoy Brown", "Mrs. Robinson", etc.)

Sometimes he'd score a cross-over hit ("Strangers In The Night", "That's
Life", "Somethin' Stupid" w/Nancy).

Some of the new stuff he truly seemed to adore... he was clearly infatuated
with the song "Goin' Out of My Head" throughout the late 60s. He was
enamored with George Harrison's "Something" to the point of recording
several different arrangements and performing it countless number of times
live from 1970 throughout the 80s, referring to it as "one of the greatest
love songs ever written" and so forth.

Like you mentioned, he also tried to find new songwriters outside the
"rock" world for new material (John Denver, Paul Anka, Joe Raposo, Michel
Legrand) that he could relate to. He didn't seem content to simply rest on
his laurels by becoming the "Grand Old Statesman of Classic American Song".

Whatever the case, at least throughout the 70s, he'd always throw in some
of those "contemporary hits" in his concerts "for the kids", as he put it.

Anyway, I sure haven't answered the question but those are some of my own
rambling thoughts on the subject.





***     ***     ***
Steve Funk
([e-mail])
Anchorage, AK
USA




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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 14:30:55 +0000
From: Ron Grandia <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

> >Now I give him his due or what I think is due him but I still have this
> >nagging "rock is blues and he hated rock" thing to contend with.  Anyone?
> >
No conclusions here, but I will add that the film snippet of Elvis
singing
with Frank on one of his TV specials was interesting to watch. There was
tension
AND admiration between the two behemoth egocentrists/entertainers. It
was a fascinating
interplay wherein Frank would sing a piece of one of Elvis's hits, and
Elvis would
answer back with a chunk of a Sinatra standard (I remember Presley
interpreting
"Witchcraft.") The arrangement (Billy May?) was pretty cool in itself.

They worked off of each other amazingly well and both had a sense of the
irony
of the situation and had a great time with it...It seems as both were
suprised that
they were actually enjoying themselves.


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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 23:36:55 +0200
From: Nicolas Reichelt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

Until I became rather old myself the music of Frank Sinatra and the like
always was just "old people's music" to me. And I think I shouldn't
consider him important only because he is so famous. Did he write his
own songs at all? Did he at least write the lyrics? I don't think he's
very exotic despite the fact he had some very few exotica related songs.
Actually I read a lot of ugly Mafia-stories about him, but I can't tell
wether they are true or not.
But the thing I hate the most is when somebody else sings "I did it
myself" (except of Sid Vicious). But I must say, when I heard him
playing live in Hamburg some 7 or so years ago, he had a damn good
sound. The 21 members orchestra he had was conducted by his brother and
they were really good. A woman came to the front of the stage and gave a
bouquet of flowers to Sinatra. He drew a handkerchief from his pocket
and gave it to her in return. Later another woman came with flowers and
he had another handkerchief. And so on. In the end he had given away
about 10 handkerchiefs. That was really professional.

MO


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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 23:49:25 +0200
From: Nicolas Reichelt <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

THIS IS THE RIGHT VERSION OF THIS MESSAGE. DELETE THE OTHER ONE.

Until I became rather old myself the music of Frank Sinatra and the like
always was just "old people's music" to me. And I think I shouldn't
consider him important only because he is so famous. Did he write his
own songs at all? Did he at least write the lyrics? I don't think he's
very exotic despite the fact he had some very few exotica related songs.
Actually I read a lot of ugly Mafia-stories about him, but I can't tell
wether they are true or not.
But the thing I hate the most is when somebody else sings "I did it
my way" (except of Sid Vicious). But I must say, when I heard him
playing live in Hamburg some 7 or so years ago, he had a damn good
sound. The 21 members orchestra he had was conducted by his brother and
they were really good. A woman came to the front of the stage and gave a
bouquet of flowers to Sinatra. He drew a handkerchief from his pocket
and gave it to her in return. Later another woman came with flowers and
he had another handkerchief. And so on. In the end he had given away
about 10 handkerchiefs. That was really professional.

MO


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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 15:55:39 -0700 (PDT)
From: [e-mail] (Tosh)
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

Sinatra was a product of his generation. Which mostly hated rock -
especially in the Sixties.  He probably felt threatened by Elvis, and
totally couldn't get into someone like Johnnie Ray - who replaced him as a
teen idol.  Sinatra was a great POP singer.  He sort of took a little bit
of the blues, a little bit of jazz, and actually his recordings (especially
his ballads) were very bluesy.  His talent was to 'characterize' the song.
He sort of filtered this great material (Porter, Berlin, etc.) and
rearranged it to suit his purpose or style.  I don't know if he was a bop
fan or not.  I think he liked Charlie Parker, but I could be wrong.

Also he may have been the first one to make an album that is a concept
record.  The Capital sides were very much 'novel' like than 'short story.'
Meaning the record was meant to be played as a whole and not just a bunch
of singles stuck together as an album.  I think he was the first great
'album' artist.

Paul Moshay (who is on the list) probably can explain the essence of
Sinatra's art.

- -----------------
Tosh Berman
TamTam Books
- ----------------




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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 16:19:32 -0800
From: "mighty recording corp." <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

>Paul Moshay (who is on the list) probably can explain the essence of
>Sinatra's art.
===============

i believe you provided us with a fine start, tosh.  thank you for the
compliment.

as for the essence of his art, well that seems a topic larger than i can
tackle
now.  wish i were able to though.

i will share though, that i did drive over to the Sinatra residence in
beverly hills
on friday evening...  and lingered about the sidewalk with the other
mourners for
a couple hours.  i didnt feel any better about Frank's passing for it, but
i'm somehow
i'm glad i went.

this world feels much smaller now, without Frank in it.

paul moshay
mighty recording corp.
p.o. bx. 1833
los angeles, calif. 90078
[phone], [phone] fx
new 'reply to' email now: [e-mail]
coming soon: http://www.mightyrecords.com




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Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 23:54:55 EDT
From: Jbtwist <[e-mail]>
Subject: Re: (exotica) Frankie's blues

His nick says it all - "The Voice"

And till i read all the recent tributes, I'd never consciously noticed his
poifect diction, that made the words of so many the century's great
songwriters flow so seamlessly over the sounds of so many great arrangers and
musicians in the wee small hours of the morning......

So many legends are flawed: Babe Ruth, Elvis, Marilyn, Hendrix, Janis,
Jerry........aren't we all human ?  Is there anything more hauntingly,
achingly sad and beautiful than the sound of a breaking heart ?  Has anyone
ever sung this sound to more people and with more meaning than Francis Albert
?

JB


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End of exotica-digest V2 #111
*****************************