I Remember Tommy – FRANK SINATRA****

I’m Getting Sentimental Over You/Imagination/There Are Such Things/East Side Of The Sun/Daybreak/Without A Song/I’ll Be Seeing You/Take Me/Its Always You/Polka Dots & Moonbeams/It Started All Over Again/The One I Love Belongs To Someone Else

I Remember Tommy was a tribute album from Frank Sinatra to his former boss Tommy Dorsey, for whose orchestra he developed his skills as a vocalist in the early 1940s. (US:3 UK:10)

“I Remember Tommy is a fine Frank Sinatra album that his fans should have in their collections. Frank's voice is in excellent form, but then again, Frank's voice was always in excellent form.”

“Frank Sinatra does a superlative job on this tribute to the great Tommy Dorsey. I highly recommend this for Sinatra fans, fans of Tommy Dorsey and the big band era; and people who like the 'oldies' will be charmed by this album as well.”

“There would not be a Frank Sinatra without Tommy Dorsey, who taught him everything he needed to know about singing. Frank modelled his unique phrasing and breath control techniques on Tommy's marvellous trombone skills. This tribute to his mentor has Frank in top form. He makes his appreciation for Tommy quite apparent, applying the techniques he taught him so well to every recording.”

“As to why it did not achieve the rapport with fans Sinatra hoped for, my guess is that the record buyers interested in Frank's work on Reprise, his own label, were looking forward, and not in a nostalgic mood. Frank put out this record, with songs 20-30 years old, and arrangements in the style of two decades earlier.”

“Some of the songs chosen by Frank were not really top rank. Also, the album as a whole is mid-tempo: the swinging tracks are not particularly bold or forceful, and the ballads are not reflective of real pain. It's all pleasant, and I'm glad I own it, and I will play it every once in a while, but not as often as some others.”

“This is a great LP for someone who likes Tommy Dorsey songs sung with the voice and attitude of the matured Sinatra. Also, the arrangements are a real listening pleasure. He made the music swing while including the Dorsey touch. A ragbag of everything from jazzy tunes to sorrowful saloon songs to swinging, upbeat songs."