A Man & His Music – FRANK SINATRA****

Put Your Dreams Away/All Or Nothing At All/I’ll Never Smile Again/There Are Such Things/I’ll Be Seeing You/The One I Love/Polka Dots & Moonbeams/Night & Day/Oh What It Seemed To Be/Soliloquy/Nancy (With The Laughing Face)/The House I Live In/From Here To Eternity/Come Fly With Me/(How Little It Matters)How Little We Know/Learnin’ The Blues/In The Wee Small Hours Of The Morning/Young At Heart/Witchcraft/All The Way/ Love & Marriage/I’ve Got You Under My Skin/Ring-A-Ding-Ding/The Second Time Around/The Summit/The Oldest Established/Luck Be A Lady/Call Me Irresponsible/Fly Me To The Moon/Softly As I Leave You/My Kind Of Town/The September Of My Years

Something of a vanity project, A Man & His Music provides a brief retrospective of Frank Sinatra's musical career, interspersed with a running commentary from the great man himself. It won a Grammy for album of the year. (US:9 UK:9)

"Instead of using the original recordings, which were not eligible for use by his then current label Reprise, Sinatra re-recorded the majority of the album's songs. There is also a narration from Sinatra that runs throughout the album."

"As an attempt to sum up the singer's career to date, A Man & His Music unfortunately falls short. Part of the problem is that Sinatra, as on the previous Sinatra's Sinatra, re-recorded the material dating from his RCA, Columbia and Capitol periods; while the new versions of these songs are fun, they offer no insight into Sinatra's growth as an artist. More annoying is the running commentary provided by Sinatra, which actually overlaps many of the selections; though fascinating from a historical standpoint, Sinatra's narration renders the prospect of repeat listening less than enticing. For true fans and musical archivists only."

"A Man & His Music was originally released as a two LP set to commemorate Frank Sinatra's 50th birthday. It is a collection that is unique for several reasons. For starters, it featured (then) new recordings of Sinatra classics dating as far back as the Tommy Dorsey days, but more importantly, the album was narrated by Frank himself, navigating us through the first 30 years."

"A Man & His Music may well be the finest Sinatra compilation on the market. Frank clearly enjoys telling the tale of his long and happy career, paying tribute to the many great arrangers, composers and musicians who got him where he is."

"The song selection offers a solid cross section of each period of Frank's career."