Greatest Hits Vol. 1 [Best of]

 

 

Create your own review

THIS IS A GREAT CD. BUT WHAT MAKES IT A SUPER GREAT CD ARE THE TWO GREATEST SONGS THAT FRANK SINATRA ( THE GREATEST SINGER OF THE 20TH CENTURY) SANG. THOSE TWO ARE "SUMMER WIND" AND "OVER & OVER THE WORLD WE KNEW". I REST MY CASE.

Clearly, when compared to much of his Capitol and Columbia years material, these do not count among Frank's classic songs. However, they did appeal to enough people at the time to shoot them well up the Easy Listening [Adult Contemporary] charts, and even to a lesser degree the Billboard Hot 100. So, to dismiss them as "commercial drek" is missing the point entirely. The man had to go on paying the bills [including alimony] and so why not churn out stuff that made the greater masses happy? Did we not count?

What I don't like about this album - which first appeared in vinyl in 1968 - is the title "greatest hits" and the meagre [1 page] of liner notes. Perhaps that was all they could squeeze onto the back of an LP in 1968, but for the CD release they could have at least added more background information AND a proper discography of the contents.

As for the title, it would have been less misleading had they said "Greatest Hits At Reprise From 1964 to 1967" because that is more or less what you're getting here. In that period, working primarily with Jimmy Bowen [who once toiled with the Rhythm Orchids and Buddy Knox in the 1950s] and Sonny Burke [who had worked with Dinah Shore on many of her earlier hits], and often with the backing of Ernie Freeman, he had 16 Easy Listening/Adult Contemporary hits, 12 of which also made the Billboard Hot 100. Here you get 11 of those two-chart hits plus one that made only the AC charts [track 10 - # 10 AC and a pop "bubble under" at # 102 in the fall of 1965].

The earliest hit covered here is Softly, As I Leave You which hit # 4 AC/# 27 pop in October 1964, followed by Somewhere In Your Heart which, in January 1965, rose to the same level on the AC charts but only # 32 pop. They then skip over Anytime At All [# 11 AC/# 46 pop in April 1965] and instead include the lesser Tell Her (You Love Her Each Day), a # 16 AC/# 57 pop in June.

Forget Domani was another lightweight entry from the film The Yellow Rolls-Royce, hitting # 13 AC/# 78 pop in August 1965, as was When SOmebody Loves You [the AC hit only mentioned above]. Rounding out 1965 was the double-sided AC hit I'll Only Miss Her When I Think Of Her [# 18] b/w Everybody Has The Right To Be Wrong (At Least Once) - # 25 and a pop "bubble under" at # 131.

The years 1966/67 were much kinder in terms of chart success with no less than six # 1 AC hits, two of which also made it to # 1 pop. It Was A very Good Year, done by The Kingston Trio on their 1961 LP Goin' Places, was the first to go # 1 AC [# 28 pop], that being in February 1966 b/w Moment To Moment from the film of the same name which also charted at # 18 AC/# 115 pop "bubble under" - but it's not included here.

Then came the smash Strangers In The Night [# 1 AC for 7 weeks and # 1 pop in June 1966], a song that Dean Martin had relinquished to Frank when he couldn't get his chops around it at an album recording session. A bit of trivia that would have enhanced the liner notes, by the way. Summer Wind also went to # 1 AC [# 25 pop] that October, beating out the Wayne Newton rendition, as did That's Life for 4 weeks [# 4 pop] in December.

Early in 1967 he teamed with daughter Nancy for a # 1 AC [NINE weeks] and # 1 pop [four weeks] on Somethin' Stupid, and that October registered his fifth straight AC # 1 [five weeks] with The World We Knew (Over And Over), which also made it to # 30 pop. In December, This Town [from the film The Cool Ones] topped out at # 17 AC/# 53 pop.

So, in summary, six # 1 AC hits, two of which also reached # 1 pop, spending a total of 26 weeks at the top AC slot and 101 weeks in total on the charts. Some may wish to slough this off as "commercial drek" but clearly millions did appreciate them.

Sinatra once said he was determined never to be a has-been. I'm sure he was thinking about the late 1940s and early 1950s when his records didn't sell, and as a result, he would do almost anything to make sure that didn't happen again. At Capitol he had no problem making hits-- all his albums reached the top ten, and many of his singles-- and early on at his own label Reprise one really could say "It's Sinatra's world, we just live in it." But then the Beatles hit, and Sinatra felt the need to fight off the younger generation of rock 'n' rollers. His Rat Pack pally Dean Martin had done just that with "Everybody Loves Somebody" in 1964-- so Frank "borrowed" the arranger Ernie Freeman and came up with his own hit version of "Softly As I Leave You." It anticipates the easy listening sound that would take off in the 1970s, with a rock-type beat but lots of strings and sappy lyrics. But I like this song. Still it wasn't until 1966 that Sinatra scored his first #1 hit single of the decade, "Strangers In The Night," with the versatile Don Costa as arranger. Once again, it's hard to see him singing this in a tilted hat, but times were a-changin' and it's a fun schmaltzy love song with a certain Italian flavor. Daughter Nancy was making hit records, so she and Daddy Frank paired up, just as a joke really, and knocked off "Somethin' Stupid." Hey it's fun! And this also went to #1. "Summer Wind"-- like the rest of the album built around "Strangers"-- is a lot cooler, with a jazz organ swinging in the usual Nelson Riddle way. "It Was A Very Good Year" is truly great material from one of Sinatra's all-time best albums, the Gordon Jenkins-arranged "September Of My Years," recorded earlier than most of the songs included here (1964). "That's Life" is a song that gains stature from Sinatra having been forced to do another take after somebody in the studio messed up-- he was mad (did that ever happen?) and growled and belted out the lyrics. This song is maybe more fun than any other Sinatra number. The other songs, arranged mostly by Ernie Freeman, are less successful. They feature silly lyrics, bad choirs, a kind of brain-numbing very uncool beat, and Sinatra sounding like he really doesn't care too much one way or the other. "Forget Domani" and "Somewhere In Your Heart" are good examples. "This Town" actually gets a groove on a little bit, with a bluesy harmonica wailing away and Sinatra singing like he really, truly doesn't care for this particular town. "The World We Knew" contains a very un-Sinatra like rhyme: "ours" with "stars." As Sinatra used to say in the middle of "I Get A Kick Out Of You"-- yuck! To sum up, if you're a baby boomer, this collection might bring back some memories. Otherwise the best songs can be found elsewhere, as on "The Reprise Collection." In fairness though, some of these songs are so corny, they are kind of fun to hear on a hot summer drive in rush hour traffic. Still, I think these fedora-less hits, while they kept Sinatra in the game at the time, have done more damage to his legacy than anything else and maybe took him out of the same league of impeccable taste as Ella or Billie.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

4.0 out of 5 stars But I can see how others might only give it three-stars...
There are some tacky commercialized third- raters here that I can barely listen to, like "This Town", "When Somebody Loves You","Domini". Lisez davantage

Published on Dec 8 2001 by S. Henkels

3.0 out of 5 stars Really commercial recordings
These are not Sinatra's great recordings. These are commercial affairs intended to sell to a popular audience, unlike Sinatra's earlier sides for RCA, Columbia, and Capitol, which... Lisez davantage

Published on Sep 10 2001 by Lee Hartsfeld

1.0 out of 5 stars Buy this album and you'll be had
Don't believe the title of this album unless you like falling for Barnum & Bailey hyperbole. This is NOT a Greatest Hits album. Lisez davantage

Published on Sep 1 2000

4.0 out of 5 stars A COMMERCIAL BAG OF GOODIES
SKIP THIS ONE AND HEAD STRAIGHT FOR THE BEST OF VERY GOOD YEARS (1 CD)

Published on July 1 2000 by Stephan Mayer

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb!
My Mom's favorite back in the 70's and now my favorite! You just cannot beat Frank Sinatra for the overall music experience! He is truly timeless. Lisez davantage

Published on Jan 27 2000 by Kathi Gilliland

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Collection, But Better Ones Were On The Way...
This greatest hits collection catches some of the best of Frank Sinatra's mid-60s successes, where he placed #1 singles besides the Beatles, Beach Boys and classic 60s groups... Lisez davantage

Published on Dec 21 1999 by Anthony G Pizza

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

› See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

Search Listmania!