The late 60’s were a challenging period for Frank Sinatra. By that time, the face of pop music had moved irrevocable away from the crooner’s forte, leaving him to search for something more substantial to hang his musical hat on. He fared little better on the silver screen – his Tony Rome character was engaging but could not eclipse his earlier successes (Ocean’s 11, The Manchurian Candidate, Von Ryan’s Express) to keep him in the entertainment spotlight.
So in 1969 he once again turned to Brazil and Antonio Carlos Jobim for help.
Two years had passed since their initial five-star recording project ‘Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim’ and a subsequent television special that also featured Ella Fitzgerald, which had pushed Sinatra briefly to the forefront. But the momentum (which led to three unremarkable releases) had quickly faded.
This second album with the Bossa master has a split musical personality, making it one of the most unusual recordings of Sinatra’s long career. Sinatra is at his casual, swinging best here, his voice fluid and playful. This is the Sinatra who would in just a few short months, deliver his knockout single ‘My Way’ and a string of 70’s successes including ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back’, ‘The Music of Alec Wilder’ and ‘Trilogy.’
While Sonny Burke had returned as producer, the real story here are the new faces: namely drummer Claudio Slon and a young Brazilian arranger – Deodato. The results stand in contrast the earlier Sinatra/Jobim recording, allowing the singer to find a new ‘comfort zone’ for his brand of Brazilian music and the differences are immediately apparent.
Eumir Deodato’s sparkling arrangements flow with ease – his use of reeds, strings and brass range from subtle to vibrant and when coupled with Slon’s impeccable rhythmic sense frame Sinatra’s delivery without defining it – an important distinction for the singer who would struggle with his place in the pop/rock universe for the better part of a decade. Here though, the dynamics are inclusive, not restrictive, and each of the songs culled from Jobim’s repertoire for this album reflect Sinatra’s ability to adapt to the Brazilian style. Compare his sense of timing and phrasing of these songs with the remaining seven songs that were produced and arranged by Don Costa.
There are many highlights: Jobim’s wordless scatting introduces use to several, including ‘Agua de Beber’ with Sinatra’s languid delivery, and the definitive version of ‘This Happy Madness’. Jobim’s acoustic guitar (played only at Sinatra’s insistence, because it served as a better visual prop for his TV special) leads the way on ‘Someone To Light Up My Life’ and ‘Triste’.
‘Bonita’ and ‘Desafinado’ were also recorded during these sessions, but were not included in the final pre-production ordering. AT the 11th hour, the project was scrapped and the song remained buried in the masters vault for nearly two years. Details of why this occurred are sketchy.
Seven of the original nine songs were resurrected to compliment the Don Costa tunes, including covers of ‘I will Drink The Wine’, The Carpenter’s ‘Close To You’, ‘Leaving On A Jet Plane’ and the hit single ‘Bein’ Green’ from Kermit’s Sesame Street gang.
Costa’s approach to these tunes is commendable and appropriately pop-oriented. The arrangements soften the rock rhythms to fit Sinatra’s charismatic approach to love songs while perfectly serving his public’s expectations.
But the combination of Sinatra and Jobim is clearly superior, marking another high point for the careers of both performers and providing us with an evergreen recording for Bossa Nova fans worldwide.
Publisher’s note: For those interested in obtaining the complete Sinatra recordings with Antonio Carlos Jobim, you will find them available only as part of The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Box Set, which is available as a special order item from Connectbrazil.com. Please use our ‘contact us’ section of the web site to make your request.
Other voices:
From an interview with Sinatra’s longtime accompanist and conductor, Bill Miller, 1970:
“It was his (Sinatra’s) idea to do the album with Antonio Carlos Jobim. As for the writing, Jobim suggested Claus Ogerman, who did the first album. Frank said:
“Fine—use whoever you want,” and he said he had no particular ideas on routines, as I remember, except to try to keep them under, say, 3½ minutes, if possible.
“And Ogerman was very compatible with that sort of Bossa Nova idea. He knows how to write subtly with the strings. In itself, the Bossa Nova is kind of a monotonous feel. You never get loud unless the concept of the album is such.
“We’ve made another Bossa Nova album since then, which has not been released as yet (referring to Sinatra & Company). And on that we used brass and it got pretty raucous; it was by a young writer whose name escapes me (referring to Deodato). I liked it, but when we got to the pretty side of it, the contrast didn’t come off as well. It just didn’t quite happen, if you know what I mean. Maybe that’s why they’re holding up the release till he makes a decision on that one.
“Things either work or they don’t work. There’s not usually any in–between.”
