Search - Frank Sinatra :: I Remember Tommy

Give this guy a spotlight !!!

Matthew G. Sherwin | last seen screaming at Amazon customer service | 05/17/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I Remember Tommy is a fine Frank Sinatra album that almost all of his fans should have in their collections. The quality of the sound is excellent and the artwork is really nice. Frank's voice is in excellent form--although, then again, Frank's voice was always in excellent form!



The CD starts so well with Frank Sinatra singing a very sensitive rendition of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You." "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" gets a slower tempo than I'm used to--but it enhances the natural beauty of this romantic, nostalgic tune that will forever remain one of the great ones. Frank handles subtle tempo changes like the pro he always was and the strings sound great with the rest of the musical accompaniment.



"Imagination" features Frank Sinatra squarely in the spotlight--which is quite naturally right where he belongs! Frank massages the lyrics to this song and when he delves into it the end result is a sublime interpretation of this ballad. I predict that you'll enjoy "Imagination" if you haven't heard this tune before; it's definitely a major highlight of this album. "East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon)" gets a fine treatment from Frank and the band; they sing and play this tune without a flaw and when Frank sings this you know you're listening to a great master! This is truly one of the best tributes to Tommy Dorsey I've ever had the pleasure of hearing.



"Without A Song" continues the hits as Frank swings and sways gently to make this number shine brighter than silver and gold! The big band style arrangement bolsters Frank's singing performance and it all works very well. I'm impressed! In addition, there's also the charming tune entitled "I'll Be Seeing You." I always loved this tune and when Frank Sinatra sings it with the band it really brings out the nostalgic, sentimental qualities of this ballad.



Moreover, Frank Sinatra also does "It's Always You" with panache; and "Polka Dots And Moonbeams" is another major highlight of this album. This tender love song about a love that blossoms moves me with its beauty; and it tugs at my heartstrings as well. Great!



"The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else" again showcases the incredible qualities of Frank Sinatra's voice; and he sings this out like the champ he always was and still remains! This number swings gently to make it a fantastic hit and I really like "The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else." The CD also gives us a bonus track entitled the reprise of "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You;" this ballad seems to have some subtle changes to the first version we heard on the opening track--but, in any case, changes or not, it makes a great number that you just can't get enough of even if it were an exact copy!



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.

"

We all remember Tommy, too

Robert C. Topper | Richardson, Texas | 09/26/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, let me make a confession: I am not a Frank Sinatra fan. Now before you send me any hate mail, I will say that I admire and respect him and believe that he was probably the greatest pop singer since sound recordings were introduced. (Let's not get into a comparison with Enrico Caruso.) I am just not a fan. When I buy a Sinatra CD, I am really looking at what was the band backing him up. In this case, one of the best band arrangers of all time, Sy Oliver, wrote these charts and conducted the band. Both Oliver and Sinatra were with Tommy Dorsey at the same time, Oliver arriving first in mid-1939 and leaving last, being drafted in 1943. The selections here were all tunes that Dorsey had recorded, although not always big hits for him. Oliver, however, creates fresh arrangements for them. The one which harks back most directly to Dorsey's version is "East of the Sun" with the band instrumentally playing the counter-points which the Dorsey band sung. That arrangement also slips in a nod to Glenn Miller with its series of false endings. By now, everyone knows how Sinatra acknowledged the influence Dorsey had on him in such things as phrasing and breathing. In this album, both of these great Dorsey alumni pay a well deserved tribute to their mentor."

A good Sinatra album, but just short of greatness...

William E. Adams | Midland, Texas USA | 04/04/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Of the eight reviews prior to mine, about half think this 1961 release is superb, and the rest agree with me that it does not quite equal his best. I'd say there are at least 10-15 of Frank's original albums which satisfy the fan more, but "I Remember Tommy" would rank somewhere between 15th and 20th on the list. 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, in the first year of John Kennedy's presidency 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, at a moment in American life when JFK had us interested in outer space, "The New Frontier". Nothing wrong with his singing, or the band assembled by Sy Oliver...but some of the songs chosen by Frank and Sy 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 "Come Swing With Me" or "Sinatra with Swingin' Brass" or "In the Wee Small Hours" or "Only the Lonely." I have not heard the original Sinatra/Dorsey recordings, which are now available on CD, but a couple of prior reviewers think those work better than this tribute to Tommy does. I suspect they are correct, but back in '61, those old 78's were not available in the LP format, and Frank's idea of the Dorsey material resurrection was not a bad one for those fans who recalled the old days."