Customer Reviews

Learn to Croon

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While the Dorsey/Sinatra era is not everyone's favorite, this CD paints a fine, sentimental portrait of the time. Buddha records has done a fabulous job of remastering the material, there are virtually no clicks, pops or hiss that could be found on RCA's "The Song Is You" discs. The liner notes, by Will Friedwald, are as clear and detailed as you would expect from this knowledgeable author, and the songs themselves really send me. Sinatra sings with exceptional smoothness and sounds fresh and inspired, and there is lots of great instrumental interplay and some helping hands from the other band vocalists. The disc gives the impression of listening to a 1940's radio show, with spoken introductions and some audience applause added. Fun, inconsequential listening.

Keep in mind the credits on this CD before you buy: it is Sinatra AND Dorsey and, as such, the spotlight is not entirely on Sinatra.

As one reviewer has already pointed out (while missing the point), this is music from a big band whose fine singer went on to become a legend. But, at the time, it was the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra with Frank Sinatra; it was only decades later than people began calling it Frank Sinatra & Tommy Dorsey.

That said, this is a fine release. Dorsey swang, though the Sinatra of the 1950s probably would have looked down his nose at some of the whitebread-honking solos on these tracks. Pre-war swing and cold-war swing are different animals.

Sinatra does his idol-and-nemesis El Bingo one better on "Learn To Croon" and plays his part well, but it's still hard to understand how the skinny Brooklyn crooner became the Chairman Of The Board and The Voice in later incarnations.

What good are sound clips of Sinatra that don't include Sinatra? Only one of the three offered give any hint of the singer's ability. One does not include his voice at all! Ridiculous!