Main Event [Live]

Frank Sinatra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 25, 1990)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Warner Bros UK
• ASIN: B000002KC8
• Also Available in: Hardcover  |  Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #104,228 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Overture: It Was a Very Good Year/All the Way/My Kind of Town

2. The Lady Is a Tramp

3. I Get a Kick Out of You

4. Let Me Try Again [Laisse Moi le Temps]

5. Autumn in New York

6. I've Got You Under My Skin

7. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

8. Angel Eyes

9. You Are the Sunshine of My Life

10. The House I Live In

11. My Kind of Town

12. My Way

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Recorded live at New York's Madison Square Garden, this 1974 album provides ample testament to Sinatra's Mt. Rushmore-sized status as an American icon: This isn't the performer singing here, but the legend. (The introduction, by famously obnoxious sports commentator Howard Cosell, is hardly intended to minimize the sense of occasion.) From "The Lady Is a Tramp" to "My Way," every one of the Chairman of the Board's vocal inflections seems calculated to convey maximum Sinatra-ness; if he occasionally lapses into self-parody ("Bad, Bad Leroy Brown"), and his voice has lost a few steps, at least it sounds like he's having a good time. --Dan Epstein

Product Description

2010 reissue of this live album, originally recorded in 1974 at Madison Square Garden, NYC. From his days in the '40s fronting Big Bands through his enormously successful recording and acting career and right up to his early '90s duets albums, Francis Albert Sinatra was, and remains, the most beloved and respected male vocalist of the 20th Century. While Elvis and The Beatles may have defined the true spirit of Rock 'n' Roll, it was Sinatra who ushered in the era of cool. From the Rat Pack to Vegas, the East Coast to the West Coast, it's Frank's world, we're just living in it. 12 tracks. Universal. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Larger than life, January 8, 2000

By 

Jon Warshawsky "Sinatra Guru" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Main Event (Audio CD)

This is one of the better albums from Sinatra's post-retirement period -- his voice is in fine form, and the set list includes enough of the great standards (Autumn in New York, Lady is a Tramp, I've Got You Under My Skin) to make some of the 1970s music (Sunshine of My Life, Bad Bad Leroy Brown) more palatable. 'My Way' is wonderful live, and even the lesser songs benefit from the deliberately larger-than-life feel to this media event.

As one of several hundred million Americans who finds Howard Cosell irritating, the introduction seems a bit long, but somehow it belongs here on a live Sinatra album in 1974. The Woody Herman Band provides an exciting backing for FS, playing the arrangements -- by Nelson Riddle, Don Costa and others -- with a lot of punch.

This may not be one of the classic Sinatra albums, but it is very enjoyable, upbeat and nostalgic. When you think about what else was happening in the '70s, The Main Event may be one of the better records of its era.

Recommended.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sinatra always was the main event !!!, November 3, 2006

By 

Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Main Event (Audio CD)

Frank Sinatra gives a powerful performance on this soundtrack CD for the TV special of the same name. Sinatra's voice is in very good form even though he was older when this was recorded. Sinatra sings with the usual sensitivity and electricity that we expect from a legendary performer; and this CD proves it.

The introduction by Howard Cosell is too long; this should have been shortened--less is more, right? However, when Frank takes the stage the audience forgets Cosell. Frank Sinatra starts off with a modern rendition of "The Lady Is A Tramp" and the crowd roars and cheers him on. Sinatra then move into "I Get A Kick Out Of You;" this is very well done. Other classic ballads on this CD include "I've Got You Under My Skin;" "My Kind of Town" and the closing number "My Way."

Frank also respects the talents of younger musicians. For example, he performs "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown" by Jim Croce and "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" by Stevie Wonder.

Sinatra's rapport with his audience is excellent. He jokes with them throughout the concert and he tells a brief story about how he got his start singing in New York City. The audience loves every minute of it.

The Woody Herman band performs flawless musical arrangements to accompany Frank as he sings. The band plays arrangements by the likes of Nelson Riddle and Don Costa. Excellent!

The sound quality is very good; and the liner notes offer two wonderful black and white photos of Sinatra including the cover art. There is a brief essay about Frank Sinatra. You get the song credits, too.

Overall, this CD is a must-have for Sinatra fans. I highly recommend this CD for fans of classic pop vocals, too. Get this CD--and may you enjoy it as much as I did!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Live performance - one the best ever!, March 15, 2001

By 

Michael P. Vimont (Norton, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Main Event (Audio CD)

This is one of the best live performance albums, not by just Sinatra, but of any singer. Since `blue eyes" is at his best performing and connecting to his audience, it is no wonder that the CD version elicits this feeling despite not being able to actually see it. The only negative I have with the recording is the long laborious introduction provided by Howard Cosell. I listened to it the first couple of times, however, thanks to magic of track skipping I can get right into the "The Lady Is A Tramp".

Frank's bar room style of singing really hits the high point with "Angel Eyes", a song that quite frankly I was not really enamored with when it first came out. The live version provides a great way of presenting this song, with Frank convincing you that HE is the down and out man speaking to "anyone who would listen."

The highlight of this CD is "I've Got You Under My Skin", simply one of the greatest live recording of any one song, ever. If I listen to this same song in another forum, even if it is Sinatra singing it, I am left incomplete because it doesn't have the soul that this performance provided. Of course, it was not all Sinatra. The orchestra and the arrangements used in this performance were SUPERB, especially with "Let Me Try Again" and "You Are the Sunshine of My Life".

Highly recommended!!!