Upcoming
November 12
November 14
A Christmas Tale
B.O.H.I.C.A.
House of the Sleeping Beauties
How About You
November 21
The Betrayal
November 30
My Little Girl
For those who responded the other day to that Carousel/"I Walk Alone" YouTube clip, here's a wav file of Frank Sinatra (the first Billy Bigelow in the 20th Century Fox/Henry King film before he quit and Gordon MacRae was hired to replace him) signing Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Soliloquy." Sinatra was five times the singer that MacRae was -- here's proof.
More Of It<< previous
|
next >>Pickle-Lickin' Good
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on August 6, 2008 at 3:18 PM
comment #1
tophertilson says ...
That was better than I thought it would be, but Sinatra never really could handle dipthongs. His "try" and "die" at the end are just painful. He was already losing his ability to sustain notes. The role was written for a John Raitt-esque voice, and for all his style, Sinatra's lack of craft shows here.
Posted by tophertilson at August 6, 2008 3:53 PM
comment #2
Jeremy Smith says ...
I prefer the Chairman to MacRae, too, but that's a very hospitable key Sinatra is singing in. What really puts the "Soliloquy" over is hearing a lyric baritone like John Raitt blast out of his range to nail "take it". It's what Michael Hayden couldn't do (with confidence) in Nicholas Hytner's otherwise exceptional 1994 revival.
Posted by Jeremy Smith at August 6, 2008 3:56 PM
comment #3
frankbooth says ...
Sinatra was never gonna make it as a singer, but he was the best Hamlet of all time.
Posted by frankbooth at August 6, 2008 5:06 PM
comment #4
BurmaShave says ...
Beaks I had no idea you were gay. Just kidding.
Posted by BurmaShave at August 6, 2008 6:07 PM
comment #5
King's Thursday says ...
Agreed, Jeremy. John Raitt IS the first Billy Bigelow. The Smithsonian Musical Theatre compliation has his recording.
Posted by King's Thursday at August 6, 2008 6:22 PM
comment #6
Edward says ...
Sinatra knew how to sell a song, even if he couldn't hit all the notes. Too bad he never made the film.
Posted by Edward at August 6, 2008 6:36 PM
comment #7
D.Z. says ...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/celebritynews/2509196/Britney-Spears-to-play-lesbian-killer-in-Quentin-Tarantino-film.html
Got this off Cityonfire.com.
Posted by D.Z. at August 6, 2008 6:50 PM
comment #8
lipranzer says ...
I dunno, I don't think Sinatra was a good fit for "Soliloquy." He sounds too detached from it. MacRae doesn't have the voice, but he makes up for it with the feeling.
Posted by lipranzer at August 6, 2008 7:19 PM
comment #9
vp19 says ...
Sinatra recorded "Soliloquy" twice -- on a 12-inch 78 for Columbia in the forties (side 1 ends with the line "My kid ain't even been born yet"), and again in '63 for his Reprise album "The Concert Sinatra" (all but one of the eight tracks are Rodgers & Hammerstein, BTW). The latter version is superior, as Sinatra understands the song better than he did in 1946. (The earlier version is also bowdlerized, with the lyric "skinny-lipped wench" substituting for "skinny-lipped virgin.")
Posted by vp19 at August 6, 2008 7:32 PM
comment #10
Terry McCarty says ...
Edward wrote:
Sinatra knew how to sell a song, even if he couldn't hit all the notes. Too bad he never made the film.
Apparently Sinatra dropped out because the film, like OKLAHOMA, was to be shot in both Cinemascope 55 and the regular 35mm Cinemascope. He believed he should be paid for making two films instead of one.
Posted by Terry McCarty at August 7, 2008 1:18 PM
comment #11
lipranzer says ...
Ah, I didn't know that, vp19. I'll look for that later version.
Posted by lipranzer at August 7, 2008 9:04 PM
Post a comment