Frank and Peggy and Dinah: Good Timing‏, by Tom Fredrickson

So, the WebMaster sent me this clip, and since I owe him money (don’t bet on the Canucks), I’ll indulge:

Two of the greatest singers of the last century—the Dionysus and Apollo of American popular song. Friends, collaborators (Sinatra conducted and, in modern parlance, essentially produced the 1957 album that produced this deathless gem and others), perhaps more. Certainly there seems to be something between them, something between the lines in this performance. Yet there is a coolness here, a shyness that borders on diffidence on Lee’s part. That’s the beginning of getting a handle on her art, which seems to boil down to wringing the most emotion with the least motion. That’s certainly not Frank’s MO, though his courtliness and deference to Lee’s style is winning. But it’s hardly what we expect of a Sinatra performance.

Oddly, something much more lively and fun emerged at about the same time with a lesser artist, Dinah Shore.

The rapport is just as evident, but singers enjoyment of each other is at another level. The medley, underlaid with classic Nelson Riddle arrangements (dig those creamy saxes), zings and swings in a way no longer attainable by mortals. Like most of Frank’s peers, Dinah broke in with the big bands, but when your artistic peak is “Buttons and Bows,” well, your future—if you are lucky—is likely to involve hosting talk shows. Yet, as this demonstrates, there was something more there.

Perhaps it comes down to having good time. Musicians lauded Sinatra and Lee for their flawless time, which translates as having the unerring knack for landing on the right beat with the right note and syllable. On the evidence, Dinah Shore seems to have had this gift, as this clip with Peggy shows:

If this sort of music making casually emerges from the future daytime talk host and LPGA figurehead, what other wonders does this era hold?

– Tom Fredrickson is the proprietor of the unparalleled music blog, Lost Wax Method.

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