Frank Sinatra And Nelson Riddle: How It Happened

By Scott Lovejoy

When considering the greatness of Frank Sinatra--both as an individual and in the music he created--it is important to place his achievements within the context of the man's life. It is easy to forget that there was a time when he wasn't 'The Chairman of the Board' and when he wasn't regarded as the greatest male popular vocalist in history. There was a time when he was just another washed up teen idol trying to figure out a way to jump start his career and continue collecting a paycheck for being a singer. And then there were his personal problems--the love of his life, Ava Gardner had left him, his vocal chords were shredded from overuse, and he was on the skids financially as well as no longer in demand professionally. Frank recalled this time in his life by saying "It was all Mondays."

Not only was Sinatra's career in shambles, but the A&R people at Columbia Records had no clue what to do about it. The low point of their efforts was an attempt to reinvent the greatest popular singer in history as a 'novelty act' by pairing him with producer Mitch Miller. The most wretched by-product for their brief working relationship was a song called 'Mama Will Bark', on which Sinatra shared the mic with a busty singer named Dagmar while some clown barked like a dog and howled in the background. After these dismal recordings failed to jumpstart his career Sinatra was dropped by Columbia records in 1952.

In 1953, several singers who here friends of Sinatra, most notably Jo Stafford and June Hutton brought him to the attention of Capitol Records A&R man Dave Dexter, Jr. This led to a contract, and begun a nine year association with Capitol that most critics consider the finest era of Sinatra's work. Initially, Frank worked with Axel Stordahl (June Hutton's husband, with whom he had worked at Columbia) and these sessions produced some decent recordings, including "I'm Walking Behind You" and "Lean Baby", but nothing incredibly significant. Dexter wanted Frank to try something different, and with Stordahl leaving to accept a job with Eddie Fisher in New York, he agreed reluctantly to a pairing with Nelson Riddle. Riddle was an experienced big band conductor, known best at that point for his work with Nat King Cole. Dexter had envisioned this pairing ever since he had signed Sinatra, but its doubtful that even he could have foreseen the magic that was to result.

To say that the pairing 'clicked' from the start is a severe understatement. The first Sinatra/Riddle session produced 'I've Got The World On A String'. Riddle's arrangement gave the Ted Kohler/Harold Arlen chestnut a new life and complimented Sinatra's more mature vocal styling perfectly. It wasn't a huge hit at the time, reaching only #14 on the charts, but has since become a classic. Sinatra himself loved the song and would continue to perform it live for the rest of his life--frequently using it to open his performances.

When examined in a modern context, Sinatra's career 'reinvention' is almost mind boggling. It's difficult to envision a star of today popular with the teenage set--like The Jonas Brothers for example--becoming accepted as a serious vocalist for adults. Sinatra not only became a critical and popular sensation, but would go down in history as arguably the most important entertainer ever in American popular culture. None of this would have happened were it not for the magical pairing of Sinatra with Nelson Riddle. - 18780

About the Author:

David Glisan is a journalist covering MMA and boxing. He is also the heavy metal editor for The Savage Science, a website covering both MMA and music, and is a noted authority on both heavy metal and jazz. He contributes to many MMA news websites and provides UFC news for the broadcast and online sports media. He's also a published expert on boxing, pro wrestling and falconry.