Frank Sinatra's voice was among the great instruments of 20th century music. But after his wonderful LPs for Capitol Records in the 1950s, he developed a persona as the biggest cheese of the Rat Pack and continued to reel from the shock of rock'n'roll, setting his controls for cruise and swinging between one Cadillac gig after another. Attitude was everything for the Chairman of the Board and his attitude was arrogant.
A new DVD, A Man and his Music: The Collection, includes three '60s-era Sinatra television specials representing the man in his too-cool-for-real phase. With his vulnerable outsize ego straining against the elastic limits of his great voice, Sinatra had become more caricature than character.
His 1967 special, however, included many special moments courtesy of well-chosen guest stars. Ella Fitzgerald was a gem in the spotlight; her "Body and Soul" was like a silk glove caressing an emotional wound. Sinatra and Fitzgerald had fun together on a medley of duets, including such keep-with-the-times choices as "Ode to Billie Joe." But perhaps the best segment resulted from the melancholy introspection of Brazilian guitarist and bossa nova master Antonio Carlos Jobim, who cooled down Sinatra's hyperbole. Seated together on modernist rattan chairs, their performance of "Change Partners," "I Concentrate on You" and "The Girl from Ipanema" reconnected Sinatra with his soul.
The two-disc set also includes a 1981 special featuring Count Basie and his Orchestra. It might be reaching to say that Sinatra had humbled himself by then, but he certainly had mellowed his cockadoodle swagger into the poise of an elder statesman. His voice and manner on "Nice'n'Easy" and "At Long Last Love" had become fine old wine in a well-preserved cask while his facility for shaping a lyric hadn't dimmed. Sinatra and the Count enjoyed each other's company and Basie's mostly young band was polished and drilled.
