With Sinatra being my favourite singer, I'm glad to hear this. I'm just wondering why I've never heard it until now. Maybe it was unreleased, which is a damn shame, because this is a lovely song.
That drove me crazy the first time I heard it too. There are or were “underground” insider sources that have been circulating bootleg copies of Sinatra session material and unreleased songs for a long time. Many of the sessions, where Sinatra practices, makes mistakes, restarts and sometimes makes bawdy remarks are on RU-vid nowadays and they are great fun. Other unreleased songs over the years have mostly been issued, and I would refer you to Spotify or Amazon for the FIVE Sinatra Reprise Rarities albums for many unheard treasures. Capitol also has rarities like I Couldn’t Care Less and Here Goes, among others. Most fans are always hunting. Evergreen was a surprise to me, and it sounds like a rehearsal take. It sounds great to me, but something bothered him. Still it’s wonderful to hear it.
@@jackgoodwin4802 this version is an actual recording, though never released...and as you can hear Sinatras voice was not in shape ...this being 1976......a much finer bootleg exists and many people have it....including myself
I've never heard this version before. Purely Frank Sinatra. His own definitive mark. Many artists covered this song. Few have made it theirs. That's why Frank was Frank.
Look, Frank was the man. Actually really interesting to hear this- just goes to show even the best take a little time to 'get' a melody/song. For us mere mortals- this is how it works for every new song we undertake!! Great stuff.
This is definitely a "run through" - Sinatra is trying it out. I've heard MANY Sinatra session tapes and you can tell here, while he is trying, he is not putting his "all" into it. It was probably his first (and last) attempt at recording it - possibly even SINGING it. If he didn't like a tune or vibe with it he was quick to ditch it and move onto something else. I'm actually surprised he didn't call out "hold it!" or "cut!" around 2:57 into it when he doesn't even finish the Evergreen line - he would normally always do this if he didn't hit a note or screwed up a line - here he just lets the music continue and whistles a bit - again - strange for him to do as 99.9% of the time he calls it off. Plus the bossa nova accompaniment doesn't suit the song at all. He would have done better with it (and probably liked doing it better) if it was scored as a ballad.
Last couple of years I've become a Sinatraphile, can you provide me some resources for study please? Including sheet music and or unofficially published discography?
@@sharpenedhands I have several books (most out of print) I've read numerous times that go into depth about his recording, alternate takes, complete discography, etc. (no sheet music though - you should be able to find some of that online). I'd be willing to sell it for not too much but don't know how to get into contact with you. Maybe I can list on ebay and you can search if I give you name(s) of books??
It's notable that this attempted recording occurred in November 1976, a period when Sinatra's recording frequency had decreased compared to the 1950s and 1960s. If he seemed less enthusiastic about a song or didn't exert the same level of effort as in his earlier recordings from the 1960s and 1950s, it could be attributed to a diminishing drive to prove himself. This doesn't imply that he lacked the desire to record or produce quality work, but rather that his passion and intensity may have been waning. Noteworthy examples like Trilogy in 1979, She Shot Me Down in 1981, and LA Is My Lady in 1984 demonstrate instances where he dedicated significant effort. However, it's evident that his recording frequency became sporadic from the 1970s onward. Additionally, it's conceivable that Sinatra found it somewhat frustrating in the 1970s and beyond, as his vocal abilities weren't as robust as they were in his younger days. This, too, likely influenced his decision to record less frequently and invest less effort into new material.
What happened at the end of the song? He never finished it because he was disgusted or he did it on purpose? I really like his version. I’ve heard it before n have it on a cd
I had the Honour of being in the presence of this truly wonderful gentleman at The Royal Festival Hall some years ago. This particular track was possibly not released: he struggled a bit holding and reaching a note. He was his best critic. Do you know his version of A day in the life of a fool? It's from Black Orpheus. Remember it was the B side. Just recapping on A Man Alone album. Too esoteric for most listeners as was Watertown. Happy Listening.
I suppose there’s all sorts of reasons why he didn’t like particular cuts. There’s songs like I Couldn’t Care Less, Walk Away, and the Ol Blue Eyes version of Bang, Bang that I thought were fabulous but he didn’t. All weren’t released until years or decades later. I thought he had Evergreen in the bag, but that last note bothered him enough to stop. Maybe this was take 12, and he just couldn’t get it right.
@@jackgoodwin4802 : Like "Lush Life," which he never finished. Of all the songs he left out of his albums originally, I think "Don't Take Your Love from Me" and "The Last Dance" are particularly baffling. They are beautiful renditions. Of the later ones that didn't get a proper release, "My Foolish Heart" was a nice recording from '88 (I think there are two takes out there now). I wish he'd done studio versions of "The Shadow of Your Smile" and "Maybe This Time."
@@bryanismyname7583 I’d love those and I’d add The Hungry Years, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, Elton’s Remember and See the Show Again, all of which he was doing in concert in the 70s. I thought See the Show Again was a new One for My Baby when he did it on the Tonight Show. It fit him perfectly: “and you, you’re pretty as a picture, and I don’t even know your name…”
@@nilanjana_ We’re thinking this was a rehearsal where he was getting used to the song. On some of the session tapes even here on RU-vid he gets more committed to songs the farther he gets into them. I treasured it because I didn’t know he even tried to record it. Sadly he didn’t go any farther and never released it.
This kind of music used to be called POP music and it dominated radio shows from the late 1920s into the 50s and 60s when it also ranTV variety shows. As rock and roll started to take over this music became Middle of the Road. Nowadays its called Lounge music. This particular song was a rehearsal, with Sinatra learning the melody and trying to see if he could do it. It isn't a good representation of big band pop, which was as big or bigger than rock, especially during WW2. Listen to this: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6Ie8CJUJ8pE.html
I always refer to the style of music that singers like Sinatra popularized in the decade before the rock 'n' roll era as “vocal,” though sometimes it now gets called “traditional pop” or “standards.” (I think “lounge music” is more a descriptor, like “classic rock,” than a genre name.) I don’t know if it was called anything in particular during its heyday. Sometimes Sinatra gets called “jazz,” but he was never really a jazz singer, even in his more experimental recordings. (Compare Tony Bennett, or Rosemary Clooney, whose major hits are in the same vocal pop style as Sinatra, but who really did lean into jazz in their later years.) “Vocal” covers most of Sinatra’s later songs too, since he never became comfortable with the styles of pop that became popular later. (Had he been younger, maybe he’d have pulled off the switch into adult-skewing pop like Streisand did.) He did, however, record some that at least showed a (modern) pop influence, such as his hit duet “Somethin' Stupid” or his minor 1969 hit “Love's Been Good to Me.” The latter song sounds stylistically of a piece with this version of the Streisand/Paul Williams song. I would label it “Vocal, pop,” as it’s a hybrid sound, closer than Sinatra usually got to what was then topping the charts but not going all the way there. It’s the arrangement and the composition that sound pop; Sinatra’s vocal doesn’t sound too updated.
I think the quite complex structure of this song was not his thing. Very nice arrangement and great recording. Maybe he should have given it another chance.
I might suggest you search out his recordings of Song of the Sabia, The Hurt Doesn’t Go Away and The Saddest Thing of All for unusual song structures. Also the Future Suite he did on the Trilogy album in 1980. He was always looking for new challenges.
Thank you. Yes I know all the examples you mention and I agree with you. Listening again it is not the structure of the song that was the 'problem'. He just did not sing the right melody in the last few bars. So that's why I still think he should have given it at least a second take. :-) Greetings from Holland.@@jackgoodwin4802
I really wish Sinatra had performed this on the road for a few months and fine-tuned it before going into the studio (as he often did with material he was planning to record). He clearly wasn't comfortable with the song yet but if he had kept at it, it could have been one of his better late-career efforts.
That wasn't good by any stretch of the imagination. It sounds like he was learning the song. If he did decide to do the song the polished version would have been very good. That type of song isn't suited to Frank's vocals
I am Sinatra's biggest fan. He had very few clunkers. This song is just a bad song. He should have listened to it, and threw it in the trash. Again, I am Sinatra's biggest fan.
Two points: 1.). it was a huge hit for Barbra Streisand and he was attempting to cover it, like dozens of other singers did. It wasn’t a bad song in itself. 2.) This was a run through as he learned the song. It was never mixed properly and officially released; I think the tape speed is slightly off too. This was a bootleg session tape snuck out by an insider. It turned out he didn’t like it, or didn’t feel he could do a good job on it. Too bad. I think it could have been as charming as My Sweet Lady or Being Green, two similar songs he did release.
Whatever the reason, I don't like the arrangement. The dynamics are too harsh and severe. Sinatra wanted to sing it softy, tenderly. But the arrangement did not give him that freedom.
Not into this song that much. Kind of boring. Frank should have done an album of Marty Robbins' songs. Doing Marty songs would be a challenge that Frank would have enjoyed.
😢This was a rehearsal take to see if he was comfortable with the arrangement. He obviously wasn’t, so he didn’t finish and he never went t back to it. On top of that, to my ear there’s a problem with the tape speed. This was no doubt smuggled out of the studio by an insider. As a Sinatra collector I never knew about this and I’m glad to have it.
