A Voice on Air 1935-1955

by Frank Sinatra

Overview

Filling in a gap in Frank Sinatra's history, Legacy's 2015 box A Voice on Air collects over 100 radio broadcasts recorded between 1935 and 1955. This is the first collection to chronicle this era -- over 90 of its 100 tracks are previously unreleased -- and it's pulled from a variety of sources, including the Sinatra estate's vaults, the Library of Congress, and the Paley Center for Media, each strand assisting in sterling re-creations of original broadcasts from Frank's bobbysocks days, World War II, and the nascent saloon singer of the '50s. Sinatra wound up singing some of these songs in the studio but not necessarily in these arrangements, a wrinkle that would be tantalizing enough but a good portion of A Voice on Air is devoted to songs he only sang on the air. Some of these are little more than novelties -- the flashiest being "(Li'l Abner) Don't Marry That Gal," a song co-written by cartoonist Al Capp cashing in on his hit strip -- and there is a fair share of duets, with both musicians (Nat King Cole, Slim Gaillard) and cultural figures (Gov. Jimmie Davis comes in to sing his "You Are My Sunshine"). Part of the appeal of this set is how the very fact that it's grounded in specific years accentuates transience: there are jokes that need footnotes, broadcasts from World War II, commercials for cigarettes, and other musty conventions that never quite seep onto Sinatra's studio recordings. Here, they're part of the main text. There might be a fair amount of standards peppered throughout the set but they're unwitting anchors for a set that's proudly not timeless. Instead, it showcases a Sinatra on the rise, a singer relying on his inventive phrasing and incandescent charisma, elements that are undeniable and vital even when heard in these appealing old-fashioned surroundings. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Product Details

Release Date:	11/20/2015
Label:	Columbia / Sony Music
UPC:	0888750997128
Rank:	79417

Tracks

Disc 1

1. Vintage Radio Tuning In/Major Bowes' Show Opening/S-H-I-N-E
2. Fred Allen Introduces Frank Sinatra and the Four Sharps/Exactly Like You
3. Moon Love [Live]
4. Fame and Fortune Show Opening: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You/Marie
5. Deep Night
6. Ruth Lowe Interview/I'll Never Smile Again/Fame and Fortune Show Opening: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
7. Frenesi
8. East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)
9. Carnaval de Broadway Opening: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You/The One I Love
10. Say It/Carnaval de Broadway Closing: I'm Getting Sentimental Over You
11. She's Funny That Way
12. I Don't Believe in Rumors
13. I'll String Along with You/As Time Goes By
14. That Old Black Magic
15. I Heard You Cried Last Night
16. For Me and My Gal
17. Moonlight Mood
18. There Are Such Things
19. Broadway Bandbox Show Opening/All or Nothing at All
20. My Heart Stood Still
21. The Right Kind of Love
22. Close to You
23. As Time Goes By
24. It's De-Lovely
25. Nature's Remedy Commercial

Disc 2

26. Songs by Sinatra Show Opening: This Love of Mine/Paper Doll
27. Kiss Me Again
28. If Loveliness Were Music
29. Lover Come Back to Me/Songs by Sinatra Show Closing: Put Your Dreams Away
30. My Heart Tells Me
31. My Ideal
32. News Bulletin/Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower Briefing/President Franklin D. Roosevelt Address of D-Day (Excerpts)/Music for Millions Introduction & Buy a Piece of the Peace
33. Frank Sinatra D-Day Announcement/The Frank Sinatra Show Opening: This Love of Mine/Coming in on a Wing and a Prayer
34. Frank Sinatra Commentary on Special D-Day Broadcast/America the Beautiful
35. Frank Sinatra Dedication to Canadian Soliders at Rockcliffe Hospital, Ontario/I'll Be Seeing You (Rehearsal)
36. Frank Sinatra Dedication to Soldiers at Halloran Hospital, Staten Island, NY/The Way You Look Tonight
37. It Had to Be You
38. Don't Fence Me In
39. Lonely Love
40. Long Ago and Far Away
41. Songs by Sinatra Opening: Night and Day/Aren't You Glad You're You
42. It Might as Well be Spring
43. Birthday Greetings for Frank Sinatra's 30th Birthday/Frank Sinatra introduces June Hutton/Button Up Your Overcoat
44. Day by Day
45. Lily Belle
46. The Ol' Man River/Songs by Sinatra Show Closing: Put Your Dreams Away
47. Comedy Sketch: The Battle of the Century
48. Songs by Sinatra Old Gold "Yankee Doodle Dandy" Commercial
49. The Frank Sinatra Show Vimms Vitamin Commercial
50. Songs by Sinatra Max Factor Commercial

Disc 3

51. Songs by Sinatra Show Opening: Night and Day/I'm an Old Cowhand/Tumblin' Tumbleweeds
52. Along the Navajo Trail
53. Frank Sinatra Introduction to "Home on the Range"/Home on the Range
54. Frank Sinatra Introduces Louisiana Gov. Jimmie Davis/You Are My Sunshine
55. Exactly Like You [Frank Sinatra Introduces Nat "King" Cole]
56. Cement Mixer (Put-ti Put-ti) [Frank Sinatra Introduces Slim Gaillard]
57. You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me
58. I Only Have Eyes for You
59. You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby
60. Don't Forget Tonight Tomorrow
61. Sweet Lorraine
62. Personality
63. Who's Sorry Now?
64. Don't Marry That Girl
65. A Salute to Al Jolson Show Opening & George Jessel Introduces Frank Sinatra/Rock-A-Bye Your Baby
66. Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah
67. These Foolish Things (parody)
68. (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons
69. Anything You Can Do (I Can Do Better)
70. Alexander's Ragtime Band [Frank Sinatra Introduces Irving Berlin]
71. Help Me to Help My Neighbor/Irving Berlin Commentary on Frank Sinatra Winning the Jefferson Award
72. Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive [Frank Sinatra Introduces Johnny Mercer]
73. Your Hit Parade Show Opening: Lucky Day/(It's Going to Be a) Great Day
74. I Wish I Didn't Love You So
75. Take Me Out to the Ball Game
76. There's No Business Like Show Business
77. Serenade of the Bells
78. Frank Sinatra Receives the Modern Screen Ed Sullivan Award nad the 1946 "Radio Father of the Year Award"/Come Rain or Come Shines
79. Songs by Sinatra Show Closing: Put Your Dreams Away

Disc 4

80. Haunted Heart
81. Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
82. I'm Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover
83. Nature Boy
84. Little White Lies
85. On a Slow Boat to China
86. Light Up Time Show Opening: Lucky Day/It All Depends on You
87. Some Enchanted Evening
88. Full Moon and Empty Arms
89. It's Only a Paper Moon
90. Mad About You
91. A Fine Romance
92. I've Got a Crush on You [Dean Martin Introduces Frank Sinatra]
93. Why Try to Change Me Now
94. Birth of the Blues
95. To Be Perfectly Frank Show Opening: Walking and Whistlin' the Blues/I've Got the World on a String
96. I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm
97. A Hundred Years from Today
98. This Can't Be Love
99. Them There Eyes/To Be Perfectly Frank Closing: Walkin' and Whistlin' the Blues
100. The Frank Sinatra Show Opening: Young at Heart/Tenderly
101. Hello, Young Lovers
102. It's Alright with Me
103. Our Love Is Here to Stay/The Frank Sinatra Show Closing: Put Your Dreams Away
104. Sam's Song (The Happy Tune) [Gary Crosby Introduces Frank Sinatra]
105. Half as Lovely (Twice as True)
106. Light Up Time/Lucky Strike "LSMFT" Commercial
107. Frank Sinatra sings Bobbi Home Permanment/White Rain Commercials

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Frank Sinatra   Primary Artist
Jimmy Durante   Featured Artist
Raymond Scott & His Orchestra   Featured Artist
The Pied Pipers   Featured Artist
Raymond Paige & his Orchestra   Featured Artist
Tommy Dorsey & His Orchestra   Featured Artist
Harry James & His Orchestra   Featured Artist
Axel Stordahl & His Orchestra   Featured Artist
Jimmie Davis   Featured Artist
Benny Goodman Sextet   Featured Artist
Tommy Dorsey   Featured Artist
David Broekman & The Treasury Song Parade Orchesta   Featured Artist
Nat King Cole & His Trio   Featured Artist
Garry Moore   Featured Artist
Gary Crosby   Featured Artist
Walter Gross Orchestra   Featured Artist
Mark Warnow & The Hit Paraders   Featured Artist
Peggy Lee   Featured Artist
Doris Day   Featured Artist
Irving Berlin   Featured Artist
Dorothy Kirsten   Featured Artist
Bobby Tucker Singers   Featured Artist