Frank sinatra radio echoes movie#
Frank sinatra radio echoes full#

I have been able to track down a couple of transcription discs from those broadcasts, but so far, the majority remain hidden.īy 1952, the quartet was recognized as one of the finest ensembles of its type in the world. Some took place on Sunday afternoons at the art museum. They visited San Francisco regularly and gave concerts in various venues in L.A. The group relied almost entirely on its recorded product, as studio life prevented touring. ” However, my father maintained that it was essential to have the motion picture world thought of as an equal to the so-called “serious,” high-art community. At the time, they were severely criticized for choosing that moniker over, for example, “Los Angeles String Quartet.

Frank sinatra radio echoes movie#

Their decision to include “Hollywood” in their name stemmed from the fact that each was a leading musician on the movie soundstages. My parents had signed with Capitol back in 1947 as members of the Hollywood String Quartet, together with violinist Paul Shure and violist Paul Robyn. My parents were around for this changing of the guard, and since Frank relied on their opinions, they were among the first to tell him that this was the direction in which to go. When it was clear that this combination was not working as well as he hoped, the young Nelson Riddle came on board. At first, Sinatra wanted to stay with his primary arranger, Axel Stordahl, and there were some attempts at singles on the new label.

The switch from big band singer to a jazz-tinged vocalist was not easy. … Soon, Sinatra would discover that going there was the single greatest move of his career.” Granata observed in Sessions with Sinatra, “Capitol was everything a record label strove to be: chic, cool, artsy, hip. Notably, this was around the same time that West Coast jazz was starting to move over into the popular music culture. At Capitol, he would be working with the absolute best in the recording field, from producers and engineers, to arrangers and musicians. No more bow ties and bobbysoxers-Sinatra aimed to keep his adoring fans while also building a new base of admirers more attuned to listening rather than dancing. With Nat King Cole, Peggy Lee, Benny Goodman and George Shearing on the label, among others, Sinatra would have many opportunities for musical collaboration. He signed a six-year contract with rival Capitol Records, which had enticed the crooner with its star-studded roster of talent and the promise of more artistic freedom.

Frank sinatra radio echoes full#

Perhaps he was not proficient at grasping a full score, but there was no question that he understood the basics of music notation.įrank Sinatra moved to Hollywood permanently upon leaving Columbia Records in 1952 following an ugly rift with the company. This pretty much dispels the idea that he could not read music. While recording for Columbia Records in New York, he had even conducted an album of compositions by Alec Wilder. Sinatra was intensely curious about the world of classical music.

My father, Felix Slatkin, was the concertmaster of the orchestra at Twentieth Century Fox, and my mother, Eleanor Aller, was the principal cellist at Warner Brothers, the first female to occupy a leading chair in any of the 11 studio orchestras. By the time we arrived on the scene, Frank already knew my parents well. I was born in 1944 and my sibling, Fred, in 1947. Fortunately for my family, the former was always true. And if the opposite were the case, you could not ask for a worse enemy. If you were on Frank’s good side, you could not ask for a better friend. The place was Hollywood, and the world was that of the recording studio. “A friend is never an imposition.” -Frank Sinatra