You and the night and Sinatra

Sinatra once said he preferred to sing at night. Like me, he was a real night owl. I love the summer, and nighttime in the summer is grand. So what is a good summer playlist for the twilight hours? Here's how I'm operating right now:

Fly me to the moon
Strangers in the night
The moon was yellow (Capitol singles version)
I wished on the moon
Oh you crazy moon
In the still of the night
Let's face the music and dance
In the blue of evening
Sleep warm
Daybreak

Maybe sleep warm goes after daybreak due to the overall theme. I liked the pacing of daybreak as a closing song. The evening ends with the first rays of dawn, which is also a nice theme to end the mix. Hey, I've done that before. Maybe this needs quiet night of quiet stars, but it doesn't really fit into the overall pacing.



Cheers!

Summertime

Summer Sinatra. I like to divide it into two parts. One for the daylight hours, and one for the night. Right now I am listening to this playlist during the day:

Daybreak
It's Sunday
The best is yet to come
I've got the world on a string
American beauty rose
Summer wind
All or nothing at all
Something wonderful happens in summer
On a clear day
The most beautiful girl in the world

Capitol Downbeat

Capitol singles collection - the downbeat mix v1.0:

Sleep warm
Sentimental baby
Sentimental journey
All my tomorrows
All the way
The gal that got away
Impatient years
Melody of love
Don't worry 'bout me

Praise for the Capitol Singles

I'm enjoying the Complete Capitol singles collection, and what can I say? It is excellent. It has some real gems here. Some are classic singles that were released on CD only as part of a compilation, like I've Got the World on a String. Some are singles that were released from a classic Sinatra studio album, like Nice and Easy. And some are singles that were repackaged with CD reissues, such as Lean Baby from Point of No Return. I'd say that, if you are like me and missing a few Capitol studio albums, buy it. The great singles are worth it.

The Christmas Sinatra I long to hear

Frank Sinatra was no stranger to Christmas music. He recorded quite a lot of it during his career. Don't get me wrong, I love his music -otherwise I wouldn't have started this blog. But his Christmas music isn't that fulfilling to me. It isn't as playful as Dean Martin's Christmas music. And most of it has background singers. To me, Frank's voice never really meshed with the choir. I always go back to a song like The Christmas Waltz or White Christmas and hope that they sound less sentimental and more intimate. Just Sinatra's voice and an orchestra. Minus strings.

If there were some way to remove the choir from those songs he recorded with Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins, I would. It would be perfect.

Empty Table

Sometimes in the winter, when you barely see the sun, things feel so lonely. Times like that I really like the song Empty Table. How many other Sinatra songs were just Frank and one instrument? I can think of others, but not many songs were just Frank and a piano.

Wandering