In addition to his status as one of the most important musical figures of the 20th century – or any century, for that matter – Frank Sinatra was an impressively prolific recording artist. After a successful run as the singer in Tommy Dorsey’s band, he began making albums under his own name just after the end of WWII, a time when the “album” format still meant a bound volume with multiple 78 r.p.m. shellac discs in it. Between 1946 and his death in 1998, Sinatra released 59 studio albums. He also released nearly three dozen live albums, not counting compilations and sets featuring Sinatra as part of the Rat Pack (with Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.) Through his solo career, Ol’ Blue Eyes was signed to Columbia, then Capitol, and finally to his own custom label, Reprise Records. Nearly all of the aforementioned albums were released by one of those labels.
The years 1943 to 1948 were something of a transitional period for Sinatra; having just left Dorsey’s employ, he would release but three studio albums – one of those a Christmas collection – during those years. His solo debut, 1946’s The Voice of Frank Sinatra shot to the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s brand-new album chart. 1947’s Songs by Sinatra fared nearly as well, reaching the No. 2 spot. Yet those numbers paint an inaccurate picture of Sinatra’s popularity; the album era lay many years in the future. In the ‘40s, the 45 r.p.m. single was still the audio coin of the realm. And within that same ‘43-’48 time frame, Sinatra placed a staggering 50-plus songs on Billboard’s Top 40. In contemporary terms (though not in terms of his music) he was a bona fide rock star. This period was long before the swingin’ big band, outsized-personality Sinatra; in the 1940s he was a musical romantic leading man.
And so it was that Frank Sinatra was a major concert draw. Bouncing between Hollywood and New York City, he appeared often at high-profile concert dates. At least three of those West Coast performances took place at the famed Hollywood Bowl at the foot of Mount Lee, home of the famous Hollywood sign (then still displaying “Hollywoodland”). One of those was a proper concert date; another was a short set as part of a benefit; a third was an appearance at the Academy Awards ceremony. All were recorded, and none has seen official release before now.
Selections from those performances make up At the Hollywood Bowl 1943-1948, set for release October 3 from SING, a recently-launched music intellectual property (IP) company. The album will be available on CD and vinyl LP. The CD features 18 tracks, two of which are bonus songs from a 1943 NBC Radio broadcast; The vinyl features 11 tracks. Sourced from the highest-quality tapes available, the performances captured 77-plus years ago have undergone audio restoration, bringing the recordings up to a listenable standard.
Backed by a lush orchestra, Sinatra croons his way through five romantic tunes at the Academy Award show (August 4, 1945). His seemingly effortless vocals are wonderfully out front, with the swooning strings adorning his singing. The mix and audio quality are superb, approaching the fidelity of a studio recording of that era. When Sinatra introduces “If I Loved You” from the stage musical Carousel, bobbysoxers can be heard screaming in delight.
The Musicians Association of Los Angeles booked Sinatra for the Music for the Wounded Concert on August 8, 1948. After a quick introduction by Jack Haley (best known as the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz), Frank croons “Time After Time” and two others. The audio quality on that song is a notch below the Academy Awards set, but Sinatra’s sublime performance makes the recording worthwhile. The other two songs from that set seem to have been sourced from a different, much higher-quality master; as such, “The Girl That I Marry” and the showy “Soliloquy” (aka “My Boy Bill”) have a you-are-there feel.
An August 14, 1943 concert is sourced from a dodgy master with significant surface noise; the restoration work brings it up to just-okay fidelity. Yet again, though, the historical importance and performance quality of the recording make it well worth hearing. Backed again by an orchestra – from the sound of it, possibly bigger than the Academy Awards one – Sinatra serves up a lovely selection of romantic ballads. A majestic reading of “Ol’ Man River” opens a set that includes “You’ll Never Know,” a No. 2 hit single at the time, and “Night and Day,” a hit for Sinatra just a year earlier.
For listeners whose appetites are whetted by these newly-unearthed/restored archival recordings, SING promises two more Sinatra releases to come later in 2025.
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