Frank Sinatra begins the transition from crooner to singer

In trying to put together a list of essential Frank Sinatra records that would be limited to 10 albums, "Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra" does not make the list, but in terms of honorable mentions it would comes first on the list from a chronological perspective. What made it a close call was the fact that this CD reissue expands the original lineup of songs to include all 18 of the track Sinatra recorded with arranger George Siravo at that time (remember, this album is so old it was not a 12" record; there were only 8 songs on it originally). This includes two versions of "All of Me" and alternative takes of "Saturday Night (Is the Loneliest Night of the Week)" and four other songs. On this album Sinatra performs with various artists, including Harry James & His Orchestra on "Farewell, Farewell to Love," the Skylarks on "There's Something Missing," and the Wippoorwills on "Meet me at the Copa." This album is the one that proved Frank Sinatra was a star even if he was not the major star he had been in the 1940s. Of course, by the end of the 1950s Sinatra would have proven himself to be on the absolute top plateau of recording artists of all time (along with Bing Crosby, Elvis and the Beatles). "Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra" is an album where the performances are better than the songs, but this is the point in his career where the boy crooner who was adored by a nation of boxsoxers was in the cocoon. When he would emerge, he would be a bona fide singer, amply proven once and for all on his 1954 album "In the Wee Small Hours" (the first album on my list of the 10 essential Sinatra albums).

No Columbia disaster.

This is essentially Frank's first LP (10") and his last date for Columbia records, an entry that has long had the reputation being the last-ditch effort of a fading star with fading pipes to regain his former glory. The fact of the matter is that it's a remarkably strong performance by Old Blue, set apart from his other Columbia offerings by the consistency of the all-swing program.

The voice itself clearly has more "edge" than the mellower Sinatra of the Dorsey and bobby-soxer years. Even looking at the enclosed photos, I can't help but associate this Sinatra with the later master storyteller of the Capitol years. Although Sinatra was only 35 at the time of the recording (1950), he looks 10-15 years older than the "Frankie" of 1945. If I didn't know better, I'd judge him to be older than 50-year-old Presidential candidate John Edwards. The point is that Sinatra lived every instant of his life to the fullest, which is why this recorded moment, no less than the others, is at once expressive, satisfying, and revealing.

So is this a must-have album? Only if you've already acquired all of the Capitol releases with "swing" in the title--"Songs for Swinging Lovers," "Come Swing with Me," "Swing Along With Me," "A Swinging Affair," and above all "Sinatra's Swingin' Session," for which "Swing and Dance with Frank Sinatra" might be considered a preliminary blueprint.

Sinatra sings here with command and conviction, but admittedly some of the electricity is missing. For one, the fidelity isn't quite up to the "hi fi" audio of the later LP's; for another, the singer dubbed in his voice after the orchestral tracks had been recorded, thereby assuring "perfection" but betraying one of his cardinal principles; and finally as competent as the arrangements are, they simply don't stand up to Riddle, May, Hefti, Mandel, or Costa. They leave space when they should fill it, and they usurp space that should be the vocalist's creative domain. And as yet Sinatra has not--with the assistance of drummers like Alvin Stoller, Irv Kottler, and Sonny Payne--figured out not merely how to swing but to "outswing" any other vocalist on the planet. The beat is relatively flat, or "evened out," compared to the infectious back-beats that would soon be propelling his swing arrangements into another orbit.

Most of these tunes can be heard to far greater effect on "Sinatra's Swingin' Session." Still, given the price of the album, the length of the program, and the singer (face it, inferior Sinatra from this period is worlds apart from any other male singer, be it Haymes, Eckstein, Bing, or even Nat), how can you afford not to pick it up?

Swing! Swing! Swing!

Excellent album! Tracks mostly from 1950's release "Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra" are arranged by George Siravo and Axel Stordahl. "I've Got a Crush on You" is my favourite. This album really swings!