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The following item was sent to me by friend John Pierce yesterday, my comments follow at the end.
Thanks John.
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John’s item:
Enjoy this songs history and following performance. Almost expect to see Sinatra appear on stage at some point.
Interesting article below and very enjoyable 5 min musical video.
Before you click on the video, take a few minutes to read below!
While singer-songwriter legend Paul Anka has left a long trail of hits over his 60-year career, he admits that early on, he was terrified to pen a tune for Frank Sinatra. “He’d always tease me, ‘hey kid, when are you going to write me a song?’” Anka remembers. “But I couldn’t. I was scared to death. I was writing all this teen stuff.” Of course, there are few music lovers today who aren’t familiar with the poignant ballad Anka eventually crafted for Sinatra, “My Way.” Some dub it the most powerful of Anka’s many earworms, which also include classics like “Puppy Love,” “Put Your Head on My Shoulder” and even Johnny Carson’s theme song for “The Tonight Show.”
Anka didn’t think twice 55 years ago when Sinatra called him out of the blue and declared, “kid, we’re going to dinner.” “When Sinatra says ‘we’re going to dinner, you drop everything and you go to dinner,” recalls Paul, who as a budding Vegas headliner in the 1960s had a friendly tie with the Rat Pack. During the meal, Sinatra dropped a stunning surprise: He was about to quit showbiz. “He said, ‘I’ve had it. I’m fed up. But I’m doing one more album,’” Anka remembers. “He said, ‘and you never wrote me that song.”
Anka felt the pressure. Still reeling over the news at 1 a.m. in his apartment, he found himself toying with lyrics to a melody he had heard in France. “I thought, ‘What would Frank do with this melody, if he were a writer?’” Anka says. “And all of a sudden, it just came to me: ‘And now the end is near, and so I face the final curtain.’”
He finished the song at 5 a.m. and called Sinatra on the spot, promising him a song for his final album. “I knew I had something I wouldn’t be afraid to give him,” Anka says. The next day, he recorded a demo of the song and flew to Las Vegas, where Sinatra lived. “I played him the song and he looked at me and said, ‘I’m doing it.’”
Two months later, Sinatra called Anka again. This time, with better news. “He says, ‘kid, listen to this,’ and puts the phone up to the speaker,” Anka remembers. “I heard ‘My Way’ playing for the first time, and I started to cry.”
Paul Anka never knew what a legacy he had created when, at the request of Ol’ Blue Eyes, he wrote this song for Frank’s (presumed) retirement. Frank Sinatra had a mega smash hit with it, followed by the Three Tenors, Pavarotti and numerous other big stars who covered the song over the years.
*In this video, 10 superb voices, an amazing orchestra, plus piano,saxophone, electric guitar and extra choral support go well beyond of doing justice to Anka’s composition. The singers are Dutch, and you will notice that the majority of the orchestra are women. The performance is fantastic and extraordinarily beautiful. Take five from those Holiday chores, and enjoy this beautiful rendition.*
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My comments:
John’s email did not contain a link to the version he referred to above, but this is it:
Personally that version did not grab me and nothing will ever surpass the Chairman’s version:
Frank Sinatra performing My Way Live from Madison Square Garden in 1974
Frank Sinatra, remastered studio version:
By the way:
In 1960 Frank Sinatra founded Reprise Records after he moved away from Capital Records. Sinatra founded Reprise because he wanted more creative freedom, which is something he also offered to acts who joined the label, which included The Kinks, Rosemary Clooney and pals like Sammy Davis, Jr. It was in founding Reprise that Frank Sinatra earned the "Chairman of the Board" title, which soon became his most popular nickname. Despite this, Frank Sinatra's spouse Barbara once stated the singer himself hated the term.
Some other versions:
The Three Tenors (2017):
Miley Cyrus:
Robbie Williams, Live From Royal Albert Hall, Kensington, London. [2001]
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