[David A]

1. Day In - Day Out (Rube Bloom/Johnny Mercer)
2. Get Me To The Church On Time (Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe)
3.What Now My Love? (Gilbert Bécaud/Pierre Delanoë/Carl Sigman)
4. Ol' Man River (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II)
5. All I Need Is The Girl (Jule Styne/Stephen Sondheim)
6. Body & Soul* (Edward Heyman/Robert Sour/Frank Eyton/Johnny Green)
7. It's Alright With Me* (Cole Porter)
8. Medley (With Ella): How High The Moon/Up Up & Away/Look Out for Jimmy Valentine/Theme to "Tony Rome"/Goody Goody/Don't Cry Joe/Ode to Billie Joe/Goin' Out of My Head
(Nancy Hamilton/Morgan Lewis)(Jimmy Webb)(Edward Madden/Gus Edwards)(Lee Hazelwood)(Johnny Mercer/Matty Malneck)(Joe Marsala)(Bobbie Gentry)(Teddy Randazzo/Bobby Weinstein)
9. Medley: Quiet Night of Quiet Stars/Change Partners/I Concentrate on You/The Girl from Ipanema***
(Antonio Carlos Jobim)(Irving Berlin)(Cole Porter)(Antonio Carlos Jobim)
10. Medley: The Song is You/They Can't Take That Away from Me/Stompin' at the Savoy**
(Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein II)(George & Ira Gershwin)(Edgar Samson/Andy Razaf/Benny Goodman/Chick Webb)
11. At Long Last Love (Cole Porter)
12. Don't Be That Way* (Edgar Samson/Mitchell Parish)
13. The Lady Is A Tramp** (Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart)
14. Angel Eyes (Matt Dennis/Earl Brent)
15. Put Your Dreams Away (Ruth Lowe/Paul Mann/Stephen Weiss)

* - Ella Fitzgerald solo numbers
** - Frank Sinatra & Ella Fitzgerald duet
*** - Frank Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim duet

Note: All I Need Is The Girl and Angel Eyes appears as fragments. Other songs are fragmented through the series of medley during the shows 52 minute run time.


There’s a moment during Ella Fitzgerald’s performance of “Swingin’ At The Savoy,” as Francis Albert sits on the floor of the television soundstage, staring at Ella with unadorned joy. He’s sitting Indian style, or almost Indian style (he is planted slightly on a set piece). This always struck me because Mr. Sinatra was always a stickler about making sure his suits always looked pressed.

There’s a famous story of how he had learned to pinch the creases of his pants in a certain way so that his pants would remain unwrinkled.

The stage is red, the atmosphere is intense as Ms. Fitzgerald is spitting out phrase after phrase in one of her strongest ever scat performances. She’s performing musical acrobatics in the vein of Dizzy Gillespie’s or Roy Eldridge’s work with the trumpet.

Frank’s just sitting there in awe, clapping away.

Make no mistake. This is his TV show. It’s a Bristol Production, part of the ongoing series of “A Man And His Music” Thanksgiving specials for NBC that had started in 1965 with “A Man And His Music,” and would continue until 1969 (albeit with the “A Man And His Music,” title dropped.)

This year’s special is “A Man And His Music + Ella + Jobim.” But they’re not just guests. They’re equals. It takes a lot for someone to relinquish the stage to someone like Ella Fitzgerald. How does anyone top that explosive energy, that fire that she’s unleashed?

It’s Frank’s turn. It’s a Cole Porter tune. Ella was always one of Frank’s biggest fans. The downbeat of Nelson Riddle’s arrangement of “At Long Last Love,” is underway.
“You sing it so pretty,” Ella says. This is, of course, not just pre-written script. It’s pure admiration.
“Well, I’m gonna try,” says Frank.
One minute and fifteen seconds later, he’s done. Frank does a pirouette.
He’s having the time of his life.

He’s at the height of his career, in great voice performing with the greatest musicians and singing through the best arrangements with partner in crime Nelson Riddle at the podium conducting. Just think of the opening number for the special, one of the most exciting versions of the Rube Bloom – Johnny Mercer classic, “Day In – Day Out,” that you’re bound to hear with exotic percussive instruments used; tom toms and maracas and other instruments that I can’t identify but does that really matter when it’s all flowing perfectly?

Sinatra lights a cigarette as he sits, the spotlight on him and a young man, handsome yet quiet, with an innate tenderness, almost sadness to him. That’s Antonio Carlos Jobim and in his hands is a guitar. Frank is singing of tall and tan women who he concentrates on, who he wants to be with and of the quiet nights he wants to share with her. It’s hard to imagine that this kid, for that’s what he looked like at the time, was responsible for a new movement in jazz music.

And for six minutes, they perform as old friends. That intense blend of warmth and icy appeal that was captured in their album, Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim, is no longer restricted to the groves of a record but to the new fangled color tv’s reaching the American public.

That this program was filmed during the same year as the release of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is worth note. A few days after Thanksgiving, Bob Dylan would finish work on his album, John Wesley Harding and confound the music world again. The year after that, Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy would be shot.

The following year, man would land on the Moon and the events at Altamont Speedway would come to pass; four people dead, one killed by a Hells Angel, during the middle of a Rolling Stones concert.

Sinatra was above all of that, and for a few moments in 1967, he proved that the man and his music was not of that time or his time but for all time.

Addendum: Apologies on my formatting if it is off. There's not enough space for me to follow the formatting for titling this thread since the TV special in question does have a hefty title. Also, the track list may be cluttered. Spent a while looking up all the composers and lyricists. It was a pleasure to learn that Lee Hazelwood composed the theme to Tony Rome. In my search for it, I got to hear Nancy's version of it. Makes me really want to watch this movie now. However, if there's a better way to format it, please let me know.

[Josh]

Fantastic essay David! Brilliant choice as well, I love this special one of my most watched. The duets with Ella are certainly a joy to watch. This has got to be one of Frank's finest hours on TV just pure sensational singing, great guests and superb music.

[Bob in Boston]

Nice choice, David. For reference, the Frank on TV forum thread with earlier discussion may be found here:

A Man And His Music + Ella + Jobim

[Bob in Boston]

This is a timely thread, as the DVD has just been reissued as part of two current box sets:

• Frank Sinatra: Concert Collection (Shout! Factory)
• The Frank Sinatra Collection: The Reprise Years (Universal Music Group)

[S V PELUZIO JR]

Terrific choice.
What a thrill to see Jobim with Sinatra.

[ToddGordon]

Wonderful choice, David. One of the greatest television shows ever - pure class.

[MMM]

Even if this isn't really an album, very nice job David...

I think this is the best of all the different Frank Sinatra TV specials. The Jobim segment in particular is amazing.

[David A]

I saw that we had done reviews of "Concert for the Americas," in the past. And there's really something about the imagery of this guy, this singer of songs, actor of tales, just going at it and tearing down the house. I mean, if I ever wanted to show someone what the big deal about Frank was, it's on this tape.

On the first Man and His Music special, he's not always in finest voice. The Second and the Third one were always my favorite in terms of execution. The third one is a real barn burner.

[George Lyons]

Great review, David, a really enjoyable read! And spot on as well.

[sschweiger]

As I've posted earlier, Ella's "Body and Soul" is just sublime! And Frank made "Goin' Out of My Head" 'his own,' as we SFFers love to say. I thought this would be a wonderful concert spot, since so much of the audience could relate to the rock era, and Little Anthony's original. If he did sing it, I wasn't present, and I was present for oodles of concerts!

Great songs! Great performances! Great Album choice!

[Nick_Bradley78]

I've only just seen this thread, really great write-up David, and another great choice.

[Nick in Toronto]

A minor point of interest is the reading of What Now My Love. First there is a hardly discernable Bell - tone during the applause from the previous song. Then FS turns towards a new camera angle and begins to sing the song to an amended chart. Nelson Riddle had added a trombone to play against the Sinatra vocal and the results are explosive! From the years when I used this as a Fox Trot for my dance classes I can tell you that if, for an experiment, I played the LP version, the complaints were loud and vigorous.

People DO listen if you give them a chance.

This is also one of my favourite concerts from the 5 or 6 Man and his music series.