I like very much "I'm fool to want you" (Wolf/Herron/ Sinatra)
Published by Barton Music.Corp/ Sergeant Music/ Integrity Music(ASCAP) I have this song in the album "Where are you?"
Sinatra has made himself the words for Ava Gardner,isn't it ?

Hi Sanda,

yes it is often been mentioned that Sinatra might have had his often stormy relationship to Ava in mind for this song. The recording you have is from 1957, that's the year when he finally got divorced from Ava. He had already recorded the song previously for Columbia Records in 1951 - that's the year when they got married...

Bernhard.

[MAP 55]

One of Frankies Best!

[Nancy]

FS changed only one phrase in the song and the writers let it be.

This is absolutely one of my favorite (blue's songs) It's got Ava written all over it. Its one of the best!!




FAS: Pity me I need you

See this post by Chuck Granata: Sinatra as songwriter.

I love this song it's so sad. I like the version from 1951 the best. I guess cause it was more full of emotion and hurt since Frank's pain was so fresh.
I heard Billie Holiday's version recently she does it different from Frank's but Frank's still is the best version in my opinion.


Melissa

This was my dad's (Harry Babbitt) very favorite Sinatra recording. He used to say that Frank had the uncanny ability to sing with "a tear in his voice."

[Greggie]

Hi Chris.........I remember the name Harry Babbitt from Kay Kayser's band. Of course I was young, and my memory isn't what it used to be. So he was your Dad. I bet he had lots of stories to tell you. Wasn't Ish Kabibble also a singer with the band then? He was kind of funny that I remember.

Yes, Kay Kyser is correct. He was a big Sinatra fan and had more than a few good stories. I'm a fan as well, and check-in here every so often. Ish Kabibbke (Merwin Bogue) was a trumpet player, and also the band's comedian.Sorry to stray off-topic. Whenever I'd mention Sinatra to my dad, he'd always sing a few bars of "I'm a Fool to Want You."

Tina used "I'm A Fool to Want You" in her movie about FS. It really struck a heartstring with me. FS's emotion in that song is incredible. I believe the recording used was the Columbia recording.

Yes, the 1951 Columbia version of "I'm A Fool To Want You" appears in Sinatra: Soundtrack To The CBS Mini-Series.

[Fred F]

chocolate every day.

[Jules]

Nancy may we learn what the one line your Dad changed in this song?It really is a song that has it all and when performed by Frank becomes the ultimate late night sad song.

The high emotion such seaps fro the speakers when ever I hear this song, particularly the Columbia rendition though I also enjoy the Gordon Jenkin's arrangement. Both versions are handled differently, perhaps reflecting on the different points that Frank found himself during the 6 years difference between the two renditions.

The 1957 version seems too not be sooo much a melodramatic statement as it was jus a statement of this obviously disfuntional relationship and the inevetability that our protagonist would return to her.

[Jeffrey Simmons]

Originally posted by Sanda
I like very much "I'm fool to want you" (Wolf/Herron/ Sinatra)
Published by Barton Music.Corp/ Sergeant Music/ Integrity Music(ASCAP) I have this song in the album "Where are you?"
Sinatra has made himself the words for Ava Gardner,isn't it ?

Well the truth is that you have good taste Sanda.

This recording is also one of my all time favourites and I much prefer it to the earlier version made at Columbia - I will happily stick to my opinion even though many learned fans will disagree. I love the whole album 'Where Are You' but for me this is the highlight of that album - its a perfect recording.

[Ronald Sarbo]

"I'm A Fool To Want You" was also recorded in 1951 by Billy Eckstine on MGM.

On The Album "Where Are You" my favourites are " Baby Won't You Please Come Home" and "I Cover The Waterfront".

Melissa

If any of you have the old 78 from 1951 of "I'm a Fool to Want You" you'll notice that the flip side is "Mama will Bark".....

<< old 78 from 1951 [...] you'll notice that the flip side is "Mama will Bark" >>

Sinatra's recording career at Columbia was on the decline, and such indignities were forced upon him by Mitch Miller. "I'm A Fool To Want You" reached number 14 on the Billboard charts and sold only 35,000 copies, which was pitifully low for a Sinatra single. According to Will Friedwald, Billy Eckstine's hit version undoubtedly detracted from Sinatra's sales.

There was also a 78 reissue in 1954 (after FS left the Columbia label), which had "If I Forget You" on the flip side. That was Frank's final Columbia 78 single.