Friday, May 23, 2008

Forget the Candyman

I got an early out today.

Big Daddy's shop had their annual Memorial Day weekend fish fry. I am now happily stuffed to the gills with well...gills.

Big gave me a CD to listen to-The Rat Pack. This concert was recorded live at The Villa Venice Club in Chicago, 1962. So en route to overeat I treated myself to a little Dean, Frank, and Sammy.

No one croons like Dino. Frank, God forgive me, I can take or leave, and Sammy I hadn't ever really listened to.

My Bad.

In my opinion Sammy has the biggest range out of the three. Bar none. Dino's voice is like butter. Frank gets by on his personality. But Sammy. Oh my God! The man could flat belt out a tune and I never knew it.

As I was listening to What Kind of Fool am I, I had to remind myself that this was being sung in a smoky nightclub. There were no backup dancers, fog machines, or production of any kind.

Just a man with a microphone and a cigarette communing with the guys and dolls.

That voice!

...just wow.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

.... I've got a CD/DVD of the Rat Pack from '63, I think..... they were an amazing crew..... I love watching Sammy imitate Dino.... he is incredible...

Eric

Sugar Britches said...

I love the way they all razz each other in between songs. That is the greatest thing about live albums-the banter and getting to hear from the entertainer. It also never fails to impress when the live version sounds every bit as good, if not better, than the recorded one.

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