Record Producers Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch

DATE July 3, 2002 ACCOUNT NUMBER N/A
TIME 12:00 Noon-1:00 PM AUDIENCE N/A
NETWORK NPR
PROGRAM Fresh Air

Interview: Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch discuss the new CD
box set they co-produced titled "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood"
TERRY GROSS, host:

This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross.

Ms. KIM NOVAK: Hello, there. This is Kim Novak.

Mr. FRANK SINATRA (Musician): Roof! Roof! This is Frank Sinatra talking.

Ms. NOVAK: I'd like to take this opportunity to tell you about some wonderful
entertainment that Capitol Records has to offer. It's a sound track album
from Columbia Pictures' musical production "Pal Joey," with the all-time
great songs of Rodgers & Hart.

Mr. SINATRA: Among them, the "Lady is a Tramp," "My Funny Valentine"...

Ms. NOVAK: ...performed by Rita Hayworth...

Mr. SINATRA: ...portraying one of the most colorful cats in show business...

Ms. NOVAK: ...Frank Sinatra...

Mr. SINATRA: I thank you.

Ms. NOVAK: ...and myself.

GROSS: That promotional spot for the movie "Pal Joey" is included in a new
six-CD box set called "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood (1940-1964)." It collects
the songs from such films as "On the Town," "Young at Heart," "Guys and Dolls"
and "The Tender Trap," as well as more obscure films. Only 10 percent of the
160 tracks have ever been previously issued in any audio format. In the
movies, many of these songs were in scenes where dialogue or sound effects
obscured the music. The box set has the complete performances that were
recorded before the other sounds were added.

We're going to listen to and talk about some of the music with the producers
of the box set, Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch. Granata is the author of
the book "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording."
Deutsch is a veteran record producer.

Charles Granata, Didier Deutsch, welcome to FRESH AIR. Why don't we listen to
a couple of the recordings on here and compare them. And this is from the
film "The Tender Trap." I don't think this is a great film, and I never
really used to think this was a great record until I saw the film and watched
Sinatra sing the song. And it just--the rhythm of it is so contagious. So
I've actually come to like the song. I thought we could hear two versions.
The first version is the title sequence version, the version that's sung over
the titles. Is this the same version that was the hit version that was
released on Capitol Records?

Mr. DEUTSCH: No. This is the film version. The version that you heard on
the Capitol recording was a re-recording that was an industry deal for Capitol
at the time the film was released. So this is really the screen version.

Mr. GRANATA: And it does differ because for the commercial Capitol recording
Frank Sinatra used a Nelson Riddle arrangement. And you hear a big difference
in instrumentation and orchestration. And there's a different energy to the
Capitol recording when you compare it to the film recording, and there's a
different jauntiness that I feel comes across in the film recording. It's
just a little more spontaneous.

GROSS: And I thought we can compare that back-to-back with just a piano vocal
version that he does in the body of the film. And this is--if I'm remembering
the film correctly, Debbie Reynolds is singing this song. I think maybe she's
rehearsing it for an audition. And he's saying, `No, no, no. You've got it
wrong. Try it this way.' And he shows her how it should be done.

Mr. GRANATA: Right.

Mr. DEUTSCH: That's right. Yes.

Mr. GRANATA: And, of course, this piano vocal version places the performance
and the song in a completely different context because rather than having this
big band with this energetic Nelson Riddle chart, we have just have Frank
Sinatra and Bill Miller on piano, which gives it a whole different feel.

GROSS: So here they are, back to back, the title sequence of "Tender Trap"
and a duet from the body of the film.

(Soundbite of "Tender Trap" title sequence)

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) You see a pair of laughing eyes, and suddenly you're
sighing sighs. You're thinking nothing's wrong. You string along, boy. Then
snap. Those eyes, those sighs, they're part of the tender trap.

You're hand in hand beneath the trees, and soon there's music in the breeze.
You're acting kind of smart until your heart just goes whap. Those trees,
that breeze, they're part of the tender trap.

Some starry night when her kisses make you tingle, she'll hold you tight and
you'll hate yourself for being single. And all at once it seems so nice. The
folks are throwing shoes and rice.

(Soundbite of "Tender Trap" duet)

Mr. SINATRA: You see a pair of laughing eyes and suddenly you're sighing
sighs. You're thinking nothing's wrong. You string along, boy. Then snap.
Those eyes, those sighs, they're part of the tender trap.

(Speaking) You see what I mean? You've just got to let it settle a little
bit.

(Singing) You're hand in hand beneath the trees, and soon there's music in the
breeze. You're acting kind of smart until your heart just goes whap. Those
trees, that breeze, they're part of the tender trap.

Some starry night when her kisses make you tingle, she'll hold you tight and
you'll hate yourself for being single. And all at once it seems so nice. The
folks are throwing shoes and rice.

You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map. You wonder how it all came
about. It's too late now. There's no getting out. You fell in love, and
love is a tender trap.

Some starry night when her kisses make you tingle, she'll hold you tight and
you'll hate yourself for being single. And all at once it seems so nice. The
folks are throwing shoes and rice.

You hurry to a spot that's just a dot on the map. Boom, boom, boom, boom.
You wonder how it all came about. It's too late now. There's no getting out.
You fell in love, and love is a tender trap.

GROSS: That's two versions of "The Tender Trap" from the film of the same
name on the new box set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood." My guests are the box
set's co-producers, Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch.

Now one of the things Sinatra had to do, which I guess all performers had to
do in the movies at the time, was to lip-synch to their songs. How did it
work? The songs were prerecorded and then you lip-synched to it on film?

Mr. DEUTSCH: Well, usually, yes. They went into the studio, laid down the
tracks, performed the song. Then when they started shooting, the song was
played on the playback equipment so that they could lip-synch and emote at the
same time. So there was no huffing and puffing as they were acting; they were
simply lip-synching. And that's why it comes so naturally on the screen.

GROSS: Now, Charles Granata, you say in your liner notes that Sinatra hated
lip-synching in the movies. Why did he hate it so much?

Mr. GRANATA: You know, Frank Sinatra had a very interesting way of
approaching his commercial recording sessions. He would prepare endlessly,
and when he went into the studio, he would spend an inordinate amount of time
working to accomplish what he felt was the perfect recording. On the film
sound stage as an actor, he had a completely different philosophy. He would
want to do one or two takes, because he felt doing more than that robbed his
performance of its freshness.

And I think the lip-synching aspect of making films in Hollywood was a big
part of that for Frank Sinatra. He felt that if he couldn't stand before the
camera and perform and sing live, as it were--in this case, live to film--it
didn't have the vitality that he was looking for, that he felt was necessary
to emote as an actor.

Mr. DEUTSCH: Well, in his performances normally, was there a rehearsed
spontaneity in which in the films he was robbed, he could not have that
rehearsed spontaneity?

Mr. GRANATA: Well, when you listen to Frank Sinatra's commercial recording
sessions in toto, in other words, if you listen to him breaking down and doing
take after take after take, he's obviously building the vocal style for that
particular song. And you're right. In many instances, he alters things from
take to take. And when he had to lip-synch, he felt that he was not free to
let loose and bend the lyric according to how he was feeling at that very
moment.

GROSS: My guests are Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch, co-producers of the
new box set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood." We'll talk more after a break.
This is FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of music)

GROSS: My guests are Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch, the producers of a
new Frank Sinatra box set called "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood."

Well, a Sinatra film I particularly love is represented on here. It's called
"Young at Heart," and Sinatra plays a piano player, like a barroom piano
player, who thinks that he's cursed with lifelong bad luck, so he's constantly
depressed. And he kind of wanders into the life of Doris Day, who's this
real, kind of, sunshiny character and kind of tries so hard to help him out of
this slump. And it's a wonderful film. They even get to sing a duet together
at the end. You have a few songs from this film represented in the box set.
One of them is "Someone to Watch Over Me." What's the story behind the
version you've used on this box set? Charles?

Mr. GRANATA: With "Someone to Watch Over Me," when we arrived in the studio
in Los Angeles, we knew that we were going to find the vocal and piano
performance, which is what is heard in the film. What we were surprised to
find, as we ran through the various session tapes, is this bit of orchestral
sweetening. And at first, we were a little perplexed because it wasn't heard
that way in the film. We didn't know that it existed, and we spent a couple
hours matching it up. And our biggest accomplishment on that particular day
was being able to create a brand-new mix with Frank Sinatra and the orchestra
married to this piano version of "Someone to Watch Over Me," which I think is
the most incredible Gershwin tune, you know, in their whole catalog.

Mr. DEUTSCH: And the sweetening does something that did not exist in the
movie which is very interesting. The orchestral sweetening was not
entirely--they didn't use it, I think, because it was not entirely successful.
There was a bridge in which the orchestra was fighting with the vocal. So
what we did when that came in, we dropped the orchestra so there is simply the
vocal singing the bridge. And then, we brought up the orchestra for the
refrain, and it works beautifully. I think that it's one of the songs in that
box set that I like very much as a result of the work we did on it.

Mr. GRANATA: It really brings a tenderness to the performance.

Mr. DEUTSCH: Yes.

GROSS: So here's Frank Sinatra, Bill Miller at the piano, from the movie
"Young at Heart" as featured on the new box set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood."

(Soundbite of "Someone to Watch Over Me")

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) There's a somebody I'm longing to see. I hope that
she turns out to be someone who'll watch over me. I'm a little lamb who's
lost in the woods. I know I could, could always be good to one who'll watch
over me.

Although I may not be the man some girls think of as handsome, but to her
heart, I'll carry the key. Won't you tell her, please, to put on some speed,
follow my lead. I want someone to watch over me.

GROSS: That's "Someone to Watch Over Me," remixed for the new box set "Frank
Sinatra in Hollywood." It's from the film "Young at Heart." My guests are
Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch, the co-producers of this new box set.

Now you talk in the liner notes about the differences between Sinatra's
approach to filmmaking and to making studio recordings. You actually have a
rehearsal session featured on this box tape from "Robin & the Seven Hoods."
And it's Sinatra, Dean Martin and...

Mr. DEUTSCH: Sammy Davis.

GROSS: ...Sammy Davis Jr. doing the rehearsal for a song called "Don't Be a
Do-Badder." Actually, I think they're trying to do the final take. They're
not trying to rehearse it, but it keeps not happening for them. Charles, tell
us a little bit about this session and why you wanted to include it on the
box.

Mr. GRANATA: Well, this is one of those golden moments that you unearth as
you do work that Didier and I are doing. And you're scouring the vaults and
searching for unusual and rare material. And the first day we were in Los
Angeles and working at the film transfer studio, we got a call from the Warner
Bros. archivist who said he had found these unmixed session tapes from "Robin
& the Seven Hoods." And as you listen to the session tape, you need to
remember that this is the Rat Pack. These are these three famous guys who are
at the top of their game, at the top of their world in 1963, unedited and
uncensored. They weren't mugging for a camera; they weren't standing and, you
know, going through a rehearsed routine for an audience. This was how these
guys really were as friends. And I think that real spirit of camaraderie and
real love and genuine affection for each other just comes through so
beautifully here.

Mr. DEUTSCH: Mm-hmm.

Mr. GRANATA: And obviously, you know, this is a great chance to study how
Frank Sinatra and these guys worked in the studio.

GROSS: Well, the other thing that comes through is that Frank Sinatra wants
to get out. He wants to stop doing takes, he wants to finish it and leave.

Mr. GRANATA: Absolutely...

Mr. DEUTSCH: Mm-hmm.

Mr. GRANATA: ...as was his wont many times. You know, as I mentioned
earlier, and I mentioned in my liner notes, Frank Sinatra really was a very
restless individual. And, you know, it didn't matter whether it was in the
recording studio, in front of a television camera, speaking to an interviewer,
on the film sound stage; when he wanted to go, he wanted to go. That was it.
Nothing was standing in his way, and he was always a little bit impatient and
restless. He wanted to do his work and move on.

GROSS: Well, why don't we hear "Don't Be a Do-Badder" from "Robin & the Seven
Hoods," with Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

(Soundbite of "Don't Be a Do-Badder")

Mr. SINATRA and SAMMY DAVIS Jr.: (Singing) Ah, take it from me, don't...

Mr. DEAN MARTIN: Sort of cute-like, you know. Watch Frank's foot. He's
closest to you.

(Soundbite of bells ringing)

Mr. SINATRA, MARTIN and DAVIS: (Singing) Ah, take it from me.

Mr. SINATRA: Once more. Once more. Hold it.

(Soundbite of bells ringing)

Mr. SINATRA: Once more. Once more. All right. You want to come in with
the bells. All right?

Mr. DAVIS: Or should you...

Mr. MARTIN: Whenever you go like that...

Mr. DAVIS: ...should you start the `Ah,' baby...

Mr. MARTIN: No. No.

Mr. DAVIS: ...and then all of us come in?

Mr. MARTIN: No. No. We'll go...

Mr. SINATRA: No. When you come in, it's--(singing) one, two, three...

Mr. MARTIN, SINATRA and DAVIS: (Singing) Ah, take it from me...

Mr. SINATRA: That's where you're going to be.

Mr. DAVIS: OK.

Mr. SINATRA: And if this ain't it, I'm goin' home.

Mr. DAVIS: Come on. Let's go.

Mr. SINATRA: To New Jersey.

(Soundbite of laughter; bells ringing)

Mr. SINATRA, DAVIS and MARTIN: (Singing) Ah, take it from me. Don't be a
do-badder-a, do-badder-a, do-badder. Just climb aboard that stepladder and
climb the other way.

Mr. SINATRA: That's the way the note ends. I think your bells are flat.
No, then it's us if it's not in there.

Mr. MARTIN: What?

Unidentified Man: We're still rolling. Want to try it?

Mr. SINATRA: Let's try one more. This is going to be it.

Mr. MARTIN: All right.

Mr. SINATRA: I never spent this much time with the "Soliloquy."

Mr. MARTIN: I'm getting it up there. Let's go.

GROSS: That's an outtake from "Robin & the Seven Hoods," with Frank Sinatra,
Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. It's featured on the new box set "Frank
Sinatra in Hollywood." My guests are the box set's co-producers, Charles
Granata and Didier Deutsch.

Listening to the session, it strikes me maybe one of the reasons why Sinatra
wants to get out so badly and end the session is because it's such a crummy
song. It's so unworthy of his gifts as a singer. Now particularly singing
this trio, it's not really, like, a Sinatra recording. It's not Sinatra the
singer. It's just like a novelty tune.

Mr. GRANATA: Well, that's the interesting thing about Frank Sinatra and his
films, and I think this was another part of his philosophy. Frank Sinatra
always viewed his recordings--for Capitol, Reprise, Columbia--as being
permanent and the films as being fun. And obviously with "Robin & the Seven
Hoods," he's mugging for the camera...

Mr. DEUTSCH: Yeah.

Mr. GRANATA: ...it's a fun film, it's the Rat Pack and the music reflects
that.

GROSS: We'll hear more of "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood" in the second half of
the show. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of "I Like to Lead When I Dance")

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) We could go the distance and find us romance. I like
your persistence, your style and your stance. There's only one problem, the
tiniest problem. I like to lead when I dance. Your eyes do the speaking.
They talk with each glance. My willpower's creaking. I might take a chance.
And though you're the charmer who could bend my power, I like to lead when I
dance.

(Funding credits)

(Soundbite of music)

GROSS: Coming up, more on "Sinatra in Hollywood" with record producers
Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch. And rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new
CDs from David Bowie and Bryan Ferry.

(Soundbite of music)

GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross, back with Charles Granata and
Didier Deutsch, the producers of the new boxed set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood
(1940 to 1964)." It collects Sinatra songs from his movies. Granata is also
the author of "Sessions with Sinatra." Deutsch is a longtime record producer.
When we left off, we were listening to a rehearsal track of the song
"Do-Badder" from the Rat Pack film "Robin & the Seven Hoods."

There's one point in "Don't Be a Do-Badder" where Sinatra says, `God, you
know, I didn't have to spend this much time recording "Soliloquy."' And what
he's referring to there is that he was supposed to star in "Carousel." Gordon
MacCrae ended up making the movie. You have a recording of "Soliloquy" on
here, but that was like a studio session. What was the story about
"Carousel"? How was Sinatra cast in it? It seems like such improbable
casting. Maybe that's because I always think of the more heavy-handed Gordon
MacCrae in the role.

Mr. DEUTSCH: Well, at the time when "Carousel" was prepared, Sinatra already
was a big movie star, since he had already done "From Here to Eternity" and he
was considered now a dramatic actor as well as a singing actor. And I think
that it seemed like a good casting choice initially. What happened is that
when he came to--he recorded the song "If I Loved You" with Shirley Jones and
he was preparing "Soliloquy," which is a song he had recorded already for
Columbia previously--on two different occasions, in fact. And he came to the
location in Maine to do the film and was told there would be two different
shoots; one for the Cinemascope and one for 35 millimeter. And he objected to
that. He said that the director would have to shoot only one scene, because
he was only good for one take.

I think that--according to Shirley Jones one of the reasons he stepped away is
because he himself felt concerned about the challenges brought on him by the
role itself and his insecurity translated into this rejection, if you want, of
two shoots for the same scene and he simply walked away and was replaced by
Gordon MacCrae.

GROSS: Boy, I bet you'd like to get your hands on these sessions--the ones
that he did make for "Carousel."

Mr. GRANATA: Well, we do have "If I Loved You" and for contractual reasons
we're unable to include it. It is one of the most spectacular and beautiful
recordings that Frank Sinatra ever made in his entire career. It's really...

GROSS: Oh, wish I could hear it.

Mr. DEUTSCH: Yeah.

Mr. GRANATA: It's incredible.

GROSS: Well, although you can't include "If I Loved You" on this boxed set
for contractual reasons. You do have a recording of "Soliloquy." This is one
that he cut in a recording studio. It wasn't meant to be released for the
film. But, it's still interesting to hear him to do it because, I think, it's
not the kind of song he'd usually do. So anything about this version of
"Soliloquy" you'd like to say before we hear it?

Mr. GRANATA: Frank Sinatra had a long history with Rodgers and Hammerstein,
and "Soliloquy" in particular. He was one of the first pop performers to
begin extracting tunes from the Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals as early as
1943 in "Carousel." And he made in 1945 a version of "Soliloquy" that is
beautiful. It had an Axel Stortal(ph) orchestration. It was issued as a
12-inch 78, which was very unusual for that time in terms of pop music. He
also recorded "Soliloquy" in 1963.

So right in the middle of this, these two recordings, comes this opportunity
to be Billy Bigelow in the film. That doesn't come to pass. Sinatra does not
record "Soliloquy" as part of the pre-recording process at Fox. For some
unknown reason, Frank Sinatra went into the studio at Capitol Records several
months before the sessions for "Carousel" were to commence and taped this
version of "Soliloquy" and we have no idea what the purpose was. It was not
intended for a 45 RPM single. It was not to be part of the official film
soundtrack.

And when we went back to the original Capitol session tapes, what we found is
that the orchestra was recorded first and Frank Sinatra was to have overdubbed
his vocal parts later. And interestingly, of the six orchestral parts that
were laid down, Frank only did vocals on parts one and two and five and six.
And consequently, we have no complete version of "Soliloquy" from that Capitol
recording session. However, when I went back and spoke with the recording
engineer, John Palodeno, who was at the helm on that particular day at the
Capitol studios, he distinctly remembered that Frank was uncomfortable with
his vocalizing in some portions of the song, so he did not record those other
two parts. They're not just lost. They were never recorded. But we were
able to string it all together and here we have what would have been Frank
Sinatra's "Soliloquy" from "Carousel."

GROSS: Well, let's hear it.

(Soundbite of "Soliloquy")

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) I wonder what he'll think of me? I guess he'll call
me the old man. I guess he'll think I can lick every other fella's father.
Well, I can. I bet that he'll turn out to be the spittin' image of his dad.
But he'll have more commonsense than his puddin' headed father ever had. I'll
teach him to wrassle and dive through a wave when we go in the morning for our
swim. His mother can teach him the way to behave, but she won't make a sissy
out of him. Not him. Not my boy. Not Bill. My boy Bill. I will see that
he's named after me. I will. My boy Bill, he'll be tall and as tough as a
tree. Will Bill. Like a tree he'll grow.

GROSS: That's Frank Sinatra doing the "Soliloquy" from "Carousel," something
he recorded in the recording studio not for the film. And this is featured on
the new boxed set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood." My guests are the boxed set's
co-producers, Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch. More after a short break.
This is FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of music)

GROSS: My guests are Charles Granta and Didier Deutsch, producers of the new
boxed set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood."

Didier Deutsch, I'd like you to pick one of your favorite selections from this
boxed set and tell us why you love it.

Mr. DEUTSCH: There are many. There are many, but I think that one that I
particularly like is "I Could Write a Book" from "Pal Joey." And to briefly
explain the reasons, there was--when I first discovered Frank Sinatra I was in
France, I was in the Navy, and not being particularly happy about the prospect
of spending three years in the armed forces when I only had one ambition--to
come to this country and do something interesting here. So I went to the
movies one day to see "Pal Joey" and I had no idea what "Pal Joey" was all
about, but there was Frank Sinatra and he was singing. He was romancing Kim
Novak, who always was a favorite actress of mine, and I discovered "I Could
Write a Book." At the time I didn't speak English. I did not understand the
lyrics. I was simply taken over by the performance and the music and the
whole atmosphere projected by the film. And that did it for me.

GROSS: Well, why don't we hear "I Could Write a Book"...

Mr. DEUTSCH: OK.

GROSS: ...from "Pal Joey."

(Soundbite of "I Could Write a Book")

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) If they ask me I could write a book about the way you
walk and whisper and look. I could write a preface on how we met so the world
would never forget. And the simple secret of the plot is just to tell them
that I love you a lot. Then the world discovers as my book ends how to make
two lovers of friends.

(Speaking) Whoever heard of singing a love song like this without a girl?
One.

(Singing) About the way you walk and whisper and look. And the simple secret
of the plot is just to tell them that I love you a lot. Then the world
discovers...

(Speaking) Sing.

Ms. KIM NOVAK (Actress): (Singing) ...as my book ends...

Mr. SINATRA and Ms. Novak: (Singing) ...how to make two lovers of friends.

(Soundbite of applause)

GROSS: Sinatra from the film "Pal Joey." It's one of the tracks featured on
the new boxed set "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood." My guests are the boxed set's
co-producers, Didier Deutsch and Charles Granata.

Charles Granata, I'd like to close by asking you to choose one of your
favorite tracks on the new boxed set and tell us why it's important to you.

Mr. GRANATA: The nice thing for me about "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood" as a
boxed set is that it gives us an encapsulated view of three very different
histories. First, it's a history of sound recording and developments that
were made between 1940 and 1964, where we start out using nitrate film and end
up with, you know, multichannel magnetic film and tape elements. It's also a
history of the musical film genre, which is very important in tracing the
development of the Hollywood history as it relates to the Hollywood history of
the musicals. Third, and most important, it is a comprehensive study of Frank
Sinatra's development not just as an artist, but as a vocalist.

So to me there's three important tunes on this boxed set that I love
particularly that document the early, the middle and the late period in
Sinatra's film history. The early period is best represented by this gorgeous
rendition of "A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening." It's Frank Sinatra the
crooner, first year on screen at RKO and he gives this meltingly sweet version
of a lovely tune that he didn't record in this setting.

In the middle period, I absolutely adore "There's a Small Hotel" from "Pal
Joey." It's my favorite Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart tune. I think it's
wonderful. There's this beautiful, nuanced trombone solo that just really
gives the charm, and it just really is very evocative of what that song is and
what it was written about.

And then third--and the one that I think would really be a fitting closer
here--is the version of "Style" that was taken from "Robin & the Seven Hoods."
And to me, that's really the icing on the cake. It's a vocal and performance
tour de force, but it's also a sonic one, as well. And it's one of the high
points, again, for us remixing from six channels this incredible sonic
recording. And hearing Frank, Bing Crosby, Dean Martin just really blew us
away. So I have to say that "Style" really epitomizes "Frank Sinatra in
Hollywood."

GROSS: Well, let's hear it. Charles Granata, Didier Deutsch, thank you so
much for talking with us.

Mr. GRANATA: Thank you, Terry.

Mr. DEUTSCH: Thank you.

GROSS: And here's more from "Frank Sinatra in Hollywood," the new boxed set
that Deutsch and Granata co-produced.

(Soundbite of "Style")

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) Some people dress 'cause they like to get dressed, but
you just dress to get dressed.

Mr. BING CROSBY: (Singing) It's only a hunch, but I'll bet you a bunch, he
wears suspenders, a belt and a vest.

Mr. DEAN MARTIN: Hmm. Am I correct in my assumption that you gentlemen find
my habiliments reprehensible?

Mr. SINATRA: I think there's something wrong with his throat.

Unidentified Actor: I told him that six weeks ago.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) From the tip of your toes to your head, you look like
an unmade bed.

Mr. MARTIN: But now I hate to belabor the obvious, but in the interest of
semantics, I'm impelled to observe that you've just indulged in a mixed
metaphor.

Mr. SINATRA: Oh, it's his throat.

Unidentified Actor: It's his throat. Yeah.

Mr. SINATRA: Yeah. (Singing) You've either got or you haven't got style.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) If you've got it, you stand out a mile.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) A flower's not a flower if it's wilted.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) A hat not's a hat till it's tilted. You either got or
you haven't got class.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) How it draws the applause of the masses.

Mr. SINATRA, CROSBY and MARTIN: (Singing) When you wear lapels like the
swellest of swells, you can pass any mirror and smile.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) You've either got or you haven't got...

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) Got or you haven't got...

Mr. SINATRA and MARTIN: (Singing) Got or you haven't got style.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) You've either got or you haven't got style.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) Got or haven't got style.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) If you've got it, you stand out a mile.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) Got it you stand out a mile.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) With mother of pearl kind of buttons...

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) You'll look like the Astors and Huttons.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) You've either got or you haven't got class.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) Got or you haven't got class.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) How it draws the applause of the masses.

Mr. SINATRA, CROSBY and MARTIN: (Singing) When you wear lapels like the
swellest of swells, you can pass any mirror and smile.

Mr. SINATRA: Stop! (Singing) You've either got or you haven't got style.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) Got or you haven't got charm.

Mr. CROSBY: (Singing) Style and charm sort of go on and on.

Mr. SINATRA, CROSBY and MARTIN: (Singing) They kind of go on and on.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) A flower's not a flower if it's wilted.

Mr. CROSBY: (Singing) A hat's not a hat till it's tilted.

Mr. SINATRA: (Singing) You've either got or you haven't got style.

Mr. CROSBY: (Singing) Got or you haven't got style.

Mr. MARTIN: (Singing) Got or you haven't got style.

GROSS: "Style" from "Robin & the Seven Hoods," from the new boxed set "Frank
Sinatra in Hollywood."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Profile: Remembering jazz bassist Ray Brown, who died at the age
of 75
(Soundbite of music)

TERRY GROSS, host:

There's sad news in the jazz world. Ray Brown, the great bass player, died in
his sleep last night. He was 75. Early in his career, he played with the
Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, and was the first bass player in what became the
Modern Jazz Quartet. He toured with jazz at the Philharmonic and became the
bass player in pianist Oscar Peterson's trio. Brown often worked as a music
director for Ella Fitzgerald, to whom he was married for several years.

He made many albums under his own name. We're listening to a 1973 duet he
recorded with Duke Ellington paying tribute to Ellington's late bass player
Jimmy Blanton. Brown says Blanton's recordings inspired him to play bass.

(Soundbite of Ellington and Brown duet)

GROSS: Coming up, rock critic Ken Tucker reviews new CDs by Bryan Ferry and
David Bowie. This is FRESH AIR.

(Soundbite of music)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Review: New albums by David Bowie and Bryan Ferry
TERRY GROSS, host:

David Bowie and Bryan Ferry, lead singer of the group Roxy Music, are '70s
rock stars with new albums that try to update their images without
compromising their essential styles. Rock critic Ken Tucker thinks only one
of these veterans has fully succeeded.

(Soundbite of "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right")

Mr. BRYAN FERRY (Musician): (Singing) Well, it ain't no use to sit and
wonder why, babe, if you don't know by now. And it ain't no use to sit and
wonder why, babe. It'll never do somehow. When your rooster crows at the
break of the dawn, look out your window and I'll be gone. You're the reason
I'm a traveling on. Don't think twice, it's all right. And it ain't no use
in turning on your...

KEN TUCKER reporting:

That's Bryan Ferry applying his muted baritone to a Bob Dylan song on Ferry's
new album, which is called "Frantic." The album is anything but frantic. It
has its share of hard-driving, electric guitar-based songs, but as has always
been true of Ferry's style, it's both his ballad crooning and his canny choice
of material that give his music its subtle thrill.

That was true of his first cover album collection "These Foolish Things" in
1974, it was true of his homage to '30s and '40s pop standards on 1999's "As
Time Goes By" and it's certainly true on the lead-off cut on "Frantic," a
brilliantly scattered version of Dylan's "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," in
which he sounds like a middle-aged man whom passionate love and heartbreak has
taken by surprise and driven crazy.

(Soundbite of "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue")

Mr. FERRY: (Singing) You must leave now. Take what you need you think would
last. But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast. Yon stands
your offer with his gun, crying like a fire in the sun. Look at all the
saints are coming through, and it's all over now, baby blue.

TUCKER: In contrast to Bryan Ferry's willingness to do the vocal equivalent
of a dandy whose hair is mussed, his bow tie undone, David Bowie keeps it very
buttoned up on his new album called "Heathen." The collection is dominated by
original material and it reunites him with producer Tony Visconti, who oversaw
such first-rate Bowie albums as "Heroes" and "Scary Monsters." But the new
tunes are timidly nostalgic, with a nod to John Lennon in the line `I believe
in Beatles,' lots of sci-fi atmospherics and allusions to his own oldies, like
"Space Oddity." In one new song here, "Slip Away," he sounds as if he's
yearning for the old days when he sings, `In space, it's always 1982.'

(Soundbite of "Slip Away")

Mr. DAVID BOWIE (Musician): (Singing) Oogie(ph) waits for just another day,
drags his bones to see the Yankees play. Home's boy talks and flickers gray.
Oh, they slip away.

TUCKER: The album comes to life only when he chooses a surprising cover song,
like this one from the '80s post-punk band The Pixies called "Cactus."

(Soundbite of "Cactus")

Mr. BOWIE: (Singing) I miss you, too, and I miss your breath. And a letter
in your mind doesn't mean you're not dead. So spill your breakfast and drink
your wine. Just wear that dress when you die, die-aye-i-yi-yi-yi.

TUCKER: Bowie also does a nicely idiosyncratic version of Neil Young's "I've
Been Waiting For You," but the rest of the album is a wispy dud. Ferry, by
contrast, does a startlingly good cover of Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene," and
includes a few terrific new originals, foremost among them the gorgeous "I
Thought," a collaboration with his old Roxy Music member Brian Eno.

(Soundbite of "I Thought")

Mr. FERRY: (Singing) I thought you'd be my streetcar named Desire, my way,
my taste of wine. I thought you'd be the flame within the fire, one dream
that just won't die. All night I was looking for a new love, impossible to
look or nothing at all. I'm looking for a new love, looking for new blood,
I'm looking for you.

TUCKER: Ultimately, Bryan Ferry seems to have a better grasp than David Bowie
does of what people might want to hear, which is old-fashioned music close to
the performer's heart as opposed to music that evokes old fashions.

GROSS: Ken Tucker is critic at large for Entertainment Weekly.

(Credits)

GROSS: I'm Terry Gross.

(Soundbite of "Goodnight Irene")

Mr. FERRY: (Singing) I asked your mother for you. She told me that you was
too young. I wished to the Lord I'd never seen your face or heard your lying
tongue. Irene, goodnight. Irene, goodnight. Goodnight, Irene. Goodnight,
Irene. I'll see you in my dreams.

Sometimes I live in the country. Sometimes I live in the town...
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