"How Did All These People Get In My Room?" - Sinatra at the Sands

I begin my journey through grandpa's record collection with a classic of the big band genre. Recorded and released in 1966, my grandpa was within a couple years of the same age I am now when he bought this copy. 

Sinatra at the Sands
With Count Basie & the Orchestra, Arranged & Conducted by Quincy Jones

Since early humans first put stick to stone, generations have argued over whose music is "better". Mom and dad's modest collection was dominated by the pop country and rock artists of the 70's, grandpa's with big band, swing, and jazz. Not much crossover or common ground...except for one. It was symbolic that an album mixing Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, and Quincy Jones.

Practicing clarinet and saxophone at home I had few options to duplicate the sounds I heard at my grandpa's house. So I listened to to our copy obsessively, laying on the floor near our meager speakers to capture every detail and feel the vibrations through the floor. Once, I listened to "Fly Me to the Moon" hundreds of times so I could perform it as closely to Sinatra as possible, doing my best to imitate his intonation and phrasing, pretending the small amphitheater in Winona was the Copa Room circa 1966 and I was in black tie instead of cargo shorts.

I have written extensively about grandpa previously. Grandpa loved Count Basie; his collection has over 75 pressings. Many are 2nd or 3rd copies, replacing earlier ones HiFi replaced Mono or original copies wore down. He saw the Basie Band whenever they came near his home in Northeast Iowa, and collected autographs. Through him I learned the great players in the Basie Band by name and sound. I wouldn't exactly call grandpa a "progressive" but he definitely preferred Basie to Sinatra. He liked Frank in two places: guest-hosting on Johnny Carson, and when he sang with Basie.

The double-album and its sleeve are hefty and durable like the generation that produced them. It's easy to imagine yourself at The Sands Hotel & Casino: stage-lights catch the sparkle of ear rings and jewelry on cocktail waitresses, air thick from Lucky Strikes, the scent of stale aftershave and prime rib, mid-level insurance salesmen on their one vacation per year without the kids tipping back their fifth manhattan. 

In my mind’s eye I see grandpa sitting in his leather chair by the brick fireplace in his basement, keeping time on the armrest with Basie’s superb rhythm section anchored by guitar player Freddie Green. Best in the business.

Frank Sinatra recorded two studio albums with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1962 and 1964. Commercial success and chemistry led to a January-February, 1966 Las Vegas residency. It was Sinatra’s first live album to be released, and it wouldn’t have happened without Quincy Jones ("Q"), who died last week at age 91.

Much has been written and recorded about Q and they are worth your time. A fascinating man, he was the last link between the music of the 1940s and today. His production, composition, TV, and movie work changed the shape of popular music. He worked with Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, Chaka Khan, Billy Preston, Herb Alpert, Dianna Ross, Michael Jackson, Donna Summer, Barbra Streisand, 2Pac, Sheena Easton, Ludacris, Kanye West, T-Pain. “We Are The World”. “The Wiz”. “Roots”. “The Italian Job”. “Sanford & Son”. Thriller.

Q learned the twins arts of production and arranging while playing trumpet with jazz greats Lionel Hampton, the Dorsey brothers, and Dizzy Gillespie. In 1958 he worked separately with Basie and Sinatra; in 1964 he produced their 2^nd collaborative album, and in 1966 he brought them together live to more fully capture their chemistry as Basie steadily ploughed through his 4th decade of performing, and Sinatra's 3rd career arc was starting to peak.

Each of the 4 LP sides of the album represent a different sampling of Sinatra and Basie’s styles. It is best heard on quality speakers with wide dynamic response; now that I have quality speakers I notice many nuances I never heard 20 years ago. Side 1 opens with “Come Fly With Me”, one of Sinatra’s best known songs; the band is sensitive, accentuating the vocals and not overpowering them. Sinatra’s vulnerability is revealed in “I’ve Got a Crush On You” where he struggles to project while singing softly. The side finishes with “The Shadow of Your Smile”, “Street of Dreams”, and “One for My Baby”...a classic torch song or as Sinatra says, “The time of the program where we sing a drunk song”. Sinatra's personal piano player Bill Miller accompanies in the duet.

In between these, the album reaches its sublime peak on only its 3rd song, and it must be unpacked in detail. “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” is essentially the perfect piece for these artists, highlighting all of their unique features in a masterful arrangement that features all the strengths of the vocalist and band and exposes none of their weaknesses. 

The Basie band handled volume and dynamics differently than their contemporaries; their softs were so much softer, which made the louds seem that much louder. 20 guys with big lungs could play unbelievably soft without losing tune or projection. Suddenly without warning, the band punches a syncopated fortissimo, then backs all the way off again. Very difficult to do consistently and well; they made it a calling card and an art.

“I’ve Got You Under My Skin"  begins with just such a contrast. The base, guitar, and drums are a restrained mezzo-forte but with a driving beat that is offset by soft horns suddenly punching a forte piano and then falling immediately off. Freddie Green's rhythm guitar overlaid with the drums makes it sound like the drums are playing chords. Sinatra sings the first words with understatement, gradually picking up the drive from the rhythm section.

As the first verse closes the band’s voicing changes, which occurs every 8 bars during the verse sections. Doubling in the reed section is another Basie classic; 2 sax players switch to mid-octave clarinet that contrast with the reedy bari sax. The second verse brings alto and tenor saxes to the front, with muted trumpets and trombones, clarinets soaring above as the dynamics gradually escalate into the refrain but drops back  again to buy more time.

An instrumental bridge follows, the now unmuted trombones build over 12 bars into a lip-splitting trombone solo that hands off to a saxophone fanfare. As soon as the saxes lead they fade back again to allow Frank Sinatra's vocals to charge back up the hill one more time before falling off the cliff again. Quiet clarinet background is punctuated by stabs of Basie’s piano, and the string bass ends the tune. All of Count Basie’s tricks together in one arrangement, expertly weaved together to compliment yet never overpower Frank Sinatra’s own vocal strengths of projection and phrasing.

The peak of Side 2 is not music but a comedy monologue. “The Tea Break” highlights both Sinatra’s comedic talent and his blind spots, ranging from very funny to forced. He is at his best doing Don Rickles-style insult comedy with the audience or telling a self-deprecating autobiography. He is at his worst with over-rehearsed name-dropping; without Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. as foils there is something missing. And this being 1966, there is the usual casual racism and misogyny. The music on this side is professional but unremarkable:  “Fly Me to the Moon”, 42 bars of the Basie instrumental “One O’Clock Jump”, and “You Make Me Feel So Young”.

The performers return from intermission on Side 3 with the Basie instrumental “All of Me” featuring The Count’s piercing, syncopated, single-note piano chords. Aside from the show tune “Get Me To the Church On Time”, the remainder of the side is mostly somber, slow, and sexy: “September of My Years” and “It Was a Very Good Year” are poignant from the 50-year old Sinatra and likely elicited some tears from his middle-aged audience. “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” is in my opinion his weakest performance on the album, and the Basie band closes with their classic instrumental “Makin’ Whoopee”, featuring the sensual and suggestive trombone of Al Grey. 

Yes you read that right.

Side 4 winds the evening down, the casual “Where or When”, the lament “Angel Eyes”, the boisterous “My Kind of Town” from the then-recent Rat Pack+Bing Crosby+Peter Falk vehicle “Robin and the 7 Hoods”, a closing monologue, and a reprise.

My mom still has her well-worn copy; I have grandpa's now. It was one of the only records we would play when he was over at our house because nobody wanted him to have to deal with something he didn't like (not that he would have complained). It connected me with him, and allowed him to tell me all about Basie, still my favorite arrangements to play. This was my first time listening to it in well over a decade; I wish I hadn't waited so long.

The Krueger Score

Grandpa scored his records using a ball-point pen to make notations on the sleeve. While there is some variation over the years, in general he assigned a check for strong performances and a star for something he particularly liked, such as a solo or challenging passage. In extraordinary circumstances he would add additional notes. The Krueger Score are his recorded comments on a particular album.

Despite his love for the album grandpa only scored two songs, both from Side 3. As a trombone player himself, it is not surprising he felt "Makin' Whoopee" to be the highlight.

“Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” ✔

“Makin’ Whoopee” ✔★

The Summary

Today Sinatra at the Sands is widely regarded as a premiere example of the art form and time period, and certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). My original LP copy can be found on Discogs ranging from $6 to $100 but can be had for much less through other pressings and formats, some of which add a bonus song mid-album. In 2006 a box set of live Sinatra performances was released that includes alternative recordings from the January 28^th, 1966 performance. The album can be found on Spotify and YouTube.

The Count Basie Orchestra still exists and tours, including some members hired by Basie himself before he died in 1984.