Young Blue Eyes (Birth Of The Crooner)

Bluebird certainly didnt need the "As Seen on TV" logo to sell this collection of unreleased Frank Sinatra performances. For fans of Sinatra in general and his early big-band period specifically, Young Blue Eyes: Birth of the Crooner represents a fresh outpouring of Sinatras winning way with a song. All of the performances are live and come from his stint with Tommy Dorseys Orchestra, between June 1940 and May 1942 (the last date here was just four months before he left Dorsey for a committed solo career). Three songs are new to Sinatras recorded repertoire, "You Walk By," "Alice Blue Gown," and "Prairie Night," each of them as fluffy as their titles suggest but each rescued by Sinatras indomitable flair. Jo Stafford and the Pied Pipers are present on several tracks, and "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)" is a looser version of the original hit featuring the Dorsey musicians filling in the gaps between Sinatras sweet vocals with their own jivey crosstalk. The highlight, ably expounded upon by Will Friedwald in his excellent liner notes, is "Say It," from a 1940 broadcast; after Dorseys tranquil solo introduces the song, Sinatra accentuates the performance with a vocal that relaxes the melody into a pure appreciation of his own mellifluous vocalizing. Necessary for collectors and suitably enjoyable for anyone interested in his early career, Young Blue Eyes: Birth of the Crooner shows him at a pivotal point in his career; while introducing the opener, "You Walk By," the young Sinatra hilariously switches from his slangy, nasal New Jersey speaking voice to his refined, caressing singing voice. ~ John Bush