Frank Sinatra (1000 words!)

Frank Sinatra, like each other member of the Rat Pack, had his own performance style in order to distinguish himself when they all performed together on stage. In this performance profile, I shall discuss how Sinatra’s physical presence on stage and how he used his voice as a singer helped establish his relationship with the other members of the Rat Pack on stage, distinguishing him as a performer.

I shall begin with Sinatra’s physical presence on stage. Some particular physical elements remained throughout his career, however, other elements changed somewhat by the time he had joined the Rat Pack in contrast. A continuous physical feature of Sinatra was his dress code. The archetypal image of Sinatra on stage was of him dressed in a suit and tie to perform his songs. This has been a continuous aspect throughout his career. Still images of Sinatra during his career with the Hoboken Four, which appear in the television documentary Frank Sinatra: the Voice of the Century, show him with the other three members all wearing matching suits. In the same documentary, as it shows how Sinatra progressed to working for Tommy Dorsey and beginning his solo career, he appears still wearing a suit in archive footage of Sinatra performing the song I’ll Never Smile Again. This physical attribute continued through into his time in the Rat Pack. This is evident on the Frank Sinatra Disc of the Rat Pack DVD Anthology Rat Pack: Kings Of Swing, in every clip which Sinatra appears with other members of the Rat Pack on stage; he is still dressed in a formal suit with tie.
However, a physical attribute that did change throughout Sinatra’s career was his use of the stage. For example, in the previously mentioned footage of the song I’ll Never Smile Again, as well as the footage of Sinatra singing Old Man River, which is featured on Rat Pack: Kings Of Swing, Sinatra is stood centre stage, in front of a large orchestra, very still, as he sings out to the audience. However, as Sinatra progressed into the Rat Pack, his attributes on stage began to relax much more. He began to move around the stage much more as he sang his songs, to the extent which in one particular performance of I’ve Got You Under My Skin, which appears on Rat Pack: Kings Of Swing, he sits down with the conductor of the orchestra and begins to conduct with him. It was essentially a personal choice that he wanted to be a central presence on stage. The Frank Sinatra: the Voice of the Century television documentary explains that the reason for this attribute was subsequently the reason in which he worked with band leader Tommy Dorsey: “Sinatra liked the fact that, with Dorsey, the singer played a central role…” (Frank Sinatra: the Voice of the Century).
The style of Sinatra’s presence on stage changed through his career but the reason for this particular attribute was so he would be noticed in any circumstance. This was certainly the case during the Rat Pack onstage. In Rat Pack: Kings Of Swing, Sinatra begins to sing Please Be Kind, whilst Sammy Davis Junior and Dean Martin begin to heckle and distract him offstage. Sinatra simply laughs it off and responds with quips such as “Get off while I’m a hit?” and “You’ve got a beat like a cop”. Sinatra drags the attention away from the heckling and back onto himself as he continues to sing.

I shall now discuss how Sinatra’s uses his voice as a singer. This was an attribute that changed throughout his career. His singing technique derives from working with Tommy Dorsey, according to the Frank Sinatra: the Voice of the Century television documentary. It explains that Sinatra’s vocal technique “was based on extraordinary breath control” which is attributed to the “smooth continuous tone” of Tommy Dorsey’s instruments; Sinatra then “tried to imitate that sustained sound in his singing” (Frank Sinatra: the Voice of the Century). This is evident in several of Sinatra’s songs. For example, in the previously mentioned Old Man River, Sinatra’s voice follows that particular song’s style and volume; when the song starts it has a very low volume which Sinatra’s voice emulates as he sings the opening line “Old Man River” very quietly, when he progresses to the middle verse of the song and the music goes very staccato, Sinatra’s voice copies the music when he sings the line “tote that barge, lift that bale” very staccato, and when he sings the line “Old Man River” for the final time, the orchestra is playing very loudly so he sings that line just as loud.

This aspect, much like his physical presence, changed throughout his career prior to or during the Rat Pack. His vocal style began to relax much more and allows the music to be emphasised more over his voice. For example, as he sings Get me to the Church on Time, on Rat Pack: Kings Of Swing, Sinatra’s voice is more in time with just the song’s bass-line, as opposed to the whole orchestra, which allows the brass section to be more unpredictable; this gave Sinatra the ability to ad-lib as he sang through a song. For example, after forgetting the lyrics part of the way through the song Get me to the Church on Time, he ad-libs to the audience: “I forgot the words all of a sudden.” He is effortless in regaining the control of the song.

Sinatra gains presence through ad-libs during the Rat Pack onstage shows such as when he and Dean Martin make drinks for one another on Rat Pack: Kings of Swing. Dean quips “I’ll make you one for you if you make me one for me”, to which Sinatra quickly adds, “…You talkin’ about broads or drinks?” to the audience’s laughter. Sinatra would essentially ad-lib in order to gain the central attention of the audience.

Sinatra was seen as the leader of the Rat Pack; a central figure amongst the rest, which his how he distinguished himself as a performer. Sinatra’s voice and physical presence drew attention to himself; he always had the last word whether it is in a joke or in a song.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Biography (1987) Frank Sinatra: The Voice Of The Century. London, BBC. The Biography Channel, 13th August 2007 [Television]

Rat Pack: Kings Of Swing (2007) Frank. London. Waterfall Home Entertainment, 21st September [DVD]