I Remember Tommy Explained

I Remember Tommy
Type:studio
Artist:Frank Sinatra
Cover:Iremembertommy.jpg
Released:October 1961
Recorded:May 1–3, 1961
Los Angeles
Length:41:38
Label:Reprise
Producer:Gregg Geller
Prev Title:Sinatra Swings
Prev Year:1961
Next Title:Sinatra and Strings
Next Year:1962

I Remember Tommy... is an album by Frank Sinatra, released in 1961. It was recorded as a tribute to bandleader Tommy Dorsey, and consists of re-recorded versions of songs that Sinatra had first performed or recorded with Dorsey earlier in his career. Fellow Dorsey alumnus Sy Oliver arranged and conducted the sessions.

Of the twelve numbers on the album, Sinatra had recorded eleven with the Dorsey Orchestra. The opening number, "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You," was Dorsey's instrumental theme song. Sy Oliver, who was a Dorsey arranger when Sinatra was with the band, arranged three of the original recordings – "East of the Sun and West of the Moon", "Without a Song", and "The One I Love Belongs to Somebody Else" Axel Stordahl did the rest, except for "I"ll Be Seeing You", arranger Sy Oliver [1] [2]

"The One I Love," the last vocal track on the album, has "a jaunty Sy Oliver treatment with Oliver himself singing counterpoint."[3]

Reviews of this album were mixed, some noting that this was a well intended effort but which paled in comparison the original 1940s recordings. Others still feel this was a fresher, more contemporary session with sharp high fidelity recording and crisp Sy Oliver arrangements, complemented by a more mature Sinatra but still with top control of his vocal abilities and smart interpretations.

Track listing

  1. "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" (George Bassman, Ned Washington) – 3:42
  2. "Imagination" (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:05
  3. "There Are Such Things" (George W. Meyer, Stanley Adams, Abel Baer) – 3:13
  4. "East of the Sun (And West of the Moon)" (Brooks Bowman) – 3:24
  5. "Daybreak" (Ferde Grofe, Harold Adamson) – 2:43
  6. "Without a Song" (Vincent Youmans, Billy Rose, Edward Eliscu) – 3:39
  7. "I'll Be Seeing You" (Sammy Fain, Irving Kahal) – 2:49
  8. "Take Me" (Rube Bloom, Mack David) – 2:19
  9. "It's Always You" (Burke, Van Heusen) – 2:49
  10. "Polka Dots and Moonbeams" (Burke, Van Heusen) – 3:43
  11. "It Started All Over Again" (Carl T. Fischer, Bill Carey) – 2:32
  12. "The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)" (Isham Jones, Gus Kahn) – 2:48
  13. "In the Blue of Evening" (Tom Montgomery, Tom Adair, Al D’Artega) – 4:03
  14. "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" (Reprise) – 0:49

"In the Blue of Evening" was added as a bonus track to the 1993 reissue, and is not available on the 1998 Entertainer of the Century remastered reissue.

Complete Personnel

Tracks 1, 2, 7, 8:

1-May-1961 (Monday) - Hollywood.

Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Pete Candoli, Mickey Mangano (tpt); Dick Noel, Bob Pring, Dick Nash (tbn); Ken Shroyer (b-tbn); Vincent DeRosa (fr-h); Ted Nash, Abe Most, Jules Jacob, Plas Johnson, Joe Koch (sax/wwd); Herman Clebanoff, Lou Klass, Emo Neufeld, Marshall Sosson, Arnold Sukonick, Arnold Belnick, Joe Stepansky, James Getzoff, Gerald Vinci, Lennie Malarsky, Victor Amo, Elliot Fisher (vln); Paul Robyn, Alex Neiman, Stanley Harris (via); Edgar Lustgarten, Justin DiTullio, Ray Kramer (vie); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); Al Viola (g); Joe Comfort (b); John Markham (d).

Tracks 3, 4, 9, 11, 12:

3/4-May-1961 (Wed/Thu) - Hollywood.

Al Porcino, Conte Candoli, Jimmy Zito, Ray Linn (tpt); Dick Noel, Bob Pring, Milt Bernhart (tbn); Ken Shroyer (b-tbn); George Price (fr-h); Willie Schwartz, Abe Most, Plas Johnson, Bill Usselton, Joe Koch (sax/wwd); Herman Clebanoff, Lou Klass, Emo Neufeld, Marshall Sosson, Arnold Sukonick, Arnold Belnick, Anatol Kaminsky, James Getzoff, Gerald Vinci, Lennie Malarsky, Victor Amo, Marvin Limonick (vln); Paul Robyn, Alex Neiman, Stanley Harris (via); Edgar Lustgarten, Justin DiTullio, Ray Kramer (vlc); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); Al Viola (g); Joe Comfort (b); John Markham (d). Sy Oliver (voe [l]).

Tracks 5, 6, 10:

2-May-1961 (Tuesday) - Hollywood.

Conrad Gozzo, Al Porcino, Conte Candoli, Jimmy Zito (tpt); Dick Noel, Bob Pring, Tommy Pederson (tbn); Ken Shroyer (b-tbn); James Decker (fr-h); Ted Nash, Abe Most, Jules Jacob, Plas Johnson, Joe Koch (sax/wwd); Herman Clebanoff, Lou Klass, Erno Neufeld, Marshall Sosson, Arnold Sukonick, Arnold Belnick, Anatol Kaminsky, James Getzoff, Gerald Vinci, Lennie Malarsky, Victor Amo, Marvin Limonick (vln); Paul Robyn, Alex Neiman, Stanley Harris (via); Edgar Lustgarten, Justin DiTullio, Ray Kramer (vie); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); Al Viola (g); Joe Comfort (b); John Markham (d).

Track 13:

21-March-1961 (Tuesday) - Hollywood.

Conrad Gozzo, Mickey Mangano, Al Porcino, Conte Candoli (tpt); Tommy Pederson, Dick Noel, Dick Nash, Dick Gould (tbn); James Decker (fr-h); Willie Schwartz, Harry Klee, Jules Jacob, Babe Russin, Joe Koch (sax/wwd); Victor Amo, Lennie Malarsky, Arnold Belnick, Amerigo Marino, Joe Stepansky, James Getzoff, Marshall Sosson (vln); Alex Neiman, Stanley Harris (via); Eleanor Slatkin, Harold Schneier (vie); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); Al Viola (g); Joe Comfort (b); John Markham (d).

Notes and References

  1. S
  2. "Sessionography," Tommy Dorsey - Frank Sinatra "The Song Is You" Booklet with the CD box set of the same name.
  3. William Ruhlmann, Vocal Refrain by Frank Sinatra, in Tommy Dorsey - Frank Sinatra "The Song Is You", np