Sings Rodgers And Hammerstein

by Frank Sinatra

Product Description:

Includes liner notes by Will Friedwald.

All tracks have been digitally remastered.

Personnel: Frank Sinatra; The Bobby Tucker Singers.

Recording information: 1943 - 1951.

Arrangers: Alec Wilder; Axel Stordahl.

From 1943 through 1952, Frank Sinatra recorded nearly 300 songs for Columbia Records, nearly all of the highest quality. And while he and arranger Alex Stordahl were busy mining two decades' worth of Tin Pan Alley gold, Sinatra was also determined to find and record the best popular songs of the day. In 1943 that meant Rodgers and Hammerstein's OKLAHOMA. Since there was an ongoing musicians' strike that year, Sinatra's first forays in this area were actually a cappella choral arrangements of "Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin'" and "People Will Say We're in Love," beautifully set by composer Alec Wilder and sung to perfection.

It wasn't long however before the singer successfully tackled the grand musical cadences of "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Soliloquy" from CAROUSEL, the latter a two-sided 78 totaling more than eight minutes! All of this can be heard on this historically significant collection, which supplements studio dates with live "air checks," these last complete with screaming bobbysoxers instead of applause.