...There is much to note here, from the period language through the criticism of rock music to the alliance of voice and gaze. Cornyn, an executive at Reprise, was responsible for writing liner notes to sixteen of the albums Sinatra released, from 1964’s It Might as Well Be Swing to 1984’s L.A. Is My Lady, as well as an extended note for a 1995 collection of Reprise recordings. As Gilbert Gigliotti observes, in authoring so many liner notes, Cornyn became ‘the voice of Frank Sinatra’. It would be more accurate to say that Cornyn became an important part of a much larger machinery that produced this ‘voice’ and which would also include lyricists, composers, arrangers, musicians, engineers, producers, other label executives, promoters and critics. But Gigliotti’s highlighting of Cornyn as a part of this process is an intriguing one. Gigliotti notes the mixture of New Journalism (as essayed by Tom Wolfe and others), ‘hip’ language, poetic devices and advertising spiel that make up this essentially hagiographic discourse. Part of Cornyn’s job as a Reprise employee was to market Sinatra and so we might, as Gigliotti is aware, be suspicious of reading too much serious commentary into such texts. But it is equally important that Cornyn is shown to be a narrator of Sinatra’s public life in a way that is both inclusive and exclusive; through him, we get to hear about details we might not otherwise be privy to—orchestra rehearsals, recording sessions, conversations between Sinatra and his friends and fellow musicians. More than this, Cornyn’s writing reminds us, as Gigliotti notes, of the proximity between creative writing (especially poetry) and the language of marketing. Cornyn’s texts become another creative component of the layered self that is Sinatra’s persona. They also allow us to witness the development of Sinatra’s career, replete as they invariably are with allusions to his songs and his past. This is important for a consideration of time, age and experience because these are all factors underlined by Cornyn’s texts and which are used to narrate Sinatra to his audience and set the stage for listening. This sense of a narrated life becomes even clearer when the pieces are brought together, as they are in Gigliotti’s analysis and in the long text ‘Eye Witness’, which Cornyn contributed to the boxed set Frank Sinatra: The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings in 1995....
“London in Literature and Song” provides an opportunity for English and non-majors alike to travel to London in order to become fully immersed in a culture that has produced art that ranges from the high modernist discourse of T.S. Eliot and Virginia Woolf to the songs and films of Frank Sinatra. Professor Pozorski’s English 458 course will fulfill upper-level literature requirements for English majors and minors. The course will feature close readings of six modern British texts related to World War I and will consider the ways in which the city of London serves as an important backdrop for this history.Professor Gigliotti’s English 213, for general education literature credit, will examine the effects of the musical and film work of three quintessentially American artists, Frank Sinatra, daughter Nancy, and ex-wife Ava Gardner in London, the center of Old World tradition that, in the 1960s (thanks to the Beatles), quickly became THE center of a new youth culture.
Pozorski’s class will focus on the centrality of World War I to the literary landscape of 20th century British literature. Due to its traumatic nature, the events of World War I have captured the global literary imagination in canonical texts that seem to perpetually revisit the scene of violence, partly in an attempt to explain the Great War’s causes and effects. Literature set in London is an exemplary case of this perpetual return to the scene: whether treating the effects of war directly (as in T.S. Eliot’s poetry, Woolf’s Mrs. Dalloway, and Sigmund Freud’s Beyond the Pleasure Principle) or somewhat less directly (in the more contemporary texts such as Ian McEwan’s Saturday and Mark Haddon’s Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime), the shattering effects of World War I nonetheless seem to underwrite canonical literature of London published between 1920 and 2005.
Meanwhile Gigliotti’s class will offer a study of, as it were, the American Rat Pack-er in London. While Frank Sinatra’s long career is linked mostly with a variety of American cities ranging from Hoboken and the Big Apple to Chicago and Vegas, Sinatra’s artistic presence was worldwide. And, despite the singer’s primary association with his mining of the Great American Songbook, he rarely met a great song he didn’t try to tackle. ENG 213: The London Sinatra(s) will examine – through the lenses of British scholars Karen McNally (film) and Chris Rojek (sociology) – Sinatra’s artistic production in London itself, including his 1962 collaboration with British composer/arranger Robert Farnon, Frank Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain; the 1967 thriller The Naked Runner; and the 1970 charity concert at Royal Festival Hall. The class will also examine his daughter’s 1966 Nancy in London album and his expatriate ex-wife Ava Gardner’s 1970 film The Devil’s Widow, based on the traditional Scottish border ballad “Tam Lin.” Additionally, Playing Sinatra, by British playwright Bernard Kops, will offer a dispassionate look at isolated London siblings obsessed with the singer.
Through visiting cultural icons of the city (the Tate Gallery, British Library, British Museum, et al.), touring London’s musical heritage, as well as attending such theatrical events as Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Mousetrap, The School of Rock, and Guys and Dolls, this program will provide students with the opportunity to become immersed in London’s culture, as well as the literature and music it produced.
Program Costs
The cost of the travel program includes round-trip airport transfers in the U.S. and abroad, economy-class international airfare, multiple-occupancy accommodations, some meals, ground transportation, theater tickets and most entrance fees. All personal expenses (i.e., most meals, medical, souvenirs, laundry, telephone, etc.) are at additional cost. CCSU reserves the right to make changes to the program itinerary at any time, with or without notice.
Chris
Martin of Coldplay performs onstage during the 2015 American Music
Awards at Microsoft Theater on November 22, 2015 in Los Angeles.
Frazer Harrison/AMA2015/Getty Images
Chris Martin has some nice things to say about Rihanna. According to the Coldplay frontman, his partner on the band's 2011 single "Princess of China" "is the Frank Sinatra of our generation."
It
may sound a bit strange, considering their different genders and
genres, but Martin offered a good explanation when speaking with The Guardian for an extensive interview.
"She
can turn anything into gold with that voice," he said. "Here's the
thing: if you speak to a good singing teacher about great opera singers,
they will talk about consistency of tone. Or there's a book by Alfred
Tomatis about why some people like certain people's voices and other
people hate them, like Bob Dylan
or me or whoever, some people say, 'Oh, I hate that voice', so there's a
thing about people's frequency responses -- what they are pleased by.
Rihanna has this thick tone, so it's very hard to annoy anybody."
Martin
went on to compare Rihanna's voice to a "beautifully squeezed tube of
toothpaste," which is a bit of an odd analogy but one we can all surely
relate to on some level.
"When you think of Rihanna's voice you think of this whole, rich thing, solid like a tree trunk, and Drake
is pretty similar," he went on. "But Rihanna's voice is just delicious
for your ear. Sinatra had the same thing; anything he sang sounded
pleasing to most people."
Marilyn and Sinatra: you know their names but you didn't know their
intimate love story...until now! Acclaimed new play MARILYN &
SINATRA tells the little-known, exhaustively researched, story of the
relationship between showbiz icons Marilyn Monroe and Frank Sinatra,
who lived together for five tempestuous weeks in 1955 and remained
close right up until her death. On the night she died, Marilyn played
nothing but Sinatra albums on her record player. It turns out the last
voice she heard meant a great deal to her.
Marilyn & Sinatra stars Erin Gavin (Footballer's Wives) as Marilyn Monroe and an America's Got Talent finalist Jeff Bratz as Frank Sinatra. It is written and directed by Sandro Monetti. It is co-produced by Sandro Monetti and Jason Haigh-Ellery in
association with Erin Gavin.
Playwright and director Sandro Monetti said: "Ever since I was a kid
growing up in Blackpool, I've been fascinated by Americana, especially
showbiz icons. Marilyn and Frank Sinatra have always intrigued me but I thought every story about them had been told. Then I discovered that they lived together in Beverly Hills for five disastrous weeks in 1955. It was just after his heartbreaking split from Ava Gardner.
He'd lost, to his mind, the most beautiful woman in the world. And then
God sent him the sexiest. But their time together was like The Odd
Couple. He was a neat freak; she was messy. It was never going to work
out. It seems the sex was great but the relationship was a disaster!"
Raised in Glasgow but now resident in Los Angeles, Erin Gavin is the
definitive Marilyn having played the part in numerous productions and
projects in the US. Her TV credits include Footballer's Wives, Taggart
and Still Game and she has worked with Michelle Pfeiffer, David Schwimmer and Elijah Wood.
Trained jazz musician Jeff Bratz was a top 12 finalist on America's Got
Talent. His stage roles include the Emcee in Cabaret, Dr Frankenfurter
in The Rocky Horror Show, Judas in Godspell, The 39 Steps and West Side
Story. He is lead singer in the rock band Radium.
Box office: www.jermynstreettheatre.co.uk
Photos Kent Douglas/Hamid Moslehi
Due to the overwhelming response to the recent sold out Sinatra evening
at The Ritz Crystal Room @Remember When in Torrington, CT,
they're doing it again ! Save the date!
Sinatra Night II: The Songwriters Saturday September 10th 7:00 to 10:00 $55.00pp includes tax and gratuity
At every opportunity, Frank Sinatra would salute the musicians and wordsmiths who composed his songs because he knew that, without them, his voice would have meant nothing. During "Sinatra Night II: The Songwriters," we'll jump into the Great American Songbook and learn how its creators, from the Gershwins and Rodgers & Hart to Cole Porter and Cahn & Van Heusen, helped make Sinatra SINATRA!
Great food, fascinating stories, and danceable melodies -- As the song goes, "What a lovely way to spend an evening!"
