July 4th was celebrated in an oblique way by Englishman Clive Davis, with a post on Frank Sinatra, and more specifically, an interesting interview with Will Friedwald, who, among other things, wrote the essential book on Frank, i.e.: “Sinatra! The Song is You.”

A very brief snippet from that book, where the author is writing about Frank’s 1955 album In The Wee Small Hours:

The title opening track sets the pace, the two textures — rhythm and strings — playing off each other in a perfectly invisible arrangement. One isn’t conscious of the music or even Sinatra’s voice, just the pure emotion emanating from the speakers.

Indeed, in all contexts and all degrees of either agony or ecstasy, even if Sinatra falls short of the occasional note tonally, he always hits precisely the right note emotionally. Listening to “Deep in a Dream” on Wee Small Hours and “The End of a Love Affair” on Close to You makes you think that if Sinatra put the tiniest bit more emotion in his singing he might sound hysterical, and yet if he were to pull the most miniscule bit back, he would come off sounding detached. Somehow, he always finds the perfect balance.

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