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Saturday, September 26, 2015

Frank Sinatra: Indian Summer, Dirty Dingus McGee, and Michele Carey Rule 5


Since it is autumn now, we can have an Indian Summer.

Indian Summer was written by Victor Herbert in 1919 and later was adopted as a jazz standard. After that Al Dubin (who also wrote September in the Rain, among other great songs) wrote lyrics for this song. Sinatra sang it during his Tommy Dorsey years, but this recording was made in 1967 and arranged by Billy May.  Update: As Mark notes, that's Duke Ellington's Orchestra backing Frank.

Here is Count Basie and Sarah Vaughan doing Indian Summer at Carnegie Hall in 1981.  



Indian Summer also can be used to describe a late career flourish or period of happiness. Mark Steyn this week wrote about Sinatra's version of Cole Porter's  It's All Right With Me and explores Porter's Indian Summer of High Society (1956), Silk Stockings (1957), and Can Can (1960) before Porter's final health decline and death in October 1964.  

I got inspired to look at some of Frank's other film work too. Frank Sinatra did some great movies.

Dirty Dingus Magee is not one of them.

Michele Carey does look great in it, so why not a Rule 5.

Dirty Dingus Magee was co written by Joseph Heller (yeah that Joseph Heller) and if you accept it as Frank Sinatra in a bad wig, in a 1970s western, with a bunch of Indian girls and typical Western town ladies, and filmed on location in Arizona...well I suppose there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half.

Juliet Prowse with Frank here? (I think Ed is right in comments below)









Cisinjuns vs. Transinjuns? Cissinatra vs. Transinatra?



Rule 5 and FMJRA


Bob completed his top 100 Sinatra songs and his top selections are top notch.  

Mark has It's All Right With Me and Autumn Leaves (Mark does a wonderful job explaining and contrasting Mercer's lyrics to the original French version).  

I added Sinatra and Day singing a terrific version of Take Me Out To The Ball Game in remembrance of Yogi Berra's passing.  And I think I collected links to most of the autumn themed Sinatra songs I previously posted in recognition of the autumn equinox. I also had Frank and the Kessler Twins for Oktoberfest.

1 comment:

  1. "I suppose there are worse ways to spend an hour and a half."

    Not very many.

    BTW That banquet picture is Juliet Prowse.

    And where's Lois Nettleton?

    She and Frank were an item while the pic was shooting.

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