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CNN Sunday Morning
Interview Chuck Granata, Didier Deutsch
Aired July 21, 2002 - 08:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Frank Sinatra lit up the stage, the screen and the stereo. Now the Chairman of the Board's best musical performances have been released in a new box set, and there are some originals from his film days which have never before been heard, outside of the people who were there in the studio. From New York to talk about Old Blue Eyes box set, producers Chuck Granata and Didier Deutsch. Good to have you both with us.
Who had the idea? How did you get the idea?
CHUCK GRANATA, CO-PRODUCER, SINATRA BOX SET: Oh, gosh.
DIDIER DEUTSCH, CO-PRODUCER, SINATRA BOX SET: We both did.
GRANATA: Yeah, Didier and I have been working on Sinatra for about 10 years together. And we brought this idea to the Sinatra family and to the record label. We just thought this was a really important thing to put together.
O'BRIEN: All right. Let's start off with some of the stuff you won't hear anywhere else. And one of the -- well, there are several cuts from "Carousel." Which -- tell me quickly the story on "Carousel." He backed out, didn't he?
GRANATA: Yes. Frank Sinatra was scheduled to play Billy Bigelow (ph) in Rogers & Hammerstein's "Carousel," and he actually made one pre-recording and never stepped in front of the cameras when they went to location in (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Maine. And what we found for this box set is one cut that he recorded about four months before the studio pre-recordings at Fox. And it's this gorgeous version of "Soliloquy," which we've never heard.
O'BRIEN: Let's listen for a second.
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN: That's wonderful. It really is. Gosh. That is -- we are not hearing Cole Porter there, which is a lot of people associate Frank Sinatra with. A little more complex, isn't it, Didier?
DEUTSCH: Yes, it is, indeed.
O'BRIEN: OK. What -- when you hear that and you know that has not been released, it's got to be exciting to put that together and get that available to people?
DEUTSCH: Well, that is the first thing that attracted us to doing that box set, the fact that about 90 percent of this material had been heard in the movies, but never been recorded on CD, or on LP, or whatever format. So we decided to do that, but as a result of the fact that none of that material had been available before.
O'BRIEN: All right...
GRANATA: And you know, Miles...
O'BRIEN: Go ahead. Go ahead.
GRANATA: ... finding things like "Soliloquy," which really showcased Sinatra at the peak -- you know, this was Frank Sinatra in 1955, when his voice was...
O'BRIEN: Absolutely heyday. That voice.
GRANATA: ... at the very top of its form. It's amazing, and that was what we really strove to accomplish here.
O'BRIEN: It's really exciting to hear that voice at its prime, isn't it?
GRANATA: It's amazing. And as I said, this really was the vocal sweet spot for Frank Sinatra. There is such color, so many different gradations and hues of color in his voice at that exact moment, you know, colors that we never heard before or after. That was really the apex right there.
O'BRIEN: Colors that -- that's a good way to describe it. Let's talk about some songs that we are more familiar with, "Lady Is a Tramp," for example. Which one are we going to hear first? Is this the -- here is the movie version of "Lady Is a Tramp."
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN: All right. You can sort of hear that Nelson Riddle (ph) kind of orchestration there, you know, with the trombones going. It kinds of builds up to a crescendo. How is this -- now, the movie version -- let's listen to the version we are more familiar with, and we'll talk about some of the comparisons there and the differences. Let's listen.
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN: Now, you know, you get the sense listening to the second version, which is the one we're more familiar with, it's a little more polished, a little more revere been there. The first version, a little more simple, a little more of a simple tone.
DEUTSCH: Basically, the two versions point out to the differences of the way Sinatra worked in the movies and in the studio. In the studio, he was totally in charge of what he was doing and did not hesitate to do several takes to achieve the best quality recording he could find. In the movies, he was subjected to the timetable of the shooting schedule, and, generally speaking he said that he wanted to do only one take because it was the best he had in him.
O'BRIEN: What's interesting is, though, it kind of lays bear his voice more without a (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
DEUTSCH: It's more...
(CROSSTALK)
O'BRIEN: And it's wonderful, really, isn't it?
GRANATA: Well, Miles, you know, there is a big musical difference between these two versions, too, and that's where these performances differ in many ways from the commercial versions. When you compare "The Lady Is a Tramp" from the film to the record version that you're playing, you know, the record has strings on it and it has got a much bigger and fuller orchestra. Now, in the scene...
(CROSSTALK)
GRANATA: In the scene in "Pal Joey," you know, Sinatra is in a nightclub with a very small jazz combo, and that comes across when you listen and compare the two performances. And I think -- and I know Didier agrees with me -- that there is a lot more spontaneity to the film version.
O'BRIEN: I think we should probably move on. We're running out of time. I want to listen to "New York, New York" for just a moment and we'll talk a little bit about that. It's a fun one. Let's play "New York, New York." Do we have that cued up?
(MUSIC)
O'BRIEN: And of course when I mentioned the title of that song, everybody was thinking of the other New York song of Frank Sinatra, which of course is, you know, so much a part of our lives now because it lives on. Every Yankees game they win, they play it, for God's sakes, unfortunately, but that's another issue. Let's -- what is it about that song that struck you?
GRANATA: Well, this is a great example of Sinatra in Hollywood, because what they did for this particular segment of the film "On the Town" is come to New York from Hollywood and shoot this sequence on location here in New York City. And, you know, one of the greatest stories I got was, you know, of how they raced around Manhattan. Gene Kelly was the director. They raced around Manhattan trying to get the lighting right and the sound right and the setup before they lost the sunlight, and so forth. And here, Sinatra, Gene Kelly and Jewels Munchin (ph) are just having a great time dancing on the top of the Loew's building (ph), dancing in Central Park, doing all kinds of stuff around the city, and that was really captured in the spirit, mood of the song, and also in the film.
O'BRIEN: I wish we could play that sequence, but apparently, we couldn't. We had some issues on showing it. But anyway, if you've seen the movie, you remember that scene.
All right, now, we would be remiss if we didn't do our producer, Emily King's (ph) favorite song, "Mr. Booze." I don't know why that is. Why don't you set it up for us and we'll just play it off to break. What is it about "Mr. Booze" that's worth noting?
DEUTSCH: Well, it's the Rat Pack being together, having a good time in a film that was specifically designed to their specific balance. So I think that it epitomizes what the latter day Frank Sinatra at the movies (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was all about.
O'BRIEN: All right.
GRANATA: And this comes, you know, Miles, this comes -- this is the last Sinatra film in which he sang at all. This is his last musical in 1964, and it was fitting that it's this great romp with the Rat Pack and so many memorable and just fun songs, and I think that's what this is all about. It's a fun collection, and Sinatra in Hollywood was a very fun experience, you know, for Sinatra and for us.
O'BRIEN: He's actually in the chorus in this song, right? As we play it out, right?
GRANATA: In this particular song, yeah.
O'BRIEN: All right. Gentlemen, great work on the box set. It will cost you $120. Still worth it. Chuck Granata, Didier Deutsch, the Sinatra box set, "Frank in Hollywood," and we leave you -- with this segment, anyhow -- with "Mr. Booze."
(MUSIC)
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