Frank Sinatra Set from Sony/Legacy, 1935-1955 Radio Performances, "A Voice on Air"*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ronald Sarbo, Aug 26, 2015.

  1. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    I think Tina nailed it when she said "walking on air". The "double meaning" of the title refers to his voice having the quality of "floating... on air". The feeling he had.... and listener had hearing him on the air waves.

    An "air" is also a synonym for song. Another "take" on the title..."A Voice On...Song".
     
  2. DreadPikathulhu

    DreadPikathulhu Senior Member

    Location:
    Seattle
    Great news. I've got dozens of individual titles from random grey labels, so it will be nice to see an official release.
     
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  3. Henley

    Henley Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Netherlands
    And maybe more important, who controls the rights of this material? Or does this depend on the type of broadcast?

    Anyway I'm very excited as my preference is steadily shifting towards the early Capitol and Columbia period
     
  4. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    I believe they're owned by the broadcasting network, which in Sinatra's case was either CBS or NBC. CBS owned Columbia Records, so rights to those programs are probably held today by Sony. As @MMM mentioned above, NBC programs (such as "To Be Perfectly Frank") must be licensed by Sony.
     
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  5. MMM

    MMM Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Lodi, New Jersey
    You are correct, sir. Yes! ;)
     
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  6. bferr1

    bferr1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    MA
    Is there a sense of suggested retail price on the set?
     
  7. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    Still reads and sounds funny. Odd funny.
     
  8. Tina_UK

    Tina_UK Forum Resident

    Location:
    England
    It's a play on words , as I said before "A Voice "On Air"" these are radio performances and Frank and his "voice" are "On Air"

    Well these are my thoughts anyway.
     
  9. DmitriKaramazov

    DmitriKaramazov Senior Member

    This is gonna be GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
    :goodie:
     
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  10. shicorp

    shicorp Senior Member

    Location:
    Austria
  11. kennyluc1

    kennyluc1 Frank Sinatra collector

    Ron this performance what time period was it circa, early, middle, or, late forties ? I have never known of a Sinatra performance of that title and, it's got me all excited.
    I happen to like the song very much I prefer Nat Cole, Billy Eckstine and Crosby in that order. as you said earlier I hope this will be on the Box Set. Can't wait for the titles to be
    made public. I have a tape of Sinatra doing "Mary " the George M. Cohan song from circa 42-43 that I tried to give to Columbia 25 years ago, which, I believe, wound up with Friedwald. I hope that
    it will be on the Box.
     
  12. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    Jonathan Schwartz said it was from 1946 and called it a "new discovery".
     
  13. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Not quite. It appeared in the Kat Wisker Productions 8-LP box set for the 1975 radio show, "Frank Sinatra: Biography in Song." The WoW database suggests it was probably from a "Songs by Sinatra" program in the last quarter of 1942.

    See here in the —> SFF Discography (Track 1 on Record 2).
     
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  14. kennyluc1

    kennyluc1 Frank Sinatra collector

    That's funny I have known about that Box for years but, never noticed that song title.
     
  15. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    He could have done it again in 1946 in the wake of Billy Eckstine's hit version on National. The Kat Whisker set is very rare and something I don't have. In any event I hope it makes the box.
     
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  16. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    BTW, I didn't misspell "Wisker." :) Note the record label image at the link I supplied.
     
  17. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    JS has been wrong before too. He keeps raving about Kaplan's "The Chairman". Unfortunately I can't say I share his enthusiasm.
     
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  18. kennyluc1

    kennyluc1 Frank Sinatra collector

    One of the things I find fascinating about The Treasury Song Parade material is the sound of Frank's voice is the sound of his first Solo session. On some titles, to me, it is
    almost a continuation of his first (Jan 1942) solo session.
     
  19. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    Billboard reported that Sinatra sued Kat Wisker productions.
     
  20. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    Amazon Germany and France have moved back a week to Nov. 20. I'm getting....worried.
     
  21. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    WOW! Bob, you just took me back 100 years!!! I remember listening to that "Biography in Song" on a local N.E. PA radio station when it was 1st broadcast in weekly installments. I was absolutely mystified at all of the "unofficial" material that was used. It was the 1st time I'd heard any of that stuff. I think I may even have some newspaper ads in one of my scrapbooks from when it aired.
     
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  22. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    If it's anything like The Voice it will be a huge disappointment.
     
  23. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    Pete Kline was the guiding force behind the Kat Wisker broadcast. There was a lengthy program description in the May 17, 1975 issue of Billboard, but it looks like it's missing from Google Books. If I have a chance, I'll try to post it here. The lawsuit Ron mentioned was reported in the Billboard of June 14, 1975. I don't know how that turned out.
     
  24. Ronald Sarbo

    Ronald Sarbo Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    NY, NY, USA
    Off topic I know but if you are in the Will Friedwald/Jonathan Schwartz camp then Kaplan's book is for you. Gibney was very influenced by Kaplan. "The Chairman" is like the HBO doc. It's 900 pages. Page 1-850 covers the years 54-71. The last 50 pages cover very lightly the last 27 years of Sinatra's life. J. Randy Tabloid's up-dated book "dishes" over this period more than Kaplan.
     
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2015
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  25. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    Not very well-balanced, is it? Were "the concert years" considered chopped-liver? One could write an entire book just about that period.
     

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