The Frank Sinatra photo will make sense in a few minutes.
I would like to know who the individual is who suggested that Michael Bolton should have a career. His version of the classic Otis Redding tune "(Sittin' on the)Dock of the Bay" is like nails on a blackboard to me and don't even get JB started on the subject. JB, is a huge Otis fan. Bolton destroys the song and if you hear even a second of the song you have to immediately go and put on Otis singing the song to erase all memory of the musical car crash you just experienced.
Not content with destroying the great R&B classics. Somebody, back in 1998, seems to have given Mr. Bolton the idea that he would be a great Opera singer. As someone who grew up around singers particularly those who sang Opera, I felt this was a travesty. It made me sick that this non-talent was able to infiltrate the Opera world and get an album produced when there are operatic geniuses slogging away to make it in the Opera world for little to no money. His Opera album was called "My Secret Passion-The Arias" where Mr. Bolton tackles beloved and famous opera arias such as "Nessun Dorma" and "Una Furtiva Lagrima" all arias I grew up listening to the greats sing on my parents records or live at the Opera. To hear Jussi Bjorling, Enrico Caruso, Nicolai Gedda, Benjamino Gigli sing these arias, which they were born to sing, is a beautiful thing. These arias are not easy to sing, they take years for tenors to master. To hear Michael Bolton sing them is painful, its sacrilegious. This guy should not be allowed within 200 metres of an opera house.
I sat down with my coffee and cereal this morning and flipped the TV to the Today show only to hear the perky morning host squeal with excitement "Today's Summer Concert series is excited to have Michael Bolton here in New York. He will be singing from his new album "Bolton Swings Sinatra" .......HUH?????? Well, I sat there with my mouth agape took a swig of coffee thought "what tha f---k" and decided to go on my blog and express my anger rather than kicking in the TV set. While typing away I had Mr. Bolton in the background murdering the Sinatra classic "That's Life" Come one! Is nothing sacred? Who does this guy think he is? How arrogant is he? He can't sing Frank. Frank had a very specific sound, very specific tone, he had a good voice, great annunciation. Back in his prime, he was the equivalent of the Beatles. In the 1940's he had throngs of screaming fans, usually girls from the ages of 12 to 18. He had to have police escorts to his concerts. My Mother and my Aunt Sheila, as teens in Glasgow, were part of the Frank fan club. My Mother told me her and Aunt Sheila would sit and play Frank over and over on the record player when they got home from school.
What I find even more galling is that after singing/trying to sing "That's Life" the perky hosts speaks to Michael about why he wanted to do this album and he mentioned all kinds of crap and rhetoric and something about meeting Sammy Cahn as if this somehow makes him one of the Frank inner circle. Sammy Cahn was a great American songwriter who penned quite a few of the Frank hits. He penned "All the Way", "Love and Marriage", "High Hopes", "Come Fly with me" all songs which YOU CAN'T SING, Mr. Bolton. Mr Cahn died at the age of 80 in 1993 which leads me to wonder where and when Mr. Bolton would have had such indepth conversations with Mr. Kahn about singing Frank tunes.
At the moment Mr. Bolton is now screeching "New York, New York" and it is horrible. He is just screaming the lyrics. Where has Mr. Bolton been? Does he not know we already have some great singers who can deftly and respectfully record the great Frank standards. There is the new Canadian singing sensation Matt Dusk who actually sounds like a crooner. As well Canadian singer Michael Buble, who has the right tone and voice for Frank songs and of course the great Harry Connick Jr (starring on Broadway at the moment in "The Pajama Game") who also does a wonderful job of any Frank tune he decides to tackle. These three gentlemen have the look, have the talent and have the voices and you can tell they respect these songs and have practiced this style for many years.
Go away Mr. Bolton, yes you have sold 56 million albums, which is a scary enough thought and your constant "dabbling" in musical styles that don't suit your voice is painful for those of us that love opera, love Frank and love Otis. You are not going to gain new fans. Fans of Frank and Otis are not going to become fans of yours just because you have done a version of these classics. Perhaps you are just jumping on the Rod Stewart bandwagon. As it would appear Rod Stewart has had great success with his latest foray into the "Great American Songbook". It will be interesting to see what the volume of sales will be for this latest foray for Mr. Bolton before he has to jump on to another bandwagon to sell records.
End of rant.......I feel so much better now as I listen to Michael Buble singing "Feelin Good" courtesy of his website. This is a newer song but recorded with lot's of fat horns to sound like the great Frank Sinatra/Nelson Riddle Capitol Records recordings from the 1950's.
Two Quote's for today:
The artist is nothing without the gift, but the gift is nothing without work.
Emile Zola
May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.
Frank Sinatra
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