The case of a hit-maker who's overshadowed by another hitmaker using his own tune - in the very same year. Fair or not? You judge:
The World We Knew
Part 1
Artist: Bert Kaempfert and His Orchestra
Label: Decca (DL-74925)
Release: 1967
This album topped the pop charts in 1967 at a measly No.
136. By '67, the "Easy Listening" pop sub-genre was more and more often being
called "Beautiful Music" and becoming relegated to radio stations (and record
bins) specializing in music in that category.
TRACK LIST:
- The World We Knew (Bert Kaempfert)
- Rain
- Moonlight Serenade
- I Can't Help Remembering You
- You Are my Sunshine
- Lover
- Vat 96
- Serenade in Blue
- Talk
- Lonesome
- Stay With the Happy People
In 1998, the Polydor label re-released the record on CD (Polydor 539111) and
added the following tunes (the CD didn't chart):
12. Night Dreams
13. If There's a Way
14. So What's New?
15. Sweet Romance
16. Sermonette
Part 2
Frank Sinatra's "Over and Over" Song
Frank Sinatra's version of this song, with lyrics written by Carl Sigman, shot up the pop charts
in 1967 also, reaching No. 1 on the adult contemporary charts (it did a
not-too-shabby 30 on the '67 pop singles chart. Sinatra's music men, Hank
Sanicola, Don Costa and Gordon Jenkins turned out an album Frank
Sinatra: The World We Knew featuring Nancy Sinatra on 'Somethin' Stupid'
which was far more aggressive and musically ambitious than the pop that adult
late-'60s audiences were used to. Arguably one of the most blues/rock-driven
Sinatra albums, Sinatra's voice is clear and very hip over riffs from acoustic
and electric guitars, harmonica, Hammond B-3 organ and pounding percussion. The
band and string charts are merely musical window-dressing. By the way, the
production values were very, very good on vinyl and the re-issue reflects the
engineering perfection of the master.
Frank Sinatra: The World We Knew featuring Nancy Sinatra on 'Somethin'
Stupid'
Artists: Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra
Label: Reprise (2-1022; F-1022; cassette M5-1022)
Release: 1967
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, in All Music Guide, notes that "Many of the
songs recall the music Nancy Sinatra was making at the time, a comparison
brought into sharp relief by the father-daughter duet "Somethin' Stupid"...
Critically, the album received varying reviews, but the album itself made it to
24 on the Billboard pop albums chart. The moody "This Town" nicked the pop
singles charts at 53, and "Somethin' Stupid" made history with the first
father/daughter pairing that hit Number One on the pop singles and Adult
Contemporary singles charts.
Sinatra's harshest critics accused him of selling-out to the tastes of the
moment. Some accused this of being an album that tells no story; just a
collection of pop hits strung together Sinatra-style to sell to an eager fan
base (sound like someone else whose name begins with "S"?)
But what one must remember is that Sinatra's career was on the wane at the time,
and to put it bluntly, a singer must sell records to pay the rent. However, the
combination of the songs which screamed "NOW!" and throwaway rehashes like "Some
Enchanted Evening," and "Drinking Again" was not a good musical choice, and
added to the effect that the record was hastily put together. In "You Are
There," Sinatra sounds almost bored, and delivers the touching song in a manner
that he would on a Sunday night in Vegas after a long Saturday night out with
the Rat Pack. This throw-away delivery is in sharp contrast to the technical
proficiency used by Sinatra on "The World We Knew," a song with ups, downs,
sharps and flats; musical twists and turns that make it a tough tune to sing for
even the most seasoned vocalist.
Still, for Sinatra fans and collectors, the 1991 Warner Brothers CD re-issue,
at the very least, is a must-have, if only for "This Town" and, of course, "The
World We Knew (Over and Over)"
TRACK LIST:
- The World We Knew (Over and Over)
- Somethin' Stupid (with Nancy Sinatra)
- This is My Love
- Born Free
- Dont' Sleep in the Subway
- This Town
- This is My Song
- Your Are There
- Drinking Again
- Some Enchanted Evening