Rich B. Performs I’ve Got The World On A String by Frank Sinatra
by Rich Berkheimer – July 7th, 2024
One Bad Year for Frank
If you think 2022, the year of the plamdemic, was bad for you, Frank Sinatra has you beat in 1951. In one year, he lost his Movie Studio, his recording contract with MCA and Columbia, and because of emotional stress from the loss of Ava Gardener, his voice. But he was THE Voice. Long before some horseshit TV show with 3 washed up “singers” made that claim. So how did a man who was then at the bottom climb his way back to the tip top of the musical landscape?
Frank had few friends at that time, and after one of his thankfully ill-fated suicide attempts, friend and fellow arranger, Jimmy Van Huesen, found Frank bleeding in a bathtub. Sinatra’s lone concert that he could book during that time was at a County Fair in Hawaii of all places. He had also turned his sights to Las Vegas, but with that city in it’s relative infancy, and without the TV and movie publicity it now enjoys, those dates, however, were drawing low concert numbers. This was prior to Frank, Sammy and Dean’s run at The Sands in the 60s.
A Comeback That Took Frank From Here To Eternity
Sinatra made a movie, in 1953, From Here To Eternity, and won The Academy Award, and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, for a part that he adamantly pursued the studio to give him. Then he also met the greatest arranger he’d ever work- with in Nelson Riddle, Nat Cole‘s former musical director. It was a musical friendship that would melodically continue on for decades and produce the best songs Frank Sinatra sang from 1953 to 1963.
When success of the first few Capitol sides with Stordahl proved disappointing, Sinatra eventually relented and Riddle was called in to arrange his first session for Sinatra, held on April 30, 1953. Riddle drew on Sinatra’s rhythm section, led by drummer/percussionist Irving Cottler (who was the featured drummer on Nat King Cole‘s “Mona Lisa“). The first product of the Riddle–Sinatra partnership, “I’ve Got the World on a String” became a runaway hit and is often credited with relaunching the singer’s slumping career. Riddle’s personal favorite was a Sinatra ballad album, one of his most successful recordings, Only the Lonely.
He’s F—— Back Baby!
It was recorded April 30th, 1953 and written by Ted Koehler and Harold Arlen, with Arlen actually living until 1986. You just don’t think of guys who wrote these songs living that long or into modern times. After recording the first song, “I’ve Got the World on a String“, Sinatra offered Riddle a rare expression of praise, “Beautiful!”, and after listening to the playbacks, he could not hide his enthusiasm, exclaiming, “I’m f—— back, baby, I’m f——–back!”
Sinatra came to consider Riddle “the greatest arranger in the world”, and Riddle, who considered Sinatra “a perfectionist”, said: “It’s not only that his intuitions as to tempo, phrasing, and even configuration are amazingly right, but his taste is so impeccable … There is still no one who can approach him.” I totally agree with that sentiment.
It’s just a stirring song that just lifts your spirits and the into is one of the most recognizable of any of Sinatra’s works.
Frank Sinatra – “I’ve Got The World On A String“
Rich B. Performs “I’ve Got The World On A String”
So I was frightened of this song for the better part of a year and didn’t even sing it in the car, where I routinely practice these songs. Both first and ending notes are unforgivable, and one must hit them right off. There’s no wiggle room. Even though the song is essentially Verse, Chorus, Verse Bridge Chorus, it would seem repetitive, but it isn’t.
In the 2nd time through the chorus, the word “I’ve” is a weird note that isn’t sung the 1st time. That whole line following the word “I’ve” is also like an “alternate melody” if you will from the 1st time through. When you add in the “Man there ain’t no other life,” you have to be ready for the pitch change. So for a simple tune that started the world spinning for Sinatra, it’s a hard one for the rest of us entertainers. It’s one everyone knows and easy to “over-sing.” Plus it’s one that everyone knows, like the National Anthem. Gotta let the instruments do the work. That’s hopefully what I’ve accomplished here.
Contact Us Now To Book Your Show In Lancaster or Hershey PA
Please consider booking All Or Nothing The Frank Sinatra Tribute Show at your Lancaster PA restaurant or Hershey PA restaurant. It’s a 90 minute show, complete with jokes and 1st and 2nd hand stories from The Rat Pack Era. I sing it using the same arrangements and in the same keys as Frank SInatra originally performed them. I wear a tux as well. Unless you see someone perform a Tribute show with a band, this is as close as you’ll get to the real Sinatra. It’s a fun and funny show and will take you back to the Golden age of entertainment and have you feel as if you’re really at The Sands in 1964.
