I was watching a documentary on Frank Sinatra on HBO the other night and the doc triggered and jogged my recollections of another reason why my influences regarding dance music are embedded in my psyche. Sinatra was always talking about the fact that his career was based solely on his experience as a song and dance man, with his start and his rise coming from bars, saloons, clubs and dance halls. Usually, when I watch these historical docs with AM, I feel like I need to give her some background and comments (teaching moments). Most of the time when I speak to her, it’s because I have lived and experienced it in some way that led to my own musical and life development, toward a career in the music business as a singer (front man and MC with bands), a musician (piano and trumpet), a DJ (playing records at clubs,parties and sock hops) and a producer (recording and making my own tapes to study and pitch).
Sinatra was always one of my favorite singers to draw from. When I got my first real production and record deal with Jimmy Bowen and Baker Knight in LA, I was thrilled of course. I found out later that Jimmy had been the youngest producer of Sinatra, on Frank’s new label, Reprise. Frank felt his career was going down because of the new music at the time (Beatles, Stones, etc.). I was told that Frank wanted to hire a young producer to get a young sound. So, Jimmy was hired. The album that was cut had a hit single called “Strangers in the Night”. That song won a Grammy and Jimmy formed his production company (Amos Productions, named after his dad).
Sinatra was back on top again. I thought it was cool to be signed by Frank’s young producer. Jimmy once told me the reason he signed me and my band was because of the natural “radio edge” I had in my voice. Jimmy paired me with Baker Knight (The Wonder of You and other big hits) to write the songs I would sing on the records. Jimmy was also producing Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr as a staff producer for Reprise. I can go in depth about all this, but the stories I used to hear about Frank and his studio techniques and how it related to me (a green kid from KY thrown into the big time)...what a way to learn...from the best, and as the intro to my dream-come-true record deal.