Chapter 6 - Ethical Culture Fieldston School

“Mr. Sinatra Gets Rejected”
Confronted with such possibilities or realities, some will strike the tent of
aspiration, wisely striking a bargain for what seems attainable. Others will hold
out at least a while longer, insecure with the new knowledge that stakes are now
higher than ever. Some will learn from their experiences, and others will descend
into mindless self‐destruction – like wielding a sledgehammer against concrete.
The really amazing thing, though, is the way any person seems to remain capable
of both in lives that, to invoke Sinatra’s contemporary Yogi Berra, are never quite
over until they’re over.
When Sinatra entered Columbia Recording Studios on March 27, 1951, his
career had just about bottomed out. The label hadn’t dropped him yet, but the
writing was on the wall. This was the period in his life when he was producing
his most embarrassing work – a time when, in collaboration with Columbia
executive Mitch Miller, he recorded novelty songs like “The Huckle Buck” and
“Mamma Will Bark” that generated ridicule perhaps most vociferously from
Sinatra himself.
And yet – as those who have examined Sinatra’s work closely have long
noted – mid‐century was also a major artistic turning point in his career. In 1951,
for example, Sinatra recorded “The Birth of the Blues,” a remarkable musical
snapshot that captured the fluidity of his youthful voice as well as the more
assertive style that would characterize his Capitol work and more than
compensate for any loss of vocal purity in the next decade. Confident yet
melancholy, clearly patterned on the blues and yet bearing the stamp of his own
inimitable style, “The Birth of the Blues” almost single‐handedly illustrates the
difference between Sinatra’s commercial decline and artistic decline. Here, quite
simply, is a hitless pop singer near the height of his powers.
37 Davis quoted in Nancy Sinatra, My Father, p. 91.
American History for Cynical Beginners
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