Page 300: A Christmas Gift For You

A Christmas Gift For You

Christmas is a time for giving, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to do my first giveaway. And since today is the birthday of one Francis Albert Sinatra, it seems only appropriate that we celebrate by giving away a great album that you've probably never heard before. Read on...

Although best known as a singer, most people also know Frank Sinatra was an accomplished actor. He was twice nominated for Academy Awards, and won Best Supporting Actor for From Here To Eternity. What might surprise the casual fan is that Sinatra was also a conductor and a painter. Painting was something he did only as a hobby, but he took up the baton for several albums over the course of his career, including efforts for Dean Martin and Peggy Lee. His second album as a conductor was Tone Poems Of Color. Recorded in 1956 for Capitol, it is a concept album in the truest sense of the word. Sinatra commisioned eight of his favorite arrangers (including Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Andre Previn and Elmer Bernstein) to compose pieces inspired by various colors, based on the poetry of radio writer Norman Sickel. The result was an album that falls somewhere between classical and soundtrack music.

I have a still sealed extra copy of this CD, and I figured it would look better under someone's tree than sitting in my closet. To win it, here's what you have to do. Drop me a line with the answer to this question: What was Frank Sinatra's favorite color? I'll pick the winner from the correct entries this Sunday (December 17).

For a taste of the album, today's mp3 is Victor Young's composition "White." It's not really a Christmas song, but the use of sleigh bells certainly conjures up images of a winter's day.

Frank Sinatra - "White" (mp3)

post title by Phil Spector

Labels: holidays