Sinatra at the Sands Review

I’ve been listening to Sinatra at the Sands a lot lately. It’s a live album that was recorded at The Sands in Las Vegas in 1966 when Frank Sinatra was 50 years old. (He mentions his age on the album.) It’s hard to be depressed or blue when listening to this album, but it’s probably not for everyone.

The Sands and Las Vegas both hold a special place in my heart. I never traveled before my first trip to Vegas, and I stayed at the Sands on the last weekend they were open on my first trip to Vegas. I felt like I got in on the tail-end of something, because there were all kinds of people (many of them older) walking around the lobby, sharing memories, and some of them even crying about the closing of the property.

The most dated thing about the Sinatra at the Sands album is the off-color humor. Compared to what you might see from Richard Pryor or Eddie Murphy, Sinatra’s stand-up stuff is pretty tame, but it’s also pretty racist-sounding to modern ears. He does a lot of that faux-black-person-speak that was considered SO hilarious back when Amos & Andy was considered high art.

Also, during the stand-up routine stuff between songs, Sinatra is merciless and brutal when he makes fun of both Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. I’ve no doubt they were close friends in real life, and I’m sure that both Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. got their licks in when they had the opportunity, but it seemed really odd to hear Sinatra talking about them like that when they weren’t present to laugh at the jokes or make some jokes of their own about Sinatra.

But all of that stuff is minor and beside the point. The music on the album is what really matters, and what great music it is. Sinatra is performing in front of the great Count Basie Orchestra, and even I would sound good singing if I had an orchestra like that behind me. Quincy Jones conducted and arranged all of the music.

And of course, no one sings songs from the “Great American Songbook” like Sinatra does. It’s not so much his range as it is his phrasing, and that’s what’s always made Frank Sinatra such a special singer.

Here’s a list of the songs on the album, all of which are performed live:

1. Come Fly with Me
2. I’ve Got a Crush on You
3. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
4. The Shadow of Your Smile
5. Street of Dreams
6. One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)
7. Fly Me to the Moon
8. One O’Clock Jump
9. You Make Me Feel So Young
10. All of Me
11. The September of My Years
12. Luck Be a Lady
13. Get Me to the Church on Time
14. It Was a Very Good Year
15. Don’t Worry ’bout Me
16. Makin’ Whoopee
17. Where or When
18. Angel Eyes
19. My Kind of Town

The “offensive” stuff (which isn’t really offensive) is mostly during a track on the album called “TheTea Break.” If you don’t think his stuff is funny, it’s easy enough to skip, and just enjoy the music, which is incredible.

Frank Sinatra at the Sands, “It Was A Very Good Year”