A source indicated today that Bob Dylan might be considering a second album of Frank Sinatra to accompany this year's Shadows In The Night. It's tough to blame him...Sinatra was himself a master of the cover, often taking popular songs and immortalizing them with his own iconic voice, so it's sensible that plenty of others would cover Old Blue Eyes in turn. Music Times chose a brief selection of our favorite tributes to one of the greatest vocalists of all time.
"That's Life" by Aretha Franklin (1967)
When Sinatra recorded "That's Life" for his album of the same title during 1966, he was arguably the greatest popular music vocalist in American history, in terms of both quality and influence. Less than a year after his version became popular as one would expect it would, a fresher face took a stab at it on her album Aretha Arrives. Okay...so she wasn't exactly a rookie. If anything, she had overtaken Sinatra for vocal supremacy on her album I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You just a few months earlier. Regardless of which you prefer, both icons do this tune justice.
"I'm Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself A Letter" by Willie Nelson/Shelby Lynne
Willie Nelson, like fellow rambling man Bob Dylan, was also fascinated with standards. Technically, this selection from his 1981 album Over The Rainbow was more a tribute to the Fats Waller version than Sinatra's, but that's not enough justification to let it slide. In fact, the recorded version shouldn't be the one sought after. If anything, find the video where Nelson is joined by Shelby Lynne for a performance on the Late Show with David Letterman. It's a bummer he couldn't bring her back for his 2013 release To All the Girls..., a collection of duets with female costars.
"One for My Baby (and One More for The Road)" by Iggy Pop (1981)
Anyone who has listened to Iggy Pop's classic solo albums Lust For Life and The Idiot know that he was good for more than rolling around in glass and other punk landmarks of The Stooges. In fact, the guy had a hell of a voice. Not Sinatra good (that's expecting a bit much) but suited pretty well for singing standards. Pop's 1981 album Party doesn't live up to the aforementioned titles we threw out, but Arista tried to sweeten the deal by including a previously unreleased recording of the vocalist performing a cool jazz version of Sinatra's "One for My Baby (and One More for The Road)."
"My Way" by Sid Vicious (1980)
It's tough to name one Sinatra song that is most recognizable but we're willing to put our money on "My Way." The theme of the classic seems like it should be the perfect alternative music anthem, a rousing call for individuality and never following the rules imposed by society upon you. Still, it shocked audiences to hear Sex Pistols member Sid Vicious sing it during The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle. The bassist took it upon himself to alter the lyrics accordingly, using very non-Sinatra terms such as "c*nt" and "f*ck," while also referring to frontman Johnny "Rotten" Lydon as a "prat who wears hat."
"Strangers In The Night" by Cake (2007)
Vicious may not have been very in-tune but at least you can't argue he didn't put passion into his Sinatra rendition. Cake's John McCrea isn't known for Sinatra-esque vocals...in fact he's not known for inflection at all. It's kind of his thing. That approach made the band's cover of "Strangers in The Night" for its 2007 rarities collection B-Sides and Rarities an enjoyably different interpretation of the classic tune. We haven't played the video game Stubbs The Zombie in Rebel Without A Pulse for which the song was originally recorded, but we imagine it works just as hilariously in context as it sounds.
"The Lady Is A Tramp" by Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga (2011)
Tony Bennett is one of the greatest singers of standards in the genre's history, and that means he had to compete with Sinatra plenty. He himself often borrowed content from Old Blue Eyes. One of the great things about being a standards legend is that you can always do a random duets album when new material has slowed up, and Bennett released a second compilation, Duets II, during 2011. The lead single was a rendition of "The Lady Is A Tramp" with Lady Gaga, a performance that would inspire the pair to release an entire album in the jazz vocal style during 2014, Cheek to Cheek.
"That Lucky Old Sun" by Bob Dylan (2015)
Most who immediately questioned Dylan's idea to release an album of Sinatra covers probably pointed to the vocal stylings of both performers, and their respective differences. Anyone expecting Dylan to croon will be disappointed, but those who expect the folk icon to deliver what he's been doing for years—a wizened and reflective voice—will be thrilled with the more recent and respectful rendition.
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