[Dixielandjazz] re Sinatra as conductor corrected response

[Trumpetom at aol.com]

My previous post got a little garbled in the internet. What was  asked was 
the accuracy of a wikipedia article stating Sinatra was  the actual 
conductor of several recordings of himself and others. My  answer:
 
I called Uan Rasey (trumpet player on most of the Sinatra Capitol and   
Reprise recordings). He was as kind as he knew how to be, but he told   me 
much 
of the information on album cover liner notes contains  fictionalized  
writing, therefore some researched articles are not always  accurate.  Uan has a 
mind like a steel trap. He remembered playing on  the sessions outlined 
above. Sinatra could not read music and therefore had  little insight into the 
charts. On some of them, Sinatra wasn't even in the  building.  Usually 
Billy May, or sometimes Nelson Riddle or Don Costa was  involved  either as 
actual conductor, or directing the session from inside  the control  booth. 
Rasey pointed out that the session players did quite  well on their own  after 
someone counted off the tunes. Sinatra's name and  his notoriety added some  
hype for the record sales (anyone remember Jackie  Gleason albums that were  
actually Ray Coniff?). Sinatra was noted for  having strong opinions, and 
frequently Dave Cavanaugh (A & R man) would  pay attention to Sinatra's  
suggestions. On his recordings, Sinatra   generally wanted to settle  for the 
first take on every tune. He was  frequently overridden by Cavanaugh. But as 
Sinatra being an actual  conductor..interesting fiction for album covers. 

Rasey also pointed out  Sinatra had a high regard for his session players; 
he always treated them  with great respect. Want more info on this topic? 
Contact me off list. this  topic is a little outside OKOM.
 
Tom Loeb