View source for Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First

{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First 
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Frank Sinatra]]
| cover      = Sinatrabasiealbum.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = December 10, 1962 {{small|([[LP record|LP]])}}<br /> June 20, 1988 {{small|([[Compact disc|CD]])}}
| recorded   = October 2–3, 1962
| venue      =
| studio     = [[United Recording]], Hollywood, California
| genre      = [[Vocal jazz]], [[jazz]]
| length     = {{Duration|m=33|s=5}}
| label      = [[Reprise Records|Reprise]] <br />{{small|FS 1008}}
| producer   =
| prev_title = [[Sinatra Sings of Love and Things]]
| prev_year  = 1962
| next_title = [[The Concert Sinatra]]
| next_year  = 1963
| misc       = {{Extra chronology
 | artist     = [[Count Basie]]
 | type       = studio
 | prev_title = [[Basie in Sweden]]
 | prev_year  = 1962
 | title      = Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First
 | year       = 1962
 | next_title = [[On My Way & Shoutin' Again!]]
 | next_year  = 1962
}}
}}
{{Music ratings
|rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
|rev1score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web|last1=Ginell|first1=Richard S.|title=Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/sinatra-basie-an-historic-musical-first-mw0000195377|website=AllMusic|access-date=21 August 2017}}</ref>
|rev2 = ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]''
|rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Mojo">{{cite magazine |last=Male |first=Andrew |date=January 2010 |title=This Glorious Defeat |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]|page=108}}</ref>
| rev3      = ''[[New Record Mirror]]''
| rev3Score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{Cite magazine |last= Watson |first= Jimmy |date=9 February 1963 |title=Frank Sinatra, Count Basie: ''Sinatra-Basie'' |url=https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/63/Record-Mirror-1963-02-09-S-OCR.pdf |magazine=[[New Record Mirror]] |issue=100 |page=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220614184738/https://worldradiohistory.com/UK/Record-Mirror/60s/63/Record-Mirror-1963-02-09-S-OCR.pdf |archive-date=14 June 2022 |access-date=5 August 2022}}</ref>
}}

'''''Sinatra–Basie: An Historic Musical First''''' (a.k.a. '''''Sinatra-Basie''''') is a 1962 studio album by [[Frank Sinatra]], arranged by [[Neal Hefti]].

This was the first recording that Sinatra made with the [[Count Basie Orchestra]]. In 1964, Sinatra and Basie would make a final studio recording, ''[[It Might as Well Be Swing]]'', orchestrated by [[Quincy Jones]], and Sinatra's first live album, ''[[Sinatra at the Sands]]'' (1966) would feature the Basie band.

Sinatra appeared on an episode of ''[[The Dinah Shore Chevy Show|The Dinah Shore Show]]'' that aired on December 9, 1962, the day before ''Sinatra-Basie'' was released, and performed the album's arrangement of "Please Be Kind".

According to [[Will Friedwald]]'s book ''Sinatra! The Song Is You'': 
{{Blockquote|Basie didn't play piano on several of the tracks: "The day before the first date, we rehearsed all day, all night", said [Sinatra's longtime pianist] [[Bill Miller (pianist)|Bill Miller]], officially serving as contractor. "Everybody also came in an hour before so we could go over them again." As Joe Bushkin has pointed out, "The Basie guys could read [sheet music] as well as any [[studio musician|studio band]]", but to help them nail the charts even tighter, Sinatra and Miller brought in ace lead trumpeter Al Porcino. Basie was a capable but not an expert reader, Miller continued, "and he was very slow to learn new tunes, so on a couple of the songs, he said, 'You play it.{{'"}} Long story short, Bill Miller played piano on "Pennies from Heaven."<ref name="Friedwald">{{cite book|last1=Friedwald|first1=Will|title=Sinatra!: The Song Is You|date=1995|publisher=Scribner|location=New York|isbn=9780684193687|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/sinatrasongisyou00frie_1}}</ref>{{Long quote|date=December 2023}}}}

==Track listing==
# "[[Pennies from Heaven (song)|Pennies from Heaven]]" ([[Arthur Johnston (composer)|Arthur Johnston]], [[Johnny Burke (lyricist)|Johnny Burke]]) – 3:29
# "[[Please Be Kind]]" ([[Saul Chaplin]], [[Sammy Cahn]]) – 2:43
# "[[(Love Is) The Tender Trap]]" (Cahn, [[Jimmy Van Heusen]]) – 2:37
# "Looking at the World Through Rose Colored Glasses" (Jimmy Steiger, Tommy Mailie) – 2:32
# "[[My Kind of Girl (Matt Monro song)|My Kind of Girl]]" ([[Leslie Bricusse]]) – 4:37
# "[[I Only Have Eyes for You]]" ([[Harry Warren]], [[Al Dubin]]) – 3:31
# "[[Nice Work If You Can Get It (song)|Nice Work If You Can Get It]]" ([[George Gershwin]], [[Ira Gershwin]]) – 2:37
# "[[Learnin' the Blues]]" (Dolores Vicki Silvers) – 4:25
# "[[I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter]]" ([[Fred Ahlert]], [[Joe Young (lyricist)|Joe Young]]) – 2:36
# "[[I Won't Dance]]" ([[Jerome Kern]], [[Jimmy McHugh]], [[Oscar Hammerstein II]], [[Dorothy Fields]], [[Otto Harbach]]) – 4:07

==Personnel==
* [[Frank Sinatra]] – vocals
* [[Count Basie]] – piano
* [[Bill Miller (pianist)|Bill Miller]] – piano<ref name="Friedwald" />
* [[Eric Dixon (musician)|Eric Dixon]] – flute, tenor saxophone
* [[Frank Wess]] – flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone
* [[Frank Foster (jazz musician)|Frank Foster]] – tenor saxophone
* [[Marshall Royal]] – clarinet, alto saxophone
* [[Charlie Fowlkes]] – baritone saxophone
* [[Al Aarons]] – trumpet
* [[Sonny Cohn]] – trumpet
* [[Thad Jones]] – trumpet
* [[Al Porcino]] – trumpet
* Fip Ricard – trumpet
* [[Henry Coker]] – trombone
* [[Benny Powell]] – trombone
* Rufus Wagner – trombone
* [[Buddy Catlett]] – bass
* [[Freddie Green]] – guitar
* [[Sonny Payne]] – drums

'''Tracks 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9:'''

3-October-1962 (Wednesday) - Hollywood. [[United Recording]] (from 7:30 to 11:00 P.M.).

Al Porcino, Thad Jones, Fip Ricard, Sonny Cohn, Al Aarons (tpt); Henry Coker, Rufus Wagner, Benny Powell (tbn); Marshall Royal (alt); Frank Wess (alt/fl); Frank Foster (ten); Eric Dixon (ten/fl); Charles Fowlkes (bar/fl); Count Basie, Bill Miller (p); Freddie Green (g); Buddy Catlett (b); Sonny Payne (d). Neal Hefti (arr & cond).

'''Tracks 2, 7, 8, 10;'''

2-October-1962 (Tuesday) - Hollywood. United Recording (from 7:30 to 10:30 P.M.).

Al Porcino, Thad Jones, Fip Ricard, Sonny Cohn, Al Aarons (tpt); Henry Coker, Rufus Wagner, Benny Powell (tbn); Marshall Royal (alt); Frank Wess (alt/fl); Frank Foster (ten); Eric Dixon (ten/fl); Charles Fowlkes (bar); Count Basie, Bill Miller (p); Freddie Green (g); Buddy Catlett (b); Sonny Payne (d). Neal Hefti (arr & cond).<ref>{{Cite book |title=Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography |isbn=978-0274963768}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Frank Sinatra}}
{{Count Basie Orchestra}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinatra-Basie: An Historic Musical First}}
[[Category:1962 collaborative albums]]
[[Category:Albums arranged by Neal Hefti]]
[[Category:Albums conducted by Neal Hefti]]
[[Category:Count Basie Orchestra albums]]
[[Category:Frank Sinatra albums]]
[[Category:Reprise Records albums]]