Frank Sinatra: Come Fly With Me

Away with pretenders! The throne belongs to but one Ring-a-Ding King. A quarter century after achieving stardom with Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra steps again in front of a big band, this time Count Basie's at Frank's "Place In The Sun" on the Las Vegas Strip. Before attributing your goose bumps to charisma alone, listen to the Chairman casually syncopate "he'll toot his flute for you," ending neatly on Sonny Payne's bass-drum accent, or hiss a slithery glissando along the s in "starry-eyed." Sinatra's artistry was all about throwaway. The more effortlessly he sung, the more relentlessly he swung. Ring-a-Ding rapture.