Sammy Davis.. better than sinatra?

[britspin]

I've been a Sinatra fan for a few years- collected most of the classic albums, listened to them to death, but now am I coming to the conclusion that Sammy davis jr was a better performer than sinatra.

On the albums and concerts i've listened too Sammy Davis's range, power, timing and punctuation are all something else, beyond even Sinatra. The only thing that holds him back is a too obvious need to be liked, to be loved- that doesn't replicate sinatra's offhanded cool- and perhaps resulted in a poorer choice of material -bigger misteps (though at least he never recorded a love song with his own daughter).

Yet given the choice of seeing Sinatra or davis perform live at their peak- right now i'd want to see Sammy.

However, I've never seen either of them live (never wanted to see Sinatra in decline and too young for Davis), and that Sinatra was renowned for his get it done, get it out attitude to recording, so my knowledge is massively flawed.

So am i completely wrong?

[swede123]

My experience with both is pretty limited, but I would agree with what you said. Of course neither of these fine gentlemen are as good as Mel Torme.

Swede

[youtalkfunny]

Sammy was the complete package: the singing, the dancing, the impressions.

But Frank's persona overshadows anything that anyone can do onstage.

Big knock on Sammy: half his show was songs that no one wanted to hear. The other half, he put his own imprint on them to such an extent, that they resembled modern art. He loved singing a capella, or with just drums, or just bongos. You'd watch and think, "That's interesting."

You never said that with Frank. You'd just say, "This ROCKS!"

(I'm too young, too. I'm basing all of this on a DVD and CD I have of these guys performing together. When I tell older people that I'm into this music, they often tell me that they'd take Dean over Frank *and* Sammy.)

[Dynasty]

[Blarg]

I'll take Nat King Cole over either of them.

Hate me for it, but Sinatra never impressed me. Especially toward the end(which seemed to drag on forever for that guy), he seemed to just talk his songs, not sing them. Call it magical phrasing or somesuch if you wish, but to me he was astoundingly overrated. Maybe he created something that could more properly be called voice acting, not singing.

My folks used to listen to his albums and other real oldies, and after listening to his songs so many times, I think it helps a LOT to be in love with his generation's idea of "cool" to love Sinatra. A guy who sang without singing, danced with Gene Kelly, played the hipster in "daring" movies, hung out with mobsters and intimidated his way into the movies, threw women through plate glass windows, owned Vegas in more than one sense ... the guy was as much a kind of perverse idol for an order-worshipping couple of generations as a talent.

I respect people's right to disagree, and it seems almost everyone does. But so be it. I'll take Nat King Cole any day, and I'd just as soon listen to a poetry reading at a coffeehouse as to Sinatra.

[tek]

Agreed. His acting was somewhat better than his 'singing'.
I think anyone in the Rat Pack (including Peter Lawford--kidding) could sing better than him.

Seriously, I'd say Sammy and Deano were much much better.

[STLantny]

Im with the old folks, Deano is the tops!



(im 23)

[correia]

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One of the funniest All In The Family episodes

[Blarg]

I'd agree with both you and Tek. I liked Deano too, and Sammy was a huge talent, though for some reason I have a hard time picturing myself ever owning one of his records. A Deano record I could see owning. Nat King Cole CD's I already have several of.

One day I'd like to read that hugely popular biography of Dean, that supposedly paints him as a strangely distant, unmotivated guy who seemed to want less out of life the more and more he got. For some reason, he sounds like an interestingly perverse guy.

[manpower]

I've always gotten the impression that most people who are in the know about singing have never really thought Sinatra was much of a singer. Granted, he had the image down, but as far as his actual singing goes, it was kinda sub par. In fact, I've known some people to regard Sinatra in a very similar way to how a lot of people look at Britney Spears today: as a no talent hack.

I wouldn't take it that far personally, as I tend to enjoy his music, but the point remains that he's significantly overrated as a singer. I say this as someone who's taken quite a bit of vocal training and has known a few handfuls of teachers and aspiring professional singers.