[78-L] Early studio singers - question

[Jeff Sultanof]

Sinatra could not read music, and he was another singer who learned songs
from his musical director or others. For instance, Sammy Cahn introduced
him to songs he was previously unaware of (I Don't Stand a Ghost of a
Chance and Street of Dreams are two examples that Sinatra himself
mentioned). He could also sense a melody line from sheet music by watching
the lines go up and down.

He was a huge opera fan, and he came to know a lot of symphonic music as
well; meetings with Nelson Riddle would consist of Frank describing the
type of accompaniment he wanted with regard to tempo and backgrounds, even
saying that in an introduction, he wanted a similar sound to a work by
Brahms, which he would name.

He turned out to be a fine conductor. Riddle commented that he could stand
on a podium, give the musicians a look, and they followed. If he didn't
like something, his piercing stare would precede telling the musicians what
he wanted.

Several musicians have told me that if he'd had some real musical training,
who knows what he could have done.

Jeff Sultanof