Frank Sinatra, Billie Holiday and the Great Singers of Old

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Sound Design by Graham Haerther

[jamesallard]

Nat "King" Cole, one of the most amazing voices I have ever heard. Hearing the mash-up/remix whatever of "Unforgettable" with his daughter literally made me have goosebumps (and still does tbh) as well as hope that, yes, Virginia, there are still some actual singers out there.

[kxsinh]

I've gotta add Dean Martin's name to this list. In my opinion, he is absolutely on the same par as Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra as one of the best male singers of the period

[PLANTBAT]

Bioshock and Fallout introduced a lot of people to this incredible era of music, but I want to thank my grandparents for showing me all the classics. I love this era of music so much.

[EphemeralTao]

Ella Fitzgerald. A brilliant singer with superb control and technical ability supporting intensely emotional delivery. Odetta is also someone who doesn't get enough recognition; having been a huge influence on the folk music revival of the '50s and '60s.

[coripizano]

Chet Baker is another one to add to the list. He’s not as iconic as Billie or Sinatra, but his tone is so unique and fitting for the era. I would highly reccomend listening to his rendition of Lets Get Lost!

[tjrussell]

Frank Sinatra is a legend, and is honestly one of my favorite artists of all time. Partially because his records are so cheap for the most part, I have a whole bunch in my vinyl collection, and I can throw literally any of them onto my player, and I’ll love the music. It’s a shame that there aren’t more people who appreciate his art (and Billie Holiday’s too).

[ike_of_the_greil_mercenari]

Louis Armstrong is hugely underrated as a talent. Not only did he help to popularize jazz around the world, he was so inspiring with infectious enthusiasm for both singing and playing his horn.

[bengriego]

Billie is the GOAT. Her pure force of emotion and artistry is her power

[erocrush]

Can’t talk about the greats without Ella and Sarah...two of the best pure voices ever. Also: wild cards like June Christy, Jeri Southern and the delightfully eccentric Blossom Dearie. In the 90s Verve and Capitol put out amazing collections of songwriter tributes that astound with the variety of voices and style the Great American Songbook lent itself to.

[hockeymann]

Sinatra, in my mind, will be forever tied to my mother. She loved him and he played in my childhood home quite often. I'm glad she had good taste. It's easy to play some Sinatra and conjure up great memories. What a voice he had.

[singerofsongss]

Awesome subject matter. These singers are the voices that inspired musicians like Paul McCartney. It’s great to see music content paying homage to them.

[aaronman]

I’m always struck by a sense of nostalgia and warmth from this era of music. I can just picture sitting in a little corner coffee shop, hot cocoa or coffee in hand, a gentle snow outside, a scratchy record player in the corner playing this era of music. Hearing the click of cups being picked up and put down, little shuffling of people going around and making and ordering drinks. Maybe a welcome bell on the door. Clicking of a keyboard in the corner, maybe someone reading a book, or someone taking off a coat or scarf when coming in from outside. Little conversations from friends who are chatting over their beverage.

Even though that’s never an experience I’ve ever had, that’s just the feeling I get when listening to the Great Singers of Old and that era.

[AZGWA]

Nat Cole, Doris Day, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Tony Bennett (The last survivor of the era) and Sammy Davis, Jr.
Great Video!

[lyricsronen]

My favorite great singer of old is Jo Stafford. She came into the scene with The Pied Pipers, singing female lead over their perfectly locked harmonies. She sang in many USO shows for GI's in WWII. Her solo recording career, which was largely accompanied by her husband, Paul Weston and his orchestra encompasses many classics from the great American songbook. She had an incredible voice, and put so much intention in detail in her singing. Her well known renditions are All The Things You Are and No Other Love.

[Austin-gjzj]

My pick for a great singer of old must be Peggy Lee. Her first LP really highlights your theme of the great American songbook. My particular favorites are "it ain't necessarily so" and "gee baby (ain't I good to you)". Her career also had a rise, fall, and resurgence: songs like "is that all there is?" followed by her involvement with the Lady and the Tramp soundtrack showed she was more than an old hat. She's more remembered for her songs on the Fallout soundtrack these days but there's so much more to her career.

[macfilms]

Great video. As a Gen X'r (b.1966) - I grew up with all this music. My parents liked to watch musical movies like Bing's 'White Christmas' - but I'm probably a bit of an outlier because I got really into Jazz in high school - I loved pop, rock and punk - but I hung out in Jazz clubs and listened to many jazz records. I do think it's sad that most young people have no real exposure to the music of the first half of the 20th century- there's some amazing stuff in that back catalog...
Chet Baker deserves a video - both for his incredible musicianship and singing, as well as his terrible addiction and its toll. His version of 'My Funny Valentine' is one of the absolute best.

[bmerio]

Eartha Kitt, the most exciting woman in the world, is a great singer of old. I mean, she was a dancer who wanted to sing, but the heads at RCA didn't want her to branch out. So, they tried to sabotage her by making her record a song in Turkish, Uska Dara, and she made it a hit!

[pedroschneider]

Also Dean Martin had a unique take on the great American songbook. He brought a lot of Italian style and cool that really impressed me. For me he is really under appreciated. Great video btw. Vamos Argentina 🇦🇷

[augustosolari]

A video on the great songwritwers of the era like Cole porter, Gershwin and Irvin Berlin would be most welcome

[Rob_-dvei]

Nat King Cole, as well as having one of the best voices to ever record music, was an extremely accomplished jazz pianist and viciously fought for his civil rights behind the scenes. Though not an outward supporter of the movement, every hotel he played at that didn’t allow him to stay there for his skin colour, he would successfully sue.

Now that is power used for good.