Author: By Fernando Gonzalez, Globe Staff
Date: 04/04/1988
Page: 15
MUSIC REVIEW
Section: ARTS AND FILM
FRANK SINATRA and SAMMY DAVIS JR., with orchestra
conducted by Marty Stevens -- At the Providence Civic
Center, Rhode Island, Saturday.
PROVIDENCE -- Critics have been writing about Frank Sinatra's
decline for almost 20 years. Saturday, a sellout crowd of more than 13,000
battled
nightmarish traffic jams, paid premium parking prices and bought tickets worth
as much as $45 for one more glimpse.
For some, this is a long standing love affair with the man and his music. For others, this is bearing witness to history -- always a privilege.
Sinatra offered a modest set including some classics, a few sparks and a handful of memories. His fans were not disappointed.
The show was part of the 29-city "Rat Pack" reunion tour featuring Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., but two weeks ago Martin left the tour, reportedly suffering from kidney problems. The revamped show featured a set by Davis, followed by Sinatra. Davis later joined Sinatra for the grand finale.
The tour, which started March 13 at the Oakland Colisseum, is winding its way to New York's Radio City Music Hall for a closing three-day engagement later this week. The second half of the tour begins in July and visits the Worcester Centrum on October 7 and 8.
Sammy Davis Jr. opened with a well-paced, entertaining show. His program included solid renditions of pieces such as "I Gotta Be Me" as well as a coy version of Michael Jackson's "Bad." But considering the response, what Davis' fans enjoyed most was his medley of Newley-Bricusse songs ("I introduced them to America," Davis noted proudly) including "Candy Man" and ''What Kind of Fool Am I."
He closed with one of his trademark songs, "Mr. Bojangles." For Davis, who once described himself as an old vaudevillian and only last December had hip replacement surgery, those few simple soft-shoe routine steps must have felt very good.
At 73, Sinatra -- big-band singer, idol of the bobby-soxers and saloon singer nonpareil -- doesn't compete with his past. He couldn't. His voice cracks and shows rough surfaces at unexpected times. His range seems to grows narrower and narrower. Now and then, his intonation is suspect.
What he does is make these points irrelevant.
Even if his phrasing, once one of his greatest assets, falters at times, he is still a one-of-a-kind storyteller. His sense for nuance and timing is exquisite. And he's believable. He sang "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" in yellows and oranges. He sang a desolated "Lonely Town."
Also, with a tough-guy image built on years of brawls, both figuratively and literally speaking, Sinatra suggests danger just beneath the surface, a potential explosion at every turn. He has made clear that he will not go down gently, and it colors every line he sings. He sang "My Way," and it's impossible to think of it as a Paul Anka song.
There was little talk between songs. He set the stage for a few pieces such as Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Soliloquy" or "One for My Baby," "the greatest saloon songs ever written," he offered. Mostly, he mentioned the author, the composer and the arranger and went right into the song.
He moved about the stage, deftly working all sides, as he brought back concert staples such as "You Will Be My Music," "My Kind of Town," "Mack the Knife" and "New York, New York" -- including, verbatim, the line reported by Globe critic Ernie Santosuosso last year: "It was written by Fred Ebb and John Kander, arranged by Don Costa, introduced by Liza Minnelli and stolen by me."
For the finale Davis joined Sinatra for a short set comprising songs such as "The Oldest Reliable Crap Game" and a medley of such chestnuts as ''Witchcraft," "All or Nothing at All" and "Bye Bye Blackbird." They sang and exchanged barbs -- brief attempts at humor, some clouded by racist overtones -- with an easy, genuine rapport. People laughed and rose in a final ovation. This was a Sinatra night. A lovefest.