Frank Sinatra
The 1971 Retirement Concert and More
DVD, NTSC format, 4.00 GB

The Retirement Concert
Ahmanson Theatre
Los Angeles, California
13 June 1971

Opening remarks by Rosalind Russell
All or Nothing at All
I've Got You Under My Skin
I'll Never Smile Again
Ol' Man River
That's Life
Try a Little Tenderness (with Al Viola)
Fly Me to the Moon
Nancy (with the Laughing Face)
My Way
The Lady Is a Tramp
Angel Eyes
Bow/end theme

Pro shot, multiple cameras
Picture quality: A-/A except fairly dark (very dark during "Angel Eyes"), a few minor defects
Sound quality: B, staticky
Random chapter settings

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The Hollywood Palace
Starring Frank Sinatra
with Jack E. Leonard, the Count Basie Orchestra, Peter Gennaro, the Kessler Sisters, and the Amazing Morillo [sp?]
ABC-TV
16 October 1965 broadcast

Frank Sinatra, I've Got the World on a String
Sinatra/Jack E. Leonard, comedy
Peter Gennaro, dance routine
Jack E. Leonard, comedy
The Kessler Sisters, Together (half-German, half-English vocal/dance routine)
The Kessler Sisters, The Best Is Yet to Come (vocal/dance routine)
Sinatra and the Kessler Sisters, comedy
The Amazing Morillo [sp?], acrobatic routine
The Count Basie Orchestra, Summertime
Sinatra/Basie (conducted by Quincy Jones), Fly Me to the Moon
Sinatra/Basie (conducted by Quincy Jones), Please Be Kind
Sinatra/Basie (conducted by Quincy Jones), Too Marvelous for Words
Sinatra monologue/introduces Quincy Jones
Sinatra/Basie (conducted by Quincy Jones), Everybody Has the Right to Be Wrong
Sinatra/Basie (conducted by Quincy Jones), The Gal That Got Away

Picture and sound quality: B-/B
Random chapter settings

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The Hollywood Palace (conclusion)
Sinatra closing

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CNN & CBS broadcasts
Sinatra receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom
Sinatra receives an honorary doctorate from Stevens Institute of Technology
May 23, 1985

Picture quality: A-/A
Sound quality: B

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The Hollywood Palace was a variety show in the old-fashioned sense of the term, featuring singing, dancing, comedy, and whatever other acts came knocking on ABC's door. Of such acts as the Amazing Morillo [sp?] and the Kessler Sisters, one might say that they must have seemed like good ideas at the time. More than making up for them, however, we have a handful of fine performances from Sinatra and the inimitable Count Basie Orchestra.

This broadcast has been bootlegged on VHS, but has never been released officially.

The main attraction here, however, is the famous 1971 retirement concert. Astoundingly, this historic and magnificent concert has never been released anywhere, in any form. The set list spans Sinatra's career, from 1939's "All or Nothing at All" (originally recorded with the Harry James band) to "My Way." Along the way we get several familiar Sinatra concert staples, but also an intimate guitar-voice duet of "Try a Little Tenderness," and a rare, lovely performance of "I'll Never Smile Again," Sinatra's very first hit, circa 1940 with the Tommy Dorsey band. ("All or Nothing at All" was recorded a year earlier with Harry James, but it didn't become a hit until it was re-released following the beginning of Sinatra's solo career in 1942.)

Sinatra's farewell was accomplished with such grace, in fact, that some would later question his decision to return. While it's difficult to agree, one can readily understand what such critics had in mind when the lights come down low, and Sinatra makes just about the most perfect exit imaginable, with that classic line from "Angel Eyes":

"'Scuse me . . . while I disappear . . ."

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