What Do Sinatra and Jimi Hendrix Have in Common? – Reprise Records Launched

December 19, 1960: Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

Sinatra wanted freedom. Total artistic freedom to record what he wanted to record and how he wanted to record it; arrangements, mixes, complete artistic autonomy. He wanted to own his work, screw the labels retaining his art. So he created his own label, Reprise Records, and began recording his first sessions today on December 19, 1960.

One of the company’s founding principles under Sinatra’s leadership was that each artist would have full creative freedom and eventually complete ownership of their work, including publishing rights. Hell, he was Chairman of the Board… he made the calls. How do you think he got the nickname, “Chairman of the Board”?

Frank called on his Vegas pals, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. to work with him. Others joined, the original roster from 1961 to 1963 included: Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, Rosemary Clooney, Esquivel and stand-up comedian Redd Foxx.

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Sinatra’s first album released on Reprise was Ring-a-Ding-Ding!

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Consider Reprise’s roster which grew to include:  Jimi Hendrix

Early Joni Mitchell recordings

Neil Young

The Electric Prunes ~ Lee Hazlewood ~ Arlo Guthrie ~ Tiny Tim ~ Ry Cooder ~ Captain Beefheart ~ Frank Zappa and The Mothers

Nancy Sinatra ~ Gram Parsons ~ Emmylou Harris ~ Nico’s Desertshore ~ The Fugs ~ Jethro Tull ~ T. Rex ~ The Meters ~ John Cale ~ Little Feat ~ Gordon Lightfoot ~ Richard Pryor ~ Al Jarreau ~ Fleetwood Mac ~ The Beach Boys, and others.

Sinatra eventually sold the label to Warner Bros and in 1976, the Reprise label was deactivated. All of its roster was moved to the main Warner Bros. label except for Sinatra and Neil Young. Sinatra wanted to be the only artist on Reprise and Young refused to agree to change labels.

Today, in addition to Young, it is home to such artists as Devendra Banhart ~ Green Day ~ Deftones ~ Michael Bublé ~ Iyaz ~ Enya ~ Mastodon ~ Eric Clapton ~ Fleetwood Mac ~ Serj Tankian ~ Josh Groban ~ Charice ~ Cavo ~ Taking Back Sunday ~ HIM (also on Sire) ~ My Chemical Romance ~ Disturbed. Reprise was also the North American label for British bands Depeche Mode and Oasis.

Sinatra’s first album on Reprise was Ring-a-Ding-Ding! The initial concept was “an album without ballads” that included only up-tempo swing numbers. Ring-A-Ding-Ding! managed a 35 week stay on the charts.

Track listing:

1. “Ring-a-Ding Ding!” (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn)
2. “Let’s Fall in Love” (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler)
3. “Be Careful, It’s My Heart” (Irving Berlin)
4. “A Foggy Day” (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin)
5. “A Fine Romance” (Jerome Kern, Dorothy Fields)
6. “In the Still of the Night” (Cole Porter)
7. “The Coffee Song” (Bob Hilliard, Dick Miles)
8. “When I Take My Sugar to Tea” (Irving Kahal, Sammy Fain, Pierre Norman)
9. “Let’s Face the Music and Dance” (Berlin)

If you’re wondering who Esquivel is, “he was sometimes called “The King of Space Age Pop” and “The Busby Berkeley of Cocktail Music.” Esquivel is considered one of the foremost exponents of a style of late 1950s-early 1960s quirky instrumental pop that became known (in retrospect) as “Space Age Bachelor Pad Music”.^[1]

[1] Wikipedia

He ain’t heavy he’s my brother… Boys Town was founded by Father Flanagan

There Are No Bad Boys…

Father Flanagan

Dec 12, 1917, Boys Town was founded by Father Edward J. Flanagan. Flanagan saw the harshness and cruelty that was happening in orphanages of the day. More like a prison or reform school than a place to guide and raise children. These were kids who often were abandoned and outcast.  Youths no one else wanted.

Flanagan was a visionary for his time. He had a dream that every child could be productive, successful and happy in life if given a home, education and love. He took in boys of every race, color and creed. He firmly believed, “There are no bad boys. There is only bad environment, bad training, bad example, bad thinking.”

On December 12, 1917, Father Flanagan opened his first Boys Town in a run-down old Victorian mansion in downtown Omaha. Boys Town quickly outgrew the mansion and with grit and persistence Flanagan secured Overlook Farm at its present day location, Boys Town Village in Douglas County, Nebraska.

The story is well depicted in the 1938 movie Boys Town staring Spencer Tracy with a young Mickey Rooney as Whitey Marsh. Based on the life of Father Flanagan, Tracy won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as Father Flanagan. His acceptance speech was spent talking of Father Flanagan, “If you have seen him through me, then I thank you.”

The academy created a duplicate Oscar statuette for Boys Town, it read: “To Father Flanagan, whose great humanity, kindly simplicity, and inspiring courage were strong enough to shine through my humble effort. Spencer Tracy.”

Boys Town adopted its image and logo in 1943; a picture of a boy carrying a younger boy on his back, the caption, “He ain’t heavy, Father … he’s brother!” The saying inspired the song by the Hollies in 1969 that featured Elton John on piano (Gram Nash was an original member of the Hollies).

Farther Flanagan, an acknowledged expert in the field of child care and juvenile delinquency, toured the United States sharing his views on the subject . After World War II, President Truman asked Father Flanagan to help children internationally. He traveled through Asia and Europe to aid children orphaned and displaced by the war. Flanagan died of a heart attack during a tour of Europe on May 15, 1948.

Today Boys Town has program locations in 10 states and Washington D.C. Director Monsignor Robert Hupp replaced dormitory living and girls began coming to Boys Town for help in 1973. Boys Town provides help to 1.4 million youth and families.