27: The Long

SUDDENLY: a Frank Sinatra podcast

For almost the entire back half of the 20th century, Sinatra sang "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" over and over again. At every show, he would proudly call himself a "saloon singer" and paint a picture for the audience: a drunk, broken-hearted loser, in a bar at 2:45am, pouring his fool heart out to the unlucky bartender.

Sinatra revelled in this imagery, and the seductively suicidal "saloon singer" schtick became a beloved cornerstone of his act. History records that this persona began with the film YOUNG AT HEART (1954). But where did it come from?

This week on SUDDENLY, we sit down at the bar with the saloon singer - and meet Oscar Levant - before wrapping up with a hypnotic 11-minute "One for My Baby" supercut, sampling 47 years worth of performances from all over the world. Henry Giardina articles on Oscar Levant: Goodnight, Oscar Levant, Wherever You Are "Goodnight Oscar" is a Queer Letter to a Mental Health Hero Folding Ideas - "The Future is A Dead Mall: Decentraland and the Metaverse" video essay

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