“Dindi” is the second track off the 1967 album Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The song was composed by Jobim especially for Brazilian jazz samba and bossa nova singer Silvia Telles, nicknamed “Dindi.”
Reward yourself with three minutes and nineteen seconds to let Frank Sinatra and Anonio Carlos Jobim remind you of why Sundays were invented with the woozy, relaxed swing of “The Girl from Ipanema,” embedded below.
Though you may not notice it, the lyrics to the “Moonlight in Vermont” do not rhyme. And excluding the bridge, the rest of the song is composed of haiku, the verses consisting of 17 syllables in phrases of 5, 7 and 5, respectively.
The song was originally recorded in 1944 by Margaret Whiting though it has been covered numerous times over the years by the likes of Rosemary Clooney, Jo Stafford, The Dorsey Brothers, Nat King Cole, Charlie Byrd, Stan Getz, Billie Holiday, Johnny Mathis, and Willie Nelson, whose version off the 1978 album Stardust is probably my second favorite after Sinatra’s. You also may remember it as the number Diane Keaton and Sam Shepard sway to during the town dance scene in 1987’s Baby Boom.
Sinatra’s version of the serenade to the natural beauty of our fourteenth state follows below, from the album Come Fly With Me (1958)
Released in March, 1961, Ring-a-Ding-Ding was Frank Sinatra’s first album on the Reprise label, founded by Sinatra himself one year before in an effort to allow himself more creative recording freedom after breaking with Capitol.
Solely in charge of album production for the very first time, Sinatra delivered a parade of upbeat swing numbers, without the assistance of conductors/arrangers Nelson Riddle and Billy May, who were both still under contract at Capitol. Stepping in was Johnny Mandel, who later went on to co-write the Oscar-winning song “The Shadow of Your Smile” from The Sandpiper, and “Suicide is Painless,” better known as the theme from the the film and television show, M*A*S*H.
Be sure to listen for the cowbell coming from the percussion section, a must for any song looking deliver a South American vibe.
Click through to listen:
“Just in Time” was introduced in the 1956 musical Bells are Ringing, directed by Jerome Robbins and starring Judy Holliday, who also played the leading role of Ella the answering service operator in the 1960 film adaptation co-starring Dean Martin and directed by Vincent Minnelli (regularly airing on TCM and well worth the viewing).
Sinatra’s version of the song was recorded for the 1959 album Come Dance with Me!, which spent over two years on the Billboard album charts and became Sinatra’s most successful album of all time, though it peaked at number two. The album took Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Best Vocal Performance by a Male and Best Arrangement for Billy May. Aside from “Just in Time,” Come Dance with Me! also includes the classics, “Cheek To Cheek,” “I Could Have Danced All Night” and “Baubles, Bangles & Beads.”
Check out Sinatra’s version of “Bells” below, and happy Sunday!