9/12/2023 0 Comments Frank sinatra radio echoes"Strangers in the Night" and "Summer Wind" were on Reprise Records release schedule ahead of "That's Life."īy the summer of 1966 the record hadn't been made and Reprise was starting to get concerned. It was, perhaps, the longest year of my life. It was almost a year from the day I got that call to the day Sinatra, along with his wife, Mia Farrow, walked into Western Recorders on Sunset Blvd in Hollywood to make the record. We were told that Ray was planning to cut the song but he was so upset by the demo being taken away from him he never got around to it. In an attempt to forestall anyone else from cutting the song before the Sinatra record was released, the publisher immediately sent people all over town to pick up demos and lead sheets that had been delivered to producers and artists. Copyright Law, because the song had been recorded, it was freely available for anyone to record subject to paying the full statutory royalties to the copyright owner. Frank Sinatra wants to cut your song!" He was right, I didn't believe it. He said, "You're not going to believe this. The following day I got a call from Kelly. so, the song found a way to get to him itself. No one in their right mind would have ever thought to pitch a Ray Charles type song to Frank Sinatra. He stopped, called his daughter, Nancy, and told her to find the publisher because he wanted to record the song. One day while in his car, Frank Sinatra heard O.C.'s record on the radio. and, of course, he went on to become a super star with the string of wonderful smash hit records. was billing himself as O.C."That's Life" Smith. Smith, released it as a single and the record started climbing the charts. Della Reese cut it live at the Playboy Club. Next was Gene McDaniels on Liberty - a great record that wasn't released until after the Sinatra hit. The first record was by Marian Montgomery on Capitol Records with a strange jazz waltz arrangement that I never quite figured out. Kelly started showing the song around town and instantly it started getting recorded. We re-demoed the song and aimed it straight at. so I signed the song to Four Star with Kelly Gordon receiving 25% of the writer's share. Kelly had some ideas for a few word changes which I thought were O.K. Most enthusiastically from the song plugger at Four Star Television Music, Kelly Gordon. Much to my surprise, "That's Life" immediately started drawing attention. Oh, and having been on National TV 5 days a week helped open a few doors as well. from the San Francisco Bay Area to hock the songs we'd written and try to get Hank and Dean discovered. I didn't have a lot of trouble getting in to see music publishers because Hank and I and our writing partner, Larry Ray (especially Larry), had made several trips to L.A. As a last minute thought I threw in a 'once through' of "That's Life" at the end of the date. I made demonstration recordings of a few songs I had written to see if I could generate interest from record companies and music publishers. I really didn't think too much of the song because it was my story and, not having experienced a whole lot of real world life at the time, I didn't think anyone else would get it.Īfter I was discharged from the Army, I moved to L.A. 20 minutes later most of the song had been born. shot down in May, but I know I'm going to change their tune, When I'm back on top in June.". "That's Life, that's what people say, you're riding high in April. As I played, I started thinking about what I was going to do to rebuild my career.
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