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Sinatra Song of the Week: I've Got You Under My Skin

Not only is "I've Got You Under My Skin" considered by many to be the finest recording of Sinatra's career, a good case could be made for it being the best male pop vocal ever. While it might be possible to debate which ten Sinatra LP's you'd want around if you were stranded on a deserted island, if I was limited to one song this would undoubtedly be the one. Other Sinatra scholars agree: Ed O'Brian in the book "Sinatra 101" called it "The single greatest recording of Sinatra's career". Will Freidwald, who has a strong claim to being the foremost authority around on Sinatra's music, said in his milestone book "Sinatra: The Song Is You" the following: "Was there ever a more perfect, more powerful or goose-bump-raising record than Frank Sinatra and Nelson Riddle's "I've Got You Under My Skin"?"

The song, a Cole Porter composition, was recorded in Los Angeles at the Capitol Studios on January 12, 1956 and became the centerpiece of what many critics consider the finest LP of his career, "Songs For Swinging Lovers". It took 22 takes to get it right the first time, and it's damn near perfect. The song remained a staple of Sinatra's concert performances for the rest of his career. As he summed it up on the 1974 live performance "The Main Event"--"This is something we can't leave out when we do a performance...Cole Porter's shining hour, and Nelson Riddle, one of his best works."

It's available on just about every anthology and 'Greatest Hits' collection (including the Capitol and Reprise box sets), but it really shines in the live setting. One of the better live performances of the song can be found on the Rat Pack 'Dismas House' benefit (recently shown on TV Land). Another, more lighthearted version, can be found on the Sinatra in Australia with the Red Norvo Quartet CD that was released last year. The song is performed in a very upbeat manner, complete with an exclamation at the beginning for some unknown perpetrator to "Get your hand offa that broad".

But to hear the birth of greatness, the original recording from "Songs for Swinging Lovers" is a must. It's rare to hear artistic magic in the making, but this is it. It's a 'big bang' for both Sinatra's career and civilized culture. The song represents a transcendent moment for Sinatra's art, popular song, and modern culture that few--if any--artists ever have realized, and let alone so profoundly.

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