Frank Sinatra - My Kind of Town

First performance: 29/04/2013


Coverinfo

Used once in full and once as a snippet:
 
 
 
Sung by Steve Van Zandt in Oslo, Norway - never sung by Bruce. Steven Van Zandt returns to the tour after missing the Australian leg while filming Lilyhammer, and he opens the show in character as Frank "The Fixer" Tagliano, singing Frank Sinatra's "My Kind Of Town" in its only known Springsteen appearance, with rewritten lyrics about "Lillehammer".
 
 
 
  • Snippet
2002-09-25 United Center, Chicago, IL
Bruce sings a couple lines of "My Kind Of Town" as he leaves stage.
 

Songinfo

"My Kind of Town" or "My Kind of Town (Chicago Is)" is a popular song composed by Jimmy Van Heusen, with lyrics by Sammy Cahn. The song was originally part of the musical score for Robin and the 7 Hoods, a 1964 musical film starring several members of the Rat Pack. The original context of the song, in the film Robin and the 7 Hoods, is the mob boss Robbo (Sinatra) having just been acquitted of murdering the sheriff, a crime for which he had been framed. He walks out of the courthouse and joyously sings the song in gratitude to the gathered crowd of Chicagoans. The people eventually join in the singing. Instrumental versions of the song make up the opening and closing credits, and a dance band also plays the song in Robbo's speakeasy.It was the second of two charting songs about Chicago recorded by Sinatra. The other was "Chicago (That Toddlin' Town)" from 1957. Frank Sinatra recorded several versions which have appeared on many of his albums. Also, many artists have performed the song as a tribute to Sinatra in posthumous tribute albums. In addition, the song had been recorded by many other artists prior to Sinatra's death. The lyrics, which praise the city of Chicago for its people and institutions, repeat the title phrase several times, usually in a line that says "My kind of town, Chicago is". Popularized by Sinatra, "My Kind of Town" was originally recorded on April 8, 1964, in Los Angeles, California. The official B-side song was "I Like To Lead When I Dance".
 
 
 

Other cover versions

Bruce on the artist

 
Bruce has a great spoken introduction about Frank Sinatra and his influence on Bruce and everybody else from New Jersey before playing an acoustic 'Angel Eyes' :
 
19.11.95 Los Angeles, CA
 
intro to 'Angel Eyes':
 
"Well, I´m here tonight,uh....not just to salute Frank´s artistry because, well....he is the patron saint of New Jersey ....and uh....since his rise from the streets of Hoboken, Frank has basically owned the place but, uh, he has been gracious enough to loan me a small of piece of it by the beach....we first met, uh, at a party about six months ago and we talked about the Jersey Shore....and I was glad to find that his conversation was still peppered with the kinds of words that´ve made our state great....so....my, uh....my first recollection of Frank´s voice was, uh.....coming out of a jukebox, it was in a dark bar on a Sunday afternoon when my mother and I went in searching for my father and uh....she said, I always remember she said, she said ´Listen to that.... that´s Frank Sinatra, he´s from New Jersey´....it, it was a voice filled, uh....it was a voice filled with bad attitude, life, beauty, excitement, nasty sense of freedom, sex and a sad knowledge of....of the ways of the world....every song seemed to have as its postscript....´And if you don´t like it, here´s a punch in the kisser´, you know....but, uh....it was the deep, the deep blueness of Frank´s voice that affected me the most....and while his music became synonymous with black tie, good life, the best booze, women, sophistication, his blues voice was always a sound of hard luck....and men late at night with the last ten dollars in their pockets trying to figure a way out....so tonight I wanna sing something from my favorite Sinatra album, ´Only the Lonely´and.....on behalf, yeah, that´s one of the greatest ones, you know, on behalf of all New Jersey, Frank, I wanna say...Hail, brother, you sang out our soul, happy birthday so....so from one Italian singer to another, from, uh.....for Ol´Blue Eyes, this is ´Angel Eyes´..."
  

Lyrics

Now this could only happen to a guy like me
And only happen in a town like this
So may I say to each of you most gratef'lly
As I throw each one of you a kiss

This is my kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of people, too
People who smile at you

And each time I roam, Chicago is
Calling me home, Chicago is
Why I just grin like a clown
It's my kind of town

[brief instrumental]

My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of razzmatazz
And it has all that jazz

And each time I leave, Chicago is
Tuggin' my sleeve, Chicago is
The Wrigley Building, Chicago is
The Union Stockyard, Chicago is
One town that won't let you down
It's my kind of town