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Leave it to Noel Coward to sum it all up.  In his introduction to Frank Sinatra’s June 14, 1958 performance at the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, the famous British playwright-actor-songwriter-raconteur observed of his American friend’s on-screen performances, “I’ve never yet known him to strike a false note.”  As Coward undoubtedly knew, the same was true of Sinatra’s musical recordings, sung with the emotional honesty and unvarnished directness of a great actor and communicator.  From his earliest days inspiring the bobbysoxer riots to his final appearances as American popular song’s foremost elder…

It was ambitious, even for Sinatra. His sixth studio album on his own Reprise label – and one of five full-length LPs released in 1962 alone – would be recorded in Great Britain with a British musical director, producer and personnel, and would feature only songs from British composers. For the quintessentially American singer, it must have been a formidable challenge. But Sinatra Sings Great Songs from Great Britain proved that The Voice was up to the task. Over time, it became a highly-regarded album in a considerable canon, and also a…