———- Forwarded message ———
From: Troy and Virginia Petty<tvpetty62@gmail.com>
Date: Sun, Jan 9, 2022 at 11:06 AM
Subject: Fwd: THE HISTORY OF “MY WAY” by Paul Anka (mp4 fr Harold J)
To: James L. Kincheloe <jlk.poet.3@gmail.com>
You will love this Virginia…from my friend in AU…..
Before you click on the video, take a few minutes to read below! (All the way at the bottom)
While singer-songwriter legend Paul Anka has left a long trail of hits over
his 60-year career, he admits that early on, he was terrified to pen a tune
for Frank Sinatra. “He’d always tease me, ‘hey kid, when are you going to
write me a song?’” Anka remembers. “But I couldn’t. I was scared to
death. I was writing all this teen stuff.” Of course, there are few music
lovers today who aren’t familiar with the poignant ballad Anka eventually
crafted for Sinatra, “My Way.” Some dub it the most powerful of Anka’s
many earworms, which also include classics like “Puppy Love,” “Put Your
Head on My Shoulder” and even Johnny Carson’s theme song for “The Tonight
Show.”
Anka didn’t think twice 55 years ago when Sinatra called him out of the
blue and declared, “kid, we’re going to dinner.” “When Sinatra says ‘we’re
going to dinner, you drop everything and you go to dinner,” recalls Paul,
who as a budding Vegas headliner in the 1960s had a friendly tie with the
Rat Pack. During the meal, Sinatra dropped a stunning surprise: He was
about to quit showbiz. “He said, ‘I’ve had it. I’m fed up. But I’m doing
one more album,’” Anka remembers. “He said, ‘and you never wrote me that
song.’”
Anka felt the pressure. Still reeling over the news at 1 a.m. in his
apartment, he found himself toying with lyrics to a melody he had heard in
France. “I thought, ‘What would Frank do with this melody, if he were a
writer?’” Anka says. “And all of a sudden, it just came to me: ‘And now the
end is near, and so I face the final curtain.’”
He finished the song at 5 a.m. and called Sinatra on the spot, promising
him a song for his final album. “I knew I had something I wouldn’t be
afraid to give him,” Anka says. The next day, he recorded a demo of the
song and flew to Las Vegas, where Sinatra lived. “I played him the song
and he looked at me and said, ‘I’m doing it.’”
Two months later, Sinatra called Anka again. This time, with better news.
“He says, ‘kid, listen to this,’ and puts the phone up to the speaker,”
Anka remembers. “I heard ‘My Way’ playing for the first time, and I started
to cry.”
Paul Anka never knew what a legacy he had created when, at the request of
Ol’ Blue Eyes, he wrote this song for Frank’s (presumed) retirement. Frank
Sinatra had a mega smash hit with it, followed by the Three Tenors,
Pavarotti and numerous other big stars who covered the song over the years.
*In this video, 10 superb voices, an amazing orchestra, plus piano,
saxophone, electric guitar and extra choral support go well beyond of doing
justice to Anka’s composition. The singers are Dutch, and you will notice
that the majority of the orchestra are women. The performance is fantastic
and extraordinarily beautiful. Take five from those Holiday chores, and
enjoy this beautiful rendition.*
>>
>>> Subject: THE HISTORY OF “MY WAY” by Paul Anka
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Before you click on the video, take a few minutes to read below!
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> While singer-songwriter legend Paul Anka has left a long trail of hits over
>>>>> his 60-year career, he admits that early on, he was terrified to pen a tune
>>>>> for Frank Sinatra. “He’d always tease me, ‘hey kid, when are you going to
>>>>> write me a song?’” Anka remembers. “But I couldn’t. I was scared to
>>>>> death. I was writing all this teen stuff.” Of course, there are few music
>>>>> lovers today who aren’t familiar with the poignant ballad Anka eventually
>>>>> crafted for Sinatra, “My Way.” Some dub it the most powerful of Anka’s
>>>>> many earworms, which also include classics like “Puppy Love,” “Put Your
>>>>> Head on My Shoulder” and even Johnny Carson’s theme song for “The Tonight
>>>>> Show.”
>>>>>
>>>>> Anka didn’t think twice 55 years ago when Sinatra called him out of the
>>>>> blue and declared, “kid, we’re going to dinner.” “When Sinatra says ‘we’re
>>>>> going to dinner, you drop everything and you go to dinner,” recalls Paul,
>>>>> who as a budding Vegas headliner in the 1960s had a friendly tie with the
>>>>> Rat Pack. During the meal, Sinatra dropped a stunning surprise: He was
>>>>> about to quit showbiz. “He said, ‘I’ve had it. I’m fed up. But I’m doing
>>>>> one more album,’” Anka remembers. “He said, ‘and you never wrote me that
>>>>> song.’”
>>>>>
>>>>> Anka felt the pressure. Still reeling over the news at 1 a.m. in his
>>>>> apartment, he found himself toying with lyrics to a melody he had heard in
>>>>> France. “I thought, ‘What would Frank do with this melody, if he were a
>>>>> writer?’” Anka says. “And all of a sudden, it just came to me: ‘And now the
>>>>> end is near, and so I face the final curtain.’”
>>>>>
>>>>> He finished the song at 5 a.m. and called Sinatra on the spot, promising
>>>>> him a song for his final album. “I knew I had something I wouldn’t be
>>>>> afraid to give him,” Anka says. The next day, he recorded a demo of the
>>>>> song and flew to Las Vegas, where Sinatra lived. “I played him the song
>>>>> and he looked at me and said, ‘I’m doing it.’”
>>>>>
>>>>> Two months later, Sinatra called Anka again. This time, with better news.
>>>>> “He says, ‘kid, listen to this,’ and puts the phone up to the speaker,”
>>>>> Anka remembers. “I heard ‘My Way’ playing for the first time, and I started
>>>>> to cry.”
>>>>>
>>>>> Paul Anka never knew what a legacy he had created when, at the request of
>>>>> Ol’ Blue Eyes, he wrote this song for Frank’s (presumed) retirement. Frank
>>>>> Sinatra had a mega smash hit with it, followed by the Three Tenors,
>>>>> Pavarotti and numerous other big stars who covered the song over the years.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> *In this video, 10 superb voices, an amazing orchestra, plus piano,
>>>>> saxophone, electric guitar and extra choral support go well beyond of doing
>>>>> justice to Anka’s composition. The singers are Dutch, and you will notice
>>>>> that the majority of the orchestra are women. The performance is fantastic
>>>>> and extraordinarily beautiful. Take five from those Holiday chores, and
>>>>> enjoy this beautiful rendition.*
>>
>>
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