Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music

Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music
Directed by	Dwight Hemion
Starring	Frank Sinatra
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Release
Original network	NBC
Original release	November 24, 1965
Chronology
Followed by	A Man and His Music – Part II

Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music was a one-hour television special in color, first broadcast by NBC on November 24, 1965, to mark the occasion of Frank Sinatra's 50th birthday. It was directed by the multi-Emmy-winning Dwight Hemion. Frank Peppiatt and John Aylesworth were the head writers. Telecast at a time when television had just switched to full-time color programming (except for feature films shot in black-and-white), the show was an enormous success, so much so that it spawned two follow-ups: A Man and His Music – Part II (1966), featuring Nancy Sinatra, and A Man and His Music + Ella + Jobim (1967), starring Ella Fitzgerald and Antonio Carlos Jobim. An album by Sinatra, also titled A Man and His Music, was released at around the same time as the special.

By modern standards, especially, the format of the original show was profoundly simple. It consisted only of Frank Sinatra in a television studio singing many of his hit tunes (such as It Was a Very Good Year) in front of a live audience. There were no guests on this first program. The orchestra was conducted by long-time Sinatra arrangers Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins, and Ed McMahon served as announcer, a role he returned to in the two subsequent specials.

Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music was shot inside NBC's Studio 1, at its color television facility in Burbank, California. The special was taped in segments on at least two nights in November 1965. Sinatra was suffering from a cold at the time, which limited his time in front of the microphone. He coughs and clears his throat a few times during the show. Writer Gay Talese documented both nights of taping in his 1966 Esquire magazine article: "Frank Sinatra Has A Cold".

...
Wikipedia