3 Times Frank Sinatra Graced Rock Songs With His Classy Vocals

As a performer, Frank Sinatra was the epitome of class, grace, tranquility, and quality. He is one of the greatest singers of all time. Hence, every song he covered became completely his own. That is an incredibly impressive feat when you realize just how diverse his cover catalog is. Whether it was opera, jazz, or the blues, when Frank Sinatra covered a song, he made it seem like he had originally written it.

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One genre of music that Frank Sinatra completely made his own was classic rock. He covered quite a few classic rock songs, and every time he did, he completely transformed the original song in question. With that in mind, here are three times Sinatra graced classic rock songs with his classy vocals.

“Something” by The Beatles

The Beatles’ infamous track “Something” is a stand-alone masterpiece. However, Frank Sinatra gets to the soul of this track with his sentimentally soothing vocals, as they complement the romantic themes in play perfectly. Again, Sinatra makes this song his own. And while singing it, he very well makes it seem like it always belonged to him.

Sinatra performed several covers of “Something” during his career. Although in 1980, Sinatra made it an official cover by releasing it on his album Trilogy: Past Present Future. Bottom line, Sinatra’s cover shows how he had the ability to take over any song he sang.

“Bad Bad Leroy Brown” by Jim Croce

Frank Sinatra’s cover of Jim Croce’s “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” is fairly out of left field. However, that is also what makes it so good. On the track, Sinatra turns this gritty ballad into a classic ballroom swing dancing song. The musical arrangements and melody are the same, but Sintra’s voice changes the ambiance and general vibe of the entire song.

Sinatra’s cover doesn’t just exist in some bootleg live recording. Rather, the iconic singer actually released the cover on his 1974 album, Some Nice Things I’ve Missed. Following its release, the song peaked at no. 83 on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for seven weeks.

“Song Sung Blue” by Neil Diamond

There are a lot of underlying similarities between Neil Diamond and Frank Sinatra, and that partially helped Sinatra hit Diamond’s “Song Sung Blue” out of the park. Sinatra completely changes the genre of this Neil Diamond hit from classic rock to traditional pop, as it’s light, bubbly, and easy on the ears.

To this day, this remains one of Sintra’s most notable covers. Released on Trilogy: Past, Present & Future, the single didn’t score any major chart success. However, it is still an enriching cover that sonically articulates how Frank Sinatra’s talent had no bounds or limitations.

Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

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