Most young-ish fans of Frank Sinatra have probably not been able to avoid seeing his Duets and Duets II CDs, which consist of digitally remastered/generated duets between Old Blue Eyes and folks from Aretha Franklin to Bono to Kenny G.

Indeed, hearing his duet of "They Can't Take That Away From Me" playing in my mother's car's CD player once is what inspired my first interest in him.

[Note: Fans can disagree over whether Duets I or II is better. My mother can't listen to II without wincing, because Sinatra's voice is going (or gone) and he's forced to limp through most of the songs with only his implacable rhthym to help him. I prefer it, as will become plain.]

Amazon likes neither, calling Duets, " one of the least enjoyable records of Sinatra's career," and thought it concedes that Duets II "a little more inspired," it still labels it "hardly a necessary addition to your Sinatra collection."

I think this is a little uncharitable-- Bono's duet of Under My Skin and Antonio Carlos Jobim's duet of Fly Me to The Moon both work quite well, and the CD's usefulness as an introduction to Sinatra-lite should not be underrated.

That said: Yesterday I had the pleasure to discover Frank Sinatra's Classic Duets CD (not to be confused with the other two; it's the first link below.) Unlike the best-selling Duets and Duets II, where each half of the duet would call in their parts separately to be pasted together by technicians, these duets were actually sung together, during an ill-fated ABC T.V. show. The result-- in addition to inferior recording quality and audience background-- is actual chemistry.

Some deride the duet as a medium-- I think it works especially well for Sinatra. Though I like some of his solo CDs (like his performance at the Sands with Count Basie), others, like his greatest hits albums, are simply flat. The result of the medleys and cross-talk on the Classic Duets album is that Sinatra is constantly interrupted; he gets off a few perfect and haunting lines before the tune changes, or a joke or laughter comes. This isn't maddening, but tantalizing. His four lines of "Paper Moon" in his medley with Lena Horne are some of the best I've heard, and doesn't give you time to tire of the song.

I've heard that the Duets and Duets II CDs were recorded in the sterile way they were because Sinatra was too proud to let other artists hear him keep flubbing his parts until he got them right. If so, his pride-- though understandable-- was misplaced. There's no adequate replacement for his teasing Ella Fitzgerald on Can't We Be Friends; or the beautiful and eerie similarity between his and Louis Armstrong's syncopation on The Blues; or his enthusiasm singing with Dean Martin on Together; or his light medley with Dinah Shore (who can't pull off Under My Skin, just as Ella Fitzgerald couldn't, but who nails Beautiful Baby, Them There Eyes, and They Can't Take That Away From Me); his touching pairing with Nancy Sinatra on You Make Me Feel So Young/Old; or his strange, but effective duet with Elvis Presley on Love Me Tender/Witchcraft (Sinatra sings LMT; The King sings Witchcraft).

I don't wish to knock the saccharine Duets/Duets II CDs too much, but for those looking for an advanced course in Sinatra duets, this is the way to go. [N.B.: The recording quality on this CD is not great, which can be off-putting. When I first slipped it into the car stereo I felt rooked; but it trades superficiality for depth.]

This story will make your jaw drop. Thanks to some enterprising doctors, a man who had lost his mandible due to oral cancer grew a new jaw underneath his shoulder blade using growth factors, a titanium mold, and bone marrow. Surgeons then implanted the new jaw into its proper home and the man is now enjoying solid food, a treat he's missed out on for nine years. Next year the surgeons hope to implant teeth into the new mandible.

Professor William Veeder, on old friends:

You are already old enough to begin to have friends who are saying the same thing they said three years ago. Well, wait four decades. Then go have a beer with them. It's enough to make you a teetotaler, it really is.