Frank Sinatra, A Man & His Dog: Rest in peace Bosley (2005-2020) (1 Viewer)

Bracie Smathers said:

My favorite  Sinatra tune.  LINK:  >> Frank Sinatra - Witchcraft

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Eephus said:

Bosley died on Sunday at 11:20 AM.  He was a good boy up to the end.  He'd had mostly had a peaceful Saturday but was under increasing distress during the night and following morning..  Thanks to the fine people at the SF SPCA for their compassion during a very emotional time.

If you've followed the Dylan and Sinatra threads you have some idea how much that little schmoe meant to me.  But I don't think I've ever written about how much he helped our family.  We got Bosley in 2007 when our kids were 11 and 15.  Raising teenagers in the 21st century is tough but being a teenager is even tougher.  I know we probably invest too much emotional depth to our pets but Bosley was always present to return affection.  He brought a lot of joy to all of us and served as a conversation starter to help keep open our family's lines of communication.

People with pets understand how much they insinuate themselves into our lives.  Boz required an increasing amount of care over the past year or so.  Last week we had to check on his whereabouts almost constantly whenever he was awake.  But now all that air has suddenly been let out of the balloon and the house is quiet.   I will miss our nightly walks as much as anything.  It gave me time to reflect and stay connected to the neighborhood.  I'll be able to pick the pace up considerably without him but it won't be the same.

In a cruel irony, Bosley died on my 60th birthday.  Nothing like getting a mortality check for a gift.  I moped around all day Sunday but needed to get out of the house yesterday to do something to mark the milestone and escape the emptiness .  My daughter took off work and she, Mrs Eephus and I went to a museum.  We ended up at a bar as you do which eventually became Bosley's informal wake. Somewhere during the story and picture sharing I brought out some of the posts from the Dylan thread.  I'm thankful I tacked on those paragraphs about Boz because they mean so much more than my struggles to describe the greatness of the artists.

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Eephus said:

God how I miss that little schmoe.  It would be so nice to pet a little furry critter right now.

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rockaction said:

Dang, Eephus. I hope everything is good with you and your loved ones.  We miss your nightly updates.  

I weirdly had something cross my mind and thought of a book title for you today.  San Francisco Nights:  From Flophouse To Dog's House in Time Flat

Heh. It was corny but just thinking of everyone on the board and the Dylan and Sinatra thread. 

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Eephus said:

I walked up and down some hills in the neighborhood today to get some tension out.  I wore a mask to placate Mrs. Eephus.   I've never seen the streets so quiet here; they probably haven't been like this since 1848.  Except there was still one crazy guy yelling about something.

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Eephus said:

I'll get back to Sinatra at some point but right now, he's not the guy I want to hear.

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Eephus said:

God how I miss that little schmoe.  It would be so nice to pet a little furry critter right now.

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Northern Voice said:

I relate to these too much. I still think about our Abbey who we lost in early-October every single day. And that's despite having another dog in the house when she passed and rescuing a second in the meantime (who is wonderful). For me, it's the National I can't listen to anymore. My wife loves them (as did I) and was playing them around the house during Abbey's last hours singing to her and trying to comfort her. Honestly I don't care if I ever hear one of their songs again. 

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Eephus said:

Watertown (1970)

Watertown may be the most unique album in Sinatra's large catalog.  He'd been one of the first artists to record concept albums using a selection of songs to fit a theme or mood but he takes it further with Watertown.  The collection is a true song cycle composed by Four Seasons member Bob Gaudio and commercial jingle writer Jake Holmes (his Wikipedia page is worth a look).  It's sung entirely in the first person with Sinatra playing an unnamed small town man whose wife Elizabeth leaves him and their two children to pursue a new life in the big city.

The songs reminded me of the Pop epics composed by Jimmy Webb during the same timeframe.  They haves a big LA 60s sound with little of the confident swing that Sinatra is known for.  Sinatra immerses himself in his cuckolded character and delivers vocals with a tenderness that conveys his enduring love.  I became invested in his story and the climax "The Train" delivers an emotional punch in the gut.  The current digital release tacks on a bonus track that serves as backstory for the wife but I like the original ending better.

Unfortunately the album was a commercial flop and Sinatra went back to recording material more in his traditional wheelhouse.  But its reputation has grown over the decades and it's definitely worth a 33 (or 37) minute spin to see a very different side of Sinatra.  To whet your appetite here's Michael & Peter which legitimately moved me.  The album cover is also special because Frank is nowhere to be seen..  It's a crappy sepiatone drawing the train station mentioned in the songs bookending the album.  I doubt the cover helped sales any.

If you listen to one album of the five so far, I'd recommend this one because it's so uncharacteristic of the singer.  Actually they've all been pretty decent.  The World We Knew was the least of them but it was still a hoot.  And there's always the voice.

Bosley was stumbling and bumbling today.  The first few steps after he wakes up are always tenuous but if he goes directly from in front of the heater to the sidewalk it's really an adventure.  We live on a hill so he usually lets gravity take over but he wasn't oriented the right way relative to the slope today.  He somehow managed to keep his balance.

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