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So does anybody have any info on the story behind the Mack the Knife recording?

There were two entire albums of duets with ol Blue eyes.
Jimmy was on the second one.

from Amazon:

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
A tremendous commercial success upon its release in 1993, this collection pairs Sinatra with various big name vocalists on 13 of his best-known classics. Unfortunately, it's also one of the least enjoyable records of Sinatra's career. Part of the problem is Phil Ramone's obtrusively slick production, but the fact that Sinatra's partners sang along to tapes of his already-recorded performances--rather than with the Chairman himself--really keeps Duets from ever catching fire. Tony Bennett turns in a predictably swell "New York, New York," but duets with Gloria Estefan ("Come Rain or Come Shine"), Kenny G ("All the Way/One More for My Baby") and U2's Bono ("I've Got You Under My Skin") unfortunately represent something of an artistic low-point for Sinatra. --Dan Epstein
Product Description
Start spreading the news. Frank Sinatra has returned to the recording studio for the first time in 15 years, and he's bringing along some friends, including Luther Vandross, Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Carly Simon, Anita Baker, Bono, Kenny G and Liza Minnelli.


so, it appears that it was just a chance to keep the name alive, make a little cash, maybe expand the Sinatra listenership a bit.

They never appeared in the same recording studio together. Their vocal bits were spliced together.

Bwana Paul wrote:They never appeared in the same recording studio together. Their vocal bits were spliced together.

Yup, that's the detail I loved learning.

Bwana Paul wrote:They never appeared in the same recording studio together. Their vocal bits were spliced together.

Had a feeling that was the case. Nonetheless, kind of a grin listening to it.

Thanks troops!

Wasn't there something about the song suppose to be done with Jack Jones and that was the reason for Frank saying
"Jack"
and Jimmy saying, "that's Jimmy, Frank"?

C-Dawg wrote:I knew the story about this but it doesn't change a thing, I still enjoy the song

I smile every time I hear this tune played on RM.........

I'm not big on spliced together recordings such as this or Hey Good Lookin' on LTC. It seems to lack authenticity or a feeling realness to me. A bit forced maybe. Of course on HGL it's much more obvious. But then I'm not a Sinatra fan or a fan of "Mack The Knife" no matter who or how they recorded it.

sonofabeach wrote:I'm not big on spliced together recordings such as this or Hey Good Lookin' on LTC. It seems to lack authenticity or a feeling realness to me. A bit forced maybe. Of course on HGL it's much more obvious. But then I'm not a Sinatra fan or a fan of "Mack The Knife" no matter who or how they recorded it.

Bobby Darin is still the king.

springparrot wrote:Wasn't there something about the song suppose to be done with Jack Jones and that was the reason for Frank saying
"Jack"
and Jimmy saying, "that's Jimmy, Frank"?

I think "jack" was a generic guy name in Sinatra's day, like you'd call someone "dude" or "bro" or some other such slang name today.

SharkOnLand wrote:

springparrot wrote:Wasn't there something about the song suppose to be done with Jack Jones and that was the reason for Frank saying
"Jack"
and Jimmy saying, "that's Jimmy, Frank"?

I think "jack" was a generic guy name in Sinatra's day, like you'd call someone "dude" or "bro" or some other such slang name today.

We are addressing this and many other issues this week during Frank Sinatra Week in the BN Critters.
The BN Critters .... educational, informative, fair and balanced trivial news type stuff. Sometimes even correct.

I remember hearing an interview with Jimmy where he said that he is/was a big fan of Frank Sinatra and had always wanted to perform with him. This was the closest he ever got.

Sinatra is the man. Yeah, his voice was shot and raspy on the duets but it's still fun to listen to "Mack the Knife" with Jimmy.