U2 Song for Sinatra Surfaces

Frank Sinatra never had the chance to record the song "Two Shots of Happy, One Shot of Sad," written specifically for him by U2's Bono and Edge, but the tune hasn't been forsaken. Jazz singer George Bugatti, offered the song by U2 manager Paul McGuiness, recently recorded it for his new album A Night for Romance.

The song traveled a circuitous route to Bugatti: His wife, Mary Shriver-Bugatti, had befriended McGuiness, Bono, Edge and the other members of U2 in the late Eighties after meeting them at Barney's Beanery, a celebrated dive bar in West Hollywood, when the band was in Los Angeles to record Rattle and Hum. When Bugatti was about to go into the studio for his new album, Shriver-Bugatti got in touch with McGuiness to try to dig up something special for the set.

"Two Shots of Happy" is a perfect fit for Bugatti, who in the past has recorded Steve Allen's songs and works similar territory as Sinatra, Dean Martin and Tony Bennett did. "I have a Sinatra vibe in my music," Bugatti admits. "It's in the phrasing, the song selection."

Bono's song, Bugatti explains, "encapsulates Sinatra's life. It has a little bite to it, some serious emotion." In turn, the U2 camp loved Bugatti's version, according to McGuiness.

The lyrics -- "I'm just a singer, some say a sinner/Rolling the dice, not always a winner" -- evoke a classic image of Sinatra. "Don't try to think about what we might have had," the song continues, "Just two shots of happy, one shot of sad."

Bugatti, who lives in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, rolls into another one of Sinatra's towns early next year, when he's scheduled perform at New York's Lincoln Center.

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Song Stories

“(We're Not) The Jet Set”

George Jones and Tammy Wynette | 1973

George Jones and Tammy Wynette were still married when they recorded the tongue-in-cheek "(We're Not) The Jet Set." The lyrics, written by Nashville songwriter Bobby Braddock, who also penned Wynette's "D-I-V-O-R-C-E" and Jones' "He Stopped Loving Her Today," make fun of the good life by declaring, "We're not the Jet Set/We're the old Chevrolet set." Braddock recalled that while writing the song, he needed the name of a city that evened out the rhyme he had with "Riviera" and "Missourah." “I got out a Rand McNally atlas," he said. "In the first part are the maps. The last part is an alphabetical listing of cities. I wanted a rustic, small-time sound. I went to the listing for Missouri. And I found 'Festus.' I loved the sound of it."

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