"Come Fly with Me" - great song off the Sinatra LP of the same name. Released 1958 this concept album revolved around travel with tracks such as 'Chicago', 'On the Road to Mandalay' and 'South of the Border'. Cut during the tail end of his tenure at Capitol Records, and the tail end of piston-propped flight, the Billy May-arranged exhortation to aviation swings, I mean swings hard, man. Just a superb tune, the bridge freshly modulates to the sharp 5 of the primary key, then reverts with one of the most signature descending horn lines in music.
The album cover below also speaks to what flying once was - Frankie's wearing a suit and hat ready to board a Lockheed Constellation in full TWA livery. On board wide seats host roast beef served with real silverware and martinis all around. A far cry from my latest foray to O-hare... ridin a grimy tram to wait an hour for my shoeless TSA scan + poking + prodding. A numbing delay at the gate next to a lady scarfing down a slice of Sbarro while festooned in sweat pants with 'juicy' emblazoned across the stern... yikes. Ah but then welcomed aboard a fully booked 737 bolted together before the turn of the last century while sardined into seats developed by the CIA for water boarding but rebranded as 'basic economy'. Make no mistake, still blessed and amazed to wake in MKE and land at ATL all before lunch - beats the Oregon trail's covered wagons anyday... BUT.. I wonder, I just wonder if there isn't market space for an airline that might fly old school - minus the crash statistics and chain smoking of course...
Welp... until such a golden age resurges, we do have a rare gem of air travel: the Waukesha County Airport. The J Ryan Trio will be welcoming folks arriving by air or by car this Friday (Aug 22) with music from 11am to 1pm. Park in the terminal parking lot and enjoy lunch form a selection of food trucks while peekin' at the planes and learning about New Beginnings Aerospace Ministry - a local nonprofit introducing underprivileged youth to all things aviation.