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So far Ozgun Akalin has created 49 blog entries.

Comments of Frank Sinatra Fans

By |2015-10-14T17:58:27+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , |

I remember when Frank died I was in the drive thru at a coffee shop and it came
over the car radio.That was before most people had cell phones,I drove right
home and my phone rang right away confirming the news.A sad day indeed.I
remember thinking,the world has changed now in some way for better or worse,but
it will never be the same.

Danny Tintindo

Frank not a day goes on whn i dont feel ur presence… sometimes like a friend sometimes like a father… i miss you…I know you are somewhere , drinking your jack daniels… cheers frank.. you are still best and u ll be forever. rest in peace because flame is burning !!!

Oner Gulumser

Frank is a CREATIVE music MAKER. A musical sound from FRANK is a HEALING Balm.

Sebastian Casmir

Frank wasn’t any voice, he was THE Voice! He had Style, charm and he gave alot of love to his listeners, There never was, and will be anybody like Frank. And when u listen to his music, it doesn’t seems that hes gone, Proof That Legends never die. R.I.P Ol’ Blue eyes.

Sami Batescoff

The Chairman of the Board means a lot to me as I was raised on big band music by my Dad and naturally, Frank Sinatra was front and centre. From his early days with Tommy Dorsey to his breakout show at the Paramount, to the Rat Pack days in Vegas at the Sands and to the end of his career, Frank Sinatra is The Voice and someone that many try to copy. Good Luck with that. He will always be the Chairman of the Board and an entertainer who will be looked up to for generations to come.

Mike Beard

He certainly was the CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD/love his singing

Angelina Mandara Morgan

JUST THE BEST,THE VERY BEST, EVER……

Carol Soltys

Francis Albert lives on forever 100 years from now he will still set the standard generation after generation have discovered and loved him in the past and will continue to do so in the future when we are long gone from the earth old blue eyes will sing on and on and on.

David Farber

I am a 3rd generation Frank Sinatra enthusiast and I listen to his songs nearly every day . May 14, 1998 was truly the day “The Man and His Music Died” but his songs, movies, and love for family and friends will never die. We will be listening to his incredible vocal stylings for many years to come. My prayers are and will always be with his family and fans.

Rick Ventura

Frank was a great entertainer and talent. I have read many books about his life and know that he lived a life of high drama but was generous and helped many people. My husband does a great Sinatra tribute show in the Palm Springs area and is keeping the music alive.

Lois Amos

Frank Sinatra’s Death

By |2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Following part about Frank Sinatra’s Death is from My Father’s Daughter by Tina Sinatra.

9th of May, 1998

The new millenium was in sight.

Dad was determined to be a part of it. “How many more months?” he asked me.

Eighteen, I told him, rounding down a bit.

“Oh, I can do that” he said. “Nothin’ to it.”…

14th of May, 1998

The phone rang at exactly 11:10 pm. It was Rex Kennamer. “I have bad news, we lost him.”

“Lost who?” I said.

“Your father. I’m sorry.”

 

13 years ago, Barbara Sinatra was outside for dinner. Frank Sinatra’s situation suddenly got worse and he was taken to hospital at around 9pm. The doctors called Barbara immediately, and tried to save Sinatra for like 1,5 hour. Despite how long they tried, they couldn’t save him. In the end, at 10:50pm, Frank Sinatra died from a heart attack…

And at 11.10pm, Tina Sinatra was informed that her father had passed away. She called Nancy and in minutes they got to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Tina Sinatra: “…My father lay facing us, eyes closed, hands over his chest; he lay on a lowered gurney, ready to be wheeled away. Barbara was seated in a chair to his left. We entered the cubicle without acknowledgment. I went directly to Dad and knelt beside him. “Oh, Poppa,” I said. At the sight of him my tears broke their dam. I wept freely, my forehead pressed against his upper arm. I looked for fear in his face, but saw none. His strain and torment were gone- in death he looked once more to be a figure of command. When i touched him, he was still warm. For an instant, I thought i was him move. I silently prayed for him. Oh God, take him and make him safe and warm, but keep him close to me. And to him: I am so sorry I was not here for you. I was filled with guilt and anger, but kept those feelings contained. I just kept saying to myself that I loved him, over and over again…”

In Sinatra family, Frank Sinatra’s death and the funeral arrangements were a total mess due to Barbara Sinatra. Sinatra’s children weren’t informed about Frank Sinatra’s Death neither when he was taken to hospital nor during the 80 minutes when doctors were trying to save him. No doubt Barbara ordered the doctors and hospital not to inform them.

6 days after Frank Sinatra’s death, on 20th of May, 1998, the Frank Sinatra’s funeral took place at Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills.

Frank Sinatra's Death Funeral

In The Wee Small Hours, Moonlight In Vermont, Ave Maria and Put Your Dreams Away were played at the church and during the religious service during Frank Sinatra’s funeral, along with some other songs probably.

Frank Sinatra´s Death Funeral Coffin

Here is a video of Tina’s, Frankie Jr’s and Nancy Sinatra’s comments on Put Your Dreams Away and how they explain the moment in the church during Frank Sinatra’s funeral.

Nancy Sinatra: When my dad died, it was the only choice when the question came up which song of Frank’s should be played at the end of the services and of course it had to be Put Your Dreams Away and there wasn’t a dry eye in the church because it’s that kind of an emotional song.

 

Francis Albert Sinatra was born in Hoboken (12th of December, 1915) and died at the age of 82 in Los Angeles, California. Frank Sinatra’s death was shock for everyone. His grave is at Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City. He was buried with a pack of Camel cigarettes, a bottle of Jack Daniels, a zippo lighter and dimes.

Frank Sinatra's Grave The Best Is Yet To Come

On the grave, it says “The Best Is Yet To Come”.

Frank Sinatra – Unique and Ultimate Style

By |2015-03-20T22:54:05+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , |

There’s this thing Sinatra does with his hand. We are not likely to see it before 1975, but after middle 1970s, he does it a lot in his concerts. For the past few months it has been getting my attention when i am watching the concerts over and over, and i decided to make a video about it.

When Frank does this, i know he is enjoying the concert a lot.

[Video is taken down from Youtube, and I have lost the original file. It won´t be available again in the near future]

I’ve mostly used the following concerts when preparing, since the video quality is good and it is frequently done.

Frank Sinatra in Japan (1985)
Live at Caesars Palace (1978)
Concert for The Americas (1982)
Egypt Concert (1979)

References

By |2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The references play a very important part in my articles since information about Frank Sinatra does not come out of nowhere. I use some books to include detailed information in these articles, and here is the list of those books I use as references.

References for Frank Sinatra posts

Sinatra! The Song Is You, A Singer’s Art (Will Friedwald)

Frank Sinatra My Father (Nancy Sinatra)

My Father’s Daughter (Tina Sinatra)

Mr.S My Life With Frank Sinatra (George Jacobs, William Stadiem)

Rat Pack Confidental ( Shawn Levy)

Sinatra The Life (Anthony Summers, Robbyn Swan)

Frankly Just Between Us (Vincent Falcone, Bob Popyk)

Frank The Voice (James Kaplan)

His Way (Kitty Kelley)

The Way You Wear Your Hat (Bill Zehme)

Sessions with Sinatra (Charles Granata)

Sinatra (Richard Havers)

The Sinatra Treasures ( Charles Pignone)

Frank Sinatra An American Legend (Nancy Sinatra)

The Sinatra Files (Tom Kuntx, Phil Kuntz)

Why Sinatra Matters (Pete Hamill)

Tommy Dorsey (Peter Levinson)

The Swing Era (Gunther Schuller)

Ava Gardner (Lee Server)

Frank Sinatra Reading Book References

The Hoboken Four

By |2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , |

The Hoboken Four Story

So how did it all start? How did Francis Albert Sinatra became the legendary jazz and swing figure of 20th century? No doubt it all started with the Hoboken Four, or formerly known as the Three Flashes.

It was the year 1935, when Sinatra was 19. There was a local music group in Hoboken, New Jersey. Back then, he name of The Hoboken Four was “The Three Flashes” and the members of the group were named as James Petrozelli, Pat Principle and Fred Tamburro.

Frank had discovered that music meant a lot to him, and he could be nothing but a singer. He had always adored Bing Crosby and talked about how amazing Bing’s voice was. He had a picture of Crosby in his room, and he always said “I’m gonna be better than Crosby!” Well, we surely know now he was not joking.

The Three Flashes was performing at a place called “Rustic Cabin” with Harold Arlen and his orchestra.  Frank knew that to be a great singer, he had to start in some way. Frank wanted to be a member of the group, and asked them if he could join. The answer he got was, “We will think about it”, definitely not the answer he expected. Actually Frank was to be very useful to them, because the group had no car and had to use bus or even sometimes cab to go to the places where they were to perform, and Frank Sinatra with his Chrysler was whom they needed.

Frank Sinatra’s mother, Dolly Sinatra, was a very powerful person on Hoboken. He told his mom that he wanted to join the group more than anything. Dolly spoke to Fred Tamburro’s family, and Frank was in.

Sinatra and Three Flashes 1935 The Hoboken Four

Fred Tamburro later said: “We took him along for one simple reason: Frankie-boy had a car. He used to chauffeur us around.”
And Jimmy Petrozelli said: “Dolly was a big wheel in Hoboken. She kept throwing her weight around, and we finally took him.”
Those years, Major Edward Bowes’s “Original Amateur Hour” was very popular on the radio. It was a contest where singers were performing to be the winner and famous. Major Bowes wanted the Three Flashes on his show, and when the flashes said they had a new member, Bowes really liked it.

Major Bowes decided to name them as “The Hoboken Four”, and on September 8th, The Hoboken Four was on stage! They had white suits and black ties on them and were going to sing “Shine”, Sinatra doing Bing Crosby’s part.

Frank Sinatra Hoboken Four 1935 Major Bowes

Major Bowes introduced them as “singing and dancing fools” and when someone offstage asked why he said so, Bowes replied: “I don’t know. I guess because they are so happy.”
Fred Tamburro introduced himself, James and Pat, but he ignored Sinatra. When Bowes asked “What about that one”, Fred said “Oh, he never worked a day in his life.”

The Hoboken Four won the contest that night. Bowes said: “They walked right into the hearts of their audience.”

Frank Sinatra Hoboken Four Major Bowes Wins Members

The prize was a 6-month contract to perform on stage and on radio and they were earning a lot more than before.
But things were not going well for Frank Sinatra. He was the center of attention, and the other members did not like that at all.

Frank Sinatra Hoboken Four 1935
Petrozelli said: “He got so good after just a couple of months on the tour.”
Members of The Hoboken Four were beating Sinatra a lot. Actually this became a habit after a while for them. Sinatra was getting all the girls, all women simply wanted to have sex with Sinatra, while the other group members were just asked to sign few autographs. In fact, once Tamburro knocked Sinatra unconscious, and it took them an hour to wake him up.
In mid-December, after 3 months they started the tour, Frank quit as he could not stand the beatings no more. Also for a person wanting to be better than Bing Crosby, the group was not doing much. Sinatra knew he deserved more, and returned back to Hoboken.

The Hoboken Four broke up shortly after they finished the tour. Only Sinatra was going to make it as a singer…

Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey Band

By |2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

“See the singer guy? One day I’ll be sitting where he’s sitting.” That is what Frank Sinatra told his wife Nancy, when they went to see Tommy Dorsey’s band in 1937.

In my post about Frank Sinatra and Harry James I had mentioned that in Chicago, Frank Sinatra was offered to be the vocal of Tommy Dorsey’s band, and left the band of Harry James in January 1940. But unlike the times he worked with Harry James, now he wasn’t the only vocal in the band. There were four other people, also known as “Pied Pipers”: Chucky Lowry, Billy Wilson, John Huddleston and Jo Stafford. In February 1, they recorded “The Sky Fell Down” and “Too Romantic”.

Tommy Dorsey

“I was almost entirely unfamiliar with him. In fact I never laid eyes on him until he actually walked on stage for the first time. We were sitting on the stage when Dorsey introduced him. And he came on and sang “Stardust” and it was quite an experience. You knew after eight bars that you were hearing something just absolutely new and unique” says Jo Stafford about Frank Sinatra.

It is widely accepted that Frank Sinatra learned a lot from Tommy Dorsey, especially the technique of breathing. Frank was watching Tommy Dorsey playing the trombone and trying to figure out the way he was breathing. Later he discovered that Tommy had a sneak pinhole in the corner of his mouth which he was covering with his trombone and decided to use this technique while singing. He ran and swam a lot to improve his breathing and finally was able to make it. He could take a breath without breaking the note.

Frank Sinatra Tommy Dorsey Orchestra

Another thing Sinatra learned from Tommy Dorsey was focusing on the words. Dorsey told Frank “All that matters to Bing Crosby is the words, and that’s the only thing that should matter to you.” Maybe this is why he sings the “saloon songs” perfectly, like “Angel Eyes” or “One For My Baby”.

The first real hit of Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey orchestra was “I’ll never smile again”, on 23 May 1940. This was also the first recording Frank did with Pied Pipers. In July the song hit No 1 on the charts and stayed there for 12 weeks. He recorded this song in 1959 and 1965 as well, in his albums “When No One Cares” and “A Man and His Music”. On January 1941 they recorded 2 very nice songs, “Stardust” and “Oh Look at Me Now”.

It was the year 1941 when Sinatra became a lot more and more popular. Girls were crazy about him and people were coming to performances to see Frank Sinatra now. He wasn’t just a vocal of Tommy Dorsey anymore, he was Frank Sinatra. And he was quite aware of this fact too. Sooner or later he was going to quit, just like the former vocal of the band did. Those years, it was the band leaders that were popular and known in the bands, and though he was very popular and making $400 a week, still he was in the shadow of Tommy and this was not for him since he had to achieve more. Being in a band was only a step on the way of being the greatest ever.

Frank Sinatra Tommy Dorsey Band Stage

In January 1942, Sinatra made his first step and recorded these songs with an orchestra conducted by Axel Stordahl, no Tommy Dorsey this time.

Night and Day
The Lamp Lighters Serenade
The Song Is You
The Night We Called A Day

Frank Sinatra: “When I went to leave, Tommy made it impossible. I remember that it was in the month of September, in Washington, Dc. I went into the dressing room and told Tommy that I wanted to leave the orchestra and he kind of smiled. What for? He said. You know you are doing great with the band we got a lot of arrangements for you. I said I understand that but I justto go out on my own. He said, I don’t think so. I said okay, but I’m going to leave. He said, you’ve got a contract. I said, I had a contract with Harry but Harry took the contract and tore it up and wished me luck. And I added, I’ll give you one year’s notice. This time next year I’m leaving.”

In 1942, Frank wanted to leave the band again but still the same obstacle, the contract Sinatra later named as “a ratty piece of paper.” In the contract, it was stated that if Frank Sinatra left the band, he would pay %43 of all the money he would earn throughout his career, to Tommy Dorsey and his agent. Dorsey first didn’t want to let Frank go. So Frank hired few lawyers and asked some friends to help him about this issue. Harry Jaffe threatened Tommy Dorsey about not broadcasting him on NBC.  After a while Tommy was persuaded and he accepted to take $75000.

Frank Sinatra: “Anyhow, that’s how I got out of Dorsey contract. No gangster called anyone. Sonofabitch, I’ve been with that thing for so many years..”

But this is not what Tommy Dorsey said, according to the book “Sinatra: The Life”. “Three guys from New York City by way of Boston and New Jersey approached me and said they would like to buy Sinatra’s contract. I said “Like hell you will”. And they pulled out a gun and said, “You wanna sign the contract?” And I did.” And before Tommy Dorsey died in 1956, he again said “I was visited by Willie Moretti and a couple of his boys. Willie fingered a gun and told me he was glad to hear that I was letting Frank out of my deal. I took the hint.”

In August 1943, Tommy Dorsey gave Sinatra his best wishes by saying “I hope you fall on your ass!” (not on the radio), and Frank finally owned himself.

When I think of Frank Sinatra’s years with Tommy Dorsey, I say thank god he was in that band. His voice was simply fascinating and he performed many nice songs. We can’t name the months of Sinatra with Harry James as rich, since they didn’t release many songs and we don’t have many recorded radio broadcasts survived till now. But Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey recorded lots of beautiful songs like “The Sky Fell Down, Too Romantic, I’ll Be Seeing You, Say It, Polka Dots and Moonbeams, Fools Rush In, April Played the Fiddle, Imagination, I’ll Never Smile Again, Stardust, Oh Look At Me Now, Without a Song, I Think of You, The Song Is You” and many others.

If you would like to listen more songs of Frank Sinatra with Tommy Dorsey, you should definitely check “Frank Sinatra Tommy Dorsey Complete”, which consists of 5 CD’s. Lots of beautiful songs there…

Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater

By |2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater, how did it start?

After leaving Tommy Dorsey and his orchestra on September 1942, Frank Sinatra started looking for jobs as a singer at various places. He wasn’t a member of a band anymore, he was on his own. For two months, he had not been able to find a serious place. Many band vocals that left couldn’t make it, and Sinatra was to be one of them. Things were just like the times before he joined Harry James’ band. But in December 1942, things changed.

Frank Sinatra Young, Early 1940s

In December, the phone in Frank Sinatra’s house rang. It was Bob Weitman, the director of the famous Paramount Theater.

Bob Weitman: What are you doing in the New Year’s Eve?
Frank Sinatra: Not a thing. I can’t even get booked anywhere. I can’t find anywhere to work.
Bob Weitman: I’d like you to open at the joint.
Frank Sinatra: You mean on New Year’s Eve?
Bob Weitman: That’s right.
This was of course very surprising for him, considering that he couldn’t find a place even for a regular day. And now, he was to perform at Paramount Theater!

Frank Sinatra Fans at Paramount Theater, Manhattan

That night, when he was on stage after Benny Goodman in Paramount Theater, suddenly people started to yell and scream. People were like crazy. Jack Benny remembers that day as “I introduced Sinatra and I thought the goddamned building was going to cave in. I never heard such a commotion with people running down to the stage, screaming and nearly knocking me off the ramp. All this for a fellow I never heard of.”

Frank Sinatra Bobby Soxers Paramount Theater

Frank Sinatra: “The sound that greeted me was absolutely deafening. It was a tremendous roar. Five thousand kids, stamping, yelling, screaming, applauding. I was scared stiff. I couldn’t move a muscle. Benny Goodman froze, too. He was so scared he turned around, looked at the audience, and said, “What the hell was that?”

That night was so good that Paramount Theater extended his show first to a month, then to two months. And it was not like some regular show. They used to do 6-7 shows a day. One Saturday, Frank Sinatra did eleven shows, starting at 8:10 am and finishing at 2:30 am next day.

With the help of his press agent George Evans, “The Voice” was born.
After Paramount Theatre, he performed at Riobamba on 57th Street. Needless to say, the club was full every time he sang there. After leaving Riobamba, he returned to Paramount Theatre for another month and also sang at some concerts symphony orchestras.

Frank Sinatra Paramount Theater Bobby Soxers

Nick Sevano: This time, they threw more than roses. They threw their panties and their brassieres. They were nuts, absolutely nuts. (When Sinatra returned to Paramount Theater)

But that wasn’t all of course. He took part in some movies and radio broadcasts. He had a role in the move “Higher and Higher” and “Anchors Aweigh”. And he was also on radio every Saturday, on “Your Hit Parade”, with the Lucky Strike Orchestra.

Frank Sinatra Lucky Strike Your Hit Parade

On June 7 1943, he was going to sing in the studio of Columbia Records for the very first time, and his years known as “Columbia Years” was to start, slowly bringing an end to the big band era…

Frank Sinatra and Harry James, All or Nothing At All

By |2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |

A room at Lincoln Hotel. The radio is on. Harry James is sleeping, while his wife Louise Tobin is getting dressed. The voice on radio gets Louise’s attention, she wakes her husband and says “Harry, you might want to hear this kid on the radio. The boy singer on his show sounds pretty good.”

It was June, 1939 when this happened. Harry Haag James had left the orchestra of Benny Goodman, which was quite well known and successful those days, to form his own band.

Harry James

The next night he heard Frank on the radio, he went to Rustic Cabin. He asked the manager where he could find the singer and the manager told: “We don’t have a singer. But we have an emcee who sings a little bit.” Sinatra was the head waiter, chief bottler and sweep-up man in Rustic Cabin.

A singing waiter named Fred Travalena remembers Sinatra. “Frank hated the place, but he knew how to put a plate in front of somebody and he’d do anything to be able to sing” he said later during an interview.

And a young singer in Cabin, Lucielle Kirk, said: “One of the best I’ve ever heard. Every time he opened his mouth, the audience went quiet. He could take the control of an audience just by looking at them. There was a magic about him.”

When Sinatra heard that Harry James was there that night, he started to sing “Night and Day.” “As Frank sang Night and Day, I felt the hairs on the back of my neck rising. I knew he was destined to be a great singer” said James about Frank years later.

That night, James asked Frank to join the auditions for his band. James had reputation, and Frank was very willing to join. Rustic Cabin was no good for him. James also asked Frank to change his name from Frank Sinatra to “Frankie Satin”, because he found the name too much Italian. Frank said “Change it? You kiddin?” Frank had already changed his name once years ago and after his mother Dolly’s reaction, this was not going to happen again.

Sinatra remembers that day. “When he left Benny Goodman and started his own band and came over to see me, I almost broke his arm so he wouldn’t get away ‘cause I was dying to get out of that place.”

Sinatra went to Lincoln Hotel for auditions later. Skeets Herfert explains as following: “Frank walked in with no arrangements. The other guys, who were auditioning for Harry, had charts and everything. But Frank just walked in, walked over the piano player, told him what he wanted to sing, what key he wanted in, and stood up and sang. He knocked everybody out. When the musicians heard Sinatra, that was it. There was no doubt about it.”

“Frank Sinatra” joined the band of Harry James as the vocalist in June 1939 and signed a 2 year contract. Frank Sinatra and Harry James Orchestra played at many places, the first being at Hippodrome in Baltimore on June 30 1939, and they even recorded 10 songs together. The songs were as following.

From The Bottom of My Heart
Melancholy Mood
My Buddy
It’s Funny to Everyone But Me
All or Nothing At All
Here Comes the Night
On a Little Street in Singapore
Who Told You I Cared
Ciribiribin (They’re So in Love)
Every Day of My Life

(All the songs were arranged by Andy Gibson)

Frank Sinatra Harry James 1939

Among the songs they recorded, there was a very special song. It was “All or Nothing At All.” Lyrics by Jack Lawrence, music by Arthur Altman. Though the song sold only around 8500 in 1939, 4 years later when it was released by Columbia Records again it was going to sell more than 1 million in a short time.

But things were not going as good as they expected in 1939. The records sold around 8000, being far away from being a hit, and they even played for very few people sometimes. Meaning? They were broke and unsuccessful.

Frank Sinatra Harry James Orchestra 1939

Once they were playing in Chicago’s Hotel Sherman and the great band leader Tommy Dorsey was also there. One day Frank found a note saying that Tommy Dorsey wanted to see him. Dorsey needed a vocal since the vocal of his band had left. He offered Frank $100 a week (some sources say $110.) Let’s hear the rest of the Frank Sinatra – Harry James story from Frank Sinatra’s words.

“Harry James was one of the finest men I’ve ever known in my life. To tell you the kind of man he was, I had signed a 2 year contract with him, and when I was offered a job within the Tommy Dorsey orchestra 6 months later, Harry took the contract and tore it up. All he said to me was be sure to get more money that I was able to pay you.”

Harry James later told: “Nancy was pregnant, and we weren’t even making enough money to pay Frank the $75 he was supposed to get. So he went with Tommy Dorsey and I said, well if we don’t do any better in the next six months or so, try to get me on too.”

Frank Sinatra remembers those days as “a wonderful six month experience” and Harry James as “a real nice guy with real know-how as a musician.”

When Harry Haag James died in 1983, Sinatra said to Nancy Jr: “He made it all possible for us…”

Frank continued till January 1940 with Harry James. After the last show, Harry James and the musicians left the town. “The bus pulled out with the rest of the guys” Sinatra remembered. “I’d say goodbye to them all, and it was snowing. There was nobody around, and I stood alone with my suitcase and watched the tail-lights disappear. Then the tears started… There was such spirit and enthusiasm in that band.”

Frank Sinatra Harry James Band 1939

It is very clear that Sinatra really loved Harry James, but he had to leave to achieve more. Though James seems older than Sinatra in pictures, he was 3 months younger than Sinatra and no doubt that he was a nice and modest guy. Considering that Dorsey caused a lot of trouble because of the contract later, Harry James was generous enough to tear his contract with Sinatra apart. He wasn’t selfish, and he wanted the best for Frank. And for Frank Sinatra, it was either all, or nothing at all…

Birth of Frank Sinatra

By |2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: , , , , , , |

Frank Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. His birth was not an ordinary one, because he almost died during the birth. We always say how lucky he was to live a long life, but his surviving the birth was a miracle itself.
Frank Sinatra was 13,5 pounds (more than 6 kilograms) when he was born. The Doctor had trouble removing baby Sinatra from his mother and used forceps to make it easier. But the forceps ripped his cheek, neck and especially his ear. His eardrum was punctured during the birth. He was not breathing and the mother was not in good condition. The doctor focused on mother thinking that the boy would not survive. When Sinatra’s grandmother noticed that he wasn’t breathing, she held the baby under cold water till he started breathing. And this is how Sinatra survived that birth. If his grandmother weren’t there, there would probably be no Frank Sinatra in the history. This, of course, would be painful for Frank Sinatra to think of as he got older and became more aware of what happened. He is known to say “They weren’t thinking about me, they were just thinking about my mother. They just kind of ripped me out and tossed me aside.”

 

Birth Frank Sinatra Baby

In the picture of Frank Sinatra as a baby, we see the right side of his because the the side wounded during Frank Sinatra´s birth was still healing and his mother had the photographer take the picture from the other side of his face.

Sinatra left high school without graduating, having attended only 47 days before being expelled because of his rowdy conduct. In 1938, Sinatra was arrested for adultery and seduction, a criminal offense at the time. For his livelihood, he worked as a delivery boy at the Jersey Observer newspaper, and later as a riveter at the Tietjen and Lang shipyard, but music was Sinatra’s main interest, and he listened carefully to big band jazz. He began singing for tips at the age of eight, standing on top of the bar at a local nightclub in Hoboken. Sinatra began singing professionally as a teenager in the 1930s, although he learned music by ear and never learned how to read music.

The quote above is taken from Frank Sinatra Wikipedia page.

The wounds healed, but the scars remained for the rest of his life and he would use makeup every day of his life to cover the scars.
It was a painful birth for both the mother and the baby, but as he says:
That’s life…

My Life With Frank (Book)

By |2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Books|Tags: , , , |

There are 2 kinds of book about Frank Sinatra. Ones that are written by people who never met Sinatra and collect information from various sources, and ones that are written by people who are from the family or business. The following book, named as “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank”, is of the latter kind. It will be released on 31st of May, this month, and i think it could be a nice book if the content is satisfactory.

The author of the book “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank”, Barbara Sinatra, is the last wife of Frank Sinatra. Their marriage lasted for 22 years and Barbara had a key role in Sinatra’s life. She caused a lot of problems in the Sinatra family and she is also known for being a very disrespectful person to what remained from Sinatra.

These are of course what we know from the news or Tina’s and Nancy’s books. After 13 years, Barbara Sinatra takes the turn and will hopefully make things more clear and explain why she did so. I expect “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank” to shed light on family matters and similar things.

Below is the cover photo of “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank”.

Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank Sinatra

 

Thirty years after she first heard his voice singing on the jukebox at her local drive-in, Barbara Ann Blakely heard Frank Sinatra take the wedding vows that began his fourth, final, and most enduring marriage.

In Lady Blue Eyes, Barbara Sinatra’s first public love letter to the husband she adored, she celebrates the sensational singer, possessive mate, sexy heartthrob, and devoted friend that she found in Frank.  For more than two decades, Barbara was always by his side, traveling the globe and hosting glittering events for their famous friends, including presidents, kings, queens, Hollywood royalty, and musical legends.  Among them were Sammy Davis, Jr., Princess Grace of Monaco, Bob Dylan, and Ronald Reagan.  Each night, as Frank publicly wooed his bride with love songs from a concert stage, she’d fall in love with him all over again.

From her own humble beginnings in a small town in Missouri to her time as a fashion model and her marriage to Zeppo Marx, Barbara Sinatra reveals a life lived with passion, conviction, and grace.  A founder of the Miss Universe pageant and a onetime Vegas showgirl, she raised her only son almost single-handedly in often dire circumstances until, after five years of tempestuous courtship, she and Frank committed to each other wholeheartedly.  In stories that leap off the page, she takes us behind the scenes of her iconic husband’s legendary career and paints an intimate portrait of a man who was variously generous, jealous, witty, and wicked.  Coupled with revealing insights about many of Frank’s celebrated songs, this is much more than the story of a showbiz marriage.

It is a story of passion and of a deep and lifelong love.

The text above is taken from “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank” page of Amazon.com.

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