Frank Sinatra Archives - Page 3 of 5 - Frank Sinatra Dedicated Blog

Strangers In The Night

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00July 9th, 2011|Categories: Songs|Tags: 1966, A Man Could Get Killed, Album, Barbara Sinatra, Bert Kampfert, Charles Singleton, Concert For The Americas 1982, Eddie Snyder, Frank Sinatra, Grammy Award, Jack Jones, Lyrics, My Life With Frank, My Way, Reprise Records, Song, Strangers In The Night, What Did Frank Sinatra Say?|

The worst fucking song I’ve ever heard. No! It’s not my opinion. In fact, i really love Strangers In The Night, but Frank Sinatra himself did not like this song at all, and in his concert in Dominican Republic in 1982 August, also known as “Concert for the Americas”, Frank Sinatra said so after he finished singing Strangers In The Night, when the audience was applauding for his great performance.

When Frank Sinatra comes to mind, he brings two great songs with him. One is “My Way” without any doubt, and the other is, most probably, “Strangers In The Night”. Though he liked neither, these two songs made him well known all over the world. Strangers In The Night was written by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder, and composed by Bert Kampfert. The song was performed by various singers before Sinatra, but when Frank Sinatra included the song in his album “Strangers In The Night” in 1966, it became a huge hit.

Strangers In The Night was a song written for the movie “A Man Could Get Killed”. It was given to both Sinatra and Jack Jones, and when Reprise Records heard that Jack Jones was to release his version in few days, they immediately recorded it and made it ready before Jack Jones’s version was on the radio. It reached no 1 on the charts, but then replaced by Beatles’s “Yesterday”.

The following parts are form Barbara Sinatra’s book, Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank.

Barbara Sinatra: Songs like “Strangers In The Night” or “My Way”, which he’d been asked to sing over and over again since 1960s, did absolutely nothing for him. He always said the words were not subtle enough, too “on the nose.” Knowing that he’d still have to sing them at every concert, he’d try to lighten the experience by joking with the auidence that those tunes had kept him in pizza for years.

Barbara Sinatra: .. I could see he was thrown. Even when the crowd settled down a bit and allowed him to go on, he was overwhelmed. So much so that when the time come to sing “Strangers In The Night”, he was completely unable to- the first time I’d ever seen that happen. He stood up there on stage, eyes welling, as the music carried on without him. Then the most amazing thing happened. Almost every one of the 175,000 people in that arena, many of whom had learned to speak English by listening to Sinatra records, began to sing the words to him, heavily accented. “Strangers in the night, exchanging glances. Wond’ring in the night, what were the chances…” Their voices welled as one until the night air was filled with melody. Tears slid down my face as well as down Frank’s. It was one of the most beautiful sounds I ever heard.

Frank Sinatra won four Grammy Awards including “Record of The Year” and “Best Male Vocal Performance” for recording “Strangers In The Night”, and many versions in different languages have been performed till then. This is another reason why the song is known by everyone.

A mistress of Saddam Hussein, Parisula Lampsos, was noted to say that Saddam loved to listen Strangers In The Night and dance to it.

What did Frank Sinatra say about the song?

Frank Sinatra: This is a marvelous song written by Charles Singleton and we would like to do it for you. (28-11-1983, Nassau Coliesum)

Frank Sinatra: Ah here is a song everybody in the world knows, everybody! (20-11-1994, Japan)

Frank Sinatra: Yeah here’s a song that I can not stand. I just can not stand this song, but what the hell. (1975-11-27, Jerusalem, Israel)

Frank Sinatra: The worst fucking song I’ve ever heard. (29-08-1982, Dominican Republic)

Frank Sinatra: This is a song that I absolutely detested the first time I heard it. And strangely enough I keep saying to myself “Why are you still singing this song?” (1993-11-21, Faxwoods Casino, Connecticut)

Frank Sinatra: Oh you know this one (Sinatra 80th Live in Concert)

Frank Sinatra: Here’s a song, the first time I heard Don Costa played it for me some years ago. I hated it! I hated this goddamn song the first I’ve heard it. And I still hate it! So sue me, shoot bullets through me. Shoot. (New York Set, Cd 4)

Strangers In The Night was sung by Frank Sinatra many times during his concerts and among them, I love the 1985 Japan Concert version and the following one at most. The album version is as good as the live ones, but of course it lacks the “Do Be Do Be Do.”

12

Frank Sinatra Bootlegs and Selling – Trading Concerts

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00June 14th, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: Bootleg, Bootleg Trading, Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra bootlegs, Nancy Sinatra|

If you visit YouTube or similar video sites, you are very likely to watch an amazing Frank Sinatra performance from Frank Sinatra bootlegs. Then you will look for more videos from the concert, but you will not see any. This is because the person who uploaded the video is one of the bootleg traders, and the video you have just watched was a sample from that concert. You can either buy that concert for 10-15$ or you can skip to another sample performance video from a different concert. Yes, this article is about the bootleg trading.

Let’s consider the “I’ll Be Seeing You” performance from the 1961 Sydney Concert, which is absolutely amazing. If you want to watch more songs from Sydney Concert, there are only 7 of them on the internet, as far as I could find. But sometimes you are not even this lucky. Most concerts have 3-4 videos on the internet. The rest? Waiting for you to buy from a guy crazy about money. If you search the terms Frank Sinatra Bootlegs in Google, you will find many lists of people that include all concerts they have for sale.

Of course, it is the person’s choice to sell them or to upload the whole concert on the internet. This must be a good way to earn money and the idea of getting 10 dollars for a DVD can be very tempting. But it is a shame if the seller is a fan of Frank Sinatra. We, Sinatra fans, know how great he is and if more people see different videos of him, then it will help to keep the flame burning. It is really a shame for a Frank Sinatra fan to sell the Frank Sinatra bootleg concerts instead of sharing them for free.

Now, if we consider what the Sinatra Family thinks about sharing the Frank Sinatra bootlegs, we clearly see from the posts in Sinatra Family Forum that Nancy Sinatra, daughter of Frank Sinatra, is strongly against the sharing of Frank Sinatra bootlegs materials. The main reason is that in many of these videos, the performance of Frank Sinatra is not that good. So they only want a concert to be released if Frank would want it to be. Of course, no singer would want any of his bad performances released since they would affect the singer in a negative way. But is this case also valid for Frank Sinatra, too?

I would say, NO. Frank Sinatra is in such a position that he is almost untouchable. All his recordings, officially released concerts and his image among public is like he was the God once. Sinatra himself and his music are so highly respected that even if people watch a bad performance of him, they would not think badly about him. When I watch a performance which is not good, I say “Mhmhm this sucks, let me watch the amazing x concert”, and that’s it. And this is the same for many other people. In fact, who would think that Sinatra sang all the songs all the time in a perfect way? Of course he had his ups and downs, nothing wrong with that. I am not saying that bad performances should be officially released, but they should at least be shared among Sinatra fans.

What’s more, many of his concerts are really great. Nothing wrong with them! All these “bad” performances are not even bad. They are quite listenable and enjoyable. So why let others decide for us about what we can listen and what we cannot?

10

Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00June 7th, 2011|Categories: Books|Tags: Barbara Sinatra, Frank Sinatra, My Life With Frank|

Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank Interview: Here are two interviews with Barbara Sinatra about her recently released book, Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank.

Barbara Sinatra: He says, hey blondie! Come on and join us! I didn’t really recognize him. I recognized Dean and Sammy and some of the others. I said, I don’t care! I am not dealing with a bunch of drunks.

Chris: That was your future husband!

Barbara Sinatra: But I didn’t know that.

We’ve been playing gin rummy with a group of people. He said Barbara come in here I wanna show you something, we were kissing.

Chris: What did that feel like?

Barbara Sinatra: Wonderful. Wonderful. He was a great kisser. He made me feel special. He treated me like a queen.

He was a guy who took about 12 showers a day. I mean he was neat. And he always smelled of lavender. He just thought of every single little thing to make it romantic.

Chris: What song would he sing to you, Barbara?

He had one the George Harrison wrote, called Something. He said it was a great love song and it never said I love you. He didn’t like anything that was right on the nose.

Chris: You said once that he thought that My Way was a little too on the nose.

He did. That wasn’t one of his favorite songs.

..

Chris: Did Frank Sinatra ever apologize?

Barbara Sinatra: Never. Absolutely never.

..

I kept saying, you have beaten tougher things than this. I think you can beat this, too. Then all of a sudden he just looked at me and he said, “I can’t”. That was it.

Chris: Why did you and Frank stay in love for so long?

Barbara Sinatra: You know, I don’t know why he stayed in love with me. But I think it is obvious why I was in love with him. The blue eyes, the romanticism, the kindness, the generosity. Everything.

Quite interesting pictures can be seen on the videos.

We learn that family matters are not discussed in the book, and Amazon reviews say that “Lady Blue Eyes: My Life With Frank” is worth reading.

2

Comments of Frank Sinatra Fans

By Ozgun Akalin|2015-10-14T17:58:27+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: Frank Sinatra, Importance of Frank Sinatra|

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

2

Frank Sinatra’s Death

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: Ave Maria, Barbara Sinatra, Beverly Hills, Cathedral City, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Church of the Good Shepherd, Desert Memorial Park, Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra Jr, Funeral, Graveyard, In The Wee Small Hours, Jack Daniels, Moonlight In Vermont, My Father's Daughter, Nancy Sinatra, Put Your Dreams Away, The Best Is Yet To Come, Tina Sinatra|

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.

View image | gettyimages.com

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.

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.

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.

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

44

Frank Sinatra – Unique and Ultimate Style

By Ozgun Akalin|2015-03-20T22:54:05+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: 1979 Egypt Concert, Concert For The Americas 1982, Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra In Japan 1985, Frank Sinatra Live at Caesars Palace|

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)

4

References

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:38+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: A Singer's Art, Anthony Summers, Ava Gardner, Bill Zehme, Charles Granata, Charles Pignone, Frank Sinatra, Frank Sinatra An American Legend, Frank Sinatra My Father, Frank The Voice, Frankly Just Between Us, George Jacobs, Gunther Schuller, His Way, James Kaplan, Kitty Kelley, Lee Server, Mr.S My Life With Frank Sinatra, My Father's Daughter, Nancy Sinatra, Pete Hamill, Peter Levinson, Rat Pack Confidental, Richard Havers, Sessions with Sinatra, Shawn Levy, Sinatra, Sinatra The Life, Sinatra! The Song Is You, The Sinatra Files, The Sinatra Treasures, The Swing Era, The Way You Wear Your Hat, Tina Sinatra, Tommy Dorsey, Vincent Falcone, Why Sinatra Matters, Will Friedwald|

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)

1

The Hoboken Four

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: 1935, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Fred Tamburro, Harold Arlen, James Petrozelli, Major Bowes, Natalie Dolly Sinatra, Pat Principle, Rustic Cabin, Shine, The Hoboken Four, The Three Flashes|

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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

View image | gettyimages.com

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

8

Frank Sinatra and Tommy Dorsey Band

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: 1940, 1941, 1943, A Man and His Music, Billy Wilson, Bing Crosby, Chucky Lowry, dick haymes, Frank Sinatra, Harry James, I'll Never Smile Again, Jo Stafford, John Huddleston, Night And Day, Oh Look at Me Now, Pied Pipers, Stardust, The Lamp Lighters Serenade, The Night We Called A Day, The Sky Fell Down, The Song Is You, Tommy Dorsey, Too Romantic, When No One Cares|

“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”.

“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.

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”.

View image | gettyimages.com

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.

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.”

View image | gettyimages.com

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..”

View image | gettyimages.com

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.

View image | gettyimages.com

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…

11

Frank Sinatra at Paramount Theater

By Ozgun Akalin|2017-06-10T00:19:39+03:00June 3rd, 2011|Categories: Articles|Tags: 1942, 1943, Anchors Aweigh, Benny Goodman, Bob Weitman, Columbia Records, Frank Sinatra, Higher and Higher, Lucky Strike, Nick Sevano, Paramount Theater, Riobamba, Tommy Dorsey, Your Hit Parade|

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.

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!

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: “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.

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.

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…

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