In memoriam: Frank Sinatra

In memoriam: Frank Sinatra (Dec 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998). The influential artist was a best-selling singer, actor, producer & conductor. Yes, conductor. Here he conducts “Gray,” a beautifully moody orchestral rarity by American composer Alec Wilder. https://t.co/WfSs9YSQIV pic.twitter.com/Sh7bhZ58WJ

— jazzartsgroup (@jazzartsgroup) May 14, 2019

Kirk Douglas, the Spinners, Frank Sinatra, Herman Munster, ....

This weekend at JazzWax, Kirk Douglas, the Spinners, Frank Sinatra, Herman Munster, the Doobie Brothers and more... https://t.co/7dXDnjanHX pic.twitter.com/5kQpDuDv9v

— Marc Myers (@JazzWax) 24 de junho de 2017

I Had the Craziest Dream - Frank Sinatra

Published on Sep 15, 2013
Frank Sinatra - I Had The Craziest Dream

I had the craziest dream, last night - yes I did
I never dreamed it could be
Yet there you were - in love with me

I found (saw) your lips next (close) to mine - so I kissed you (them)
And you didn't mind it at all
When I'm awake, such a break never happens
How long can I guy go on dreaming

If there's a chance that you care
Then please say that you do
Say it and make my craziest dream come true

#FrankSinatra at a Capitol Records

SID AVERY Frank Sinatra at a Capitol Records Recording Session 1954 pic.twitter.com/rB4CTYrh4l

— History in Moments (@historyinmoment) August 28, 2016

#FrankSinatra - The Lady Is A Tramp

Frank Sinatra - The Lady Is A Tramp ft. Ella Fitzgerald https://t.co/UQPj0ednhd via @YouTube

— Count Swing (@zootswings) October 24, 2016

#MontyAlexander celebrated #FrankSinatra

Monty Alexander celebrated Frank Sinatra at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York - Read/Watch the video - https://t.co/jQefb8PvUy pic.twitter.com/xs84LPrufI

— Jazz In Europe (@Jazzineu) October 14, 2016

Sinatra on TV in '65

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

As turning points go, 1965 marked a significant cultural point of no return. With teen audiences screaming for the Beatles and the Supremes, pop-rock and soul began to lock up a sizable slice of the record market. At the exact same time, the future was becoming a national obsession, helped along largely by the space race and moon shot. Jet travel, the Houston Astrodome, the New York World's Fair, muscle cars, California, futuristic children's cartoons and ads for products like Tang, the electric razor, frozen concentrated orange juice and instant coffee imagined a more convenient tomorrow. If you were older than age 30 back then, you had to be feeling your age and somewhat nostalgic for an earlier time, much the way bewildered baby boomers feel today whenever new technology is introduced.

In October 1965, Frank Sinatra, who would turn 50 that December, hosted ABC's Hollywood Palace, a hugely popular Saturday night TV variety show that began airing in January 1964 and would last until 1970. The show was geared to adult tastes and typically served up acts that appealed to those who grew up during the Depression, fought in World War II, bought houses on the G.I. Bill, raised families in suburbia, watched TV and were baffled in '65 by their declining influence and the speed with which the future was rushing toward them.

Sinatra, who was already dating a much younger Mia Farrow, was there to slow things down for Hollywood Palaceviewers, giving them a sizable, familiar dose of yesterday. The show provided older viewers with a respite from the loud and confusing cultural storm. Yet in retrospect, there was something appealing and re-assuring about pre-1965 entertainment, where polished talent, one-liners and sunny optimism dominated. On the show, Sinatra was joined by the Count Basie Orchestra, both arguably at their swinging peak, and Jack E. Leonard, who preceded Don Rickles in the insult-humor business.

There is an irony here. As boomers today fret about a warming planet, global chaos, political turmoil here at home and a range of everyday threats from texting drivers to the deranged, all that old-time entertainment seems rather comforting. Maybe we shouldn't have been so quick to mock and replace it way back when.

Here's Frank Sinatra hosting the Hollywood Palace 50 years ago just as the potency of an older generation's values were beginning to wane...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Videos: Frank Sinatra, 1943

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

On September 3, 1942, Frank Sinatra left the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra after nearly three years as its star vocalist. On his own as a solo act, Sinatra signed with Columbia. The problem was, however, that the American Federation of Musicians' ban was still on, forcing Sinatra to record a cappella with backup singers for the label. Singers weren't in the musicians' union.

To keep his reputation in tact and his popularity at boil, Sinatra performed around New York and Los Angeles (much to the delight of teenage bobby-soxers), and he began starring in a number of feature Hollywood films and shorts. [Above, Sinatra at the Hollywood Bowl in 1943]

Here are four clips I found yesterday at YouTube documenting Sinatra's emergence as a conversational solo singer but not yet recorded in the studio backed by an orchestra. That wouldn't begin in earnest for Columbia until the following year, when the ban ended for the label and RCA. 

Here's Sinatra singing Night and Day from Reveille With Beverly...

Here's Sinatra in 1943 singing Stardust...

Here's Sinatra at the Walton High School auditorium in the Bronx...

And here's Sinatra in Higher and Higher...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Frank Sinatra in Brooklyn

Reprinted from http://jazzwax.com

In 1947, Frank Sinatra was a major pop and film star. His years with trombonist Tommy Dorsey's orchestra from January 1940 to the summer of 1942 had established him as Bing Crosby's rival—particularly with younger music fans who identified with Sinatra's casual, natural singing style.

Soon after leaving Dorsey, Sinatra signed with Columbia Records in January 1943 and began a grueling period of recording, radio and stage appearances and film work. In short order, Sinatra became a national sensation—his vocals on record were warm and sincere while his brash confidence and innocent optimism were captured neatly in musical films such as Higher and Higher (1944) and Anchors Away(1945).

In 1947, Sinatra made It Happened in Brooklyn—a film about how those with big dreams can see them through with the right mindset and determination. One of my favorite scenes features a young-adult Sinatra working in a record store as he tries to show bop-influenced teens how It's the Same Old Dream should be crooned...

Used with permission by Marc Myers

Frank Sinatra School of the Arts

Frank Sinatra School of the Arts offers the opportunity for all students to achieve their fullest academic and artistic potential. This is accomplished through a rigorous educational program, which includes a challenging academic program, pre-conservatory studio work, experiences with cultural institutions, and intensive participation in community service. The school was founded by world-renowned entertainer, Tony Bennett, and his wife Susan Benedetto, to honor Tony's late friend and colleague, Frank Sinatra. At Mr. Bennett’s encouragement, students are offered the opportunity to gain real world experience in the arts through internships and apprenticeships. Graduates will be prepared for both the finest conservatories and the best universities in the country. Our graduation rate has been one of the highest in the city and our graduates have gone on to rigorous, highly selective conservatories, art programs and competitive colleges and universities. Previous classes have been awarded several millions of dollars in scholarships.

All of the people associated with the school – administrators, teachers, artists and performers – are consonant in their belief that students should be committed and dedicated to their art form, not fame and celebrity. Students should be prepared to work hard and long in their chosen field, learn to appreciate the art itself, and, finally, to see their hard work as its own reward. From vision to course development to day-to-day teaching, the school is designed to reinforce its dedication to the arts.

Frank Sinatra The Concert Collection

By Christopher Loudon

It remains a popular myth that TV is the one medium Frank Sinatra couldn’t conquer. The conceit stems from his two attempts at weekly series, first in the early 1950s when his popularity had sunk to a dismal low, and again in 1957 when, though Sinatra was at the peak of his comeback wattage, a misconceived mish-mash of drama, comedy and music failed to ignite viewers.

But in 1965, NBC had the wisdom to present Sinatra precisely the way the public wanted: alone on stage, backed by a first-class orchestra, performing hit after hit in cool, easy-swingin’ style. The result was A Man and His Music, a minimalist triumph that set the framework for annual specials through 1969. Guests were occasionally featured — Ella Fitzgerald and Antonio Carlos Jobim in ’67; a less-impressive Fifth Dimension in ’69 — but the primary focus remained Sinatra + classic arrangements of his best-loved songs.

After his brief retirement, Sinatra returned to the airwaves in ’73, trim, relaxed and in superb voice for the excellent Ol’ Blue Eyes Is Back with Gene Kelly, followed in ’74 by the overblown but compelling Sinatra: The Main Event from Madison Square Garden. 1977’s Sinatra and Friends, built around awkward pairings with the likes of Loretta Lynn, John Denver and Robert Merrill, was a preposterous blunder. His final U.S. special, 1981’s Sinatra: The Man and His Music wisely reverted to the solo concert paradigm.

All nine are included in this handsome, 7-disc set, augmented with three rarities —Sinatra In Concert at Royal Festival Hall, a BBC broadcast from 1970, Sinatra In Japan from ’85 and the grandiose Concert for the Americas, recorded in ’82 at the 5,000-seat Chavón Amphitheater in the Dominican Republic — plus vintage footage from his 1957-58 series, including a campy, colorized Christmas episode with Bing Crosby, and a 44-page book by noted Sinatra expert Bill Zehme. — Christopher Loudon.

From: http://jazztimes.com/sections/movies/articles/27305-the-concert-collection-frank-sinatra

Duet - Frank Sinatra and ......

When Musicians Go Solo: Frank Sinatra & The Rat Pack

Though Ol' Blue Eyes always did things his way, his illustrious career can't be examined without acknowledging his involvement in The Rat Pack.

Frank Sinatra began his career in the 1940s as a recording artist, with other swing contemporaries as Tommy Dorsey and Harry James, but by the '50s his popularity was beginning to wane. However, Sinatra's portrayal of Private Angelo Maggio in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity earned the star an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, thereby reviving his career.

Sinatra enjoyed a resurgence at this juncture, signing with Capitol Records and releasing several now classic albums, such as Come Fly With Me, Songs for Swinging Lovers, and In the Wee Small Hours. His success even afforded him the opportunity to leave and start his own label, Reprise Records. Sinatra helped the fledgling enterprise with new albums like Ring-A-Ding-Ding and Sinatra at the Sands.

By then Sinatra and a group of his hip peers had begun to attract significant attention in the media. Dubbing them the "Rat Pack," the group was originally centered around actor Humphrey Bogart, but was only popularized after attention turned towards Sinatra and his cohorts, Peter Lawford, Sammy Davis, Jr., Dean Martin and Joey Bishop, all entertainers in their own right.

Sinatra's position at the head of the pack only helped to increase his celebrity. Journalists, writers as well as fans and admirers, became infatuated with the group. The collective's breezy, laisse-faire mentality exuded cool, and proved a draw at concerts. Often, members would show up to one another's performances unannounced, stepping in for a few songs, a few laughs, as the crowd swooned. Nearly all of Sinatra and the other member's gigs (usually in Las Vegas) would be sold-out, as fans would clamor to get in to see the Rat Pack. As the marquee at the Sands Hotel once boasted, "DEAN MARTIN - MAYBE FRANK - MAYBE SAMMY."

The Rat Pack also appeared together in various films during the '50s and '60s. Aside from the recently revived Ocean's Eleven, Sinatra and his buddies starred in Never So Few, Sergeants 3, 4 for Texas, Salt and Pepper, and more.

However, as the decade of the 1970s rolled in, Sinatra announced his retirement, during a show benefitting the Motion Picture and TV Relief Fund. Then 55, the actor/singer seemed to be looking to slow things down, but it wouldn't last. In 1973 he returned for a new album and TV special entitled Ol' Blue Eyes is Back, which featured the song "Send In The Clowns." At this point the legend continued to tour, though the Rat Pack would only gather at sporadic occasions. Sinatra's health declined with age, and in 1997 he suffered a heart attack that effectively ended his performing career.

Justin Starling for Citadel Digital © 2010
http://www.oldies989.com/Article.asp?id=1840607&spid=28267

Martin Scorsese, Make a Movie About the Life of Frank Sinatra

Phil Alden Robinson, the "Universal Pictures" and "Mandalay Pictures, began to develop the project after obtaining the rights to disseminate the life of Sinatra and his music on the" Frank Sinatra Enterprises, an association between the collection of Sinatra and the Warner Music Group. "

"We dreamed to hold a movie about Frank Sinatra, and Marty Scorsese, arguably, has the perfect vision for achieving this project," said the chairman of the Mandalay Entertainment Group, Peter Guber.

"It's an honor is involved in this film that celebrates life and the interesting work of Frank Sinatra," said Donna Langley, director of production for Universal Pictures."
"With Phil Alden Robinson wrote the script and Martin Scorsese in command, the first adaptation for film of the extraordinary life of Sinatra in the best hands."

"My father had great admiration for the talents of people who chose to work with him, and the talented people who worked with my father had great admiration for him," said Tina Sinatra.
"It is pleasant to me personally that this paradigm continues with Marty Scorsese as director of the movie about Sinatra."
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