[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 5-14, 1985: Dad played to sold-out audiences for his entire nine-show engagement at Carnegie Hall. Wrote one critic: "Through subtleties of gesture and of voice - a shift of tone, a way of rushing or delaying the beat - Mr. Sinatra brought to his songs a sense of hard-fought inner drama that made them character studies as well as musical gems."

SEPTEMBER 12, 1982: At the Hilton in New York, Frank Sinatra was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 11–16, 1978: After a brief break, he was back on the road, this time in London for an engagement at the Royal Festival Hall.

SEPTEMBER 10–16, 1976: Back to Lake Tahoe with John Denver at Harrah's.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 12, 1963: Frank Jr., who was all of 19, made his New York professional singing debut at the Americana Hotel. The audience was packed with Sinatra friends and supporters, including Jackie Gleason, Toots Shor, Joe E. Lewis and Jack E. Leonard. "There isn't one of us that doesn't wish him good luck and perhaps a climb to stardom," wrote critic Louis Sobel in the New York Journal American. "A tribute to his mother," wrote columnist Earl Wilson. Dad, who had his hands full in Nevada and California, missed opening night but finally caught a midweek performance. His glowing review: "The kid sings better than I did at that age."

Jilly Rizzo, Frank Sr., Frank Jr. and
friend Frankie Shaw after one of
Frankie's shows.



"I've studied with Frank Sinatra," says Frank Jr., "although he doesn't know I've studied with him. I've been following him around all my life." Asked what kind of advice he would give his son about the press, FS answered, "The press? This will get laughs, but I mean it. Be honest and courteous and hope the press reciprocates. I don't mean the entertainer should be subservient, but he should be frank and square. He'll need members of the press all his life. All of us do. In spite of my so-called problems, I've had a damned good press. Frankie should trust individual members until he finds that he can't."

SEPTEMBER 12, 1963: While in New York, Dad sang "Ol' Man River" at another Carnegie Hall benefit for Martin Luther King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Frank Jr., who was sitting in the balcony, recalled, "Here was the greatest black leader in history watching this white man sing a song about slavery, and there were tears on his cheeks."

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 12, 1945: The Frank Sinatra Show was revived on CBS radio, this time as a half-hour program with guest stars sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes. It would remain on the air for almost two years.

SEPTEMBER 12, 1943: Primed and ready to embark on a movie career, Dad signed a seven-year deal with RKO. "If you're a singer and you want to go into the acting business," he recalled years later, "you begin by learning to use the lyric of a song as a script.

RKO cast Dad in his first important role—playing himself—in the 1943 musical Higher and Higher, which generated not only big box office but also magazine covers and the sales of sheet music for the hottest new singing star in show business.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 16, 1941: After a Midwestern swing, Dorsey returned East for a third sold-out run at the Paramount in New York. By now Dad was the band's big draw, and he was beginning to think about going solo.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 13, 1988: Interviewed by USA Today.

SEPTEMBER 13, 1985: After the show at Carnegie Hall, FS received the Italo-American Coalition Entertainer of the Year Award at the Waldorf-Astoria.

SEPTEMBER 5-14, 1985: Dad played to sold-out audiences for his entire nine-show engagement at Carnegie Hall. Wrote one critic: "Through subtleties of gesture and of voice - a shift of tone, a way of rushing or delaying the beat - Mr. Sinatra brought to his songs a sense of hard-fought inner drama that made them character studies as well as musical gems."

SEPTEMBER 13, 1984: FS was master of ceremonies at a Friars Club tribute to Dean Martin.

SEPTEMBER 13, 1982: With Buddy Rich and Charlie Callas at a Carnegie Hall benefit for the World Mercy Fund.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 11–16, 1978: After a brief break, he was back on the road, this time in London for an engagement at the Royal Festival Hall.

SEPTEMBER 10–16, 1976: Back to Lake Tahoe with John Denver at Harrah's.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 13, 1962: Shooting began on Paramount's screen adaptation of Neil Simon's hit play Come Blow Your Horn. Dad played a devil-may-care lothario—and sang the title song.

Frank with Barbara Rush in a scene
from Come Blow Your Horn.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 16, 1941: After a Midwestern swing, Dorsey returned East for a third sold-out run at the Paramount in New York. By now Dad was the band's big draw, and he was beginning to think about going solo.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Nick_Bradley78]

Nice mention and anecdote of George Shearing up the top, he's a Brit by birth and got a knighthood a couple of years ago, still going strong by all accounts.

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 5-14, 1985: Dad played to sold-out audiences for his entire nine-show engagement at Carnegie Hall. Wrote one critic: "Through subtleties of gesture and of voice - a shift of tone, a way of rushing or delaying the beat - Mr. Sinatra brought to his songs a sense of hard-fought inner drama that made them character studies as well as musical gems."

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 11–16, 1978: After a brief break, he was back on the road, this time in London for an engagement at the Royal Festival Hall.

SEPTEMBER 10–16, 1976: Back to Lake Tahoe with John Denver at Harrah's.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 14, 1956: FS was Edward R. Murrow's guest on his television interview show, Person to Person, filmed at Dad's new Coldwater Canyon home.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 16, 1941: After a Midwestern swing, Dorsey returned East for a third sold-out run at the Paramount in New York. By now Dad was the band's big draw, and he was beginning to think about going solo.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[brooklynbabe]

<<"Through subtleties of gesture and of voice - a shift of tone, a way of rushing or delaying the beat - Mr. Sinatra brought to his songs a sense of hard-fought inner drama that made them character studies as well as musical gems.">>

I love reading quotes of people putting into words what is so very hard to put into words -- so many attempts over so many decades to try to describe the indescribable. Amazing, isn't it.

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 15, 1988: Press question-and-answer session with Frank, Liza and Sammy.

Dad has known Liza since she was born.
She calls him Uncle Frank. They tease
each other about the song "New York,
New York." Liza constantly reminds Dad,
"It was written for me."

SEPTEMBER 15, 1986: Frank attended a memorial service for DJ William B. Williams at the Palace Theater in New York City.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1985: FS was honored in New York City at the Players Club Pipe Night.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1982: Princess Grace of Monaco died in an automobile accident. Dad was unable to attend the funeral but he sent the following words of comfort to her family: "...I feel as though the sword of suffering pierced my heart...God is a jealous lover and wanted Grace now. Indeed our hearts are restless until they rest in Him."

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 15, 1981: He taped a Chrysler commercial and on the same day appeared on Arlene Francis's WOR radio show.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 11–16, 1978: After a brief break, he was back on the road, this time in London for an engagement at the Royal Festival Hall.

SEPTEMBER 10–16, 1976: Back to Lake Tahoe with John Denver at Harrah's.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 15–18, 1962: Frank and Dean Martin did four days at the Sands Hotel.

SEPTEMBER 15, 1954: He did a comedy turn on radio's long-running series, Amos and Andy, which starred his friends Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll. No one, with the exception of Jack Benny, made him laugh as hard.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 16, 1941: After a Midwestern swing, Dorsey returned East for a third sold-out run at the Paramount in New York. By now Dad was the band's big draw, and he was beginning to think about going solo.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 16, 1984: In London, U.S. Ambassador and Mrs. Price held a dinner party honoring Frank and Barbara.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 11–16, 1978: After a brief break, he was back on the road, this time in London for an engagement at the Royal Festival Hall.

SEPTEMBER 10–16, 1976: Back to Lake Tahoe with John Denver at Harrah's.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 16, 1965: Dad appeared as a guest star on the premiere of The Dean Martin Show, a new NBC variety program. Dean was in rare form that night, addressing my father by his new title, "Chairman of the Board." Dad, who had been called a lot of things in his life, was clearly tickled. The title stuck.

SEPTEMBER 15–18, 1962: Frank and Dean Martin did four days at the Sands Hotel.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 16, 1941: After a Midwestern swing, Dorsey returned East for a third sold-out run at the Paramount in New York. By now Dad was the band's big draw, and he was beginning to think about going solo.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Nancy]

SEPTEMBER 16, 1965: Dad appeared as a guest star on the premiere of The Dean Martin Show, a new NBC variety program. Dean was in rare form that night, addressing my father by his new title, "Chairman of the Board." Dad, who had been called a lot of things in his life, was clearly tickled. The title stuck.

It certainly did!

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 1984: Six shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 17–19, 1979: More recording sessions for the Trilogy collection, this time at Western Recorders in L.A. The songs: "The Song Is You," "But Not for Me," "Street of Dreams," "More Than You Know," "New York, New York" and "My Shining Hour." McClintick: "Outside the recording studio on Sunset Boulevard the temperature hovers just under 90 degrees. Brush and forest fires are sprinkling soot on this seedy and vaguely menacing stretch of Hollywood from a sky that has turned from beige to rust to black as the sun has set. It is a Nathanael West sort of evening, and thus is a perfect foil for the magical contrast one finds inside the studio. For inside, it is unmistakably a Mabel Mercer sort of evening. Frank Sinatra, Billy May, a twelve-voice choir and a 55-piece orchestra are making a record of "My Shining Hour," an extraordinary song composed for the Fred Astaire film The Sky's the Limit in 1948. 'I can't believe we never got to this one—I've been wanting to do it for 35 years,' says Sinatra. On these sooty September evenings Sinatra is rerecording several renditions that he and May had completed two months earlier and that seemed perfectly acceptable then. But after listening repeatedly to cassettes of the July recordings, Sinatra decided he could do better. He changed a few keys, slowed a few tempos and generally gained further internal command of the songs." [See also AUGUST 20-22, 1979]

FS with the Trilogy arrangers: Billy
May, Don Costa and Gordon Jenkins.

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 15–18, 1962: Frank and Dean Martin did four days at the Sands Hotel.

SEPTEMBER 17, 1952: In New York, Dad recorded "Why Try to Change Me Now?" with Percy Faith. This was the last song he would sing for Columbia Records before ending his 10-year relationship with the company.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Tony]

<< He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius." >>

Love it - Never a truer word..

[George Lyons]

Love that pic

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 1984: Six shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 17–19, 1979: More recording sessions for the Trilogy collection, this time at Western Recorders in L.A. The songs: "The Song Is You," "But Not for Me," "Street of Dreams," "More Than You Know," "New York, New York" and "My Shining Hour." McClintick: "Outside the recording studio on Sunset Boulevard the temperature hovers just under 90 degrees. Brush and forest fires are sprinkling soot on this seedy and vaguely menacing stretch of Hollywood from a sky that has turned from beige to rust to black as the sun has set. It is a Nathanael West sort of evening, and thus is a perfect foil for the magical contrast one finds inside the studio. For inside, it is unmistakably a Mabel Mercer sort of evening. Frank Sinatra, Billy May, a twelve-voice choir and a 55-piece orchestra are making a record of "My Shining Hour," an extraordinary song composed for the Fred Astaire film The Sky's the Limit in 1948. 'I can't believe we never got to this one—I've been wanting to do it for 35 years,' says Sinatra. On these sooty September evenings Sinatra is rerecording several renditions that he and May had completed two months earlier and that seemed perfectly acceptable then. But after listening repeatedly to cassettes of the July recordings, Sinatra decided he could do better. He changed a few keys, slowed a few tempos and generally gained further internal command of the songs." [See also AUGUST 20-22, 1979]

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 4-18, 1974: Dad and Frankie and I played Harrah's in Lake Tahoe and then headed a bill at Caesars in Vegas. It was a family affair, with my mother, Hugh and A.J. along as well.

SEPTEMBER 15–18, 1962: Frank and Dean Martin did four days at the Sands Hotel.

SEPTEMBER 18, 1955: FS made an unscheduled guest appearance on The Colgate Comedy Hour, hosted that week by Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Savatri]

Thanks for that smile, Tony. I once wrote a letter to the editor of The Evening Star (Washington) back in the 70's as a result of a vicious editorial (yes, incredibly vicious). I wrote - something like this:

<<...And the word charisma was invented for Frank Sinatra, and you know it. Just look at that smile; it is pure radiation and that radiation is love.>>

I'll try to find it and the editorial. In return, they printed a picture of Frank next to my letter with something less than a smile on his face.

[David L]

Today in 1979, Frank recorded "New York, New York". This is probably the first song associated with him in the minds of many around the world. Hard to believe he was almost 64 when he recorded it!

[Lourdes]

Originally Posted by Tony

<< He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius." >>
Love it - Never a truer word..

Lovely picture! Love it!

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 19, 1993: Dad and Barbara hosted a fund-raising dinner at Chasen's restaurant in Los Angeles to support the mayoral reelection bid of Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem. The affair, attended by such luminaries as Gregory Peck, Barbra Streisand and Marvin Davis, was another demonstration of my father's abiding dedication to Israel and to his friendship with Kollek.

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 1984: Six shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 17–19, 1979: More recording sessions for the Trilogy collection, this time at Western Recorders in L.A. The songs: "The Song Is You," "But Not for Me," "Street of Dreams," "More Than You Know," "New York, New York" and "My Shining Hour." McClintick: "Outside the recording studio on Sunset Boulevard the temperature hovers just under 90 degrees. Brush and forest fires are sprinkling soot on this seedy and vaguely menacing stretch of Hollywood from a sky that has turned from beige to rust to black as the sun has set. It is a Nathanael West sort of evening, and thus is a perfect foil for the magical contrast one finds inside the studio. For inside, it is unmistakably a Mabel Mercer sort of evening. Frank Sinatra, Billy May, a twelve-voice choir and a 55-piece orchestra are making a record of "My Shining Hour," an extraordinary song composed for the Fred Astaire film The Sky's the Limit in 1948. 'I can't believe we never got to this one—I've been wanting to do it for 35 years,' says Sinatra. On these sooty September evenings Sinatra is rerecording several renditions that he and May had completed two months earlier and that seemed perfectly acceptable then. But after listening repeatedly to cassettes of the July recordings, Sinatra decided he could do better. He changed a few keys, slowed a few tempos and generally gained further internal command of the songs." [See also AUGUST 20-22, 1979]

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 19, 1959: Dad hosted a luncheon honoring Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and attended by more than 400 Hollywood stars where Khrushchev and 20th Century Fox president Spyros Skouras debated the relative merits of capitalism and communism. Visiting a movie set, the Khrushchevs enjoyed watching my father film a scene from Can-Can—but the Russian premier proceeded to denounce the can-can itself as a decadent example of Western culture. When they were denied permission to visit Disneyland for security reasons, my father offered to escort Mrs. Khrushchev there personally—an offer vetoed by the Secret Service. But later he sat with her and looked patiently at photos of her grandchildren.

Soviet Premier and Mrs. Nikita Khrushchev visit the set of Can-Can in 1959.
Khrushchev called the can-can dance number "immoral." Reporting that
advance ticket sales for the film were bigger than those for Ben-Hur,
Newsweek added: "being condemned by Khrushchev may be an even
bigger commercial asset than being banned in Boston."

SEPTEMBER 19, 1955: In a prestigious television appearance—aired in a new process NBC called "living color"—Dad played the Stage Manager in a television version of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, starring Paul Newman and Eva Marie Saint. One of the songs introduced in it, Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen's "Love and Marriage," would win an Emmy and become one of Dad's biggest hits. This was Jimmy's first formal job for my father and he told me that "when the time came to run through the score for him, I went to your home. Conditions there made it slightly difficult to hear the seven songs for the first time. Tina and Frankie and you were all over his lap and your mother was in the kitchen getting some beautiful food ready and with the clatter of plates and kids underfoot it was not easy to impress him with my clever cantatas. Those were the lean years for him but there was nothing lean about his love for his family. And I watched it all, first with impatience because my cadenzas got clobbered, but later with the great wish that I were as lucky as he."

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Nancy]

From Jimmy Van Heusen

This was Jimmy's first formal job for my father and he told me that "when the time came to run through the score for him, I went to your home. Conditions there made it slightly difficult to hear the seven songs for the first time. Tina and Frankie and you were all over his lap and your mother was in the kitchen getting some beautiful food ready and with the clatter of plates and kids underfoot it was not easy to impress him with my clever cantatas. Those were the lean years for him but there was nothing lean about his love for his family. And I watched it all, first with impatience because my cadenzas got clobbered, but later with the great wish that I were as lucky as he."

Jimmy aka Chester was at our house so much he might have just lived there but his real home was in Palm Springs.

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 1984: Six shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1981: He played a two-week engagement with George Shearing at Carnegie Hall. George, who was blind, called Frank "Old Blue Eyes" and himself "Old No Eyes."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1980: Frank returned to London for memorable concerts at the Royal Festival and Royal Albert Halls. Critic Derek Jewell of the Sunday Times wrote: "Sinatra has become the keeper of the flame for everyone from 40 to 80. His songs distill the youth, the nostalgia of millions. He also happens to be the best at it: an artist of colossal stature. He shapes songs like no one else. That's genius."

SEPTEMBER 8–20, 1975: FS, Count Basie and Ella Fitzgerald co-headlined for two hugely successful weeks at New York's Uris Theater, grossing more than $1 million. After one show, Dad escorted Jacqueline Onassis to the "21" Club.

SEPTEMBER 20, 1973: My husband, Hugh Lambert, did the choreography and staging for the television event Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back. Gene Kelly was Frank's special guest star. The audience invited to the taping was jeweled, black-tied and glamorous—who's who of Hollywood, a guest list that could unnerve even the most seasoned performer. Gene and Frank were visibly excited and nervous. The show was a hit. But Dad said later, "When I haven't sung for a while, my reed gets rusty. If you don't sing all the time, when you go back it's a whole new voice. No bottom; you gotta pound on it for a while." He reached out to his old friend, Metropolitan Opera star Robert Merrill, for help: "We met at his hotel, the Waldorf Towers. He sang for me and I gave him exercises—scales to do to relax his throat. See, the trick of singing well is to have the throat open, relaxed."

Robert Merrill: "You have to let [the voice] flow. It's like getting out of a sickbed and trying to walk right away. You have to practice and vocalize. Frank understood and he did the exercises and his ten performances with no problems. Then he went on TV and talked about the trouble he'd had and said, 'I have a great teacher—Bob Merrill.' Well, I'm not a teacher professionally, and suddenly I started getting calls from all sorts of people who wanted to study with me!"


Dad and Gene rehearsing "Can't Do
That Anymore" for Ol' Blue Eyes Is
Back. [Photo: 1973, David Sutton]

SEPTEMBER 20, 1965: In Assault on a Queen, Dad starred opposite Virna Lisi as a modern-day pirate who salvaged a sunken German U-boat in a bid to hijack the luxury liner Queen Mary and loot its cargo and its well-heeled passengers. The most memorable things about this film are the fact that Duke Ellington wrote the score and Rod Serling wrote the screenplay.

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 21, 2009: The Frank Sinatra School of the Arts officially opened in Astoria, New York.

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 1984: Six shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

SEPTEMBER 21–25, 1983: He returned to the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City with Dean Martin.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

LATE SEPTEMBER 1945: Broke, out of work and sharing a two-dollar-a-night hotel room with his dad and uncle, young hoofer Sammy Davis Jr. waited at the KFWB stage door in Hollywood for Dad to finish signing autographs. Reminded that they appeared on the same bill with Tommy Dorsey in Detroit five years earlier, Dad left a pass allowing Sammy to watch the next week's broadcast from the studio audience. After the show, he invited Sammy to stop by his dressing room. It was the start of a beautiful friendship. [See also May 1947]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[SinatraFan]

(From the Guestbook page and the online book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend by Nancy Sinatra )

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 1984: Six shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

SEPTEMBER 21–25, 1983: He returned to the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City with Dean Martin.

SEPTEMBER 13–23, 1982: At a Carnegie Hall concert, a young woman who was an admitted fan of rock music was quoted by the New York Times as saying, "Frank Sinatra is one thing I can agree with my parents about. They've been playing his records since I was born, and I don't ordinarily like that kind of music much, but he's a great singer."

SEPTEMBER 22, 1981: Frank and Barbara attended the National Multiple Sclerosis Society Ball in Washington, D.C., with President and Mrs. Reagan.

SEPTEMBER 22–24, 1975: Ella, Basie and Frank played Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago, where Mayor Richard J. Daley presented Dad with the gold Medallion of Citizenship in a City Hall ceremony recognizing Dad's role in letting the world know that Chicago is "My Kind of Town."

Fitzgerald, Basie and Sinatra.

FRANK ON ELLA FITZGERALD: I love working with Ella. She's as good a musician and vocalist as anybody will ever hear for the next hundred years. She is so free and thinks so freely and is completely wrapped up in what she does—that's all she ever thinks about. In that way, she's like Benny Goodman, who thought only about the clarinet. Like Ella, he was what he does—a very bright and erudite man, sure, but his life was the clarinet. Once, many years ago, when we were at a Madison Square Garden Christmas benefit, I caught up with him off in a corner, quietly noodling on the licorice stick. Everybody else was sitting around having a sip of booze or something, and I walked over and said, "Every time I see you, Benny, you're practicing. Why do you do that so often?" He said, "Purely because if tonight I'm not great, I'm at least good." I never forgot that, because it's true. If you work hard at it all the time and you have a slow period, whether it's your own emotional problems or you're thinking, I don't feel like working as hard as I did last night, you work and it's still never below the standard, still better than the other guy. I've tried to live up to that, and I know Ella has, too.

SEPTEMBER 22, 1975: In his first in-depth television interview... [See Frank Opens Up]

SEPTEMBER 10–30, 1947: Hearst columnist Westbrook Pegler, fueled by Lee Mortimer and the FBI, resumed his attacks on my father, this time raking up the 1938 morals charge of "seducing a woman of good repute," never mentioning that the woman was discredited and the charges dismissed. In addition, Pegler attempted unsuccessfully to link Frank to a rogues' gallery of gangsters that included not only Lucky Luciano but Frank Costello, Joe Adonis, Longie Zwillman, Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky and Willie Moretti, reputed Mob chief of Bergen County, New Jersey.

LATE SEPTEMBER 1943: He continued his public appearances in support of the war effort, performing almost every night in one rally or another around New York.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]