[Gregory]

Originally Posted by SinatraIsLove

That "The Night of a Thousand Sinatras" sounds divine.

I bet it was. I love how Nancy writes about it.

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

AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 1, 1985: In Las Vegas for six shows at the Golden Nugget.

AUGUST 24-30, 1981: Back to Resorts International in Atlantic City.

AUGUST 24-31, 1980: During his engagement at Resorts International in Atlantic City, Dad took the time to join Jerry Lewis on his Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

AUGUST 25-31, 1977: After a benefit performance at the Aladdin Hotel for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, FS opened for a week's run at Caesars Palace.

AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23-SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

AUGUST 30, 1951: Dad denied a widely publicized story that after another fight with Ava, he attempted suicide at Lake Tahoe with an overdose of sleeping pills.

SINATRA TO THE PRESS ON HIS "SUICIDE ATTEMPT": The following quote from my father appeared in Time magazine: "Ava and I, my manager Henry Sanicola and Mrs. Sanicola went to the Christmas Tree restaurant for dinner. Ava was planning to return to Hollywood that night. I didn't feel so good, so I took two sleeping pills. Ava left by auto for Reno and the plane trip to Hollywood. By now it was very early in the morning. I guess I wasn't thinking, because I'm very allergic to sleeping pills and always have been. I had drunk two or three brandies and I broke out in a rash. Hank called the doctor and he come right over. He gave me a glass of water with some salts in it trying to get those pills off my stomach. That's all there was to it."

AVA ON THE LAKE TAHOE INCIDENT: We were desperately in love and tried so hard to make each other happy. But Frank's deep depression at being in a career low, and the realization that people he'd once thought of as friends were pretty good at kicking him when he was down there, was not good for us. And we both had a terrible tendency to needle each other's weaknesses, a habit that led to fallings out like the one that Labor Day weekend.

It started with a phone call from Frank saying he'd rented a house on Lake Tahoe and why didn't I come by. A few nights later, when we had both drunk too much, Frank made an offhand remark that hurt me so deeply that I decided to go back to Los Angeles.

As I reached my house in Pacific Palisades, I was exhausted, hung over and miserable. The telephone rang, it was Hank saying, "Oh, my God, Ava. Hurry back! Frank's taken an overdose!" I have been exasperated with Francis Albert Sinatra many times, but never more so than on the morning when I rushed to his bedside back at Lake Tahoe. I ran into his bedroom and looked down at him and he turned his sad blue eyes to look at me. "I thought you'd gone," he said weakly. He'd had a fine rest, doctors watching over him, feeling his pulse, and they didn't even have to pump his stomach; he hadn't taken enough phenobarbitol for that. Everybody had been up all night except Frank. I could have killed him. Instead I forgave him in about 25 seconds.

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.

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

AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 1, 1985: In Las Vegas for six shows at the Golden Nugget.

AUGUST 24-31, 1980: During his engagement at Resorts International in Atlantic City, Dad took the time to join Jerry Lewis on his Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy.

AUGUST 27-SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

AUGUST 25-31, 1977: After a benefit performance at the Aladdin Hotel for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, FS opened for a week's run at Caesars Palace.

AUGUST 31, 1975: My father appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy, helping to raise a record sum, and making a pledge in his new granddaughter's name.

AUGUST 31-SEPTEMBER 1, 1971: Frank suffered the loss of two very dear friends, Random House founder and publisher Bennett Cerf and restaurateur Michael Romanoff.

AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23-SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

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.

AUGUST 31, 1939: For Columbia, Frank recorded a song that was destined to become one of his first big hits: "All or Nothing at All."

Frank emerged as a performer of star stature on his very first record with James: 1939's "From the Bottom of My Heart." It didn't hit the charts, but six weeks later came "All or Nothing at All." It sold a dismal 8,000 copies—because ASCAP wouldn't allow recordings to be broadcast on radio—but when the ban was lifted four years later, it sold over a million copies and became Frank's first big hit.

[ Repeating an earlier post from the thread Significant FS Anniversary Dates ]

On this day, late in the night on a Thursday in New York City, Frank Sinatra recorded "All Or Nothing At All" with Harry James and His Orchestra. (The Columbia session ledger says September 1st, so the actual recording may have occurred after midnight of the 31st.)

This was one of only ten such studio recordings made by FS in his premier year as a professional band singer. The original release was barely noticed, and it sold only about 8,000 copies in 1940. When the song was reissued in October 1943, during the "Bobby Soxer" craze, it climbed to No. 1 on the charts and became one of Sinatra's biggest hits. (Besides Frank's popularity with the teen set as a solo singer, the song's success was heightened by the AFM recording ban which left fans starved for new releases of instrumental music.) Two different takes of the Columbia recording may be found on the 1995 Columbia/Legacy CD, Harry James And His Orchestra Featuring Frank Sinatra: The Complete Recordings 1939.

Earlier in the day on August 31, 1939, the James band performed the same song in a broadcast from the New York World's Fair Radio Building in Flushing, NY. That aircheck version of "All Or Nothing At All" may be heard on the 1995 Hindsight Records CD, Harry James And His Orchestra Featuring Frank Sinatra: All Or Nothing At All.

The thread which mentions the latter CD includes an interesting historical parallel, in this post by the late Russell Kishi:

ONE PROFOUND DATE

World War II began at nearly the precise instant that FS was recording "All Or Nothing At All" in Columbia's NYC studios! (See Bernhard Vogel's fascinating analysis following Russell's posting.)

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

FALL 1991: Tina's book, A Man and His Art, was published. In it she exposed a hitherto unknown passion of my father's: painting. She wrote, "For Frank Sinatra, painting isn't an intellectual pursuit—it's visceral. It's more intangible, more essential than that. This book is the essence of him. Painting is a part of his talent that not many have seen before. This book is a way for him to share a very personal side of himself. It's a little like publishing a book of poetry. It's another window to his soul."

Tina: "Dad paints what he likes. He
doesn't do it to please anybody."

AUGUST 29–SEPTEMBER 1, 1985: In Las Vegas for six shows at the Golden Nugget.

FALL 1985: After years of research, my book Frank Sinatra: My Father was published in hardcover.

SEPTEMBER 1982: Syms by Sinatra was released. He once said of her, "If every modern-day female vocalist in America would take a one- or two-year hiatus from their jobs and study the vocalizing of Sylvia Syms, the world would be better for it."

AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 1974: Grandfather and granddaughter appeared on the cover of Ladies' Home Journal. Inside, he gushed about her: "I thank God that this living gift has been sent to all of us—because from this day forward, she will be our music. The first time I looked into that adorable face, I saw myself starting out all over again, two generations later. And I said a silent prayer in gratitude for these miracles that have been given to us. I guess it's too soon to start wondering what Angela will be when she grows up."

[Photo: Ron Joy]

FALL 1972: The guest house had been renamed Agnew House, because it was where Ted and Judy Agnew stayed when they visited the desert. Tina recalled: "Agnew was at the Palm Springs house for a party, and I was running around getting voters to register for the '72 election. Every time I'd land a Democrat, I'd shout, 'Got one!' And Agnew would laugh. During Watergate I'd get on Daddy about Nixon. He'd say, 'Nobody's perfect.' He has loyalties. That lawyer, Charles Colson, who went to jail because of Watergate, and Vice President Agnew—he remained friendly with all of them. He loves underdogs; he is crazy about the guy who needs help."

He will defend anyone who has made a mistake. His attitude is this: "He's made mistakes. We've all made mistakes. The President of the United States is a human being and can make mistakes."

With Agnew, Dad flew to Cape Kennedy on Air Force Two to observe an Apollo moonshot launch.

AUGUST 31–SEPTEMBER 1, 1971: Frank suffered the loss of two very dear friends, Random House founder and publisher Bennett Cerf and restaurateur Michael Romanoff.

SEPTEMBER 1968: In an impassioned campaign speech on the principles he shared with Hubert Humphrey, Dad said, "I don't know why we can't grow up. It took us long enough to get past the stage where we were calling Italians 'wops' and 'dagos,' but if we don't drop this 'nigger' thing, we just won't be around much longer."

HUBERT HUMPHREY ON DAD'S IDEALS: My first recollection of your father was during the time of Roosevelt. He went to schools and talked to young people about all forms of prejudice and intolerance. Your dad was a hero to these kids. And he took this powerful message right to them—touching both their hearts and minds. I am convinced that this early dedication and activity helped create the political climate that made possible the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1960s. Thousands and thousands of boys and girls in the Forties who become parents and mature citizens in the Sixties had their eyes opened for the first time to the evils of prejudice by your dad. I recall the time when your father and I went to the White House very late one night. We went in the back entrance and up in the elevator to find the president in a characteristic posture for receiving visitors. He was in his bedroom, flat on his stomach, having a rubdown. He looked up and said, "Hiya, Frank. What have you and Hubert been conspiring to do tonight?" What we had been conspiring to do was a series of concerts in Watts, a war-torn ghetto in Los Angeles, the proceeds of which would be used for voter registration, to help implement the Voting Rights Act of 1965. What I recall most about your father is his great concern for the country, and particularly for black Americans who have been so long denied an equal opportunity...He is a solid, devoted American liberal in the tradition of Roosevelt and Truman, Kennedy and Johnson, and—if I can be immodest—myself.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

EARLY SEPTEMBER 1967: Howard Hughes purchased the Sands Hotel from the owners, listed as follows: Jack Entratter, Carl Cohen, Bryant R. Burton, Charles Baron, Charles Turner, Sanford Waterman, Hyman Abrams, Jerry Ross, George Reese, Michael Shapiro, Maxwell Rubin, Albert Parvin, Harry A. Goldman, Dean Martin, Michael Wichinsky, Harry Nobut, Morris Lewis and the estate of Aaron Weisberg.

SEPTEMBER 1967: Eleanor Roth (President Jack Entratter's assistant at the Sands): "It was a Thursday morning when Carl Cohen came into Entratter's office and told him that General Edward Nigro, the general manager of the hotel, was going to cut off Frank Sinatra's credit in the casino because when Frank won, he took the chips, and when he lost, he didn't pay his markers. Why would they cut off his credit when he hadn't even been paid for the engagement? They could have taken the markers out of his salary without embarrassing him." Roth continued, "Jack Entratter didn't have the balls to tell Frank about the situation. On Friday evening, some of the Apollo astronauts came in to see the Sinatra show: Jack Swigert, Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, Walt Cunningham, Wally Schirra and Ron Evans. After the show, Frank took them to the baccarat table, where he asked for credit. He was told that he no longer had credit in the casino, which humiliated him in front of his heroes. That's when the shit hit the fan. Frank pulled all of the wires out of the switchboard in the phone room and drove a golf cart through a plate-glass window. This got Carl Cohen's attention and prompted him to punch Frank in the mouth. It was all Entratter's fault for not telling Frank about the problem in the first place."

KIRK DOUGLAS ON DAD'S FISTFIGHT AT THE SANDS: In the wee hours of the morning, after more than a few drinks, Frank insisted on confronting the manager of the Sands, Carl Cohen, a very nice Jewish man. Carl Cohen punched Frank in the mouth and knocked him down. Most people avoided ever referring to this entire episode. But I couldn't resist. "Frank," I asked, "what happened? Did you and Carl Cohen really have a fight in Las Vegas?" Frank was in an embarrassing situation, and to me, that is the test of a man. Frank paused, looked at me with his steely blue eyes and said, "Yes." Then a twinkle came to his eyes and he added, "Kirk, I learned one thing. Never fight a Jew in the desert."

SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER 1966: He did two more fund-raisers for Governor Brown, one in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles.

SEPTEMBER 1964: He toured the French Riviera in a month devoted entirely to rest and recuperation.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

LABOR DAY WEEKEND, 1963: Newspapers in Nevada and around the country reported that Frank Sinatra was under investigation by the state gaming commission. Commissioner Ed Olsen contacted Dad by phone, demanding that he appear at the government office. Countering, Dad insisted on an off-the-record meeting. When Olsen threatened him with a subpoena, Dad hung up. Later that evening, Gaming Control investigators arrived at the Cal-Neva, only to be ejected on orders from my father. The angry Olsen retaliated by bringing formal charges against Dad, accusing him of lying to the board, violating gaming laws by associating with Giancana and trying to intimidate government personnel.

In his newspaper column, Las Vegas Sun publisher Hank Greenspun responded with front-page editorials ridiculing the charges against my father: "Frank Sinatra is not a hoodlum, has never been accused of such and has not been identified by anyone as a member of any crime syndicate in the country. With the horrible record of criminal associations that many members of the gaming industry have—and which have not been severed—the only person chosen as a sacrifice to gaming rectitude is Frank Sinatra."

LOS ANGELES COUNTY SHERIFF PETER PITCHESS ON INVESTIGATING SINATRA: I have probably spent more time investigating Frank Sinatra than any other man or organization. First, because I was active in the intelligence section of the FBI when I was an agent; then as sheriff; then because Mr. Sinatra is my personal friend and I had to find out to protect my career. And let me tell you something. You might as well go home, because you're not going to confirm any of those things.

FALL 1963: Dad went to Rockford, Illinois, with Jerry Lewis to raise money for the family of a fireman who'd died in the line of duty.

[Left photo by Bernie Abramson]

JERRY LEWIS ON MEETING FRANK SINATRA: I was 15 years old and doing a "dumb act"—all I did was mime records—at a club called the Glass Hat which was in the Belmont Plaza Hotel in New York City. I weighed about 106 pounds and with my bow tie and big shoulders I looked like Frank. And "All or Nothing at All" had just come out. It was one of the records that I mimed. Frank's mother, Natalie, came to my show three nights a week for 20 weeks. She was my biggest fan. She took me on my night off to see Frank with Harry James.

JERRY LEWIS ON THE ROCKFORD BENEFIT: He called me one evening and said, "What are you doing, Jew?" And I said, "Nothing in particular, Wop." He said, "Meet me tomorrow morning and bring your tools." We flew to Rockford, got to this coliseum seating 20,000. He's hired a 30-piece orchestra. We did the show, brought in about $100,000 and flew back to Los Angeles around four in the morning. This performance was for one fireman who had died, and his family. He said, "Thanks, you're a good friend." And I said, "You're a good man, Frank."

SEPTEMBER 1–2, 1962: Frank and Dean returned to the Cal-Neva for the big Labor Day weekend.

SEPTEMBER 1962: Reprise released the milestone album Sinatra & Strings, arranged by Don Costa. This album is brilliant, but for me the outstanding cut here is "Come Rain or Come Shine." I was on tour with Dad in 1983 when Don Costa died. I remember the last time I saw him. I sat on his lap in the wings at Caesars Palace while we watched Dad perform "Come Rain or Come Shine," and Don, who was in a melancholy mood, said, "That's still the best chart I ever wrote."

FRANK JR. ON SINATRA & STRINGS: It opened up a whole new era. Orchestras were getting bigger. Pop wanted that bigger, lush string sound. On the first night of the session, they assembled a huge orchestra. When my old man walked in for the first take, he saw the concertmaster, Felix Slatkin, slumped over in his chair, his violin still in its case. Slatkin was sweating. He said, "Frank, I don't feel so good." My old man turned around and looked at Don Costa with all the music and 50 musicians. Then he turned to Hank Sanicola and said, "Hank, pay everyone off." Pop got up on the conductor's podium and went—tap, tap—"Everybody, good evening. Turn in your W-4 forms, we're not recording tonight. Come back tomorrow night at eight." Slatkin was not well, and Pop was not going to record without him.

AUTUMN 1961: Throughout the previous year, my father had been dating Juliet Prowse. She attended his recording sessions and spent time with Dad at his home in Coldwater Canyon. But both of them were wary of commitment and continued to date other people.

SEPTEMBER 1959: Dad was shooting 20th Century Fox's production of Cole Porter's Can-Can, again co-starring with Shirley MacLaine. This time he played an attorney who defends her character, a nightclub owner, when she's arrested with her dancers for performing the provocative can-can.

In a scene from Can-Can, Frank Sinatra
watches the "scandalous" dance on
stage with co-stars Shirley MacLaine
and Maurice Chevalier.

FALL 1957: According to Lauren Bacall, she and Dad were drawn together in the wake of Bogart's death and began dating. Their first date: an outing to a theater for a closed-circuit telecast of a prizefight between Sugar Ray Robinson and Gene Fullmer. "I had never thought much about celebrity after the insane exposure I'd had at the time of To Have and Have Not and my marriage to Bogie," she recalled. "I gave no thought to being noticed on such a quiet evening, even with Frank, but when we emerged from the theater there were photographers waiting and the resulting pictures ended up in newspapers around the world." They soon became an item, and she played hostess at his small dinner parties. "It seemed to his friends and mine that we were crazy about each other," she later recounted, "that we were a great pair; that it wouldn't last; that Frank would never be able to remain constantly devoted, monogamous. But just then I was the center of his life. At least I felt I was. And I was happy."

Jack Entratter, Frank Sinatra and Kim
Novak celebrate Lauren Bacall's birth-
day in Las Vegas.

SEPTEMBER 1955: Confidential magazine reported that during the wrong-door raid of 1954—which involved Joe DiMaggio—Sinatra had not stood by the car smoking a cigarette as he claimed but had entered the apartment along with the detectives who broke down the door. A few days after the magazine came out, thugs beat up 24-year-old Phillip Irwin, one of the detectives involved in the raid. He told police he thought Sinatra was behind the attack because of rumors that Irwin had talked to Confidential reporters. He also claimed Sinatra had lied under oath when he said he hadn't gone into the apartment with the others. Dad said he was telling the truth and would never lie, especially under oath. My father's friend, music publisher Frank Military, who was present at the hearings, recently confirmed Dad's story: "Frank was totally innocent. He got suckered in by Joe." Most people refused to lend any credence to anything reported in that magazine.

SEPTEMBER 1954: FS returned to weekly radio once again as host of his own show, broadcast on Wednesdays and Fridays, playing his records and singing his own songs.

SEPTEMBER 1953: Dad returned from Europe with Ava at his side. He agreed to appear at Skinny D'Amato's 500 Club in Atlantic City, which in nightclub lore was partly owned by alleged Chicago mobster Sam Giancana. Skinny was a good friend of my father's and his club wasn't doing well, so when Skinny asked for help, Dad said yes. After his first performance, Ava wrote that Frank was introduced to Giancana, who praised his singing. Afterward, Ava asked Frank why he associated with hoodlums. "That hoodlum is responsible for giving me a job," he replied. On the last night of that engagement, it was reported in a fan magazine that he met three teenage girls from Brooklyn who came all the way just to glimpse him for a few minutes. It was past midnight, raining heavily, and none of the kids had umbrellas, raincoats or cab fare home, so, according to the article, Frank sent the girls safely back to Brooklyn in his own hired car.

SEPTEMBER 1951: FS made his first appearance in Las Vegas—at the Desert Inn.

[Photo from the Ralph Roske collection,
University of Nevada, Las Vegas library]

SINATRA AND VEGAS: It had begun in 1946 when a flashy resort hotel named the Flamingo opened to crowds of Hollywood high rollers in the middle of the Nevada desert. It was the grandiose pipe dream of a visionary West Coast mobster named Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, who envisioned Las Vegas as a new gambler's mecca to rival the syndicate-owned casinos of Fulgencio Battista's Havana. Siegel never lived to see his dream come true, but even he would have been stunned by the scale of the city that began to spring up in the boomtown years that followed. By the time my father made his first appearance at the Desert Inn, there were only four other hotels on the Vegas "Strip," but big business soon joined the bandwagon and a parade of high-rise resorts soon lined the boulevard. The Sands, best of them all in those early days, would become Dad's new home away from home. So would Vegas, as he would make it his own, helping to reshape the entertainment landscape as a pioneer performer in the world's spectacular new capital of live entertainment. With Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Sammy Davis Jr., Red Skelton, Danny Thomas and others joining him as the biggest headliners in a town of superstars, he imbued this anything-goes oasis with his own high-living personality, turned it into a glitzy movie set for one of his own films, transformed it into a giant sandbox for grown-ups—and invited everybody in the world to come and play.

SEPTEMBER 1950: With Mom and Dad legally separated, she was granted $50,000 and a small percentage of his income for the rest of her life, plus custody of the children, her 1950 Cadillac and their home in Holmby Hills. The separation was, of course, roughest on my mother. I would see her faint into her plate at dinner from the stress. Sometimes it was heart palpitations, sometimes a cold, sometimes fatigue. Until then, she had never been sick. I used to think it was the food. Maybe she wasn't eating right. She was in pain. And though I wasn't aware of it, her pain was exacerbated by the scandal. She was deeply in love and terribly hurt. I would hear her crying quietly at night while I was going to sleep. She would never show it in front of us, never, but my room was next to hers and I would tiptoe out and I'd listen at the door and she'd be crying. Sometimes I would go in to her and just put my arms around her. And sometimes I would just go away, thinking, "Mind your own business. Daddy's just on the road again," and cry myself to sleep.

SUMMER–FALL 1947: On weekends in Los Angeles, Dad led a softball team, the Swooners, in games against other celebrity teams at various locations such as the Hollywood Bowl Field and Gilmore Field (now home to CBS Television City). He played second base in a lineup that included manager Hank Sanicola, actors Anthony Quinn and Barry Sullivan and songwriters Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne. They even had their own cheerleaders: Virginia Mayo, Marilyn Maxwell, Shelley Winters and Ava Gardner.

Left: The Swooners baseball team: Team members included Anthony Quinn,
Al Sylvani, Barry Sullivan, Robert Young, David Nelson, Sammy Cahn, Jule
Styne, Hank Sanicola and Frank Sinatra. Right: Frank Sinatra and the
Swooner Bat Girls: Virginia Mayo (standing), Ava Gardner, Marilyn Maxwell
and Shelley Winters.


Left: FS and the future Mrs. Sinatra (Ava Gardner).

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.

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

SEPTEMBER 2, 1992: In Beverly Hills, Gregory Peck and Liza Minnelli presented FS with the Distinguished Life Achievement Award at the American Cinema Awards.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1984: In the pouring rain, FS, Buddy Rich and Tom Dreesen performed at the Canadian National Exhibition in Toronto.

AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 2-8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. He made his usual appearance on Jerry Lewis' Labor Day Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy, singing "Stargazer" and Eric Carmen's "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again." Then, capping three months of elaborate secret planning, he said to Jerry, "Listen, I have a friend who loves what you do every year...Would you send my friend out, please? Where is he?" Out strolled Jerry's former partner, Dean Martin. The two had not seen or spoken to each other in more than 20 years. As they warmly embraced, Dad said, "I think it's about time, don't you?" To which Jerry replied, wiping away tears, "You son of a bitch." To Dean, Jerry said, "So, how ya been?" And Dean replied, "You know, it seems like we haven't seen each other for 20 years." Then Frank and Dean did a 10-song medley. Afterward, Jerry commented, "When Francis Albert is around, usually there's gonna be excitement."

Attachment 49548
Displaying his gifts of heart and timing
and showmanship, Frank reunites Jerry
and Dean, allowing the world to share
the moment.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

SEPTEMBER 1–2, 1962: Frank and Dean returned to the Cal-Neva for the big Labor Day weekend.

SEPTEMBER 2, 1957: Where Are You?, a musical collaboration between FS and Gordon Jenkins, was a killer album: irresistibly sweet ballads of longing with deeply romantic orchestrations. Among them: "The Night We Called It a Day," "Laura," "Maybe You'll Be There" and "Baby Won't You Please Come Home?"

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.

SEPTEMBER 2-8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed.

See also: September 5, 1976 - FS reunites Martin and Lewis

[SinatraIsLove]

What a wonderful, wonderful man

[Dan]

I remember the telethon that year when Dean and Jerry reunited, it's like it was yesterday for me. That was such a memorable time.

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

SEPTEMBER 3–9, 1979: More shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International.

AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 2-8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. [See September 2nd]

SEPTEMBER 3, 1970: While at Caesars Palace for a two-week run, FS had an altercation with hotel executive vice president Sanford Waterman in Waterman's office, resulting in Waterman pulling a gun that he kept in his desk and aiming it at my father's face. My father, stunned that the old man would pull a gun on him—but keeping his cool—reached for the gun, saying, "I hope you like that gun, because you may have to eat it." Jilly Rizzo, who was also in the room, jumped over the desk at Waterman and took possession of the gun. My father threw up his hands and said, "That's it. I'm outta here." To this day, Dad wonders why Waterman was so frightened.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

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.

[Nancy]

he was beginning to think about going solo.

Love this.

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

SEPTEMBER 3–9, 1979: More shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International.

AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 4, 1977: Dad sang four songs on the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon.

SEPTEMBER 2–8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. [See September 2nd]

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.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

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.

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

SEPTEMBER 5, 1986: In Atlantic City, he filmed a Golden Nugget TV commercial with owner Steve Wynn.

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 3–9, 1979: More shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International.

AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 2–8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. [See September 2nd]

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.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

SEPTEMBER 5, 1949: Dad co-starred opposite an unlikely partner, operatic soprano Dorothy Kirsten, on Light Up Time, a new 15-minute musical variety show sponsored by Lucky Strike cigarettes and broadcast on NBC five nights a week.

Frank and his Light Up Time partner,
Dorothy Kirsten.

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.

SEPTEMBER 5, 1986: In Atlantic City, he filmed a Golden Nugget TV commercial with owner Steve Wynn.

The 30-second spot aired during (the 1987) Super Bowl XXI.

Attachment 49593
(There is a web link, but it's a pay-to-view site.)

Can anyone guess what Steve Wynn and Rick Anthony have in common?

Answer: FS pinches Wynn's cheek in the commercial (not shown in above still).

[voice1]

True Bob. Frank practiced with me 5 years earlier.

(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 3–9, 1979: More shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International.

AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 6, 1978: A series of one-nighters in the Northeast: the New York State Fair in Syracuse, the Saratoga Performing Arts Center in Saratoga Springs, the Pine Knob Theater in Clarkston, Michigan, and the Garden State Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey.

SEPTEMBER 2–8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. [See September 2nd]

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 6, 1971: In Paris, Dad accepted the Award of the Century.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1965: Newsweek published a checklist of Dad's enterprises: Artanis ("Sinatra" spelled backward) Productions, which produced None but the Brave; Park Lake Enterprises, which produced Four for Texas and Robin and the 7 Hoods; Reprise Records; and Cal Jet Airways, a charter service.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

SEPTEMBER 6, 1947: After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, Dad returned to NBC's Your Hit Parade, this time with Doris Day as a co-star.

"Doris is so cute," said FS. "She has something wonderful about her style. It kind of bubbles. I love working with her." Doris remembered, "Frank is a wonderful guy to work with. I really owe him so much. Just watching him and working with him is a lot of help to any singer. He's so relaxed, he gave me confidence. He's just the sweetest person I've ever known in the business."

Over the course of his long run on Your Hit Parade, Frank shared the mike with some wonderful co-stars: Eileen Barton, Beryl Davis, Joan Edwards, Marjorie Hughes, Carol Richards, Bea Wayne, Bonnie Lou Williams and Eileen Wilson.

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.

(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 3–9, 1979: More shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International.

SEPTEMBER 2–8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. [See September 2nd]

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.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

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.

(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 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."

From the stage in London, Frank greets
close friend Claudette Colbert, who
wrote: "Frank has had a very special
corner of my heart for a long time."

SEPTEMBER 3–9, 1979: More shows at Atlantic City's Resorts International.

SEPTEMBER 2–8, 1976: While at Caesars Palace, Frank performed another good deed. [See September 2nd]

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.

Fitzgerald, Basie and Sinatra.
[See also September 22nd]

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.

AUGUST 30–SEPTEMBER 9, 1967: He did two weeks at the Sands, missing three nights because of fatigue.

AUGUST 23–SEPTEMBER 8, 1963: With Dean and Sammy, he headlined a two-week engagement at the Sands.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1942: Dad left the band for good. He had asked Dorsey to let him out of his contract, but Tommy had refused. So he had to ask for help from some influential friends. Over the years, all sorts of outrageous accounts have been told of how he extricated himself from the punitive Dorsey deal—and the stories are as punishing and unfair as that ridiculous contract, which my dad described as a "ratty piece of paper. It called for me to pay him one third of my earnings for as long as I was in the entertainment business."

FRANK ON GETTING OUT OF THE DORSEY CONTRACT: It began to come out of the ground that my mother went to Tommy or that the racket guys went to Tommy and convinced him that he should let me go. And that's so far afield it's scary. It's incredible.

BREAKING THE DORSEY CONTRACT: While the band was performing in Washington, D.C., Dad went into Dorsey's dressing room and told him he wanted to leave. Dorsey smiled. "What for?" he asked. "You're doing great with the band and we've got a lot of arrangements for you." Dad said he appreciated all the things Dorsey had done for him, but now he wanted to get on with his career. I don't think so," said Dorsey, citing the terms of their contract: 43 percent of his professional income for life. Dad replied, "I had a contract with Harry [James], but he took the contract and tore it up and wished me luck." But even when Dad offered to give his boss a year's notice, Dorsey stood firm.

I loved and admired the guy," said Dad. "He was a taskmaster and a brilliant musician, and I liked the way he made everybody toe the line. But he was also a man who detested the idea that a member of his orchestra would leave. He wanted the band to be set. I could understand that, because the orchestra was drilled like a platoon and when new men arrived, it meant rehearsing and getting the guy to fit in. But I was earning $150 a week and saw no future."

To Dorsey's dismay, Dad began going out as a single on weekend gigs. Then Columbia's Manie Sacks helped find him a few bookings. That brought angry letters from Dorsey's attorneys, demanding their share of his earnings as specified in the contract. What happened then has been the subject of rumor and innuendo ever since. "According to legend," says Dad, "I secured my release from Tommy when three men told him out of the sides of their mouths to 'sign or else.' What actually happened was I hired a couple of lawyers to get me out of it." Manie Sacks took Frank to Henry Jaffe, an entertainment attorney whose clients included the American Federation of Radio Artists. Dorsey's manager refused even to discuss the contract with Jaffe until FS had paid him the share called for under their original contract.

"Do you like broadcasting on NBC?" Jaffe asked Dorsey, referring to the many shows the band had aired on that network. "I like it a lot," said Dorsey. "Well, then," said Jaffe, "how about we talk about Frank Sinatra and we'll see what kind of deal we can make—that is, if you want to continue on radio." When Dorsey still refused to cancel the contract, Jaffe went to Jules Stein, head of MCA, the talent agency, and offered to let them represent Dad, who was then handled by Rockwell-O'Keefe. Jaffe said he'd get the other agency to release Dad if MCA could get Dorsey to make a deal. So Stein had a heart-to-heart chat with Dorsey. After a series of phone calls from Radio Artists officials and recording executives who took Jaffe's threats very seriously, Dorsey was finally persuaded to take $75,000 and some additional bookings through MCA in exchange for letting Frank go. "My end of it cost me something like $25,000," my father recalled. "I hope you fall on your ass," said Dorsey in a parting shot. But Dad's powerful new agents, Sonny Werblin and Norman Weiss, didn't get to be partners in MCA by betting on the wrong client.

MARIO PUZO ON THE SINATRA/DORSEY LEGEND VS. THE GODFATHER LEGEND: I took something I had heard or read. I can't remember where. I think I just picked it up from one of those gossip columns. It could have been Lee Mortimer. I remember it said that Tommy Dorsey had him all sewn up. I tried to imagine how Frank would feel and think. I constructed a persona based on his legend. I made up the line "I'll make you an offer you can't refuse."

FRANK, WHEN ASKED IF HE WAS THE SINGER PORTRAYED IN THE GODFATHER: No way!

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.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1935: Frank Sinatra's first big break came when he and a local trio who called themselves the Three Flashes auditioned separately for an appearance on Major Bowes and His Original Amateur Hour, a popular radio show broadcast nationwide on NBC from the stage of the Capitol Theater in New York. "They won and I won," said my father, "and when I was accepted, the old man said, 'They're going to be on the show a week from Sunday. Why don't we put you on together and we'll call it the Hoboken Four.'" The brash 19-year-old declared on the air, "I'm Frank, Major. We're looking for jobs. How about it? Everyone that's ever heard us, liked us. We think we're pretty good." They sang the Mills Brothers song "Shine "—and racked up the biggest vote in the history of the show, with 40,000 people calling in. Bowes was so impressed that he brought them back several weeks in a row.

MAJOR BOWES' ORIGINAL AMATEUR HOUR: Broadcasting from the stage of New York's Capitol Theater, Major Bowes and His Original Amateur Hour was a Depression-era phenomenon that capitalized on America's hunger for entertainment. Bowes sifted through legions of aspiring singers and entertainers in tryouts, gonging lame or overlong acts off the stage and singling out the best for his NBC show. "Round and round she goes," the Major would intone, "and where she stops, nobody knows." The "she" was the wheel of fortune, and one of those acts, on September. 8, 1935, was the Hoboken Four, Bowes' own name for a singing group that included Sinatra, Pat Principe, James Petrozelli and Fred Tamburro (above), who proceeded to bring down the house—and run up the biggest score on the applause meter in the history of the show.

SEPTEMBER 8, 1935: Frank Sinatra's first big break came when he and a local trio [...] sang the Mills Brothers song "Shine"

This performance and the pre-song dialogue between Major Bowes and FS may be heard on the CD which accompanies first editions of Nancy's book: FRANK SINATRA: AN AMERICAN LEGEND (the CD) 1995.

Nancy also plays the clip this week on her Nancy For Frank Show #63 on Sirius Satellite/Internet Radio.