MARCH 12-18, 26-30, 1981: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Frank canceled his last night's appearance when President Reagan was shot. Nancy Reagan: "When my husband was shot, your father was playing an engagement somewhere—I've forgotten where—perhaps in Vegas...Frank never called to say, 'Do you want me to come?' He just came. He shut down his show and just came. The next thing I knew, he was in Washington to be of support and help to me. It meant a great deal to me, and I'll always be grateful."

MARCH 26, 1980: Frank Sinatra released his Trilogy collection. Produced by Sonny Burke and engineered by Lee Herschberg, this was his first studio release since 1973. The album cover was designed by Saul Bass. From David McClintick's introduction entitled "Odyssey to Trilogy": "Twenty years into the rock era, Sinatra felt more intimidated than ever by the increasingly complex musical marketplace. He was gripped by doubts about what to record and about the nature of the contemporary audience for his records...It was a struggle that only superior artists endure." Trilogy went to Number One and garnered six Grammy nominations.

The cover of Trilogy, designed by the legendary Saul Bass.

MARCH 20-28, 1978: He vacationed in Barbados.

MARCH 17-31, 1977: A week at Caesars was followed by a week at Harrah's.

MARCH 20-26, 1946: Embarking on a cross-country tour of extended engagements around the country, he appeared for a week at the Golden Gate Theater in San Francisco and went on to Philadelphia in April, Detroit in May, New York's Madison Square Garden and Chicago Stadium in June and the Hollywood Bowl in July and August.

[Gregory]

Originally Posted by Bob

The album cover was designed by Saul Bass.

Didn't Saul work with Hitchcock on graphic design for North By Northwest, Vertigo, and Pshyco, and maybe many others?

[Nancy]

The Bond movies too. Possibly his best stuff.

Originally Posted by Nancy

David McClintick's introduction entitled "Odyssey to Trilogy" [...]

McClintick's liner notes earned him a 1980 Grammy. See Re: Grammy Award Winning liner notes.

MARCH 27, 1986: He received the Coachella Valley Humanitarian Award at a luncheon at the Marriott Hotel, which Gregory Peck hosted.

MARCH 27, 1985: With Pete Barbuti at the Summit Arena in Houston, Texas.

MARCH 12-18, 26-30, 1981: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Frank canceled his last night's appearance when President Reagan was shot. Nancy Reagan: "When my husband was shot, your father was playing an engagement somewhere—I've forgotten where—perhaps in Vegas...Frank never called to say, 'Do you want me to come?' He just came. He shut down his show and just came. The next thing I knew, he was in Washington to be of support and help to me. It meant a great deal to me, and I'll always be grateful."

MARCH 20-28, 1978: He vacationed in Barbados.

MARCH 17-31, 1977: A week at Caesars was followed by a week at Harrah's.

MARCH 27, 1951: Recording what one writer called "his intensely moving and despairing version" of "I'm a Fool to Want You," Frank was "so overcome with grief that he bolted from the studio in tears" according to Will Friedwald in a Columbia Records retrospective. My father co-wrote the song with Jack Wolf and Joel Herron. As Herron later recalled, "Frank changed part of the lyric, and made it say what he felt when he was doing it. We said, 'he's gotta be on this song!' and we invited him in as co-writer." It was one of 14 songs he'd record for Columbia that year.

[Sheet music from the collection of Ric Ross]

MARCH 27, 1948: For RKO, Dad starred in his first dramatic role—as Father Paul in The Miracle of the Bells. He did a professional acting job, but audiences and critics had difficulty suspending their disbelief in Sinatra as a priest. As he remembered, "The quickies I made for RKO before signing with MGM were never meant to be anything much, and later on, The Miracle of the Bells, in which I had my first nonmusical acting part, turned out less well than we had hoped." One day on the set, while Frank was still in costume, his old friend George "Bullets" Durgom introduced him to his foreign-born mother, who knew nothing about movies or music, and she knelt down to kiss his ring. God bless him, Dad didn't want to embarrass her, so he never told her he wasn't a priest.

Frank Sinatra and Fred MacMurray in a
scene for The Miracle of the Bells.
[Photo courtesy of RKO Pictures]

MARCH 27, 1947: He played the San Francisco Paramount with Bob Hope and Jack Benny in a benefit for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund.

Here are a few forum threads I dug up:

Re: "I'm A Fool To Want You"

• I'm a Fool to Want You
• Myth or Fact - I'm A Fool To Want You
• I'm a fool to want you...
• I'm a fool to want you

Re: The Miracle of the Bells

• THE MIRACLE OF THE BELLS - 1948
• "Miracle of The Bells" Church to be demolished

MARCH 28, 1985: At Kemper Arena in Kansas City, Missouri, with Pete Barbuti.

MARCH 12-18, 26-30, 1981: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Frank canceled his last night's appearance when President Reagan was shot. Nancy Reagan: "When my husband was shot, your father was playing an engagement somewhere—I've forgotten where—perhaps in Vegas...Frank never called to say, 'Do you want me to come?' He just came. He shut down his show and just came. The next thing I knew, he was in Washington to be of support and help to me. It meant a great deal to me, and I'll always be grateful."

MARCH 28-30 AND APRIL 13-15, 1980: In Atlantic City, he performed nine shows over a sixday period at Resorts International.

MARCH 20-28, 1978: He vacationed in Barbados.

MARCH 17-31, 1977: A week at Caesars was followed by a week at Harrah's.

MARCH 28, 1973: My father was a pallbearer at the funeral of his dear friend Edward G. Robinson. Later that evening he received the Splendid American Award from the Thomas A. Dooley Foundation. He was also presented with the Man of the Year Award by the March of Dimes this year.

[Nancy]

Note to Adam Anders:

The last entry is a perfect example of Kipling's triumph and disaster and the way to handle them.

MARCH 12-18, 26-30, 1981: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Frank canceled his last night's appearance when President Reagan was shot. Nancy Reagan: "When my husband was shot, your father was playing an engagement somewhere—I've forgotten where—perhaps in Vegas...Frank never called to say, 'Do you want me to come?' He just came. He shut down his show and just came. The next thing I knew, he was in Washington to be of support and help to me. It meant a great deal to me, and I'll always be grateful."

MARCH 28-30 AND APRIL 13-15, 1980: In Atlantic City, he performed nine shows over a six-day period at Resorts International.

MARCH 17-31, 1977: A week at Caesars was followed by a week at Harrah's.

MARCH 29, 1976: The Frank Sinatra-John Denver TV special aired on ABC.

MARCH 29, 1958: Dad did a benefit for the Palm Springs Police Department.

I just played Cycles again - Oh how I love that song.

MARCH 12-18, 26-30, 1981: Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. Frank canceled his last night's appearance when President Reagan was shot. Nancy Reagan: "When my husband was shot, your father was playing an engagement somewhere—I've forgotten where—perhaps in Vegas...Frank never called to say, 'Do you want me to come?' He just came. He shut down his show and just came. The next thing I knew, he was in Washington to be of support and help to me. It meant a great deal to me, and I'll always be grateful."

MARCH 28-30 AND APRIL 13-15, 1980: In Atlantic City, he performed nine shows over a six-day period at Resorts International.

MARCH 17-31, 1977: A week at Caesars was followed by a week at Harrah's.

MARCH 30, 1955: A year after winning the Oscar for his portrayal of Maggio in From Here to Eternity, Dad presented one to Eva Marie Saint for her performance in On the Waterfront.

MARCH 30, 1954: Dad appeared on his last Rocky Fortune radio show.

That last Rocky Fortune radio show was titled "Boarding House Double-Cross." It may be heard today in the Radio Spirits box set (disc 14 of 30).

See also "Rocky Fortune", posted on the occasion of the first show's anniversary (October 6, 1953).

MARCH 31, 1982: Frank and Bob Hope performed at a tribute to Princess Grace in her hometown, Philadelphia.

MARCH 17-31, 1977: A week at Caesars was followed by a week at Harrah's.

MARCH 31, 1958: This Is Sinatra: Volume II, another top 10 album released by Capitol, was a compilation that included "Hey Jealous Lover," "How Little We Know," "If You Are But A Dream" and his theme song, "Put Your Dreams Away."

Originally Posted by Nancy

This Is Sinatra: Volume II, another top 10 album released by Capitol [...]

See the FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY thread: Album Release: THIS IS SINATRA, VOLUME TWO.

APRIL 1, 1987: Frank performed at the Dinah Shore/Nabisco Golf Tournament dinner at the Marriott Desert Springs Hotel.

APRIL 1, 1986: He taped an episode of Dionne Warwick's Solid Gold television show at Paramount studios in Los Angeles.

APRIL 1-4, 1982: An engagement at Resorts International in Atlantic City.

The great moments were when he'd bring me back for an extra bow,
sharing the tumultuous applause that greeted his sudden appearance on stage.
These would be wonderful gestures for any performer who wasn't his kid... but for me...

APRIL 1, 1977: FS hosted and performed at a benefit for the Friends of the Eisenhower Medical Center at the Gene Autry Hotel in Palm Springs.

MARCH 26-APRIL 8, 1952: Dad returned once again to the stage of New York's Paramount, this time with Buddy Rich, comedian Frank Fontaine and former Pied Piper June Hutton, who was married to Axel Stordahl. But the big-band era was over, the bobby-soxers who had lionized him had grown up.

APRIL 1, 1952: Ratings for The Frank Sinatra Show on CBS television, never hefty, declined as the show was pitted against the popular Milton Berle. After two years on the air, the series was canceled.

APRIL 1952: Dad went to Hawaii for a series of concerts, including a sparsely attended performance at the rustic Kauai County Fair. But he delivered one of the greatest performances of his life, and it marked a turning point not only in his career but in his personal life.

BUCK BUCHWACH, REPORTER, HONOLULU ADVERTISER (A HONOLULU NEWSPAPERMAN WHO SPENT TIME WITH HIM IN HAWAII) ON SINATRA'S COMEBACK CONCERT: It was raining at the Kauai County Fair and the dilapidated tent was leaking. "For just one second," Frank told me, "I wondered if the show really did have to go on. Then I peeked out at the audience. There were a few hundred, tops. They weren't wearing fancy clothes or expensive jewelry. They wore aloha shirts, jeans, muumuus and such. Homey. And their warmth and friendliness smacked me in the face. And when two brownskinned young girls gave me a couple of handmade leis and little kisses, I almost broke down." Well, Frank went on and sang, song after song, hit after hit maybe twenty. I was stunned. It was fantastic, it was one thousand percent for several hundred small-town ticket holders with big hearts and hands that grew red from clapping. Afterward, Frank had tears in his eyes. "Buck," he told me, "I sang the best I know how. Those people deserved it. It's a night I'll never forget. Tonight marks the first night on the way back. I can feel it in every bone." From that moment everything seemed to go right for him.

APRIL 1-28, 1942: Back in New York after a series of one-nighters in the Midwest, the band returned for a blockbuster month at the Paramount.

[David B.]

What a great story about FS' appearance in Hawaii! That must have been just a few months before he returned to begin filming From Here To Eternity. I didn't realize we had so much for which to be thankful to Hawaii.

No wonder the USA rewarded them with statehood a few years later.

APRIL 1-4, 1982: An engagement at Resorts International in Atlantic City.

APRIL 2, 1978: He appeared in Manhattan at a benefit honoring New York Governor Hugh Carey, then flew to Israel.

APRIL 1953: Frank Sinatra signed with Capitol Records. With his crooner-swooner period behind him, a "new" Sinatra emerged with confidence, maturity, cockiness and a renewed pride in his voice. These were among his finest years as a recording artist. At Capitol, producer Voyle Gilmore took Frank under his wing. In addition to having Dad continue his work with Axel, Gilmore wanted to team him with trumpet player Billy May because of Billy's humorous style. For Dad's first session, Heinie Beau had given the May touch to "Lean Baby." As Billy later recalled, "I had a moderate amount of success on records and found myself in the band business. When I got the call to work with Frank, I was with my band in Florida and couldn't do the gig. But I told Gilmore to feel free to let somebody else do the charts in the Billy May style." Trombonist/arranger Nelson Riddle—who had arranged Nat "King" Cole's "Mona Lisa"—did the arrangements for Dad's "South of the Border" and "I Love You" a la Billy May but completed the set with arrangements for "I've Got the World on a String" and "Don't Worry 'Bout Me" in his own style. It was the beginning of a musical partnership that would span decades and carry them through more than 90 recording sessions together. They would record 22 more songs—including "A Foggy Day," "They Can't Take That Away from Me" and "My Funny Valentine "—before the end of their first year together. Whenever Dad did a recording session, he sent me a set of rough dubs—test records made of lightweight acetate. I was proud that he was interested in my opinion. When he sent me the dubs from that first session at Capitol, I liked "I'm Walking Behind You" a lot. I called up to tell him so, but I also felt obliged to mention an Eddie Fisher version I had heard on the radio. Dad told me not to worry about it. As it happened, both versions sold, with Eddie's winning. But Pop was gaining ground. I could tell by the records and by the reactions of my friends at school.

APRIL 1953: The stars of From Here to Eternity flew to Hawaii to begin filming. Burt Lancaster remembered, "Deborah Kerr and me and Frank and Monty are sitting up in the front of the plane. And he and Monty are drunk. Monty, poor Monty, was this kind of a drinker—he'd chug-a-lug one martini and conk out. And Frank was, I believe, having a few problems, and so, when we arrived, these two bums were unconscious. They were gone! Deborah and I had to wake them up.... This is the way they arrived, and Harry Cohn is down there with the press and everything. Well, we got through that, and now we start to do the picture. Every night, after work, we would meet in Frank's room. He had a refrigerator and he would open it and there would be these iced glasses. He would prepare the martinis with some snacks while we were getting ready to go to an eight o'clock dinner. We'd sit and chat about the day's work and he would try his nightly call to Ava, who was in Spain. In those days in Spain, if you lived next door to your friends, you couldn't get them on the telephone, let alone try to get them on the phone from Hawaii. He never got through. Not one night. When you finished your martini, he would take the glass from you, open up the icebox and get a fresh cold glass, and by eight o'clock he and Monty would be unconscious. I mean really unconscious. Every night. So Deborah and I would take Frank's clothes off and put him to bed. Then I would take Monty on my shoulders and we would carry him down to his room, take his clothes off and dump him in bed. And then she and I and the Zinnemanns would go out and have dinner."

APRIL 2, 7, 19, 1954: In three sessions, FS recorded songs for the Swing Easy! album, including "All of Me," "Taking a Chance on Love" and "Just One of Those Things," which, though recorded up-tempo, was, according to my Dad, "the saddest song ever written."

MARCH 26-APRIL 8, 1952: Dad returned once again to the stage of New York's Paramount, this time with Buddy Rich, comedian Frank Fontaine and former Pied Piper June Hutton, who was married to Axel Stordahl. But the big-band era was over, the bobby-soxers who had lionized him had grown up.

APRIL 1-28, 1942: Back in New York after a series of one-nighters in the Midwest, the band returned for a blockbuster month at the Paramount.

APRIL 2, 1916: Three and a half months later, after his birth wounds had healed, little Frank was finally baptized at Hoboken's St. Francis Church. The baby was named for his godfather, Frank Garrick, a politically well connected Irish newspaperman who was one of Marty's closest friends and his teammate on an amateur baseball club.

APRIL 1953: Frank Sinatra signed with Capitol Records.

For additional details, see:

The Early Capitol Days (or: 54 years ago TODAY, Frank recorded...)

APRIL 2, 7, 19, 1954: In three sessions, FS recorded songs for the Swing Easy! album

Note: The April 2nd session date for Swing Easy! is a common misconception, as explained in this post:

Friday, April 2, 1954 - "The Sea Song"

APRIL 1-4, 1982: An engagement at Resorts International in Atlantic City.

APRIL 3, 1967: Dad returned to Miami to begin location work on Tony Rome, opposite Jill St. John and co-starring with Richard Conte, Gena Rowlands and Sue Lyon. Yours truly sang the title song. In this 20th Century-Fox release, FS played the title character, a private eye. Simultaneously, he performed again at the Fontainebleau for three weeks.

On location in Florida for Tony Rome. Frank, Jill St. John and their stand-ins prepare for a scene.
[Photos by John Faber]

MARCH 26-APRIL 8, 1952: Dad returned once again to the stage of New York's Paramount, this time with Buddy Rich, comedian Frank Fontaine and former Pied Piper June Hutton, who was married to Axel Stordahl. But the big-band era was over, the bobby-soxers who had lionized him had grown up.

APRIL 1-28, 1942: Back in New York after a series of one-nighters in the Midwest, the band returned for a blockbuster month at the Paramount.

[Nick in Toronto]

Although he was doing his act long before the 1962 American Scene Magazine starring Jackie Gleason, Frank Fontane, mentioned above pretended to have Down's Syndrome (formerly called Retardation) His character was named Crazy Guggenheim if memory serves.

After some banter with Jackie playing Joe the Bartender, he would drop the act and sing an Irish song in a rich baritone voice.

Imagine how poitically incorrect this would be in 2008! I wonder what happened to him after the show folded even though it and The Red Skelton Show were high in the ratings. The reason given for cancelling these shows was that they were aimed at to old a crowd to attract the desired demographic advertisers.