[George Lyons]

Those suits were thick as a brick.

[SinatraFan]

Originally Posted by Nancy

There's a Flaw in My Flue I'm trying to decide whether or not to play this track on Sunday's show. It really messes up the album.

Just like the Capitol executives, I thought There's A Flaw In My Flue was a very good song when I first heard it. Even after learning that it was a joke, I still like the song and I'm glad it was included on the CD.

Originally Posted by Stnwy18

By the time I would have finished it, it would be Thursday. Bob, we're so lucky to have you!

Yeah, I've posted it a few times when Bob wasn't able to and it's harder than it looks.

[Nancy]

Just like the Capitol executives, I thought There's A Flaw In My Flue was a very good song when I first heard it. Even after learning that it was a joke, I still like the song and I'm glad it was included on the CD.

Did you listen to the words? "Smoke went up (or got in) my nose"?????

[SinatraFan]

Yes, I thought some of the lyrics were funny, like "it's not as sweet by the unit heat" and the one above. But Frank sang it so well that it's hard to believe the recording was a joke. In the 1950's there were hit songs that had worse lyrics.

[George Lyons]

Name two. One even.

[stargazer]

Originally Posted by Nancy

Maybe I won't hate it so much if I don't play it as part of the album.

I bet a lot of people would like to hear it,i certainly would.
Play it for what it is,your father getting one over the 'men in suits'!

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

JANUARY 22, 1993: Dad attended the funeral of Sammy Cahn, one of his best friends and favorite lyricists, who died of congestive heart failure at 79. "I've never known, never sung a Cahn song that didn't say something," my father wrote in the liner notes of one album.

JANUARY 22–25, 1980: He performed at the Rio Palace in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for four shows. When he went to do the concert in Rio, he encountered a reaction like nothing he had ever seen—not at the Paramount, not with Dorsey, nor the television specials, nor in Vegas. This was its own special encounter.

JANUARY 10–22, 1975: Back at Harrah's in Lake Tahoe.

JANUARY 5–FEBRUARY 1, 1966: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie at the Sands in Las Vegas... [See January 5th]

JANUARY 22, 1962: John Frankenheimer's mind-bending United Artists thriller The Manchurian Candidate began shooting, with Dad playing a former Korean War POW, tormented by recurring nightmares, who's swept into an assassination plot engineered by the Communists. This film is first-rate and Frankenheimer's best. Laurence Harvey is the Manchurian candidate. Angela Lansbury is devastating as his manipulative mother. At the time Dad said, "I'm more excited about this part than any other I've played. I'm saying things in this script that I've never had to speak on the screen before. Never had to speak at all for that matter. Long, wild speeches." And writer/producer George Axelrod recalled, "I thought it would be terrific to have that marvelous, beat-up Sinatra face giving forth long, incongruous speeches." During the filming of the karate scene with Henry Silva, Frank accidentally broke a dining room table with his hand and managed to break his finger, too. Nobody knew about the broken finger until after the scene was finished because he just kept on. Many years later, my father said about the film, "I think it's a damn good film. The screenplay was wonderful and it was based on the book by Richard Condon—one of the most interesting I ever read. The direction was superb. And Larry Harvey was a consummate, powerful actor. He had a great inner strength."

Frank Sinatra and Laurence Harvey in
a crucial scene from The Manchurian
Candidate. The success of this film
was due in part to John Frankenheimer's
use of the innovative handheld camera,
which added greatly to the tension and
suspense.

JANUARY 22, 1962: Dad guested on television's Dick Powell Show.

JANUARY 15–28, 1958: FS played two weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 20–31, 1953: ...an engagement at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Boston. [See January 20th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

Originally Posted by SinatraFan

Yeah, I've posted it a few times when Bob wasn't able to and it's harder than it looks.

Yes, thanks Allen. I had forgotten there were a couple of days when you filled in.

The time of my daily post depends on my sleep deprivation. Those on the US west coast can usually expect to find it in time for their morning coffee or tea. On the east coast (and of course elsewhere in the world), you may have to wait until returning from your day's activities. If I ever can't make it here on time for some reason, I'll either post in advance or contact someone else to do the honors.

[Nancy]

JANUARY 22, 1962: John Frankenheimer's mind-bending United Artists thriller The Manchurian Candidate began shooting, with Dad playing a former Korean War POW, tormented by recurring nightmares, who's swept into an assassination plot engineered by the Communists. This film is first-rate and Frankenheimer's best. Laurence Harvey is the Manchurian candidate. Angela Lansbury is devastating as his manipulative mother. At the time Dad said, "I'm more excited about this part than any other I've played. I'm saying things in this script that I've never had to speak on the screen before. Never had to speak at all for that matter. Long, wild speeches." And writer/producer George Axelrod recalled, "I thought it would be terrific to have that marvelous, beat-up Sinatra face giving forth long, incongruous speeches." During the filming of the karate scene with Henry Silva, Frank accidentally broke a dining room table with his hand and managed to break his finger, too. Nobody knew about the broken finger until after the scene was finished because he just kept on. Many years later, my father said about the film, "I think it's a damn good film. The screenplay was wonderful and it was based on the book by Richard Condon—one of the most interesting I ever read. The direction was superb. And Larry Harvey was a consummate, powerful actor. He had a great inner strength."

This is, without any doubt, one of the best films ever made.

[Ace917]

Originally Posted by Bob

JANUARY 22, 1962: John Frankenheimer's mind-bending United Artists thriller The Manchurian Candidate began shooting...

If you were to ask me for my list of top ten movies, the answer would probably differ from day to day. But this one will always be on it.

A sterling tribute by the author to a true masterpiece of a movie.

[SinatraFan]

Frank gave an Oscar worthy performance in The Manchurian Candidate. And the whole cast was excellent too, I especially like Angela Lansbury's role. It's one of the movies that I can watch over and over again and never get tired of it.

Originally Posted by George Lyons

Name two. One even.

Well, it's better than Mama Will Bark.

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

JANUARY 23, 1983: Performing with Victor Borge at a Radio City Music Hall benefit for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

JANUARY 22–25, 1980: He performed at the Rio Palace in Rio de Janeiro... [See January 22nd]

JANUARY 23, 1978: Dad performed at a fundraiser for L.A. County Sheriff Peter Pitchess at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

JANUARY 23–25, 1976: He returned to Lake Tahoe for shows at Harrah's.

JANUARY 5–FEBRUARY 1, 1966: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie at the Sands in Las Vegas... [See January 5th]

JANUARY 15–28, 1958: FS played two weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 20–31, 1953: ...an engagement at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Boston. [See January 20th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

Well, it's better than Mama Will Bark. [/QUOTE]

"The sea song" had some strange lyrics to it also.

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

JANUARY 24, 1983: A memorial service was held for Don Costa.

JANUARY 24, 1982: George Shearing, Luciano Pavarotti and Frank performed at Radio City Music Hall in a benefit for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

The Tenor and the Baritone. Pavarotti
wrote: "Frank Sinatra is the biggest star
in the universe of stars in the singing
business of yesterday, of today, of
always. And the Mozart of popular music."

JANUARY 22–25, 1980: He performed at the Rio Palace in Rio de Janeiro... [See January 22nd]

JANUARY 24–30, 1977: Still in mourning for his mother, Dad canceled two weeks of scheduled appearances and recording sessions. During the last week of January, however, he performed at the Sunrise Musical Theater in Fort Lauderdale before flying to Barbados on the 31st to spend a few days with his old friend Claudette Colbert.

JANUARY 23–25, 1976: He returned to Lake Tahoe for shows at Harrah's.

JANUARY 24, 1969: Two months after the election defeat of Hubert Humphrey, I was hosting a Kraft Music Hall special at NBC Studio 8H in New York when my Dad and Jilly walked in. I was surprised. I hadn't expected them. I raced over with my usual enthusiasm. "Daddy, I'm so happy to see you. What are you doing here?" I was hugging and kissing and smiling, and then I realized that he wasn't smiling. His eyes were red and tired. He said simply, "Please call your grandfather."

He gave me the hospital phone number, which I called, but Marty, who was being examined by the doctor, said, "I'll call you back." When he did, I couldn't come to the phone because I was undressed, getting body makeup. I didn't know then how much I would regret not taking that call. By the time I was able to call him again, Grandpa was too ill to talk. Dad rushed him to Dr. Michael DeBakey in Houston, Texas, but Grandpa was beyond help. "Despite all our efforts to improve his condition over the next five days in order to perform an operation for his aneurysm of the aorta," Dr. DeBakey later informed me, "he unfortunately became progressively worse." The asthma that had plagued my grandfather all his life developed into emphysema. So, to compound his heart problem, his lungs were failing.

Dr. DeBakey told me that in all the years he'd spent watching people deal with their parents' grave illnesses, he had never seen anything like my father's devotion. He was moved by such concern, and especially by the unashamed displays of affection and tender love. For five agonizing days my father watched his father die. Each time he entered the room he said, "Hello, Dad," and kissed him. And he kissed him each time he had to leave the room. In between, he held Grandpa's hand. He caressed his face and he wiped his mouth. They had always been openly affectionate, men of few words, understanding each other easily. To lose your father out of your sight, to lose him on an operating table or in an accident, that must be wrenching enough. But to be at his side, holding his hand, hearing him gasp for air...to watch him die. I don't know. I just don't know and cannot imagine the magnitude of that grief or the torture for both men. I don't know what they went through individually, but they went through it together.

The man I call Dad had lost the man he called Dad. Hundreds of people showed up at the funeral, and the scene at Jersey City's Holy Name Cemetery was pure bedlam. Back at Grandma's house, Uncle Vincent, who had lived with Marty and Dolly for more than 50 years, brought out the food. About 60 of us went to the basement bar where Marty used to make his famous banana daiquiris, and where all the framed photographs on the walls reflected the rich, full life of the Sinatras. It was a sad night, but Daddy found comfort in his family and close friends. Like many Americans, my father had been silently strong through the assassinations of JFK and Bobby and Martin Luther King Jr. He had taken the loss of Mia and Hubert Humphrey's defeat. But when his father died, something snapped.

Left: Dad and Marty at the pool in Palm Springs.
Right: My favorite shot of my father and my grandfrather.

JANUARY 5–FEBRUARY 1, 1966: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie at the Sands in Las Vegas... [See January 5th]

JANUARY 15–28, 1958: FS played two weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 24, 1956: Taking charge of his own movie career, dad formed a production company—Kent Productions—to finance and produce films like his first release, Johnny Concho, in which he starred as a western gunslinger. A bunch of the boys—Sinatra, McGuire, Riddle, Sanicola—got together to make a cowboy movie. According to the Los Angeles Examiner he had signed heiress Gloria Vanderbilt, one of his occasional dates, to be his co-star, but she was eventually replaced by Phyllis Kirk.

JANUARY 20–31, 1953: ...an engagement at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Boston. [See January 20th]

JANUARY 24, 1939: The complaint charging adultery was dismissed in open court. [See November 26th] Nancy, outraged, asked, "Was she the first?" Frank's reply: "No, but she's the last." Years later the incident would return to haunt him once again.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Nancy]

Dr. DeBakey told me that in all the years he'd spent watching people deal with their parents' grave illnesses, he had never seen anything like my father's devotion. He was moved by such concern, and especially by the unashamed displays of affection and tender love. For five agonizing days my father watched his father die. Each time he entered the room he said, "Hello, Dad," and kissed him. And he kissed him each time he had to leave the room. In between, he held Grandpa's hand. He caressed his face and he wiped his mouth. They had always been openly affectionate, men of few words, understanding each other easily. To lose your father out of your sight, to lose him on an operating table or in an accident, that must be wrenching enough. But to be at his side, holding his hand, hearing him gasp for air...to watch him die. I don't know. I just don't know and cannot imagine the magnitude of that grief or the torture for both men. I don't know what they went through individually, but they went through it together.

So sad to read again. I wish I could have been at my father's side when he died.

[George Lyons]

[Lourdes]

Originally Posted by Nancy

So sad to read again. I wish I could have been at my father's side when he died.

Oh, Nancy, I'm so sorry!

[Jeffrey Simmons]

Originally Posted by Nancy

So sad to read again. I wish I could have been at my father's side when he died.

I now understand this exactly and more than I ever thought I would.

[Jeffrey Simmons]

Originally Posted by SinatraFan

Yes, I thought some of the lyrics were funny, like "it's not as sweet by the unit heat" and the one above. But Frank sang it so well that it's hard to believe the recording was a joke. In the 1950's there were hit songs that had worse lyrics.

Regarding "There's A Flaw In My Flue" there is no doubt that FS recorded this a joke on the so called 'suits', whom he correctly guessed would probably not listen to the crazy words and nevertheless pass it for release which, if I understand it correctly, FS stopped at the time.

Reading these comments, though, really set me thinking because as strange as it seems, I also like to listen to this nonsense for the same very reason, because "Frank sang it so well".

So I have come to the conclusion that just like the two characters from 'The Producers' seeking to produce a sure fire flop and somehow in so doing they created a success, so it was with Frank Sinatra when he recorded this silly ditty as a joke on the 'suits' and in the sincere belief that no one with any sense would ever want to listen to it. I guess FS did not count on the fact that, because he sang it so beautifully, the recording would still nevertheless find an audience.

Funnily enough, I believe there are quite a lot of songs out there these days, even some by otherwise substantial artists, that were meant by the writer and artist as serious works, but which to my mind sound a lot worse than this one.

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

JANUARY 25, 1989: FS received the Will Rogers Award at the 75th Anniversary of Beverly Hills at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

JANUARY 25, 1983: The remaining Don Costa session, with "Here's to the Band" and "All the Way Home" (which was not released) was arranged and conducted by Joe Parnello.

JANUARY 22–25, 1980: He performed at the Rio Palace in Rio de Janeiro... [See January 22nd]

JANUARY 24–30, 1977: Still in mourning for his mother... [See January 24th]

JANUARY 23–25, 1976: He returned to Lake Tahoe for shows at Harrah's.

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: Sanford Waterman, who had pulled a gun on Frank in 1970, had been indicted for racketeering, so Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace.

JANUARY 5–FEBRUARY 1, 1966: Frank Sinatra and Count Basie at the Sands in Las Vegas... [See January 5th]

JANUARY 15–28, 1958: FS played two weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 20–31, 1953: ...an engagement at the Latin Quarter nightclub in Boston. [See January 20th]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]