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.

Discussion of the new release of "All The Way Home" in Frank's Recordings: Seduction: Sinatra Sings Of Love (post #346).

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

JANUARY 26–29, 1983: He made his second appearance at Steve Wynn's Golden Nugget in Atlantic City. He became a spokesperson for the casino/hotel and appeared in nationally televised commercials with Wynn. The resort's New Jersey revenues jumped 42 percent in a year. For Dad, who also got the use of Wynn's Boeing 727, helicopters, limousines and lavish high-roller suites, it hardly seemed like work. One newspaper reported that he was drawn to the arrangement because of what he called Wynn's "moxie." According to the article, he told Wynn, "Steve, this is what I always wanted to do, but nobody ever asked me. All they wanted me to do was sing and then sit in my room all day."

JANUARY 26, 1980: The largest paying audience ever assembled for a solo performer—175,000 people—gathered at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to hear Frank Sinatra sing. (The feat is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.)

The immense soccer stadium in Rio,
Maracanã, was the setting for a special
experience—a gift from the heavens,
a lyric sung by the crowd and a kiss
by a bandit.

FRANK ON THE CONCERT IN RIO: I had never been to Rio. My records had been popular there for years, going back to when F.D.R. was President, when they received our broadcasts. I had been all over the world, but for some reason, never to Brazil.

You know, there was an expression they used down there. When a young man was courting a woman, and things would get pretty far along, and the girl would put on the heat about doing something with marriage, the young man would stall her with, "When Frank Sinatra comes to Brazil..."

Well, when we did get there, a lot of weddings and babies date from about that time.

The day of the concert, it was raining. I kept looking out the window all day, wondering whether it would let up. But it kept on coming down. Not a light rain; a real downpour. And, do you know, the people started taking their seats at eight o'clock in the morning and they kept coming in, sitting there all day in the rain.

When we got to the stadium at night for the concert it was still raining—and I have never seen a place as big as Maracanã. It was a soccer stadium, of course, and there were 175,000 people in it. It was immense. They had a huge center stage with six wings, all miked, and while I sang, I had to keep running from one wing to another to each mike, until I was out of breath. But before that, there was a long walk to the stage and when I got there, and picked up the first mike, the rain stopped. At that instant.

Everybody gasped.

I looked up to the sky, toward heaven, and I said, "Thank You." They dissolved. Brazilians are a religious people, you know...

The concert went well and I was in the midst of singing a song I know as well as my hand when I lost the lyric. Just blew it. Nothing. I had been singing "Strangers in the Night" and when I stopped and couldn't remember how it went, the whole stadium started to sing it for me—in English.

I was touched...

Near the end of the program, I heard a pounding noise and turned around and there was this mountain of a guy, running at me. I thought, Okay, this is it. But he ran up to me and kissed me (on the cheek) and then ran off.

I learned later that in Brazil they have this guy who's called the Kissing Bandit or something like that and he kisses everybody, had kissed the Pope's shoe, and so on...

And then, when I finished the last song, did the encore, I put the mike down. And the rain started again.

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

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: ...Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace. [See January 25th]

JANUARY 26, 1974: Dad gave his second daughter away when Tina married record executive Wes Farrell in Cliff Perlman's penthouse apartment at Caesars Palace. As they walked down the aisle, Tina felt panic. "Oh, my God," she whispered. "What's wrong?" her father asked. Tina answered, "Oh, Daddy." Aware of her anxiety, he broke the tension by whispering back, "Don't worry, Pigeon, you can always get a divorce." It worked, and Tina laughed her way down the aisle on her father's arm.

Left: Laughing and crying at the same time, my beautiful baby sister walks
down the aisle on her father's arm to her waiting bridegroom.
Right: Tina, Mom, Dolly and me (pregnant with A.J.); Wes, Dad and Hugh.
Gowns by Holly Harp.

JANUARY 26, 1967: Subpoenaed by a Las Vegas federal grand jury looking into allegations that Mob-controlled casinos skimmed off millions in untaxed profits, my father testified behind closed doors. His remarks remained sealed and no indictments were handed down by the grand jury.

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

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 26, 1962: He did a comedy turn on ABC-TV's The Soupy Sales Show with the popular slapstick comic.

Because Frankie, Tina and I loved the
Mack Sennett comedies so much, our
father promised that one day he would
do a slapstick pie-throwing show for us.
Soupy Sales obliged.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit filmed Ocean's Eleven on location in Vegas. It was the first of four films in which they starred together. FS played the ringleader of a gang of former Air Force buddies—including Dean, Sammy, Peter and Joey, along with Richard Conte and Henry Silva—who orchestrate a military-style holdup of five Las Vegas casinos. Of the Summit movies, my father said, "Of course they're not great movies. No one could claim that. We're not setting out to make Hamlet or Gone with the Wind. We gotta make pictures the people enjoy. Entertainment."

"THE RAT PACK" BECOMES "THE SUMMIT": After Bogart's death in 1957, Dad assumed leadership of the Holmby Hills Rat Pack, which had also included Bogart, Bacall, Judy Garland and Peter Lawford in addition to nonentertainers like restauranteur Mike Romanoff and literary agent Swifty Lazar. Over the next few years, as Frank's closest personal friends joined its ranks—Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and Shirley MacLaine, along with associates like songwriter Jimmy Van Heusen—it evolved into such a tightly knit circle of high-profile performers that the press decided to rename it "the Clan." They resisted and resented having a club name. They called it "The Summit." When they worked together, it was a summit meeting, indeed, a gathering—within the entertainment world—at the top.

SAMMY DAVIS JR. ON THE SUMMIT: We were like a team. The only thing missing was the marching band. We traveled as a group, man, and people couldn't get over it. And every night Frank would turn to me and say, "We're all men sitting here. Where are all the broads?" So one time I called up some friends and said, "I want 10 showgirls from the Stardust." Then I called for 10 from the Frontier. I had a big table set up in the lounge and when we walked in, here sat all these girls—oh, man! There must have been 25 of them. Frank was being Mr. Social, but by four-thirty, almost everybody was gone. I got a chick for myself, but every time I tried to make a move out of there, Frank would say, "Hey, where are you going, Smokey? Sit down! Listen, you remember this story..." and by six in the morning, my girl was gone and he was still telling me stories. I said to him, "I hope you're satisfied. There must have been 25 girls here." "Yeah," he said, smiling. So I said, "So why am I sitting here alone with you?"



DEAN ON FRANK: Frank and I are brothers. We cut the top of our thumbs and became blood brothers. He wanted to cut the wrist. But I said, "What are you, crazy?"

DEAN ON SAMMY: One night, Sammy came out on stage and did his dancing and then he jumped up on the piano and just sat there. He was through, but he wouldn't get off; he just sat there on the piano. Frank had to sing, so I just walked over and picked him up and went over to the mike and said, "I want to thank the NAACP for this woderful trophy."

SAMMY ON SHIRLEY MACLAINE: Crazy Shirley. She was one of the guys! None of us ever hit on her. She said once, "Here I am surrounded by the most attractive men in the world, and they make me feel like a boy!"

LAWFORD ON THE GANG: Everybody was on the same wavelength. We would do two shows a night, get to bed around five, get up again at seven or eight, and go to work on a movie. We'd come back, go to the steam room, get something to eat and start all over again—two shows a night. They were taking bets we'd all end up in a box.


This haunting photograph of Marilyn Monroe
sitting ringside at the Sands with Dean
makes me think of the lyric from
"Someone to Watch Over Me": "I'm
a little lamb who's lost in the wood...
I know I could always be good...to
one who'll watch over me."



BILL MILLER ON PLAYING AT THE SANDS WITH FRANK: At the Sands, Frank was doing a number with just me, just the piano alone, and for some unknown reason, the sustaining pedal went out and it clunked to the floor, and Frank heard that and kept right on singing. And then the piano began to creak, and he heard that; and he kind of looked back, but he kept on singing. And finally the right leg of the piano began to give, and all I could do was hold it up with my right knee till we finished the tune. It was a ballad, everything was quiet. We barely finished the tune, and I had to hop away from the piano because my leg was tired from holding it up, and I knew it was gonna fall, and I had to get out of the way, so I hopped away and the piano toppled over, and Frank—remember, he'd kept singing all the while—finally he acknowledges it. The piano topples and he turns around to me and says, "You having a little trouble back there?" Then he turns to the audience and says, "Look at this: 20 million dollar hotel, $1.98 piano."

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

JANUARY 26, 1958: He was back on The Dinah Shore Show.

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

JANUARY 26–27, 1953: Before leaving Boston, FS spent two days as a guest DJ subbing for Norm Prescott on WORL. He did a four-hour show each day, talking about music and playing songs he had recorded with arranger George Siravo.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Lourdes]

JANUARY 26, 1980: The largest paying audience ever assembled for a solo performer—175,000 people—gathered at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to hear Frank Sinatra sing. (The feat is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.)

And I was there...

It rained all day long and when Frank Sinatra put his foot at the stadium the rain stopped. And when he finished his concert the rain come back.

It was a magical night.

[Oren]

The one and only night I was in the presence of the greatness that is Frank Sinatra. I had given my grandfather tickets for christmas. It truly was one of the most amazing nights of my life. To spend an evening with my grandfather watching our favorite singer. The smile never left grandpa's face.

January 26, 1991 Tampa, The USF Sundome
The Orchestra was conducted by Frank Sinatra Jr.
With Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme

You Make Me Feel So Young
For Once In My Life
Come Rain Or Come Shine
I Get A Kick Out Of You
The Lady Is A Tramp
New York, New York
The Best Is Yet To Come
What Now, My Love?
Soliloquy
Mack The Knife
Angel Eyes
My Way
America, The Beautiful
Medley With Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme: All Or Nothing At All /Come Fly Me /Night And Day /Day In - Day Out /Saturday Night /I Get A Kick Out Of You /I've Got The World On A String /You Make Me Feel So Young /All The Way /One For My Baby /When You're Smiling /Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart

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

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

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: ...Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace. [See January 25th]

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

JANUARY 27–28, 1964: In two sessions in Los Angeles, Dad recorded 10 songs for the album Frank Sinatra Sings 'Days of Wine and Roses,' 'Moon River' and Other Academy Award Winners. Two of his own songs are here also, "All the Way" and "Three Coins in the Fountain."

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 27, 1961: Dad was one of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s earliest and most ardent supporters on behalf of nonviolent civil rights. Along with Dean and Sammy, he gave a benefit concert at Carnegie Hall for Dr. King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

With Sy Oliver (left) conducting, FS
does his part for civil rights at a
Carnegie Hall concert.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

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]

JANUARY 26–27, 1953: Before leaving Boston, FS spent two days as a guest DJ... [See January 26th]

JANUARY 27, 1950: [Frank's publicist] George Evans died at age 48 of a massive coronary. Deeply grieved, Dad flew to New York for the funeral.

JANUARY 27, 1943: Moving on to other commitments after a month at the Paramount [see December 30th 1942], Benny Goodman and his band were replaced by Johnny Long and his orchestra for an unprecedented second record-breaking month behind Sinatra.

Richie Lisella, Dorsey's former band boy and Dad's assistant road manager, remembered the Paramount run: "He'd come on stage and he'd recognize some of the same faces in the audience. He'd say, 'I know you kids are out of school, you're here six shows.' So he'd send me out to get a lot of sandwiches for them—30, 40 sandwiches at a time. Outside the Paramount, the lines started at 11 o'clock at night for a show at 11 o'clock in the morning. They'd be there all night. And when they saw him they'd go wild. I saw fans run under the horses of mounted policemen. I saw them turn over a car."

An increasingly familiar scene wherever
he appeared in public: Dad wading
through his fans.

FRANK ON THE PRICE OF FAME: I was appearing at the Paramount and I had just discovered art. One day I was at the Museum of Modern Art and I just couldn't believe it—all those paintings. A girl whispered to her mother, "Mama, I think that's Frank Sinatra." Her mother answered, "What's he doing in a place like this?" I just had to leave. It was years before I could bring myself to go back.

DAD'S OWN ANALYSIS OF HIS BOBBY-SOXER APPEAL: Psychologists have tried to go into the reasons why. With all sorts of theories. I could have told them why. Perfectly simple: It was the war years, and there was a great loneliness. I was the boy in every corner drugstore, the boy who's gone off to war.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

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

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

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: ...Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace. [See January 25th]

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

JANUARY 27–28, 1964: In two sessions in Los Angeles, Dad recorded 10 songs... [See January 27th]

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

JANUARY 28, 1959: Dad appeared at the Sands with Dean for the first time.

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]

JANUARY 28, 1950: Straight from [publicist George] Evans' funeral, Dad flew to Houston for the grand opening of the luxurious new Shamrock Hotel. Ava Gardner surprised him there. When they were spotted together in Vincento's Sorrentino restaurant by a pushy photographer, Dad's temper exploded and the scene was reported in the papers. "The trouble started when the mayor of Houston invited us to dinner at one of the city's best Italian restaurants," Ava recalled. "In the middle of the meal, a photographer from the Houston Post arrived to commemorate the occasion. Frank reacted as if he'd found a live cobra in his salad. No punches were exchanged, only a few angry words, before the owner calmed everybody down. But within 24 hours the news that Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner were honoring the new hotel with their presence made headlines. A press storm of major proportions broke over our heads, dooming forever the 'just good friends' line we'd been successful with so far."

Dad dancing with lucky fan Dolores
Browning during a 1950 appearance
at the Shamrock Hotel in Beaumont,
Texas.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

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

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

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

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: ...Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace. [See January 25th]

JANUARY 29, 1971: Maintaining his practice of supporting the candidate of his choice, Dad attended a Democratic fund-raising dinner in honor of Senator John Tunney at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

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

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

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

JANUARY 29, 1945: Dad kicked off his most prolific year yet in the recording studio with an outpouring of huge hits for Columbia. Among them were the "Soliloquy" from Carousel, "She's Funny That Way," "Someone to Watch over Me," "Embraceable You," "The House I Live In," "Nancy" and Ruth Lowe's "Put Your Dreams Away," which became his theme song—43 in all, four of them Top Ten, all of them singles in the old 78 rpm format.

FS with conductor-arranger Axel Stordahl
at one of their many Columbia recording
sessions in 1945.

My father sang this song for my mother
—recorded it for her and addressed it
to her when she was in the audience.
I still think of them when I hear it. It
remains one of his favorite songs.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[stargazer]

Originally Posted by Lourdes

JANUARY 26, 1980: The largest paying audience ever assembled for a solo performer—175,000 people—gathered at Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro to hear Frank Sinatra sing. (The feat is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records.)

And I was there...

It rained all day long and when Frank Sinatra put his foot at the stadium the rain stopped. And when he finished his concert the rain come back.

It was a magical night.

Magical is the right word! And what an achievment,so many people,all there for FS!
Over the years the earth has been blessed with 'special' people. I cant find the words to express what i mean,people such as Martin Luther King,Mother Theresa,princess Diane ect who just have that something. Its like they have been sent to us to make a difference. I cant find the words, but you just KNOW they are special people.
I think FS is one of those people. Its almost as though he was endorsed by a higher power. How the rain just stopped like that..... magical.
Thankyou God for blessing us with this magical man,although no longer here i feel his spirit surround us.

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

JANUARY 30, 1990: The new Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York, opened its doors to the public with a Frank Sinatra concert. Ten thousand tickets sold on the first day they were available.

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JANUARY 30, 1981: Tina married businessman Richard Cohen at my mother's Beverly Hills home. A.J. and Amanda were flower girls. Later in New York, they repeated their vows at Dad's apartment in a second wedding.

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

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: ...Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace. [See January 25th]

JANUARY 30–FEBRUARY 1, 1967: In three sessions arranged by Claus Ogerman and produced by Sonny Burke, the long-dreamed-of album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim became a reality. Jobim—the brilliant Brazilian—said of Frank, "This man is Mount Everest for a songwriter. " Stan Cornyn reported that at the sessions, Ogerman "tiptoed about ridding every song of clicks, bings, bips, all things sharp. Seemed like the whole idea was to out-hush each other." My dad said, "I haven't sung so softly since I had laryngitis." Cornyn added, "If he sang any softer, he'd have to be lying on his back." One trombone player, who had put his felt hat across his horn to muffle the sound, said after hitting a clam, "If I blow any softer, it'll have to come out the back of my neck."

I would be remiss if I didn't mention Jobim's lovely vocals on four of the songs. Cornyn describes "Tone" (Dad's nickname for Antonio) as a "slight and tousled boy-man, speaking softly while about him rushes a world too fast. Antonio, troubled not by the clamor in the world, troubled more by the whisperings in his heart." Frank and Tone communicated quietly, with their eyes, their smiles, their hugs and looks of concern and triumph at what they had accomplished. Lyricist Gene Lees recalled the first time he heard the album: "One of the tracks, a Jobim song called 'Dindi,' sends chills up my arms and back. Sinatra's reading of it is one of the most exquisite ever to come out of American popular music. It is filled with longing. It aches. Somewhere within him Frank Sinatra aches. Fine. That's the way it's always been: The audience's pleasure derives from the artist's pain."

At the end of the session, the A Team in the studio stepped aside, and Dad let me bring in my B Team to record a duet novelty song called "Somethin' Stupid." On the first take, Dad got silly, sounding his S's like Daffy Duck for fun, so we had to do a second take. Mo Ostin, the president of Reprise, bet him two dollars it would bomb. He lost his money: It went to number one, selling several million copies.

Antonio Carlos Jobim and Frank Sinatra flank "The girl from Ipanema?"

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

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

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

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

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

JANUARY 31, 1982: Dad participated in a television special entitled Let Poland Be Poland. He said, "I'm not a politician, I'm a singer, but when I see people being forced from their homeland to seek freedom someplace else, it makes me realize all over again how grateful I am for the freedom I have—and how terrible I would feel if I had to leave the country I love. When the troubles began in Poland this winter, I remembered a song I recorded some time ago. It's based on a Polish folk song. I sang it in both English and Polish. If I were a politician I would probably make a speech right now. But since I'm not, here's the song. The title is 'Ever Homeward.'" President Reagan wrote: "An estimated 172 million people in 42 countries saw the production and some 100 million heard it on radio...It was a forum for the champions of human freedom throughout the world. Because of people like you who care, the message will continue to ring loud and clear."

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JANUARY 25–31, 1974: ...Frank Sinatra was back at Caesars Palace. [See January 25th]

JANUARY 30–FEBRUARY 1, 1967: In three sessions arranged by Claus Ogerman... [See January 30th]

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

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

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

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

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

FEBRUARY 1995: The Frank Sinatra Neckwear Collection was presented at the Magic Man Apparel Show in Las Vegas. Dad, always a snappy dresser with a particular fondness for ties, incorporated designs from his own artwork into the silk jacquard ties, on which his signature was stitched at the tip. "I have always been bewitched by shadows and contrasts," Dad said at the line's unveiling. "A bright bursting orange sun against a twilight blue sky, the rich shadow cast by a simple green leaf."

FEBRUARY 1995: Dad and Barbara decided to put the Palm Springs compound up for sale. Dad had owned the Palm Springs house since 1954, and it was an important part of my youth. Barbara: "Palm Springs has changed. We had a wonderful time there, and it's been a fabulous part of our lives. But it's time to move on. We're very happy now. We have two fabulous homes and lots of friends near us. I don't care what kind of possessions you have in life. It really doesn't mean anything unless you have good friends. And everybody is in the L.A. area now."

At the Palm Springs estate, each guest
living area had a name. There was the
"New York, New York" house. Dad's
painting studio was called, "All the Way."
"The Tender Trap" was the guest house
built for President Kennedy. A screening
room was appropriately named, "Send in
the Clowns," and "My Way" was the office.

FEBRUARY 1994: Duets went multiplatinum.

FEBRUARY 1985: In Miami Beach for the Miracle Ball benefit for St. Jude's Children's Research Center.

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

FEBRUARY 1–8, 1978: Frank returned to Caesars for another week.

FEBRUARY 1977: Returning to New York, he was at Media Sound with Charles Calello, recording "Everybody Ought to Be in Love," among other songs.

FEBRUARY 1976: The Friars Club selected Frank Sinatra as Top Box Office Name of the Century.

FEBRUARY 1975: Frank was given the prestigious Cecil B. DeMille Award by the Hollywood Foreign Press at their annual Golden Globes ceremony, which he could not attend. My sister, Tina, accepted the award from Joan Crawford.

FEBRUARY 1974: George Burns and several other guests celebrated Jack Benny's 80th birthday at Frank's house in Palm Springs.

EARLY FEBRUARY 1970: Dad attended a Democratic National Committee tribute to Harry Truman in Miami Beach.

FEBRUARY 1968: FS hosted an 82nd birthday party in Miami for his old friend Mike Romanoff.

JANUARY 30–FEBRUARY 1, 1967: In three sessions arranged by Claus Ogerman... [See January 30th]

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

FEBRUARY 1, 1966: Frank guested on Sammy and His Friends, an ABC television special.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1965: Frank headlined with his old friend Joe E. Lewis in a two-week stand at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami.

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1961: Dad performed to packed houses for every show of a two week run at the Sands in Las Vegas.

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

FEBRUARY 1960: Joseph P. Kennedy, U.S. ambassador to England during World War II and father of Jack Kennedy, met with Dad to ask for his help in West Virginia, where JFK had to win the primary election in order to win the Democratic nomination for president. Since anti-Catholic sentiment ran high among voters there, the senior Kennedy suggested that my father ask Sam Giancana for help in swinging the election; if JFK won West Virginia, he would be considered an electable candidate despite his religion. My father approached Giancana, an old acquaintance, making it clear that this was a personal favor to him and not a quid pro quo with the Kennedys, and Giancana dispatched the 500 Club's Skinny D'Amato to get local sheriffs and powerful coal miners' unions to deliver 120,000 votes—and the election—to Kennedy. Dad and his closest friends—Sammy, Dean and Peter Lawford—proceeded to campaign for JFK throughout the country. In Jersey City, where Dolly Sinatra's name still opened doors, Frank enlisted the aid of Mayor John V. Kenny to swing the state party apparatus behind JFK's nomination.

FEBRUARY 1, 1958: Dad did a guest spot on Dean Martin's Club Oasis television show sponsored by Oasis cigarettes, joining Dean in a duet of "Jailhouse Rock."

FEBRUARY 1958: Co-starring with Tony Curtis and Natalie Wood in Kings Go Forth for United Artists, FS was on location in France playing a World War II infantry lieutenant who comes home an amputee. Boris Karloff worked as Dad's unofficial acting coach while he was making this movie. He gave him advice that became invaluable: "You must learn to act with your voice as well as your face."

FEBRUARY 1957: Hearst Broadway columnist and CBS television personality Dorothy Kilgallen wrote a six-part series, "The Real Frank Sinatra Story," that purported to tell "heretofore unpublished episodes in Frankie's life." There was little new and even less substance in what came off as a typically mean-spirited hatchet job. Dad responded by taking personal digs at the columnist in his nightclub act. He even sent Kilgallen a tombstone with her name carved on it. That was too much even for some Sinatra admirers, including columnist Louis Sobol, who wrote that his response to her attacks was "in bad taste" and "inexcusable." But Dad would publicly criticize Kilgallen for the rest of her life. And having been a victim of similar hatchet jobs myself, I can understand why he chose to finally fight back with the only forum he had, his microphone. I wish he had acted on these attacks much earlier.

FEBRUARY 1955: Reliving his own personal heartbreak, Dad recorded one of his best albums, In the Wee Small Hours, including poignant interpretations of "I'll Be Around," "I Get Along Without You Very Well" and "When Your Lover Has Gone." This is my favorite album. From the liner notes: "Standing in front of the mike with his hands nearly always jammed into his pockets, his shoulders hunched a little forward, he sang. And as he sang, he created the loneliest early-morning mood in the world." Stan Cornyn later recalled, "For all his crashing self-assertion, through his art he was suggesting that man is still only a child, frightened and whimpering in the dark." He would record 36 other songs that year at the Capitol studios in Hollywood and New York. Among them: "Love and Marriage" and "(Love Is) The Tender Trap."

FEBRUARY 1949: Dad's version of "Some Enchanted Evening" was panned by Downbeat for a lack of intimacy and "a few off-pitch" notes. And his next release, "Bali Ha'i," fared even worse: "For all his talent," wrote the Downbeat reviewer, "it very seldom comes to life."

FEBRUARY 1949: Ava wrote about running into Frank again at a party in Palm Springs. This time the sparks really began to fly. "I suppose we were rushing things a little the last time we met," he said. "You were rushing things," she replied. "Let's start again," he suggested. "What are you doing now?" "That night we did not kiss or make a date," remembered Ava. "But we knew, and I think it must have frightened both of us." Back in Hollywood, they went on another date. "We went to a little yellow house in Nichols Canyon and made love. And, oh, God, it was magic. We became lovers eternally," she said years later. I believe Ava truly loved my father. She never married again!

FEBRUARY 1947: FS was continuing his radio show Songs by Sinatra—sponsored by Old Gold cigarettes—in New York on Wednesday nights.

FEBRUARY 1947: With Harry Truman elevated to the presidency by the death of FDR, Republicans launched an early campaign to oust the lame-duck president and regain the White House by smearing prominent Democratic campaign contributors—including, once again, my father. In the right-wing Hearst and Scripps-Howard papers, columnist Robert Ruark and Dad's nemesis Lee Mortimer accused Frank of sinister motives for being in Cuba with Luciano and the Fischetti brothers. They even printed a ludicrous story that he carried $2,000,000 in small bills on a plane from Miami to Havana and was to deliver it personally to Luciano. And columnist Westbrook Pegler—who Dad later described as "a man with clout"—soon revived the old charges that Frank Sinatra was a Communist "fellow traveler."

In internal memos to and from FBI Associate Director Clyde Tolson during this same period—released many years later under the Freedom of Information Act—it became clear that unofficial "cooperation" had been offered privately to Mortimer by the FBI, and that much of its own file on Sinatra, in turn, was based on unsupported accusations and innuendos passed along to the agency by Mortimer without any corroboration. Most of the charges, however, came from "leaks" by Harry Anslinger of the National Narcotics Bureau, who had denounced my father as a dangerous "pinko" because of his vocal support for civil rights, his roots in the Sicilian community and his many friendships with "dope-smoking" musicians. So began another myth.

FEBRUARY–MARCH 1946: Beginning with this first session at the Columbia studio in Hollywood, Dad began the busiest year in his recording history, logging 57 songs. Many were memorable—"That Old Black Magic," "They Say It's Wonderful," "The Girl That I Marry," "September Song" and "Begin the Beguine."

FEBRUARY 1944: With MCA as his new agency, Dad signed a $1.5 million longterm contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, pre-empting his deal with RKO. Columnist Walter Winchell wrote that Sinatra's salaries from various sources made him the highest-paid person in the world.

FEBRUARY 1, 1940: At the RCA studios in Chicago, Dad recorded his first two songs with the Dorsey band, "The Sky Fell Down" and "Too Romantic."

FEBRUARY 1939: A 23-year-old unknown, Frank had been planning to sign on with a band run by Bob Chester—bandleader of one of the groups that played at the Rustic Cabin. Frank said, "In those days, working with a big band was the end of the rainbow for any singer who wanted to make it." My mother got a 15-dollar advance on her salary so Dad could have publicity pictures taken to give to trumpeter Harry James, who had just left Benny Goodman, the "King of Swing," to start a band of his own. Harry Schuchman said: "I remember that day. He had the pictures taken but he couldn't get to Harry James. So he got someone to put them on Harry's desk." Soon afterward James happened to hear Dad on the radio. Already knowing what Frank looked like from the pictures, James then went to see him live at the Rustic Cabin. When James showed up, Frank sang "Begin the Beguine." James said later that he "liked Frank's way of talking a lyric" and signed him up as male vocalist with his newly formed band—a two-year contract at $75 a week.

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

[Nancy]

Most of the charges, however, came from "leaks" by Harry Anslinger of the National Narcotics Bureau, who had denounced my father as a dangerous "pinko" because of his vocal support for civil rights, his roots in the Sicilian community and his many friendships with "dope-smoking" musicians. So began another myth.

Amazing in retrospect, isn't it?

[George Lyons]

Imagine if The National Enquirer and the myriad other bastions
of "journalistic integrity" today were around then?
$2,000,000 in small bills! How much would that sachel weigh??

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

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

FEBRUARY 2, 1980: The University of Santa Clara in Northern California established a $250,000 trust fund for a proposed Frank Sinatra Chair in Music and Theater Arts. It was "one of the nicest things that ever happened to me in my show business career," my father said at a benefit concert in Santa Clara. He said he had performed "in some places that didn't even give me a chair to sit on."

FEBRUARY 1–8, 1978: Frank returned to Caesars for another week.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1965: Frank headlined with his old friend Joe E. Lewis... [See February 1st]

FEBRUARY 2, 1965: Flying into L.A. from Miami for the day, Dad spoke at a Beverly Hilton dinner honoring Associated Press correspondent Jim Bacon, one of the reporters on hand when he and Ava returned from Mexico in 1951 and their car and reporter William Eccles collided, creating a furor. With tongue planted firmly in cheek, he faced his adversaries and said, "I want to thank you for the privilege of appearing here. I think it is only fitting that I be invited to speak to a gathering of newspapermen, considering the marvelous relationship I have always had with the press. I believe in certain quarters of the Hearst empire I am known as the Eichmann of song. Now, many of you might have heard that I have in the past been harmful and brutal to members of the Fourth Estate. These are lies, vicious rumors started by a few disgruntled reporters I happened to run down with my car."

My father continued to expound on a subject that had long mystified and fascinated him: women. "Women, I've never met a man in my life who could give another man advice about women...I'm supposed to have a Ph.D. on the subject, but I've flunked more often than not. I'm very fond of women; I admire them. But, like all men, I don't understand them. Sex? There's not enough quantity and certainly not enough quality...If I'd had as many affairs as you fellas claim, I'd be speaking to you today from a jar in the Harvard Medical School."

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1961: ...at the Sands in Las Vegas. [See February 1st]

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

FEBRUARY 2–8, 1940: When the Dorsey band opened at the Lyric Theatre in Indianapolis, the theater's ad in the Indianapolis Star listed Tommy's name in inch-high letters. At the bottom, in 1/8-inch type, was a listing for "Frank Sinatra, Romantic Virtuoso."

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<< My father continued to expound on a subject that had long mystified and fascinated him: women. "Women, I've never met a man in my life who could give another man advice about women...I'm supposed to have a Ph.D. on the subject, but I've flunked more often than not. I'm very fond of women; I admire them. But, like all men, I don't understand them. Sex? There's not enough quantity and certainly not enough quality...If I'd had as many affairs as you fellas claim, I'd be speaking to you today from a jar in the Harvard Medical School." >>

LOL! That's funny, it's nice to read these again.

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

FEBRUARY 3–4, 1989: Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Invitational-Benefit for Desert Hospital, at the Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs.

FEBRUARY 3–9, 1983: Again at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

FEBRUARY 3, 1982: In Detroit at Cobo Arena.

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

FEBRUARY 3, 1980: Dad shared the stage with Dean Martin at L.A.'s Shrine Auditorium in another fund-raiser for Ronald Reagan.

FEBRUARY 1–8, 1978: Frank returned to Caesars for another week.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1965: Frank headlined with his old friend Joe E. Lewis... [See February 1st]

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1961: ...at the Sands in Las Vegas. [See February 1st]

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

FEBRUARY 2–8, 1940: When the Dorsey band opened in Indianapolis... [See February 2nd]

[Dates of new entries highlighted in blue]

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

FEBRUARY 3–4, 1989: Frank Sinatra Celebrity Golf Invitational-Benefit for Desert Hospital, at the Canyon Country Club in Palm Springs.

FEBRUARY 3–9, 1983: Again at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

JANUARY 29–FEBRUARY 4, 1981: Back at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

FEBRUARY 1–8, 1978: Frank returned to Caesars for another week.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1965: Frank headlined with his old friend Joe E. Lewis... [See February 1st]

JANUARY 23–FEBRUARY 12, 1963: Frank, Dean and Sammy did three weeks at the Sands.

FEBRUARY 4, 1962: He made an appearance on ABC's The Stan Freberg Show.

FEBRUARY 1–14, 1961: ...at the Sands in Las Vegas. [See February 1st]

JANUARY 26–FEBRUARY 13, 1960: The members of the Summit on location in Vegas... [See January 26th]

FEBRUARY 4, 1959: Some Came Running was released. Though panned by the critics, the film played to large and enthusiastic audiences, and Shirley MacLaine was nominated for her first Academy Award as the sweet, dumb floozy Ginny Moorhead.

Poster and photo from the MGM motion picture release Some Came Running.

FEBRUARY 4, 1943: Columbia Pictures' Reveille with Beverly, Dad's first film without the Dorsey band, was released. Though it was only a cameo part—singing "Night and Day"—the timing couldn't have been more perfect to spread the word from coast to coast about America's teenage idol.

FEBRUARY 2–8, 1940: When the Dorsey band opened in Indianapolis... [See February 2nd]

FEBRUARY 4, 1939: With his problems behind him for the moment, Frank Sinatra married Nancy Barbato at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City, with both families attending. As a wedding present, he gave her the record of a song dedicated to her—that he had recorded privately the day before: "Our Love." After a reception at the Barbato home, they honeymooned in their three-room, third-floor walkup on Garfield Avenue—for $42 a month—and Dad resumed his gig at the Rustic Cabin, where he had just received a raise to $25 a week. And he landed a nightly gig in Manhattan on The WNEW Dance Parade and partnered with guitarist Tony Mottola on a 15-minute, five-day-weekly radio show, Blue Moon. Nancy, meanwhile, went to work as a secretary for $25 a week at American Type Founders in Elizabeth, New Jersey. During Dad's rare moments at home, she said, "He was handy around the house, putting up towel racks and hanging curtains for me. We really had fun in our first home." And Dad recalls, "In Nancy I found beauty, warmth and understanding; being with her was my only escape from what seemed to be a grim world."

NANCY SR. ON THE WEDDING: We'd been going together for four and a half years, and we were ready to get married. Frank gave me his own sentimental little wedding present—a bag of jellybeans with a diamond watch inside. When the big day finally came, there were maybe 50 members of the family on each side of the aisle. They had all given us furniture for our new apartment. Frank was in a cutaway tuxedo. I was wearing my sister's wedding dress, and the ring—a gold band with a cluster of diamonds—had been his mother's. I don't think I'd ever seen Frank so happy in his whole life.

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FEBRUARY 4, 1939: As a wedding present, he gave her the record of a song dedicated to her—that he had recorded privately the day before: "Our Love."

Small correction: Since the publication of Nancy's book, it's been established that "Our Love"—a demo record from a private session led by saxophonist Frank Mane—was recorded later, on March 18, 1939. An original disc in the possession of Mane's widow sold at auction for $14,000 a few years ago.

See the thread: The First Recording "Our Love"

[MMM]

Originally Posted by Bob

FEBRUARY 4, 1939:With his problems behind him for the moment, Frank Sinatra married Nancy Barbato at Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City, with both families attending.[/COLOR]

Nancy Sr., if you're reading, Happy Anniversary.

[George Lyons]

70 Years! Happy Memories indeed, Mrs. Sinatra.