Posted on 05/29/2015 1:23:28 PM PDT by nickcarraway
“Frank is just like you. Just like me. Only bigger.” — George Schlatter, a friend
Let’s get one thing straight. There can’t be another Frank. These days, you don’t operate on that plane and get away with it. Was he in the Mob? Was he an informer? Did he ruin Ava Gardner, sleep with Marilyn, throw a plate against a restaurant wall just because they cooked the pasta too long? Come on, al dente!
Act like that today and you’d be TMZ’d faster than you can tweet Alec Baldwin. But that’s just behavior. Flip on your TV and you’ll understand the other reason nobody can match Sinatra. In this age of the media megatropolis, of over-saturated, over-exposed, over-everything, competition is just too fierce for one figure to so dominate the spotlight. If Milton Berle were starting out now, he wouldn’t get a 30-year deal from NBC. He’d be cross-dressing on Comedy Central to beat out Guy Fieri on a Wednesday night.
With Frank’s 100th birthday approaching, along with an NSO Pops concert devoted to his music, I’ve been talking Sinatra over the past week
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Frank’s at the bottom of a long list of people significantly better than him.
Frank could sing as well as William Shatner.
Vegas usta work....Now we get Hairy Reed.
I watched the two part HBO documentary on him, and found it annoyingly unsatisfying. First, they used the acceptable technique (but one I don’t like) of having ALL commentators/narrators off screen, so you never see who is talking. You just get “voice of Nancy Sinatra.” Second, although they touched on all the questions raised here, they never seem to answer any except to say that Sinatra stood up against racial discrimination, which I think most people know and which he should be applauded for. They of course downplayed the Australian incident where he basically called a female reporter a slut.
I like him but Dean Martin and Tony Bennett are better.
Especially Martin. Sinatra supposedly modeled his singing style off Bing Crosby.
I could see that being true.
Great singers. Ever notice how many of the great crooners were Italian-American. Really remarkable:
http://www.italianlegacy.com/italian-american-singers.html
http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-greatest-american-italian-singers-of-all-time-mw0001961738
“I don’t know what to do, Godfather. My voice is weak, it’s weak. Anyway, if I had this part in the picture, it puts me right back on top, you know. But this... this man out there. He won’t give it to me, the head of the studio.”
Blasphemy! Sinatra was THE best!!!
A friend of mine is a renowned mastering engineer and has gifted me many, many Sinatra tracks burned direct from the studio master tapes. Some are “dry” and include studio chatter that never made it to the commercial version.
The best pop song (One for My Baby) ever written sung by the greatest singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_zhVeZphwE
Dennis Miller talks of having dinner with Frank - GREAT 8 minute chat:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQyJlKI26lk
That documentary is on YouTube, btw. Nicely done, IMO.
We all have our favorites of course. To me Frank is at the pinnacle. The only one who comes close is the a Brit, the late Terence Parson, aka Matt Monro:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcdmq07u2T8
I’m one. :) American with Italian heritage. not a great crooner :)
Frank Sinatra was a very remarkable guy, no doubt about it.
That’s a great video.
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