Why Is Frank Sinatra Important

Frank Sinatra: The Man and his Music

From the Hoboken Four to the Album duets everybody has a favorite Frank Sinatra song. Frank Sinatra’s music is still remembered today and is enjoyed just like it was in the 50’s; Mozart, Handel, Beethoven, and Tchaikovsky’s music are remembered in the same sense and respect. Old Blue Eyes was known for his creation of swing music, his huge red bow tie, and his habit of drinking Jack Daniels whenever he sings. The city of New York loved Old Blue Eyes the most. Sinatra was honored with three stars on Hollywood Boulevard, a park in Hoboken, NJ, and a building in Astoria, Queens. Sinatra deeply impacted the world with his music, but that is all that people seemed to know about. Frank Sinatra like many other
singers such as Elvis Presley, who music he said was not that good, and Bing Crosby, his idol, did not start running towards to superstardom. Just like evey singer’s career, he had to learn how to crawl, then walk, and if he got lucky he could start running. Even though Sinatra suffered many pitfalls, he stayed persistent in his quest for superstardom. He would end up begging his way back to the limelight and he was granted his wish.
Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey; he was an only child born to Sicilian parents.
Sinatra’s father was somewhat famous but would amount to the fame that his son would merit. Antonio Martino Sinatra was a fireman, professional boxer, and bar owner; he would fight under the name of Marty O’Brien. Sinatra was raised a Roman Catholic; however, his mother performed abortions which were illegal at the time. The service was free and helped save many reputations, unplanned pregnancy was considered a disgrace. Sinatra showed interest in music at an early age, he was a part of his glee club at his high school. He left high school and formed the group dubbed the Hoboken Four, which was Sinatra and four instrumentalists. They got a break in 1937 when they won the Major Bowes Radio Amateur Hour. They would tour with Bowes but shortly after that tour ended the group disbanded. Sinatra’s would get a chance to sing with an orchestra when he signed with Harry James in 1939. Two weeks after his debut with the group, Sinatra released his first CD which sold 8,000 copies. The CD, All or Nothing at All, was re-released in 1943 hit #2 on the charts; it also became the first of Sinatra’s many million
copies.
Sinatra was living the life of a superstar but that success was short lived.
Sinatra was burdened with novelty songs by his producer. He found that it did not suit the style of music he wanted to do much like the Florentine Camerata found vocals unsuited for the expressive use of text. Sinatra lost his film contract from MGM, his agent, and was dropped by his record label. Sinatra’s career as a singer and actor ceased to exist. Sinatra was willing to take anything just to be back into the spotlight; he got a part in the movie From Here to Eternity. That movie was his first non singing role, but it still won him an Oscar in 1953 and regained his spotlight in the entertainment industry. That same year Sinatra would be signed by Capitol Records and he would then move onto his next phase of music Saloon Ballads and Swing Music. He made his Las Vegas debut at the Sands Hotel and continued at Caesars Palace. He led the notorious Rat Pack with Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Peter
Lawford.
By the 90’s the CD had taken over the entertainment industry, but that did not stop Frank Sinatra from making his music. He re-signed with Capitol records and proceeded to record Duets. Duets was an album of Sinatra Classics with a modern voice accompaniment. Sinatra sang alongside Bono, Aretha Franklin, Liza Minnelli, Luther Vandross, and Tony Bennett. This album helped Sinatra gain some new young fans, Sinatra would retire in 1995 and give his last performance on his birthday. He would die 3 years later in 1998 and his fans, old and new, would give him a proper send off. The city of New York would light the Empire State Building Blue in honor of Old Blue Eyes. He was buried with mementos such as cherry-flavored Life Savers, Tootsie Rolls, a bottle of Jack Daniel's, a pack of Camel cigarettes and a Zippo lighter, stuffed toys, and a dog biscuit. Sinatra gave birth to an era of music that is still around today. His music lives on through the hearts of his fans and the city of New York. The one quote that Sinatra had that everyone should live by is, “You gotta love livin', baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the butt (the last word is censored).”