A BITTERSWEET DISCOVERY

i've long wished that i could take one sinatra song i've never heard and wrap it up in a beautiful box and never open it, just so i'd always know that i hadn't heard them all.
i've never heard this song before!

A HAT'S NOT A HAT 'LESS IT'S TILTED

So what, the way he wears his hat counts fer nuttin?

The polls are in and ya good fer nuttins didn't come thru quite as i'd hoped. we got 6 votes this time, but next time there'll be more, right?

What is it that makes us swoon?
3 votes--that's 50% for you non-math wizards--for the voice. ah that sultry, sensual, deep and boundless voice. it comes so naturally and effortlessly, and yet there's not another like it.
1 vote--that's 16%--for the eyes. oh those smashing clear blue (though watery drunk at times) blue eyes.. well that must be where 'Ol Blue Eyes got the name!
2 votes--that's 33%--say the swagger. Boy howdy, swing, baby! We love to see that air of confidence in the ones we admire. Ladies, who among you doesn't find that sort of thing sexy (fellas, don't be confused between confidence and conceit)?
0 votes--that's 0%, genius--say the way he wears his hat. Well I'll say, nobody but nobody can wear it better.

Stay tuned for the next big survey...

TOO MUCH LOVE TO GIVE

Sinatra was married 4 times.




His first wife, Nancy Barbato, was also (this is so cute) his first girlfriend at age 16. They married at 20 and had Nancy Jr. a year later. It was no time until he was noticed by the public, and (unsurprisingly) the ladies loved him... perhaps too much. It was a real threat to the marriage. Time was quoted:

"Not since the days of Rudolph Valentino has American womanhood made such
unabashed love to an entertainer."

Frank Jr. was born 4 years later, and Tina, 4 years after that.

His popularity led to a big head, not big enough britches, and big time contacts... like the lovely Ava Gardner, and Frank soon began running around with her very publicly (the rat). He was behaving quite badly in other ways too (I sense there must have been profound emotional troubles, not ratty cad-ness at all), like getting arrested and punching people and whathaveyou. It didn't take long for Nancy to file (the insensitive dame).





A week after the divorce was final, Frank married Ava (the cad). He got what was coming to him though. They were deemed "Swingin' Sinatras" because of their dramatic and jealous reactions to each other--even to the extent of suicide attempts (both phony and genuine) by the man himself. Their marriage lasted 2 years.

Our guy had lotsa lady friends but didn't marry again for 13 years (learn his lesson?)... this time to the precious little hippy chick (30 years younger) Mia Farrow. They tried to make it work but couldn't (didn't see that comin'--actually, that's unfair because Charlie Chaplin and Oona Oneil lasted forever and they had, like, a hundred years age difference), and 16 months later ended it.

In 1976, 9 years later, Barbara Marx (ex of Zeppo) became number 4 and number last.

Although he couldn't seem to cut the mustard with his wives, he was a great buddy to his ex-wives. He tried it. He wanted it (bless his romantic heart), but it didn't seem to suit him in his youth. At least he and Babs made it last.

Love and marriage, love and marriage

go together like a horse and carriage.

This i tell ya brother,

ya can't have one without the other.

Love and marriage, love and marriage,

it's an institute ya can't disparage.

Ask the local gentry,

and they will say it's elementary.

Try, try, try to separate them

it's an illusion.

Try, try, try and you will only come

to this conclusion:

Love and marriage, love and marriage

go together like a horse and carriage.

Dad was told by mother,

you can't have one without the other.

See, the man just had too much love to give. That's why the 4 marriages.

As Time Goes By, I just love him more!

Yes, he loved the ladies

FIRST AND FOREMOST

Frank was an actor. Much like Dean, the ruse he played out was a self-depreciating kind of humor meant to reflect his human quality. As an example, Dean was famously an unqualified drunk... Always sipping a cocktail during his act, slurring his words, forgetting the songs... In fact, Dean did not drink while he performed, and was, for the most part, never drunk during performances. It was an act. As Sinatra once said when asked about Martin's drunkenness, "I spill more than he drinks." Sinatra was no less an actor. And his jokes about women were for the purpose of comedy (which got lots of giggles from the ladies, by the way). Here's personal testimony, quoted I believe from Playboy--someone correct me if i'm wrong here.

"I’m supposed to have a Ph.D. on the subject of women. But the truth is 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."

It's not hard to believe that he did appreciate women, he married 4 times! And Ava Gardner, in particular, tormented his delicate sensibilities. I will admit that begrudging Mia Farrow for not giving up her career was a slap in the face of women's lib, but come on, it was the 60s! And Mia, always remembering Frank fondly:

"TV in bed, our puppies, his incredible sweetness, the purity of his feelings. His smile. Our ages finally mattered. [he was 50, she 21] I was too ill at ease with his remoteness and unable to fathom his complexities."

Sinatra's exes all shared this sentiment. And he got along smashingly with all of them. How many people do you know that can say the same?

(quoted from Remembering Sinatra)

BTW, if anyone is judging him based on his famous "The Lady is a Tramp," check out the lyrics:

"She gets too hungry, for dinner at 8

She loves the theater and never comes late

She'd never bother with people she'd hate

That's why the lady is a tramp

Doesn't like crap games with Barons and Earls

Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls

Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls

That's why the lady is a tramp"

here's to cole!

a note to Don Key's topic...

cole porter was a marvelous songwriter. i particularly like "what a swell party this is" and "anything goes," both CP songs, yes? (please feel free to correct me if i blunder; i'm only right 87% of the time so i must be told about my other 13% if i am to ever amend that percentage! ) While sinatra was no songwriter (that i know of, but that makes swell chum for further research), he was a gifted musician... his instrument being his voice. he played that instrument with incredible finesse, devotion and intuition. there is a reason such an incomparable voice is, at the same time, so effortless. he is a prodigious example of vocal expression. All that and songwriting too? save that for jesus, cuz only HE could top our guy!

PICK ON SOMEONE YOUR OWN LIVING-STATUS

i feel i must post to don key's points, made in the comment section at welcome friends. the same point was raised by mjzmusic in a different post comment:

let me be frank... since he's not here to be (or defend) himself...
the notion of sinatra's racism is, in my opinion, not properly considered.

it's easy for us to believe now that the things sinatra said were racist or politically incorrect, but i believe his love for jr. was real and deep, and there was not a bit of frank that appreciated sam any less for his race. check back in for sinatra quote on the subject once i've researched it. remember, sammy was just as much a participant in the rat pack act as anyone else, and likely had as much fun with it (though further research into sammy's bio is due this point).

the key to being able to joke about race is having a pure heart with regard to it, and recognizing it as simple comedy, not agenda-pushing--this is the reason we can joke about our own race today without offending others of the same race. they know we aren't really degrading ourselves and others like us, but rather bringing comic relief to otherwise ugly disparities. while it is true that i haven't experienced all the pack's bits, from what i've heard, it was never truly meanspirited or deliberately insulting to brownness.

it was commonplace at that time to make comments that today are considered crass or inappropriate. consider jokes about women--girlfriends vs wives--or even the jokes made about being an alcoholic, and how inappropriate that might come off as now. conceptions of race and stereotyping, were not considered the icky subject that they are today. That's not to say that a man is justified in racist notions simply because it is the majority perspective. simply, that an evaluation of the man's heart cannot be made based on the way he behaved 50 years ago measured by notions of a today's taboos.

thanks for raising the subject, don and mjz

Enhanced Communication

Sinatra was a man of many words. He sang 'em. He mangled 'em. And he created 'em. Much of the language we think of as quintessential to the 50s swinger was brought to you by this fine sponsor of Americana. Whether or not he coined 'em... I may never know. But he certainly brought a charming flair to our comfortable lingo with these choice tokens (as quoted from Remembering Sinatra):

• broad (n): a sexy woman


• charlies (n): sexy breasts


• chick (n): a sexy young woman


• clyde (n): means anything


• crazy (adj): cool


• crumb (n): a creep


• gasoline (n): booze


• gasser (n): a great person


• harve (n): a square


• mouse (n): a small woman


• ring-a-ding (adj): terrific


• twirl (n): a chick who loves dancing


• -ville (suffix): many uses; bombsville, endsville, splitsville

May I extend an invitation?

I invite anyone to openly participate in this, our discussion of all things Sinatra. But never believe you love him more than me! It is my plan to offer insight on this blog that may be less known, about his life, his death, the world now without him. I graciously accept any new information that might come by way of comment, and will artfully (after investigating the allegations) incorporate the worthwhile substance into this shrine.

ring-a-ding-ding baby!

A VERY WARM WELCOME TO OUR FRIEND... YOU

WELCOME FRIENDS to at least one of the non-official Sinatra blogs on blogspot or elsewhere. For anyone who has a love for sinatrobilia, frank talk, and swooning to his toons... here's one for my baby, one more for the road, and this one's for you!