Frank Sinatra

“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.” – Frank Sinatra               

One of the greatest names of the music industry, American jazz singer and artist, Francis Albert Sinatra or most popularly known as Ol’ Blue Eyes, The Voice, Lean Lark, Croon Prince of Swing, Groovy Galahad or simply, Frank Sinatra, was a star born on December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey. Born to parents who wanted their child to grow up to be a Civil Engineer, Frank turned out to be one who hated the diverse and complicated world of Math.

His pre-fame days were filled with horrible despicable yet mostly true stories starting from his getting expelled in high school for unruly behavior. His mother, Natalie Della Garaventa also known as Dolly, an influential woman in local Democratic Party circles was also known to have ran illegal abortion business from her home and was arrested countless times and convicted twice for her crime. As a teenager, he had his first arrest for romantic affair with a married woman.

His musical epiphany was never one to be associated with education but for merely singing. Along with playing the ukulele his uncle gave to him, he loved singing and was developed his own sophisticated style that he didn’t need to know how to read notes to captivate hearts in a single beat. He was inspired by big band jazz and the songs of Bing Crosby and Rudy Vallee that he started singing professionally in the early 1930s in his early teens.

His rise to fame started when he got his first break in 1935 when he joined the local group The Three Flashes which was later on called as the Hoboken Four. After appearing on the show “Major Bowes Amateur Hour”, they impressed Edward Bowes and attracted more than 40,000 votes that bagged them their first professional contract of $25 per week as a singer, headwaiter, master of ceremonies and a comedian at a country roadhouse called The Rustic Cabin in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and the million dollar opportunity of performing on stage and radio across the United States.

Since then the name Frank Sinatra grew with simultaneous record deals, chart-topping and all-time favorite hits like “Moon River” and My Way”; sold out albums and award after award including Academy awards for his movie “The House I Live In” (1945); wife after wife such as childhood sweetheart Nancy Barbato, actresses Ava Gardner and Mia Farrow and her last, Barbara Marx, with of course countless women along the way; and various arrests and misdemeanor. But Ol’ Blue Eyes has always paid much attention to the jazz music and high regard for Black people who were the renowned proponents of the powerful and evocative jazz music that we know now. He had several collaborations with jazz artists most notable of which are the legendary Duke Ellington and Antonio Carlos Jobim. He refused to perform anywhere that did not Blacks in.

Edited: October 1st, 2011