Let’s start with some music. I’ve Got You Under My Skin
My brother Don and I are Frank Sinatra fans. We have every album, CD, movie and concert video, with backup copies. And I think we have all the books about Frank. When Mr. Sinatra had a show, we were there, at Radio City, Carnegie Hall, Cherry Hill NJ, Fontainebleau Miami Beach, Las Vegas or Nashville.
The Opry building had the best acoustics I have ever heard…even better than Radio City or Avery Fisher Hall. Don was Frank’s friend and got advance notice and tickets for years. The best show ever was Sinatra at the Sands with Count Basie September 1966, Reprise CD #1019-2. I met Frank back stage before a show in Nashville and I must tell you his speaking voice was so good I got weak at the knees. Unbelievable. He really was “The Voice.”
I’ve read numbers varying from 150-200 LP’s and between 1745-2000 singles. These may include compilations and re-issues. The Man’s output was, in any case, PHENOMENAL. To record over a 55 year period and remain a top artist then and now…his likes will never be seen again.
Frank toasted Jack Daniels toward the end of the show and the company named a sour mash for him. http://sinatrafamily.com/news/index.php If Frank knew you were a music lover, you were good. If you were a reporter he didn’t like…well, at one show he said: “Last night I compared a certain female reporter to a Lady of the Evening…I was wrong and I want to apologize…so if there are any Ladies of the Evening in the audience…I am truly sorry.”
One memorable story was before a 1974 show in Caesar’ s Palace Las Vegas, seated ringside. Don and best friends Jim Cooper and Sol Cury were seated with Fernando Lamas and Esther Williams, the famous swimming star and one Fine Specimen of Womanhood. After a couple of drinks, Sol looked at her and said “Esther, you are my biggest fan, all my life.” Which set off the table.
FS was amazing. As Dean Martin said “It’s Frank’s world. We are just lucky to be living in it.” I agree with Dean. That’s Don with the Chairman of the Board!