I never hear anyone mention The Chairman of The Board on here. Frank's become my new obsession, and Ive collected a decent amount of vinyl of his.

Im only 30, but theres something so badass about Ol Blue Eyes.


Anybody else into him?

I enjoy some of his pre-Rat Pack work.

To be honest, all of them(Frank AND the Rat Pack) annoy me

Harlepolis said:

I appreciate your honesty, but why do they annoy you?

I love them all!!! Gotta love the fierceness in Frank, the coolness in Dean, and the smoothness in Sammy. Oh and those other two too. I have the "Christmas with Rat Pack" cd and play it every Christmas. I love their suaveness and their style. These rappers out here keep talking about being swagger, but it was THE RAT PACK who invented swagger....
[Edited 3/2/10 9:43am]

Not a lick.

missfee said:

Exactly. Frank was swagger. Men feared and respected him, and women adored him. Only man who could sing the most beautiful love ballad and still make it gangster.

NewPowerToad said:

That's right. I would had done him had I been around that scene in that era

Yup, they all were cool and I'm living in the town they ruled (Vegas) Frank is my sisters favorite singer and she's in her early 30's...Frank was cool~

i looooove Frank Sinatra

I really dug Phil Hartman impersonating Frank, but that's about all of my fascination with Mr. Sinatra.

...

I'll probably get my Funk pass revoked for this, but I gotta admit, everytime I hear his versions of The Way You Look Tonight, or Angel Eyes , I get kinda sentimental...Actually, even though I'm more of a Tony Bennett fan, I gotta give props to Sinatra...

I've always had a thing for vocalists singing with big band and string arrangements -- and among my favorite band/string arrangers are guys like Robert Farnon, Quincy Jones, Eumir Deodato, Johnny Mandel and Don Costa , who all arranged for Frank at one point or another.....





...
[Edited 3/2/10 13:31pm]

I was raised on Frank and the gang, including Ella, Ellington, Satchmo, etc.. Of course as a kid, none of them matched up to The Beatles. But as I grew up, I learned to appreciate them more. I can remember my parents dancing together so beautifully to Frank and my dad coming home a little tipsy and playing his trumpet along to some big band while mom hollered at him to knock it off.

I find the Sinatra CD that I play most frequently is a live one from the Sands, I love the big band sound and the bantering with the audience. I enjoy some of his studio stuff too, but the live stuff is an energy boost when I need to get my ass off the couch. I also have a nice Vegas box set, but always forget to dig it out.

The best Rat Pack recorded performance that I've seen is this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Ult...060&sr=8-2

Here's info from a review and I agree, Sammy's performance is amazing! The part where he 'be-bops' while accompanied only by bongos had me slack-jawed, I LOVE it! It's also fun to see Carson & Quincy when they were so young.

"This DVD(1) and CD(1) set is an outstanding value for the money. The DVD is the most precious because it captures a televised charity benefit where the main 3 Rat Pack members (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.) do an updated version of their old Vegas Sands Hotel act. Titled the "Frank Sinatra Spectacular."

The show is in black and white, but since it was recorded by a major television network for the purposes of making a documentary on Sinatra, the camerawork and sound are quite good. Again, it is easily the highest quality video and sound recording of essentially the same act they did for years in Vegas and at the Villa Venice in Chicago for Sam Giancana.

(Incidentally--The charity that this show was meant to raise cash for was a halfway house for ex-cons in St. Louis called Dismas House.)

There are a few twists that make this show unique from the shows the Rat Pack did at the Sands in Las Vegas. A very young Johnny Carson (just a few years into his gig replacing Jack Paar as host of the Tonight Show) is filling in on short notice for Joey Bishop as Master of Ceremonies. A bit nervous but good natured about the gang's shennanigans, he fills in ably.

Peter Lawford, by this time falling out of favor with Sinatra, is not even mentioned, much less seen --in the show.

A rather young Quincy Jones (referred to as "Q") conducts the orchestra.

Sammy Davis clearly steals the show. Typically, in the Vegas and Chicago nightclub acts, Frank and Dean playfully interrupt Sammy throughout his act whether he is singing, dancing or attempting to do impressions. Here, they actually allow him to do his full act with virtually no interuption. What a treat. Sammy demonstrates a number of popular dance steps, does some marvelous, passionate singing numbers, and also sings Be-Bom accapella solely with a bongo accompianing him. He also gets through most of his celebrity impersonations (he impersonates various stars like Nat King Cole, Marlon Brando, Billy Eckstein etc. singing parts of "One for My Baby") without interuption until the very end. What a remarkable talent Davis was. "

Sinatra had style, Lawford was kinda hot, and Sammy had mad talent, but they didn't do much for me in combination.

My Mom had all their stuff, so I'd listen to it growing up.
She followed Sammy the way I follow Prince. My Dad used to take her to shows all the time.

I love the smoothness of Dean's voice. My favorite, tho, is "Sinatra 65". I used to play that vinyl all the time.

I liked the Black Pack better, lol.

The Summit are indeed the Summit.

Let's all drink a shot of Jack and tip our hats to Frank, Sammy, Dean, Joey and Peter.

I adore Frank's music, but try not to get to know the man he was. He seemed like a major dick. An FBI agent is alleged to have said about him: He had a hoodlum complex. Seems about right.

abigail05 said:

Isn't true that he had connections with the Mafia? Or was it a myth?

abigail05 said:

Yeah, but it's also been said by anyone that knew him, that Frank was the most generous thoughtful man you would ever wanna be friends with. Hell, when Sammy Davis Jr wanted to marry swedish actress May Britt, he asked Frank to stand up for him. Frank put his career on the line for standing up for his friend, because at the time, the idea of a black man marrying a white woman was unheard of. The wedding was ultimately postponed, but for Frank to not even think twice about doing what was right, and put his reputation on the line, was a big statement of his charachter. And not to mention, he was one of the first who looked past color, and helped bring Sammy to Las Vegas.

Sinatra may have been a hardass, and have mob ties. But he always treated everyone with the utmost respect, until you crossed him. Then you might of well have been dead to him.

NewPowerToad said:

I also read that he once slugged a counterman at a restaurant for refusing to serve a black customer....


...

abigail05 said:

NO. Seems about WRONG.

Frank was tough, and stuck up 4 what he believed in, in a time when it wasn't "popular" 2 do so.

He hated the names he heard (and received) when he was a kid, and fought prejudice 4 the rest of his life, and in a very genuine way.

He used his power 2 INSIST that Black artists get paid well, threatening 2 never play at a venue again if they didn't do so.

He loved Billie Holiday, also stated her as a major influence, then later paying her hospital bills, etc.

He gave anonymously 2 several causes, the biggest being the Civil Rights movement.

Frank coined a young Quincy Jones "The Q", which stuck obviously.

Mob connections?

U do know that Frank essentially got JFK elected, and not just with money.

JFK's father asked Frank if he could swing the votes in West Virginia, by using the unions. JFK couldn't win without it, and no way would a Catholic Northerner who supported Civil Rights get the vote there.

Frank asked Sam Giacana 4 this favor, and it was granted.

Ironically, after JFK was elected, and made his prick brother, Bobby Kennedy, Attorney General, Bobby then went after Italian organized crime, including Sam Giancana.

ANYWAY...

Musically, Frank's voice was outstanding, with killer rhythm and phrasing... especially after the "idol/crooner" Columbia years... The Capitol years and Reprise years were the best.

Frank started Reprise records 2 provide a, well... reprise from the major labels. More freedom 4 the artists who he signed, as 2 material and recording technique.

Harlepolis said:

That was true. If Sinatra was still alive he'd be approaching the century mark. You think of his heritage (he's Sicilian) and how this country was divided by race as it was ethnicity.... the mafia was part of his cultural, his neighborhood. On both sides of the family tree, his family had been involved in the mafia, at low levels. The Mafia did control the nightclub scene in this country up until the early 70's. I'm not sure how deep his involvement was, if he was involved in criminal activity, or if he used his connections as leverage but he was very good friends with many mobsters thought out his life. Sinatra and Sam Giancana were very good friends.



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[Edited 3/3/10 8:35am]

As far as the Rat Pack, these three were it...

Looks like Dino made Sammy and Frank crack up in this shot.

Dino had a voice, and if U ever hear his songs sung in Italian, they R fantastic.

Sammy's hoofin' before the Rat Pack days was fantastic.
[Edited 3/3/10 8:03am]

Giovanni777 said:

I've always loved that picture. I want to frame it and put it on my wall in my house.

missfee said:

That's funny, 'cause I do have it hanging in my house... Wanna come?

; )

Hell yea! I love Frank Sinatra the most. I have the pic of them at the pool table hanging in my apt. My favorite FS song is "Mimi" sp*