Frank Sinatra
Copyright © 2020
QUICK FACTS
NAME:
Frank Sinatra
BIRTHDATE:
December 12, 1915
DEATH DATE:
May 14, 1998
PLACE OF BIRTH:
Hoboken, New Jersey
PLACE OF DEATH:
Los Angeles, California
AKA:
Frank Sinatra
NICKNAME:
* The Voice
* The Sultan of Swoon
* Ol’ Blue Eyes
* The Chairman of the Board
ORIGINALLY:
Francis Albert Sinatra
who is Frank Sinatra?
Francis Albert Sinatra (12/12/1915 – 14/5/1988). was one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century, forging a career as an award-winning singer and film actor.
He was an American singer, actor, and producer who was and still considered one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
Early Life and Career
Francis Albert “Frank” Sinatra was born on December 12, 1915, in Hoboken, New Jersey. The only child of Sicilian immigrants, a teenaged Sinatra decided to become a singer after watching Bing Crosby perform in the mid-1930s. He’d already been a member of the glee club in his high school and began to sing at local nightclubs. Radio exposure brought him to the attention of bandleader Harry James, with whom Sinatra made his first recordings, including “All or Nothing at All.” In 1940, Tommy Dorsey invited Sinatra to join his band. After two years of chart-topping success with Dorsey, Sinatra decided to strike out on his own.
Solo Artist
Between 1943 and 1946, Sinatra’s solo career blossomed as the singer charted a slew of hit singles. The mobs of bobby-soxer fans Sinatra attracted with his dreamy baritone earned him such nicknames as “The Voice” and “The Sultan of Swoon.”
“It was the war years, and there was a great loneliness,” recalled Sinatra, who was unfit for military service due to a punctured eardrum. “I was the boy in every corner drugstore who’d gone off, drafted to the war. That was all.”
Sinatra made his movie acting debut in 1943 with the films Reveille With Beverley and Higher and Higher. In 1945, he won a special Academy Award for The House I Live In, a 10-minute short made to promote racial and religious tolerance on the home front. Sinatra’s popularity began to slide in the postwar years, however, leading to a loss of his recording and film contracts in the early 1950s. But in 1953, he made a triumphant comeback, winning an Oscar for supporting actor for his portrayal of the Italian American soldier Maggio in the classic From Here to Eternity. Although this was his first non-singing role, Sinatra quickly found a new vocal outlet when he received a recording contract with Capitol Records in the same year. The Sinatra of the 1950s brought forth a more mature sound with jazzier inflections in his voice.
The 10 best Frank Sinatra songs:
1. New York, New York
I’m leaving today
I want to be a part of it
New York, New YorkThese vagabond shoes
Are longing to stray
Right through the very heart of it
New York, New York
I wanna wake up in a city
That doesn’t sleep
And find I’m king of the hill
Top of the heap
These little town blues
Are melting away
I’ll make a brand new start of it
In old New York
If I can make it there
I’ll make it anywhere
It’s up to you
New York, New York
New York, New York
I want to wake up in a city
That never sleeps
And find I’m a number one
Top of the list
King of the hill
A number one
These little town blues
Are melting away
I’m gonna make a brand new start of it
In old New York
And if I can make it there
I’m gonna make it anywhere
It’s up to you
New York, New York, New York
2. “My Kind of Town (Chicago is).
Now this could only happen to a guy like me
And only happen in a town like this
So may I say to each of you most gratef’lly
As I throw each one of you a kiss
This is my kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of people, too
People who smile at you
And each time I roam, Chicago is
Calling me home, Chicago is
Why I just grin like a clown
It’s my kind of town
[brief instrumental]
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of town, Chicago is
My kind of razzmatazz
And it has all that jazz
And each time I leave, Chicago is
Tuggin’ my sleeve, Chicago is
The Wrigley Building, Chicago is
The Union Stockyard, Chicago is
One town that won’t let you down
It’s my kind of town
3. “My Way”
And so I face the final curtain
My friend, I’ll say it clear
I’ll state my case, of which I’m certain
I’ve lived a life that’s full
I traveled each and every highway
And more, much more than this, I did it my wayRegrets, I’ve had a few
But then again, too few to mention
I did what I had to do
And saw it through without exemption
I planned each charted course
Each careful step along the byway
And more, much more than this, I did it my way
Yes, there were times, I’m sure you knew
When I bit off more than I could chew
But through it all, when there was doubt
I ate it up and spit it out
I faced it all and I stood tall and did it my way
I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried
I’ve had my fill, my share of losing
And now, as tears subside
I find it all so amusing
To think I did all that
And may I say, not in a shy way
Oh, no, oh, no, not me, I did it my way
For what is a man, what has he got?
If not himself, then he has naught
To say the things he truly feels
And not the words of one who kneels
The record shows
I took the blows
And did it my way
Yes, it was my way
4.“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Let your heart be light
From now on our troubles
Will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the Yuletide gay
From now on our troubles
Will be miles away, oh ooh
Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore, ah
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us, once more, ooh
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now
Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us, once more
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow
Hang a shining star upon the highest bough, oh
And have yourself a merry little Christmas now, ooh
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
5.“Strangers in the Night”
Strangers in the night exchanging glances
Wond’ring in the night what were the chances
We’d be sharing love before the night was through
Something in your eyes was so inviting
Something in your smile was so exciting
Something in my heart told me I must have you
Strangers in the night
Two lonely people, we were strangers in the night
Up to the moment when we said our first hello little did we know
Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away
and
Ever since that night we’ve been together
Lovers at first sight, in love forever
It turned out so right for strangers in the night
[instrumental-first three lines of chorus]
Love was just a glance away, a warm embracing dance away
Ever since that night we’ve been together
Lovers at first sight, in love forever
It turned out so right for strangers in the night
[Dooby-doooby-doo and other scat to end]
6.“Luck Be a Lady”
But there is room for a doubt.
At times you have a very unladylike way of running out.You’re on this date with me.
The picking’s have been lush.
And yet before this evening is over you might give me the brush.
You might forget your manners
You might refuse to stay
And so the best that I can do is pray
Luck, be a lady tonight.
Luck, be a lady tonight.
Luck, if you’ve ever been a lady to begin with.
Luck, be a lady tonight.
Luck, let a gentleman see
How nice a dame you can be.
I know the way you’ve treated other guys you’ve been with.
Luck, be a lady with me.
A lady doesn’t leave her escort:
It isn’t fair, it isn’t nice.
A lady doesn’t wander all over the room
And blow on some other guy’s dice.
Let’s keep this party polite,
Never get out of my sight,
Stick with me, baby. I’m the fellow you came in with.
Luck, be a lady tonight.
Luck, let a gentleman see
Just how nice—, how nice a—, a dame you can be.
I know the way you’ve treated other guys you’ve been with.
Luck, be a lady with me.
A lady doesn’t leave her escort:
It isn’t fair, and it’s not nice.
A lady doesn’t wander all over the room
And blow on some other guy’s dice.
So, let’s keep the party polite,
Never get out of my sight,
Stick with me, baby. I’m the guy that you came in with.
Luck, be a lady.
Luck, be a lady.
Luck, be a lady tonight.
7. Ole Man River”
Here we all work while the white folk play
Pullin’ them boats from the dawn till sunset
Gettin’ no rest till the judgment day
Ya don’t dast make the white boss frown
Bend your knees and bow your head
And pull that rope until you’re dead
Let me go ‘way from the white man boss
Show me that stream called the River Jordan
That’s the old stream that I long to cross
He must know somethin’, but he says nothin’
He just keeps rollin’, he keeps on rollin’ along
And them what plants ’em is soon forgotten
8. “Let it Snow”
Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we’ve no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
Man, it doesn’t show signs of stopping
And I brought some corn for popping
The lights are turned way down low
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
When we finally kiss good-night
How I’ll hate going out in the storm
But if you really hold me tight
All the way home I’ll be warm
And the fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we’re still good-bye-ing
But as long as you love me so
Let it snow, let it snow and snow
When we finally kiss good-night
How I’ll hate going out in the storm
But if you really grab me tight
All the way home I’ll be warm
The fire is slowly dying
And, my dear, we’re still good-bye-ing
But as long as you love me so
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow
9.v“Mack the Knife”
And he shows ’em, pearly white
Just a jack knife has Macheath, dear
And he keeps it, keeps it way out of sightWhen that shark bites with his teeth, dear
Scarlet billows, they begin to spread
Fancy white gloves though has Macheath, dear
So there’s rarely, never one trace of red
On the sidewalk, one Sunday mornin’
Lies a body oozin’ life
Someone’s sneaking ’round the corner
Could that someone, perhaps, perchance, be Mack the Knife?
From a tugboat on the river goin’ slow
A cement bag, it is dropping down
Yeah, the cement is just for the weight, dear
You can make a large bet Macheath is back in town
My man Louie Miller, he split the scene, babe
After drawin’ out all the bread from his stash
Now Macheath spends just like a pimp, babe
Do you suppose that our boy, he did something rash?
Ah, old Satchmo, Louis Armstrong, Bobby Darrin
They did this song nice, Lady Ella too
They all sang it, with so much feeling
That Old Blue Eyes, he ain’t gonna add nothing new
But with Quincy’s big band, right behind me
Swinging hard, Jack, I know I can’t lose
When I tell you, all about Mack the Knife babe
It’s an offer, you can never refuse
We got George Benson, we got Newman & Foster
We got the Brecker Brothers, and Hampton’s bringing up the rear
All these bad cats, and more, are in the band now
They make the greatest sounds, you ever gonna hear
Hey Sookie Taudry, Jenny Diver, Polly Peachum, Old Miss Lulu Brown
Oh the line forms, on the right dear
Now that Macheath, I mean that man Macheath
Yeah he’s bad, mercy mercy
Yeah he’s badder than old Leroy Brown
You better lock your door, and call the law
Because Macheath’s, that bum,
He’s back in town
10. I’ve Got You Under My Skin:
I’ve got you deep in the heart of me.
So deep in my heart that you’re really a part of me.
I’ve got you under my skin.
I’d tried so not to give in.
I said to myself: this affair never will go so well.
But why should I try to resist when, baby, I know so well
I’ve got you under my skin?I’d sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of havin’ you near
In spite of a warnin’ voice that comes in the night
And repeats, repeats in my ear:
Don’t you know, little fool, you never can win?
Use your mentality, wake up to reality.
But each time that I do just the thought of you
Makes me stop before I begin
‘Cause I’ve got you under my skin.
[Musical interlude]
I would sacrifice anything come what might
For the sake of havin’ you near
In spite of the warning voice that comes in the night
And repeats – how it yells in my ear:
Don’t you know, little fool, you never can win?
Why not use your mentality – step up, wake up to reality?
But each time I do just the thought of you
Makes me stop just before I begin
‘Cause I’ve got you under my skin.
Yes, I’ve got you under my skin.
Songs were written by Frank Sinatra:
1.I’m a Fool to Want You.
2. Mistletoe and Holly
3.Mr. Success
4.Peachtree Street
5.Sheila
6. Take My Love
7. This Love of Mine
the best of Frank Sinatra
Published: Jan 13, 2020
Latest Revision: Jan 13, 2020
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Copyright © 2020
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