John W. wrote:
>Whatever else that man was, he was certainly a musician.
snip
If you've ever watched him in a recording session, he worked closely with
the conductor and orchestra, made suggestions, KNEW his music, inside & out.
His swing, sense of time, phrasing, breath control (for which he credited
Tommy Dorsey, his first big band gig), and unique voice all combined to make
a once-in-a-lifetime singer.
His public reputation suffered from his pugnaciouness & the hard partying
exploits of the "rat pack." But one thing the gossip rags rarely if ever
wrote about was his generosity. He gave over a BILLION dollars to charity.
Was fiercely loyal to his friends. Told Las Vegas if the black musicians
(not just his friend Sammy Davis, Jr., but all the greats in bands like
Count Basie's) couldn't come in the front door and work in the shows, and
stay at those clubs, HE would not work in their clubs (even threatened to
burn one down, and he had, ah, "friends" with bent noses). That changed the
town overnight. When he learned how good an arranger Quincy Jones was, he
called him to come to Hawaii. Asked Quincy what he liked for breakfast, and
brought scrambled eggs to Quincy's door the morning after he arrived. When
Sinatra was your friend, you had a FRIEND. His daughters & son worship the
ground he walked on. He doted on his kids, touring & Hollywood aside, and
got good grades as a father. Isn't that what counts most in the end?
But Sinatra as musician... yes, of the highest order. I hope that program
made up of his 35mm films makes the rounds of the theaters, not just in the
U.S. but elsewhere as well. There are kids who don't know Sinatra from
shinola who will become fans, as I became a fan of a dynamite piano player
who died before I was born named Thomas "Fats" Waller. Thank God for old
technology: piano rolls, 78s, LPs, audio tape, and FILM!
Rich
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