Early Years

Franks mother Natalie Garavanti came from Genoa in Northern Italy, and his father Antony Martin Sinatra from Catania Sicily. Francis Sinatra was born in Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank had to deal with a lot of racial problems growing up in America being called 'dirty guinea' or 'wop'. Being Italian American he was near the bottom of the social structure of that time. African Americans, Jews, Italians, Poles, and Irish all fought among themselves. Gang fights were common to see as he was a young man. He attended school but had little interest in academics but did have a liking for music which was part of the school curriculum. He realized at a young age he had a talent for singing but his parents didn't want him to pursue a music career. Frank's mother worked hard to give him a good life. Being an immigrant meant you had have a nice appearance. He had an obsession with cleanliness and good grooming. In his adult years he always had extremely nice suits, shiny shoes, and clean finger nails. He had a lot to work on to get to that point in his life. In his early teen years he was constantly getting into fights and associating with street and school gangs. Frank as people today was influenced by motion pictures and actors, which in that time were played by gangster-heros. At age 15 he dropped out of high school after only one year. He then went around singing to make some money here and there and was described as being "a diamond in the rough". He enrolled a short time into a business school to please his mother but that was shortly lived due to The Depression. He then got a jobs working odd jobs to make some extra money. To him these jobs were all a means to an end, all he wanted to do was sing. Some people were skeptical of his desire to become a famous singer but he was determined to make it in the music business.

"Musical Birth"

Frank's Determination and drive to become a singer didn't come at a better time with the advent of coast to coast radio on 1927. After going to a Bing Crosby concert when he was only 18 he realized he would do it and make it as a singer. His mother saw that she wouldn't have influence in his musical ambition and gave him $65 to buy a secondhand portable amplifying system, microphone, and loud speaker. Shortly after the purchase Frank moved to New York. This is when he started his musical career singing whenever he could trying to get a break. Then he got an appearance on one of the most successful stage talent shows of that time, the Major Bowed Amateur Hour with three local Italians whome he had looked up to. They had been called the three flashes but later changed their name to the Hoboken Four. Shortly after they competed in another competition at New York's Capitol Theater on September 8 1935. Frank was just short of his 20th birthday. Winning the competition boosted them into a spot with Bowes on his road show and radio shows around the country. The tour proved grueling for the group and Frank ended up leaving the group going back to New Jersey. Frank then got a job at the Rustic Cabin as a singer and occasional waiter. He was eager to work there for the networking opportunities and the fact the bands were featured on the radio. This was of course the era of big band music and the radio link ensured that musicians and managers who mattered across the river in New York, could hear the music played there. Being so close to New York it was a great place where scouts came frequently. While working at the Rustic Cabin he took other singing jobs to make money and spread his name. Then one night in June 1939 during a radio link at the Cabin a trumpeter named Harry James heard Sinatra and was pleased by his performance. James drove out to the Cabin and  offered him a $75 a week for a year contract on the spot. Harry James's band wasn't the big time yet for Sinatra, but it was a great starting point for his career. After a year of working with Harry James he sang his last song with him in January 1940, in Buffalo, New York.

Early Career

After splitting up with Harry James he started working with Tommy Dorsey who he considered to have the No. 1 band in the world. This job with Tommy Dorsey started in January 1940. The band routine was grueling and they had as many as nine shows a day then take long bus rides to do the next night show. Frank thought very highly of Dorsey and considered him a father figure. Frank also stated that "Tommy taught me everything I know about singing:" Dorsey taught Frank about breath control and how to breath as he sang to hold longer notes. Frank also used bel canto singing. Innaurato once wrote about Frank that he has an opera house in his throat and the breath of life courses through his voice..getting our souls to vibrate in response. Luciano Pavarottie thought the mature Sinatra came "very close to Italian bel canto." Frank was anxious to make records and working with Dorsey he had various opportunity. He recorded various songs but the most notable was "I'll Never Smile Again" which topped the charts for twelve weeks, beginning in July 1940.



Franks career with Dorsey was going great, they had booked both local and national ratio programs and were featured in the motion picture Las Vegas Night.


Franks career was booming and he was making his way to the Top of the music business. He was fully devoted to his music and singing. Sinatra looked as though he was becoming one of the more popular singers of the time and he was still focused on being the best.

Rise to Fame

In the spring of 1941 Frank was picked as the top male vocalist of the year from Billboard magazine and recognized by other famous publishers. He also gained extreme popularity with young adults and teens. In 1942 Frank started his solo career recording songs such as "The Night We Called It a Day," "The Song Is You", and "The Lamplighter's Serenade" which were all well received.



He continued to top popularity polls. Although the Sinatra was enjoying the popularity he was receiving on September 10, 1942 he parted ways with Tommy Dorsey. This was when Frank was three months short of his 27 birthday. After his separation with Dorsey, Sinatra had trouble getting other jobs in the music industry due to labor problems and strikes which crippled the industry. Frank then headed to Hollywood and made a breif appearance in Reveille with Beverly. By late 1942 he was back in New Jersey playing small shows. On his 27th birthday after trying to get the attention of Paramount Theater, broadways hottest music and movie venue he got contacted by them. Robert Weitman, contacted him about a New Year's show called, Star Spangled Rhythm.



He asked Frank to open the show and at this time Frank was having a hard time and was very pleased to get the call. After doing well at the first show the Paramount continued extending his performances. His audience was made up of mostly young women dressed in sweaters, and knee length skirts, and white sox. For this they were called bobbysoxers. By 1944 Frank was also doing more films such as Higher and Higher and Anchors Aweigh.

He was also on Your Hit Parade every Saturday night.

From the years 1943-1945 his success led to the phrase Sinatramania. One thing that I have found during my research is that Frank openly used sex as part of his appeal. Saturday Night (Is The Loneliest Night In The Week), and All Or Nothing At All were two of the songs in which Frank introduced sex and passion back into popular music.





He followed that with a series of a cappella recordings accompanied by vocal groups such as You''ll Never Know, People Will Say We're In Love and Sunday, Monday or Always which all became Number 1 songs that Americans couldn't help but hearing. He also started his own music publishing operation with Hank Sanicola.



One concert in 1944 proved his popularity. 10,000 fans lined up outside the Paramount and an estimated 20,000 were in Times Square. People frustrated by not being able to get into the show started smashing shop windows and destroyed the Paramount ticket book. More than 400 policement couldn't prevent what would become known as "The Colombus Day Riot." Frank was popular not only teens and young girls, his popularity spanned various agese and walks of life. A Billboard critic once wrote "One of the most cosmopolitan, varied audiences you can imagine the kept girls, the rich, the famous, the infamous sports figures, hoodlums.. you name it.

Frank also won an Oscar, awarded to him for The House I Live In. It was a short film directed against racial prejudice.

Many people do not know that Sinatra had a very firm stance when it came to prejudice and racism. Frank thought that "you've got to do it through education" in concern to educating people about prejudice and racism that was taking place during that time. In his visit to the White House in 1944 He told President Roosevelt that he intended to start talking to young people "about the need for tolerance and to point out that we mustn't destroy the principles for which our grandfathers founded this country." Roosevelt approved the idea and Frank kept his end of the bargin and went on 30 speaking appearances in that year alone. Frank also held similarly strong views on religious freedom, specifically working with Jews during the time of World War II.

Falling Idol

After his great success in Sinatramania he started descending slowly. He made some bad films and appeared to make some bad friends having been accused of having ties with the Mafia. He also had problems with women, Frank was known to be a womanizer which resulted in him gaining enemies in the media. He was a high profile person who had a low boiling point which resulted in minus points as he hit his peak. As I said before he was supposedly linked with the Mafia and was accused of being helped by Mobsters when Tommy Dorsey wouldn't release him from his contract with him. Many people have seen Frank in the spotlight as the "bad guy" which his own behavior demonstrated a lack of judgment for a public figure who has done so much good work for so many causes. At this time TV was becoming a powerful medium of entertainment and in 1950 he signed a contract for 5 years, but his show never took off. Eventually CBS canceled the show. In December 1952 Colombia refused to renew his recording contract. Things were looking dim for Frank Sinatra during this time,  his bad personal judgments were overshadowing the positive things he had done in his life. He also was having problems with his career which affected him personally because of his passion for his work.

Resurrection

The Last seven years of Frank Sinatra's career were by far the most fruitful and creative of his life. Frank played Maggio in the film From Here To Eternity. He gained his confidence, creativity and style back again.







He also connected with Nelson Riddle, Billy May, and Gordon Jenkins and in a period of seven years they created 16 'concept' albums of great quality. Songs such as My One and Only One, I've Got The World on a String, and Don't Worry 'Bout Me. The incorporation of brass, reeds and strings gave the sound and style a unique flavor. Nelson Riddle also quoted "Most of our best numbers were in what I call the Tempo of the heartbeat. That's the tempo that strikes people easiest because, without their knowing it, they are moving to that pace all their working hours, Music to me is sex-it's all tied up somehow, and the rhythm of sex is the heartbeat."





One of Frank's most popular songs Come Fly With me was also written at this time.



Author Derek Jewell said in his book
"There are two points worth making about Sinatra's music in the ten years from the mid-50s to mid-60s. First, the long-playing record may have been invented just from him, and other ballad singers. The singles market developed almost exclusively for brassy upbeat tunes often intended for dancing, albums allowed Sinatra fully to explore themes happy and sad around which songs could be grouped. Secondly, Sinatra brought to the long-playing record an artistry which could exploit the medium to the full. The whole emotional rage of his singing had broadened and deepened, which had derived from the life he was living."

Sinatra was going through many extremes ups as well as downs. On October 27th 1953 MGM separated from Frank. Within a month Frank was in a hospital suffering from 'complete physical exhaustion, severe loss of weight and a tremendous amount of emotional strain.' But in true fashion Sinatra made another comeback and in 1954 he was awarded Down Beat's best male vocalist. He also won singer of the year with Metronome and best single with Young at Heart.



He then went back into acting appearing in The Man with the Golden Arm, The Joker is Wild, High Society, Guys and Dolls, and Pal Joey. 
In December of 1957 he was awarded top male vocalist for Playboy, All-Round Entertainer Of The Year with American Weekly, Mr. Personality in Metronome. 
Then Frank returned to his old womanizing ways getting in trouble with the media. He began having relationships with many women which translated bad in the media as it had before. in 1958 his relations with Capitol were turning sour. He wanted to be independent but his contract with Capitol was until 1962 and they didn't want to release him. He stopped recording with Capitol in 1959.