Scottish Catholic Observer

December 12 marked the centenary of the birth of Frank Sinatra, arguably one of the greatest singers of the 20th century.

Francis Albert Sinatra was the only child of Antonio ‘Marty’ and Natalina ‘Dolly’ Sinatra, born in Hoboken, New Jersey in the US. He weighed in at 13 and a half pounds, but the doctor delivering him left him with a scarred left ear and a perforated eardrum. He was brought up in a poor neighbourhood, where bigotry against Italian and Irish immigrants was commonplace.

As a teenager he would sing in the local tavern for tips, and always wanted to be a singer. He formed the ‘Hoboken Four’ group, which won a radio talent show, the prize for which was a six month tour of stage and radio shows. This was his performing apprenticeship, although his bandmates were envious of the attention he got from young female fans. He became the singer with Big Bands of the day, firstly with Harry James and later Tommy Dorsey’s band. He began his recording career, scoring minor hits before his first number one in 1940. He also performed extensively, giving rise to the ‘Bobbysoxers’ phenomenon, earning the kind of adulation from teenage girls which was repeated by Beatlemania and the following of boy bands in more recent times.

He learned his music by ear, and never learned to read or write music, nor play an instrument. His voice was his instrument, and such was his ability to cover a range of styles that he was always billed as ‘The Voice.’

Many music critics and fellow performers have commented on his unequalled ability in the phrasing of lyrics which he brought to every song.

The punctured eardrum suffered at birth rendered him unfit for active service during the War, but he appeared in patriotic films and toured to entertain the troops. On one tour of Italy he met Pope Pius XII, who asked him if he was an operatic tenor. It was a logical step to appear in Hollywood musicals, such as Anchors Aweigh, for which Gene Kelly had to teach him to dance, and On the Town. He had married Nancy Barbato in 1939, and they had three children, Nancy, Frank Junior and Christina (Tina).

His popularity declined in the early 1950s, but his career was relaunched when he won an Oscar for his portrayal of Maggio in From Here to Eternity. He signed a long term contract with Capitol Records, who provided him with the best songwriters and arrangers, principally Nelson Riddle, and Sinatra repaid them with massive sales of a string of hit albums. It was said in 1950s America that a party was not a party unless there was a Sinatra album playing. He combined his singing and acting in musicals such as Guys and Dolls and High Society. He also has the unique distinction of singing three songs which have each won the Oscar for best original song, although the prizes go to the writers.

He became uncrowned leader of the ‘Rat Pack’—a group of actors originally centred on their leader, Humphrey Bogart—after Bogart’s death in 1957. The new pack called itself ‘the Summit’ or ‘the Clan,’ featuring Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr, Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop. They appeared together on stage and in films in the early 1960s,

Sinatra inherited his politics from his mother, who was a local organiser for the Democratic party. He campaigned for several Presidents, notably John F. Kennedy, adapting the lyrics of his song High Hopes to become the Kennedy campaign song. He was also active in the Civil Rights movement, and his powerful performance at a fundraiser of Old Man River, traditionally sung by a black man, was said to have moved Martin Luther King to tears. In 1946 he was awarded a special Oscar for the short film The House I Live In, which had an anti-bigotry message.

As the 1960s drew to a close, Sinatra cast around for a big number to be his swansong. He enjoyed the melody of a French song Comme d’habitude, and commissioned Canadian singer/songwriter Paul Anka to provide English lyrics. The result was My Way, providing the entertainer with his biggest ever hit. Although the song never reached number one, it stayed in the charts for an incredible two and a half years. Sinatra retired after a star-studded concert in Los Angeles in 1971, although he subsequently made several comebacks.

He made several television specials, among them Sinatra—the Main Event at Madison Square Garden in 1974. He continued to tour, playing a stadium concert in Glasgow for the 1990 Year of Culture. His son, Frank Junior, became a singer and conductor, and toured Britain this year, including Glasgow, reprising his father’s songs, and showing film clips of Sinatra senior’s life, as well as family home movies.

Daughter Nancy had a successful singing career in the 1960s, and Tina became a theatrical agent and producer.

In addition to his two Oscars, Sinatra won eleven Grammy Awards, the music industry’s equivalent of Oscars, including the first ever Legend award. He has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his musical, film and television and radio achievements. For his contribution to US life and culture, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, whose other recipients include St John XXIII and Blessed Mother Teresa. He also received the Congressional Gold Medal, and by the end of his life he had also received a plethora of lifetime achievement awards.

He died in 1998 and is buried in Cathedral City, California. Old Blue Eyes’ grave marker does not carry any quotation from My Way, but rather the more hopeful title of one of his famous early songs, The Best is Yet to Come.

— The Raymond Gubbay Organisation’s Sinatra Centenary tour reaches Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on December 21.