Frank Sinatra Collection

Frank Sinatra
(1915 – 1998)

(1915 - 1998)

Born in Hoboken, New Jersey to Italian immigrants, Francis Albert's parents thought he was stillborn until his grandmother revived the baby Blue Eyes with cold water. As a youngster, Sinatra idolized Bing Crosby. In 1933, the young Sinatra attended one of Bing's performances and decided right then that he wanted to be a singer. At the tender age of 15, he dropped out of high school to pursue his singing career. In 1939 he sang with Harry James' orchestra. Of Sinatra, James reportedly said, "He considers himself the greatest vocalist in the business. Get that! No one's ever heard of him! He's never had a hit record, and he looks like a wet rag, but he says he's the greatest."

He quit the James' band after 7 months to join Tommy Dorsey's swing orchestra. After a short time he bought out his contract to go solo. In 1942, Sinatra became the idol of the bobby soxers. In the 1950s, tragedy struck when Sinatra's vocal cords hemorrhaged. It was a painful and low point in his career. In the late 50s, however, he made comeback and was better than ever. He created his own record label, Reprise Records, in the 1960s. This was also the time that he was known as the leader of the "Rat Pack," which included such characters as Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Peter Lawford, Joey Bishop, and honorary members such as Milton Berle, Shirley MacLaine and Tony Curtis. Sinatra always wanted the entourage to be known as "The Summit." They did many Vegas performances and movies together. The Chairman of the Board continued to sing until his heart attack death at age 82. At an earlier time in his life, he reportedly said, "You've got to be livin', baby, because dyin' is a pain in the ass."

Sinatra had a colorful love life. It all began when he married his high school sweetheart. Their fairytale marriage ended when Frank's affair with Ava Gardner made front-page headlines. In 1951, 6 days after his divorce, he married Ava. He and Ava never got along well, quarreling from the moment they woke up. Their separation and eventual divorce hit him hard. In the 1960s, at age 50, he shocked his friends and fans in his marriage to Mia Farrow, a 20 year old no-name actress. At the time, Dean Martin was quoted to say, "I've got scotch older than Mia Farrow." Even Mia's mother, actress Maureen O'Sullivan, said, "Never mind Mia. He should be marrying me." They later divorced. Sinatra then married Barbara Marx, widow of Zeppo Marx. However, he did remain friends with his many former wives. When Mia found out that her lover, Woody Allen, was having an affair with her adopted daughter, Sinatra asked Mia if she would like for him to arrange to have Woody's legs broken.

Sinatra was known for his colorful character, sometimes tough, but always loved. He says that he never took voice lessons and could barely read music. He also claims that he built up his enormous lung capacity (helpful for belting out those long phrases that he was known for) through swimming. Old Blue Eyes was known for his quotes, such as "I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniels," or "You can be the most artistically perfect performer in the world, but an audience is like a broad – if you're indifferent, Endsville," or "May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine." He was well-known for his style from women to liquor to clothing. According to the author of the Sinatra biography The Way You Wear Your Hat, Bill Zehme, "He never wore brown after dark. For instance, men who wore brown would be ... taken aside. [Sinatra] would say, 'What are you doing? You wear black or dark gray or maybe navy, but that's it.'"

Frank Sinatra and Ava Gardner
on their wedding day

This collection comprises of Sinatra's many radio appearances:

• Volume 1: Sinatra's Guest Appearances - both musical and dramatic appearances in various old time radio series including:
  • Bill Stern
  • Bob Hope Show
  • Burns & Allen
  • Command Performance
  • Guest Star
  • Jack Benny
  • Lux Radio
  • Mail Call
  • Martin & Lewis
  • Treasury Star Parade
  • Your Hit Parade and many more...
• Volume 2: Sinatra Sings - his own musical series
• Volume 3: Rocky Fortune - his complete detective-drama series
• Volume 4: To Be Perfectly Frank
• Volume 5: Light-Up Time

For additional Frank Sinatra recordings, see also:The Rat Pack Collection.