2 Photos
By Tim Sommer
A distinctive stylist, a definitive influence on the sound and style of the last century, one of the most magnificent, maddening, and magical cultural icons in American history, a source for academic study, a lightning rod for controversy, and an intimate friend to everyone who has heard his voice; Frank Sinatra is all these things.
Sinatra is a colossus whose artistic achievements and cultural influence stand astride our era. Time has not dimmed his standing; he is still the voice we hear in our heads when we think of class and romance, love and loss. Like Elvis, Marilyn Monroe, Louis Armstrong, and the Beatles, he is both instantly recognizable and created art worthy of that honor.
December 12 will mark the 100th anniversary of the birth of Francis Albert Sinatra. Locally, the centennial will be marked on Friday by a celebratory concert at the Suffolk Theatre in Riverhead featuring the New Millennium Big Band. The NMBB will honor Sinatra and his music, from the most brassy and thunderous to the most subtle and sweet, and they invite you to join them for an evening of dining, dancing, and some of the most memorable melodies of our time. Page at 63 Main in Sag Harbor will also celebrate Ol’ Blue Eye’s 100th birthday with dinner, drinks and dancing with Joe Lauro & his HooDoo Lounger Orchestra featuring Michael Schiano on Saturday.
On the occasion of the Sinatra centennial, we wanted to collect some thoughts on Sinatra and his place in history – and his place on our stereos, and our hearts – from some of his fans.
Let’s begin with another entertainment industry legend: Broadcasting pioneer and East End regular Bill Boggs, who conducted some remarkable and singular interviews with Sinatra, and called him a friend.
“His music became the narrative or 'soundtrack ' for our lives,” notes Mr. Boggs. “I think 100 years from now Sinatra and his work will be perceived as the best poetry of the twentieth century, and Sinatra regarded more as an interpretive poet than singer.”
Mr. Boggs also spoke of the intense personal influence Sinatra had on his life and career. “I think that the interview I did with Frank at the dawn of my TV career in New York City helped me enormously to be seen as a TV host who was dealing with things on a credible level,” Mr. Boggs recalls. “It happened because I met him at 4 am in Vegas and we connected and he volunteered to do the show. Probably the biggest impact on me personally was seeing Frank perform live approximately a hundred times over the course of forty-four years. He had a dynamic presence on stage and projected electric energy. I absorbed that unconsciously and it enriched and improved me as a stage performer and TV performer as well.” That interview with Sinatra, along with the rest of Mr. Boggs’ extraordinary archive of interviews, can be found at Mr. Boggs’ YouTube channel, Billboggstv.
Prominent Long Island musicians were also excited to speak about Sinatra’s music, method, and cultural impact. Here’s Gene Casey, who leads one of the Island’s most entertaining and ferocious roots rock bands, Gene Casey and the Lone Sharks: “As Dean Martin famously said, ‘it's Frank's world; we just live in it!’ I am sure to a guy coming of age in the 1940s or 50s, Frank's music helped him get though life, and to people my parents' generation Frank reflected their own issues and ideas as they matured, had families, grew into middle age and beyond. We are lucky his performing career was as long as it was, and even as he aged, he still was always the hottest ticket in town and was there really anything to replace him? I think not.”
Mick Hargreaves, another prominent East End musician and recording engineer and the proprietor of Lantern Sound Recording Rig, one of Suffolk’s most prominent recording facilities, stresses that musicians of any variety can learn from Frank: “You can really gather a lot from Sinatra about how to sing, and how to ‘work’ a microphone. Also, about having a great team; Frank always had a great arranger in the mix.”
“His best music has an integrity and realism that crosses age, racial, generational barriers,” adds Gene Casey, who points out the manifold levels of influence Sinatra had. “Frank was a huge favorite of hard core jazz geniuses like Basie, Ellington, Lester Young, Miles Davis. They all loved him, and Miles Davis has said Frank's phrasing influenced him on how to tackle a ballad. In fact it is hard to sing one of those songs and not subconsciously mimic his swaggering style and phrasing.”
Kinky Friedman, one of America’s best-loved and most unique singers, songwriters, and authors, also happily responded when we asked him to comment on the Sinatra centennial (Kinky has just released a wonderful and moving new album, The Loneliest Man I Ever Met).
“I once asked Willie Nelson where he got his unique vocal styling,” says Kinky. “He told me he got it from Frank Sinatra. Turns out Frank Sinatra was asked the same question. Sinatra said his style came directly from that of Billie Holiday. Coincidentally, Billie was also once asked the same question, to which she answered ‘I got my style from Louis Armstrong’s horn.’ To me that is a pretty darn good American family tree of music.”
All agree that Sinatra’s music will still be listened to and loved until the Bicentennial of his birth, on December 12, 2115, and beyond.
Gene Casey: “As long as there is recorded music being played on some sort of contraption we will be listening to Frank. To think that his music preceded magnetic tape, yet will live on in the digital age! Amazing.”
John Tinley, the co-leader of the New Millennium Big Band, agrees:
“One hundred years from now philosophers will still read Plato, writers will still quote Shakespeare and musicians will still play Sinatra.”
Sinatra's 100th Birthday Celebration will take place on Friday December 11 at the 8 p.m. at the Suffolk Theater, 118 East Main Street, Riverhead. Doors, Bar & Restaurant open at 6:30. Show at 8 p.m. For more information, call (631) 727-4343 or go to
www.suffolktheatre.com. Page at 63 Main will celebrate Sinatra’s Centennial on Saturday, December 12 at 8:30 p.m. featuring Joe Lauro & His HooDoo Orchestra featuring Michael Schiano. For more information, call (631) 725-1810 or visit page63main.com.
