Frank Sinatra

St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture, Jan 29, 2002 by Ron Simon

Frank Sinatra was, by most accounts, the greatest entertainer of his time, known to his legions of fans as "The Voice" of the twentieth century. But his life intersected with worlds beyond show business with politics, both left and right, with the underworld, and with the celebrity culture of postwar America. An exceedingly complex man, Sinatra articulated in his songs the romantic dreams and existential longings of his generation. His music and life had a Shakespearean "ages of man" arc from the callow youth of "I Fall in Love Too Easily" to the world-weary maturity of "In the Wee Small Hours" and, ultimately, to the triumphant patriarch of "My Way." But above everything, Sinatra will be remembered, in the words of Pete Hamill, as "a genuine artist, and his work will endure as long as men and women can hear, and ponder, and feel."

During a career that spanned more than 60 years, Sinatra exploited the technology of the century to define and transform his public persona. He received major breaks in his early career when he was heard over the radio by bandleaders seeking a vocalist. During the 1940s his voice seemed to caress the microphone in concert, and Sinatra created a sexual awakening, some say mass hypnotism, among adolescent girls. More than anyone else during the 1950s, he conceived the long-playing record as a vehicle of personal expression for a mature artist. His 60 movies yielded a multitude of Sinatras to contemplate: the joyous song-and-dance man of Anchors Aweigh and On the Town; the brooding, doomed loner of From Here to Eternity and The Manchurian Candidate; and the suave hipster of Pal Joey and Ocean's 11. Sinatra's final project, Duets, produced by recording wizard Phil Ramone in the early 1990s, utilized digital fiber optics to create electronic pairings with a new generation of performers and resulted in one of his best-selling albums of all time.

Sinatra's upbringing reflected the immigrant world of urban America. He was born in rough-and-tumble Hoboken, New Jersey, on December 12, 1915. The only child of a hard-working Sicilian household, Sinatra had big dreams to cross the Hudson River and discover his fortune in New York City. He dabbled in sportswriting and engineering before finding his calling at a Bing Crosby concert in the mid-1930s. Determined to become a singer, he polished his act at church suppers and firemen's socials. In September 1935 he and several local musicians made their radio debut as the Hoboken Four on Major Bowes' Original Amateur Hour. Bowes took a liking to the boys, and they began to tour with one of his traveling companies. After immediate success proved elusive, Sinatra went solo.

The ambitious Sinatra did everything he could to nurture his talent. He appeared on local radio with little compensation to attract any type of attention. He undertook voice lessons, which he would continue throughout his career. And, most importantly, he sang publicly, notably at the Rustic Cabin, a small North Jersey roadhouse. His persistence achieved what every singer of his era desired, a featured vocalist spot in a big band. Harry James, a former trumpeter for Benny Goodman, heard Sinatra broadcast from the Cabin and signed him to his first contract in June 1939. James's new orchestra spotlighted the confident Sinatra, especially on "All or Nothing at All," one of the first big band recordings to feature a vocalist from start to finish.

After six months, Sinatra was lured away by a more prominent bandleader, Tommy Dorsey. Inspired by Dorsey's trombone playing, Sinatra crafted a distinctive singing style, gliding from note to note without a semblance of breath. Sinatra's apprenticeship with the band lasted three years, and his recordings of "I'll Never Smile Again," "I'll Be Seeing You," and "This Love of Mine" established the boy vocalist as a star in his own right. Sinatra's ascent anticipated the dominance of the singer in postwar popular music.

Beginning in late 1942 Sinatra took control of his destiny, the first of many such moves throughout his mature years. After rancorous negotiations, Sinatra left Dorsey, leading the way for featured vocalists to make it as soloists. His debut performance at the Paramount Theatre on the last day of 1942 created a riotous sensation as thousands of teenage girls, known as the bobbysoxers, swooned (a publicist's description that caught on) at the skinny crooner in a bow-tie. Amateur psychologists debated this ardent popularity: did he signify wartime degeneracy or did he bring out the maternal instinct in adolescents? Whatever the reason, Sinatra became a regular on Your Hit Parade, network radio's most popular show on Saturday night.

Critics also analyzed the unique communication that Sinatra had with his audience. E. J. Kahn, in one of the first major articles on the Sinatra phenomenon, stated for The New Yorker that while singing Sinatra "stares with shattering intensity into the eyes of one trembling disciple after another." His intimacy with the microphone and personalization of the lyrics involved his listeners in a sexual experience. Sinatra learned how to transmit powerful emotions through his songs by studying the haunted textures of Billie Holiday. And in the best jazz tradition, he also liked to come up with innovative ways to treat musical phrases.