r/franksinatra

I’m honestly not sure if my frustration is with Frank himself or just his listeners/fans…let me explain.

I fucking love jazz. It’s probably the one thing I love most next to God. I can’t say I love my wife and kids more because I don’t have either. So yeah, jazz is my second favorite thing in the world. Which is why I get frustrated when people who aren’t super into jazz hear a song title like “It’s All Right with Me” or “Desafinado” and ask, “Oh, that Frank Sinatra song?”

Yes…those were Frank Sinatra songs; you’re technically correct. However, they were jazz songs by Cole Porter and Antonio Carlos Jobim much earlier. Frank just covered them in a much more pop and “for the masses” style.

The more I think about it, I don’t really blame Sinatra OR his audience…I’m not sure where to place the blame. He was great at covering songs. That’s a true talent. But I can’t blame his audience either because jazz is kind of a niche genre that lots of people just can’t get into…but everyone likes Frank Sinatra, so people automatically gravitate towards his songs. It’s frustrating. 90% of people don’t know who Cole Porter and Antonio Carlos Jobim…but everyone knows who Frank Sinatra is. So of course they’re going to think that these jazz standards were originally Frank Sinatra tunes…because that’s all they’ve heard.

If only his albums had listed/credited the original musicians by the song titles, and maybe if he’d mentioned them during his live performances, people would know.

He’s kind of like the Michael Bublé of the 20th century. Only in this case, I prefer his original songs like “My Way” and “New York, New York” over his watered down jazz covers, but the other way around with Michael.

Frank Sinatra was an extremely talented musician, no doubt, but he’s quite overrated in my opinion. And while I don’t think it was intentional, he kind of took away some of the glory from the original musicians. I think part of that may be because of the era we’re living in now. When he originally sang “It’s All Right with Me” in the 1950s, I would assume more of his audience had heard Cole Porter’s and/or Ella Fitzgerald’s version because it was more recent. Now that it’s the 21st century, people have only heard Sinatra’s version.

But that begs the question…why did his become more popular now? Just because it’s more recent or because people just don’t like jazz anymore?

Give me your thoughts, and don’t hate on me for disliking Frank Sinatra. I don’t dislike him; I just dislike how his modern fans receive his music. I love his original tunes.

This is a theory I have come up with at 2:20 in the morning, I am not suicidal and I am not going on a any airplane trips soon, with that said let us begin: Frank Sinatra’s songs contain a suspiciously large amount of references to flying, birds, and the moon, and while most people just view it as a metaphor for freedom, I see past that, I know what it really means, Frank Sinatra had a massive bird in his basement, who could achieve interplanetary travel, handle flight with at least 60 kilos on its back, and handle at least 500 kilos of force to its back. In 1941 Frank sung about ‘Bluebirds’ in the song ‘Blue skies’ this is the first hint of his bird, and also shows when he adopted this bird, can you guess when Frank became noticeably skinnier, it was in the 40s, exactly when he would’ve had to feed his bird extraordinary amounts, he couldn’t just start buying way more food, that would be suspicious, so he gave the bird his own portions. The next reference I’ve found as of 2:25AM August 18th is in the song ‘Fly me to the moon.’ Which was written in the 50s, long before man stepped foot on the moon, or so we think, because Frank was actually the first person to step foot on the moon, on his big blue bird, this would mean the bird would have to not rely on oxygen, not be affected by temperature change, or gravitational change, it would have to be able to fly in the vacuum of space, and much more. The next reference I’ve found is in the song ‘That’s life’ where he talks about jumping on a big bird and flying, now in that era ‘big bird’ was slang for a large jet, but why would he say ‘Jump on right on a big bird’ you wouldn’t jump on a plane, you would board a plane, what you would jump on though, is a big bird. Now I believe Frank Sinatra has a massive bird in his basement, and used that bird to become the first man to step on the moon, disguising his stories in songs.

I read stories about him that he had a short temper and was known for his tantrums, sometimes even throwing something at someone.

He hated Marlon Brando, with whom he worked in Guys and Dolls. That’s just one example.

does anyone have any funny Sinatra moments to share? Here’s a couple that I found?.

During the early Dorsey tour years, Rooming with Buddy Rich, Frank Sinatra cut his toenails at 2 AM and that’s what got them split up.

”Stanley Kay, Rich’s longtime personal manager said, ‘Buddy told me they had their first argument when Frank started cutting his toenails at two o’clock in the morning. The clicking of the scissors disturbed Buddy and woke him up. An argument started — and no more rooming together.”

During that same tour season, he would also take two-three showers a day and “Even then, he always asked for his pay and change in new bills”

https://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/great-encounters-21-the-influence-of-tommy-dorsey-on-frank-sinatra

looking for some old-school jazz/Sinatra
vibes!

I really wanted to see Steven Maglio’s Sinatra Saturdays at The Carnegie Club, but it’s sold out while I’m there 🥲

I love Sinatra, the Rat Pack, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, etc. Are there any jazz bars, lounges, or shows that play this kind of music? Doesn’t have to be a Sinatra tribute, just somewhere nice that’s solo friendly.

I’ve tried searching but haven’t had much luck. Would love some recs from you!

🎵