His way.

Thanks to some research I've been doing for a workshop I'm doing in a couple of weeks* on biographies and memoirs, I've been on a real Frank Sinatra bender. Do you know how many biographies there are about Frank Sinatra? A lot. A lot a lot. This works out nicely for me, as I am a fan.**

I've got a pile of Sinatra books here, and every day I wander through some of them, looking at the pictures and reading snippets of text here and there. It's also gotten me in the mood to listen to some Sinatra, which I did today, and which was fun, as CRjr seems also to be a fan. He particularly seemed to enjoy "Luck Be a Lady," although that might have been because his crazy mother was sashaying around the kitchen singing along to it.

One book I made it all the way through was Pete Hamill's Why Sinatra Matters, which I'd file under "hagiography"--Hamill doesn't sugar-coat some of Sinatra's less savory connections or personality attributes, but he definitely comes down on the side of fandom. It's brief--180 pages--and if you like Sinatra's music you'll probably enjoy it. There's a bit about his parents and hometown, birth (he was a 13-pound baby!), childhood, marriages, and mob connections, but the best part is the chapter on the second part of his career, when he made a ton of his hits at Capitol Records:

"There were a number of components to the Sinatra-Riddle collaboration. Friedwald emphasizes one of them: 'Lightness shines as the primary ingredient of the Riddle style. Whether he has ten brass swinging heavily or an acre of strings, Riddle always manages to make everything sound light; that way, the weightiest ballad doesn't become oversentimental and insincere, and the fastest swinger doesn't come off as forced.'" (p. 171.)

I enjoyed that; I enjoyed the look behind the scenes at Sinatra's music (and Nelson Riddle's arrangements of it). Much more fun reading than any of the stuff about the mob. And let's hear it for Hamill; in the back of the book he lists a little bibliography of other books about Sinatra. Nice.

*Calling all library staff in the Chicago area: there's still time to join us!

**Come on. I've Got the World on a String? One of the greatest songs ever.

Comments

[rick]

I'm surprised by your appreciation of Sinatra, but the music is good. Another book that deifies the singer is Frank Sinatra: The Family Album by Charles Pignone. The life long fan edits out Sinatra's first divorce and all subsequent wives. You even see him in social settings with the first wife late in life. No mention of Garry Trudeau's series of anti-Sinatra cartoons either.

[Citizen Reader]

Rick,
Well, I don't know that I appreciate him as a man, but I do love his voice and phrasing talent, and there is something joyful in his acting and dancing (he and Gene Kelly in "Anchors Aweigh" are a lot of fun). I think he had a lot of demons, and I always wonder if some of that isn't necessary along with great talent.

Wow, can it even be called a bio of him if you edit out everything you mention? Geez, must have been kind of a dull read.

[Nan]

What are the chances that you write this wonderful piece yesterday (which I didn't know about) and I post a video of him singing Pennies From Heaven?! I am a HUGE fan. My car and my television are tuned to Siriusly Sinatra. My husband gave me the new biography which I haven't started yet. But I did read The Way You Wear Your Hat, and thought it was fantastic. Happy to meet a fellow fan.

[Lisa Peet]

I lived across the street from the Frank Sinatra birthplace in Hoboken for six years, including during the time he died, and that place was the source of some serious pilgrimages -- I've always been a bit enchanted by the whole myth machine around him. I've read a number of Sinatra books (you haven't known the meaning of "if looks could kill" until you've sat on the local PATH train blatantly reading the Kitty Kelley bio) but not the Hamill -- I'll take a look, thanks.

[Citizen Reader]

Nan,
Wild coincidence, huh? Sometimes, I find, you're just in the mood for a little Sinatra. I enjoyed the Way You Wear Your Hat book too; even more than the Hamill, I think.

Lisa,
Hilarious (about living across from the house). I'll bet there were people visiting all the time, huh? (I should know, I once made a pilgrimage to James Dean's home town in Indiana.) Loved your tidbit about reading the Kelley unauthorized bio--honestly, like people didn't already know most of the stuff she was talking about? I find it very interesting that people think their heroes are perfect saints. I think the man could sing, but I certainly don't think he was beyond reproach in other ways.