Pete Hamill - Why Sinatra Matters

OVER THE YEARS I’ve learned much about Frank Sinatra and his music from a number of people, ranging from my old neighborhood friend, Bill Powers, to the great producer, Jerry Wexler. Nelson Riddle, while making his albums with Linda Ronstadt in the 1980s, also gave me insights into the man and his work. But across the years much of my instruction has come from Jonathan Schwartz. He is a fine writer, a musician, and a disc jockey at WQEW in New York. Sinatra once said of him: “He knows more about me than I do.” Jonathan was generous in reading an early draft of this book and I am, again, in his debt. He is not, of course, responsible for errors that might have eluded both of us nor for my interpretations of the man and his music.

The Sinatra music has been scrambled and repackaged by various companies into a confusing mess. This was compounded by Sinatra himself, who for reasons of contractual argument, artistic dissatisfaction, or sheer laziness repeatedly went back to certain songs. But these albums are my own favorites: In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers, Only the Lonely, Come Fly with Me, A Swingin’ Affair, Songs for Young Lovers, Come Dance with Me, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, September of My Years, Sinatra at the Sands (in spite of the wretched monologue), Nice ’n’ Easy, and Swing Along with Me. There are a variety of boxed sets of his work at Columbia and earlier music with Tommy Dorsey and Harry James. All are rewarding, even the dumb novelties of the moment. I like the two-CD set from Columbia called Portrait of Sinatra and the five-CD package from RCA Victor called The Song Is You, which contains virtually all the Tommy Dorsey recordings. It is particularly interesting as a means of tracing the musical lessons learned by Sinatra from Dorsey. Needless to say, reactions to anyone’s music are always subjective, but for me, the above albums offer many pleasures.

In writing this book, I was informed, entertained, or enriched in various ways by the following works:

Bacall, Lauren. Lauren Bacall by Myself. New York: Ballantine, 1978.

Behr, Edward. Prohibition: Thirteen Years That Changed America. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1996.

Carner, Gary. The Miles Davis Companion. New York: Schirmer, 1996.

Clarke, Donald. All or Nothing at All. New York: Fromm International, 1997.

Dellar, Fred. Sinatra: His Life and Times. New York: Omnibus Press, 1995.

Douglas-Home, Robin. Sinatra. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1962.

Ellis, Edward Robb. A Nation in Torment: The Great American Depression, 1929–1939. New York: Kodansha, 1995.

Farrow, Mia. What Falls Away. New York: Doubleday, 1997.

Friedwald, Will. Sinatra! The Song Is You. New York: DaCapo Press, 1997.

Gambino, Richard. Vendetta. New York: Doubleday, 1977.

Gambino, Richard. Blood of My Blood. Buffalo, N.Y.: Guernica, 1997.

Gardner, Ava. Ava: My Story. New York: Bantam, 1990.

Immerso, Michael. Newark’s First Ward. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1997.

Kelley, Kitty. His Way. New York: Bantam, 1986.

La Sorte, Michael. La Merica. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1985.

Lahr, John. Sinatra: The Artist and the Man. New York: Random House, 1997.

Lees, Gene. Singers and the Song II. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

O’Brien, Ed with Robert Wilson. Sinatra 101. New York: Boulevard Books, 1996.

Petkov, Steven and Leonard Mustazza. The Frank Sinatra Reader. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.

Riddle, Nelson. Arranged by Nelson Riddle. New York: Warner, 1985.

Ringgold, Gene and Clifford McCarty. The Films of Frank Sinatra. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1993.

Sinatra, Nancy. Frank Sinatra, My Father. New York: Pocket Books, 1985.

Taraborrelli, J. Randy. Sinatra: Behind the Legend. Secaucus, N.J.: Carol Publishing, 1997.

Vare, Ethlie Ann, ed. Legend: Frank Sinatra and the American Dream. New York: Boulevard Books, 1995.

The Sinatra movies that remain worth seeing are:

Anchors Aweigh (1945),

On the Town (1949),

From Here to Eternity (1953),

Suddenly (1954),

Young at Heart (1955),

The Man with the Golden Arm (1955),

High Society (1956),

The Joker Is Wild (1957),

Pal Joey (1957),

Some Came Running (1958),

The Manchurian Candidate (1962),

and The Detective (1968).

“Hugely readable. … Hamill’s long history as a New York journalist, his knowledgeable love for the city, and his writerly exuberance explode here into a New York fantasy. … Forever is old-fashioned storytelling at a gallop.”

— Washington Post Book World

“A swashbuckling, ribald tale told with flair and, sometimes, unbridled emotion. … A serious look at what makes a city more than just bricks and mortar.”

— Denver Post

“Wonderful. … This page-turner of a fable has a universal appeal.”

— New York Times Book Review

“Lovely yet heartbreaking. … A moving story of a boy confronting morality. … In Michael Devlin, Hamill has created one of the most endearing characters in recent fiction. … Snow in August is a minor mirfsqe in itself.”

— Hartford Courant

“A vivid report of a journey to the edge of self-destruction. Tough-minded, brimming with energy, and unflinchingly honest.”

— New York Times

“A remarkable memoir. Energetic, compelling, very funny, and remarkably — indeed, often brutally — candid, Hamill’s tale won’t soon be forgotten. An author of rare distinction and moral force.”

— Entertainment Weekly

Pete Hamillis a novelist, journalist, editor, and screenwriter. Among his bestselling books are the novels Forever and Snow in August and the memoir A Drinking Life . He writes a column for the New York Daily News.