775 dated entries

January 17, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 18, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 19, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 20, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

1975 Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (16-22)

Woody Herman Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller

1. The Lady Is A Tramp

2. Bad, Bad Leroy Brown

3. Let Me Try Again

4. My Kind Of Town

5. medley: Last Night When We Were Young / Violets For Your Furs /

Here's That Rainy Day

6. monologue

7. Something

8.. You Are The Sunshine Of My Life

9. My Way

10. Strangers In The Night

11. Send In The Clowns

12. I Have Dreamed

13. I've Got You Under My Skin

Notes: TT 52mins.

January 21, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 22, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 23, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 24, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 25, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

January 26, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

First Show

Count Basie & His Band

Quincy Jones Conducting

Bill Miller piano for saloon songs

Engineer: Lowell Frank

A&R Sonny Burke

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3.. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. September Of My Years

5.. Street Of Dreams

6. You Make Me Feel So Young

7. The Shadow Of Your Smile

8. Fly Me To The Moon

Monologue

9. It Was A Very Good Year

10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

11. My Kind Of Town

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Second Show

Count Basie & His Band

Quincy Jones Conducting

Bill Miller piano for saloon songs

Engineer: Lowell Frank

A&R Sonny Burke

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6. You Make Me Feel So Young

7. The Shadow Of Your Smile

8. Fly Me To The Moon

Monologue

9. It Was A Very Good Year

10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

11. One For My Baby (second show) w/ Bill Miller

12. My Kind Of Town

Ed O'Brien:

Reprise recorded 10 shows during Frank's last week of a four week engagement at the Sands. Two shows a night were taped on 1/26, 1/27, 1/28, 1/29 and 2/1.

January 27, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

First Show

Count Basie & His Band

Quincy Jones Conducting

Bill Miller piano for saloon songs

Engineer: Lowell Frank

A&R Sonny Burke

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6. You Make Me Feel So Young

7. The Shadow Of Your Smile

8. Fly Me To The Moon

Monologue

9. It Was A Very Good Year

10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

11. My Kind Of Town

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Second Show

Count Basie & His Band

Quincy Jones Conducting

Bill Miller piano for saloon songs

Engineer: Lowell Frank

A&R Sonny Burke

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6. You Make Me Feel So Young

7. The Shadow Of Your Smile

8. Fly Me To The Moon

Monologue

9. It Was A Very Good Year

10. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

11. One For My Baby (second show) w/ Bill Miller

12. My Kind Of Town

January 28, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

First show:

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. The September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6 Fly Me To The Moon

7 Monologue

8 You Make Me Feel So Young

9. The Shadow Of Your Smile

10. Get Me To The Church On Time*

11 It Was A Very Good Year

12 My Kind Of Town

13 Monologue 2

14 My Kind Of Town (Reprise)

* performed on first shows only the 28th and

the 1st and on both shows the 29th

note:

"Angel Eyes" was done on the second shows

of 1/28 and 29.

"Where Or When" only on the 2nd show of 1/28

"Don't Worry 'Bout Me" not performed on the 28th,

2nd show only on the 29th and 1st

"One For My Baby" was done on the 2nd show of

1/26 and 27th and last show on the 1st

"Luck Be A Lady" was done on the 2nd show only

the last three nights of the engagement.

Reprise recorded 10 shows from 1/26

thru 2/1. Frank was dark on 1/30 and 1/31.

That's it.

Ed

2nd show:

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. The September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6 Angel Eyes

7 Fly Me To The Moon

8 Monologue

9 You Make Me Feel So Young

10 The Shadow Of Your Smile

11 Luck Be A Lady

12 It Was A Very Good Year

13 Where or When

14 My Kind Of Town

15 Monologue 2

16 My Kind Of Town (Reprise)

(Concert first officially released on a USB flash drive in a special box containing "Jack Daniel's Sinatra Century" whiskey

and then released again as part of "Frank Sinatra, Standing Room Only")

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

2nd show:

(Concert first officially released on a USB flash drive in a special box containing "Jack Daniel's Sinatra Century" whiskey

and then released again as part of "Frank Sinatra, Standing Room Only")

A limited edition bottling from Jack Daniel's, celebrating what would have been Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday.

It was drawn from 100 barrels and bottled at 100 proof, and each bottle comes with a USB stick featuring

an unreleased concert recording of Frank at The Sands Hotel and Casino in 1966.

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

January 29, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

Arrangements by Billy Byers and Quincy Jones

O.A. Pat Cooper

First show:

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. The September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6 Fly Me To The Moon

7 Monologue

8 You Make Me Feel So Young

9. The Shadow Of Your Smile

10. Get Me To The Church On Time

11 It Was A Very Good Year

12 My Kind Of Town

13 Monologue 2

14 My Kind Of Town (Reprise)

Second Show

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. The September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6 Angel Eyes

7 Fly Me To The Moon

8 Monologue

9 You Make Me Feel So Young

10. The Shadow Of Your Smile

11. Get Me To The Church On Time

12.. Luck Be A Lady

13 It Was A Very Good Year

14. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

15. My Kind Of Town

16 Monologue 2

17 My Kind Of Town (Reprise)

note: A greater portion, possibly all of the Sands show available on

"Frank Sinatra Vegas," is from this performance. Frank mentions it is Saturday night, says "good morning" and the order is perfect. The only song omitted is "Angel Eyes." Reprise only did two tapings of the Matt Dennis song - one is available on "Sinatra -Standing Room Only)

(1-28- 2nd show ). There may have been a problem with the 1/29 taping.

Ed

January 30, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

Frank was dark on the 30th and Dean subbed for him on 1/31.

--Ed

January 31, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

Frank was dark on Mondays during the four week engagement. Dean Martin flew in and did two shows all four Mondays. Frank did not perform on 1/30. After getting the Reprise work sheets, I called and asked why they did not tape the shows on the 30th. He may have had Vegas throat or a benefit.

Ed

February 1966

Extras

[Blowup at Mia's apartment before her birthday]

Kaplan: Shortly before the Chasen's party, Mia suggested to Frank that they live together before marrying. He refused, saying it would embarrass his family. According to a friend of Farrow's, she threw a lamp at him, narrowly missing his head, and he grabbed her by the throat as if to strike her before she told him to leave.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Dorothy Manners observes Mia's alienation]

Dorothy Manners: Columnist Dorothy Manners watched Mia sit apart doing needlepoint at one of the Palm Springs parties rather than mingling. When dinner was called, Frank found her still finishing a row and asked, with strained patience, whether she planned to join them 'or eat that stool.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Hedda Hopper's last column mentions Mia]

Hedda Hopper: In one of her final columns before her death that February, Hedda Hopper noted spotting Mia Farrow at 5 a.m. in the Sands dining room eating ham and eggs with her sister-in-law, remarking that with her short haircut nobody recognized her.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mia hosts parties during golf tournament]

Kaplan: In the first week of February, Mia Farrow played hostess at several parties Frank threw for Palm Springs friends and pro golfers during the Bob Hope Desert Classic, a jarring mix of golf-crowd conservatism and her own bohemian style.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[February 1966 Manhattan Grand Jury Subpoena]

Sinatra was subpoenaed to appear before a federal grand jury in Manhattan to answer questions related to wagering; what exactly was sought from him was never made public.

Source: George Carpozi Jr., Frank Sinatra: Is This Man Mafia? (New York: Manor Books, 1979).

February 1, 1966

Television

Sammy & His Friends (ABC)

Guests: Frank Sinatra, Count Basie, William B. Willams, Joey Heatherton,

Edie Adams

1. Get Me To The Church On Time

2. Luck Be A Lady

3. Medley w/Sammy: Don't Get Around Much

Anymore / The Song Is You / Them There

Eyes / Wrap Your Troubles In Dreams

4. Take The A Train

5. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

Notes: 50 min. According to Ed O'Brien, this program was taped at the same time he did the Hollywood Palace taping in September.

When Sammy and Frank do the medley, you get to hear the latter do the chorus of "Don't Get Around Much Anymore," and "Take the A Train."

They are simply wonderful and contradict Sinatra's belief that he couldn't bring much to them for the Ellington album.

Billy May told O'Brien that Frank felt that way and avoided the Ellington signature tunes when planning the collaboration.

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Count Basie Orchestra

Conducted by Quincy Jones

Bill Miller piano for saloon songs

Engineer: Lowell Frank

A&R Sonny Burke

Two Shows A Night

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6. You Make Me Feel So Young

7. The Shadow Of Your Smile

8. Fly Me To The Moon

Monologue

9. Get Me To The Church On Time

10. It Was A Very Good Year

11. My Kind Of Town

Second Show

1. Come Fly With Me

2. I've Got A Crush On You

3. I've Got You Under My Skin

4. September Of My Years

5. Street Of Dreams

6. One For My Baby w/ Bill Miller on piano

7. Fly Me To The Moon

Monologue

8. You Make Me Feel So Young

9. The Shadow Of Your Smile

10. Luck Be A Lady

11. It Was A Very Good Year

12. Don't Worry 'Bout Me

13. My Kind Of Town note: Closing night of a four-week engagement. Reprise taped 10 shows during Frank's fourth week..

Extras

Sammy & His Friends (ABC)

In the fall of 1965, Sammy taped two hour specials for ABC.

One was aired and other was set for a December time slot.

Meanwhile, Sammy signed to do a series of musical hours

with NBC. The show was set to debut on 1-7-66 with Elizabeth

Taylor and Richard Burton. ABC then announced they would

air Sammy & Friends on 2-1-66. Sammy begged them to stay

with the originally scheduled date. The network refused and

invoked a clause in Sammy's contract, prohibiting him from

appearing on another network 21 days prior and 21 days

following the broadcast. The 1-7-66 was shown and proved

to be a disaster. Sammy's next three NBC airings did not

have him appearing. Johnny Carson, Sean Connery and

Jerry Lewis appeared in lieu of the star. Sammy's second

hour broadcast was aired on 2-11-66. Despite a valiant

effort by all involved, the show never was able to capture

a sizable following. There were 15 shows aired that winter

and spring.

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (January 5 - February 1)

Variety

BASIE

BAND

QUINCY JONES FRANK

SINATRA

February 11, 1966

Extras

[Mia's 21st birthday party at Chasen's]

Sinatra threw Mia a 21st-birthday party at Chasen's in West Hollywood, hiring two bands. He was the only guest who never danced -- an early sign, in hindsight, that something was wrong between them.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 15, 1966

Film

"The Oscar" (US Film Release: February 15, 1966)

Starring: Stephen Boyd, Elke Sommer, Jill St. John, Milton Berle, Eleanor Parker, Joseph Cotten, Tony Bennett

Cameos By: Bob Hope, Hedda Hopper, Merle Oberon, Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra

Produced by: Clarence Greene

Directed by: Russell Rouse

Snotty Hollywood actor, Frank Fane (Stephen Boyd) becomes even more full of himself after he's nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor. Merle Oberon (playing herself) announces the winner of the Best Actor Oscar as Frank Sinatra who comes up to receive his award.

(DVD & Blu-Ray Release date: 2020-02-04)

Extras

"The Oscar"

The Oscar, in which Sinatra plays himself in a film-closing cameo, was the first of his three 1966 film releases. Directed by Russell Rouse and based on Richard Sale's novel (screenplay by Harlan Ellison, Clarence Greene, and Rouse), Santopietro calls it a camp classic and an inadvertent forerunner to 1967's Valley of the Dolls, chronicling the rise and fall of fictional Hollywood heel Frankie Fane (Stephen Boyd), narrated by his pal Hymie Kelly (Tony Bennett).

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Oscar"

The Oscar marked Tony Bennett's one and only starring film role, billed "AND INTRODUCING TONY BENNETT." Bennett -- whom Sinatra called his favorite singer -- later wrote in his autobiography that he had repeatedly turned down earlier film offers because he was only ever asked to play gangsters.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Oscar"

Santopietro contrasts Sinatra's natural, confident screen body language (even in his earliest films) with Tony Bennett's visibly uncomfortable, hunched-over film presence in The Oscar, concluding Bennett simply wasn't ready to act on film at that point, though he would mature into a top-rank interpretive vocal artist in later decades.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Oscar"

In the film's climax, Merle Oberon appears as herself to announce the Best Actor Oscar; when she reads out the name "Frank," the fictional Frankie Fane leaps up expecting to have won, only to hear the surname "Sinatra" -- at which point Sinatra himself bounds onstage to accept the award and sings a line of "All the Way" while Fane has an onscreen breakdown of jealous, clapping despair.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Oscar"

Richard Schickel (Life magazine): Critic Richard Schickel's review in Life magazine memorably called The Oscar a movie that achieves "a perfection of ineptitude quite beyond the power of words to describe," concluding "you have to see it to disbelieve it."

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Oscar"

Santopietro grades this a D, noting Frank's brief cameo as himself in a campy Hollywood picture.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Oscar"

Santopietro (Filmography): Cameo appearance. Greene-Rouse Productions/Paramount Pictures. Produced by Clarence Greene, directed by Russell Rouse, screenplay by Harlan Ellison, Greene and Rouse, musical score by Percy Faith. Starred Stephen Boyd as Frankie Fane, with Sinatra appearing as himself alongside Bob Hope, Hedda Hopper, Merle Oberon and Nancy Sinatra.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

February 20, 1966

Extras

Forwarded Message -----

From: Ed O'Brien <eob101@aol.com>

To: eob101@aol.com <eob101@aol.com>

Sent: Friday, February 23, 2024 at 11:16:45 AM EST

Subject: MIAMI HERALD 2-20-66

February 21, 1966

Extras

[Dorothy Manners reports Sinatra-Farrow breakup]

Dorothy Manners: Ten days after the birthday party, Dorothy Manners wrote that Sinatra and Farrow had apparently split, noting the couple were never really headed for marriage given the 29-year age gap, though the breakup was amicable enough that party guests hadn't suspected anything was wrong.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 24, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 10) with County Basie and his Orchestra

Also featuring: Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Al Grey, Marhsall Royal, Freddie Green, Bill Henderson, and the Magid Triplets

Extras

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 10)

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

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[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 10)

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

February 25, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11) With Count Basie

Also: The Magid Triplets

February 26, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 10) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26, 27, & 28th

Extras

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 10) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26, 27, & 28th

February 27th.

I have subsequent articles extending his absence through to the 28th. --Scott

February 27, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 10) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

February 28, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

Extras

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 10) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) · 1 Mar 1966

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 10) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

March 1, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

March 2, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 11) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

March 3, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11) Sinatra was out with the flu February 26-28

March 4, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 5, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 6, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 7, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 8, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 9, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 10, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 11, 1966

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 24 - March 11)

March 15, 1966

Extras

At the Grammy Awards, Sinatra won three: Album of the Year for September of My Years, Best Male Vocal Performance for "It Was a Very Good Year," and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Source: Sinatra, Nancy. Frank Sinatra: An American Legend. 1998. (via sinatra.com/frank-sinatra-timeline)

March 30, 1966

Film

"Cast A Giant Show" (Premiere: March 30, 1966)

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Stathis Giallelis, James Donald, , Yul Brynner, Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Angie Dickinson, Chaim Topol, Michael Hordern

Produced & Directed by: Melville Shavelson

An American Army officer (Douglas) is recruited by Jews in Palestine to help them form an army. The surrounding Arab countries are opposed to the creation of the state of Israel. He is made commander of the Israeli forces just before the war begins. Frank Sinatra portrays Vince Talmadge, an expatriate American pilot who takes part in what becomes a suicide mission to bomb Arab positions. (DVD Release date: 2002-02-05 -- Blu-Ray Release: 2014-08-26)

Extras

"Cast a Giant Shadow"

One month after The Oscar, Sinatra appeared in another cameo in Cast a Giant Shadow, a much more substantial 1948-set film about the founding of Israel, written and directed by Melville Shavelson and starring Kirk Douglas as American Jewish soldier Mickey Marcus, with John Wayne (whose Batjac company produced it for United Artists) and Yul Brynner in supporting roles.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Cast a Giant Shadow"

A lifelong sympathizer with Jewish causes who had enjoyed his 1962 concerts in Israel and felt attached to the Frank Sinatra International Youth Center he'd opened there, Sinatra insisted on filming his cameo on location in Israel rather than the originally planned Rome. After three days of filming, he donated his entire $50,000 fee to the Youth Center.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Cast a Giant Shadow"

Sinatra played Spence, a mercenary pilot nicknamed the "Pride of Passaic," who is given seltzer bottles to drop as fake bombs since the fledgling Israeli army lacked real ammunition; his character's plane is then shot down. Santopietro notes Sinatra, at 51, looked more youthful and vibrant here than he had 15 years earlier in Meet Danny Wilson.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Cast a Giant Shadow"

Melville Shavelson: Director Melville Shavelson later reflected that using recognizable movie stars like Sinatra undercut the film's realism, saying it might have worked better with an unknown actor in the role because audiences believed real events were 'phony' when played by famous faces.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Cast a Giant Shadow" unnamed critics (quoted by Santopietro): Reviews of Cast a Giant Shadow were mixed-to-negative: one review praised Sinatra's youthful energy as a "soldier of fortune flier" while criticizing the film overall; another called it "an embarrassing movie"; a third dismissed it as a biopic overshadowed by star Kirk Douglas.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Cast a Giant Shadow"

Santopietro grades this a C, calling it a cameo as a pilot, saying "somewhere in there is a good film."

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Cast a Giant Shadow"

Santopietro (Filmography): Cameo appearance. Batjac-Lleuroc-Mirisch Productions/United Artists. Produced and directed by Melville Shavelson, screenplay by Shavelson based on Ted Berkman's book. Starred Kirk Douglas as Colonel Mickey Marcus, with John Wayne and Yul Brynner, and Sinatra appearing as Vince Talmadge.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

March 31, 1966

Extras

[Sinatra still seething over "commie" label]

A decade after being cleared, Sinatra commissioned a public-relations man to determine "the identity of the 'S.O.B.' who had 'tagged' Sinatra as a 'commie,'" according to a memo from FBI official D. J. Brennan Jr. to W. C. Sullivan. An Army liaison explained that Sinatra had been denied overseas USO clearance in 1950, 1952, and 1954 over the subversion allegations, was finally cleared in 1962, and that clearance had lapsed unused in 1966. The go-between described Sinatra as "temperamental, vindictive and moody" and prone to dwelling on old grievances. The bitterness stood in curious contrast to Sinatra's mood at the time: less than two weeks later he recorded "Strangers in the Night."

Source: Kuntz and Kuntz, The Sinatra Files, ch. 3.

April 1966

Extras

[Bowen rushes Strangers acetates to radio]

Kaplan: After the session, Bowen ran an all-night mastering session and pressed a couple dozen acetates. Sinatra, eager to beat Jack Jones's competing version, had Reprise pay couriers and airline stewardesses cash to rush copies to program directors across the country, including Chicago.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Harrison Carroll column on Mia and Nichols]

Harrison Carroll: Columnist Harrison Carroll reported in mid-April that Mia Farrow had spent her vacation in Rome as a guest of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, and had also been seen around town with director Mike Nichols; he added that Farrow was reportedly quitting Peyton Place in June for a one-picture-a-year deal with 20th Century-Fox.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mia and Mike Nichols travel to Rome and Venice]

Kaplan: During her Easter break from Peyton Place, Mia -- newly involved with director Mike Nichols, fresh off Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? -- traveled with him to Rome and Venice.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[quote on career/material]

Frank Sinatra: In an April 1966 interview with Peter Bart, Sinatra, then turning fifty, described spending evenings reading scripts and novels searching for feature material, acknowledging the shortcomings of some recent pictures came down to a lack of better material being available at the time.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), The Rat Pack (pt. 2)

April 10, 1966

Extras

[Bowen learns of rival Strangers in the Night cut]

Jimmy Bowen: On a Sunday night at Martoni's restaurant, Reprise producer Jimmy Bowen ran into singer Jack Jones, who excitedly described his own newly recorded version of 'Strangers in the Night,' already mailed to radio stations. Bowen recalled feeling his heart pound and immediately phoned Sinatra, who said he didn't care who else had recorded it -- 'we're gonna do it.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 11, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4195 Strangers In The Night (2:35)

(Bert Kaempfert/Charles Singleton/Eddie Snyder)

Champion Music/EMI Screen Gems Music Inc. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Ernie Freeman

45: Reprise 0470

LP: FS1017

CD: The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings 46013-2

Ed O'Brien:

This was the song that put Sinatra in a different stratosphere.

He was in his 51st year when this recording exploded all over the world. A megahit that would reach #1 in 77 countries including The United States. The follow up album would sell 13 million copies worldwide. Frank would win a Grammy for best male vocal performance and suddenly he could fill large arenas in every corner of the globe.Lee Herschberg told me it required only three takes. An incredible vocal performance.

Frank hated this song. Hated. During the concert in the Dominican Republic, 8-20-82, Frank, while singing "Strangers," yells to Vinnie that it is the

"worst f..king song I ever heard." Millions of people around the world did not agree. Disney

Channel ran a series of Frank's shows including

Altos de Chavon from 82. They didn't catch the F bomb in the aside to Vinnie.. Probably the only time that word was ever heard on

Walt's station. During a 1983 concert in Philly,

Sinatra, after singing "Strangers," told his audience that if they liked that song they would love pineapple yogurt..

--Ed

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada

Frank and Dean joined Louis Prima and Jack E. Leonard on stage for songs and gags.

Extras

Hollywood

J4195 Strangers In The Night (2:35)

Sands, Las Vegas Nevada

Frank and Dean joined Louis Prima and Jack E. Leonard on stage for songs and gags.

The session comes as Frank's relationship with 20-year-old Mia Farrow was deepening; "Strangers in the Night" would go on to knock the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" from number one on July 2, 1966, becoming Reprise's third chart-topping single. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

[Sinatra records 'Strangers in the Night']

The recording session for 'Strangers in the Night,' arranged by Ernie Freeman, was set at United Recording. Sinatra, who initially hated the song, worked out a tricky key-change modulation with Bowen's help (cutting to a bell tone before the new key) and completed the track with Glen Campbell on rhythm guitar.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 13, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Ed notes:

Dean Martin was on the bill with Sinatra. I was told by people who worked at the Sands back then, that Dino was a bigger draw in the spring of 1966.

A little tune recorded two days prior to the opening changed all that very quickly.

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Las Vegas Sun, April 13, 1966

Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, and Sinatra

(Original Caption) Las Vegas, Nevada: Dean Martin and his friends, Frank Sinatra and Joey Bishop, opened a three-week engagement at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas, April 13, determined that their songs, patter and assorted hijinks qualify them as "The Men from SPREE," (Society for the Prevention of Routine Entertainment Events.)

note: Sinatra had agreed to do two weeks. He left the show on 4/28

Reno Gazette News

4-19-66 note: Frank missed the two shows on Monday, 4/18.

Bishop did not appear on 4/18 and Dino did a

1/2 hour - hence the outrage.

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April 14, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

1966

Extras

[Baseball Game at Dodger Stadium]

Sinatra attended an Orioles-versus-Dodgers game at Dodger Stadium with Mia Farrow, Tina, and Nancy, remaining friendly with Farrow after their divorce.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Marriage to Mia Farrow]

Sinatra marries Mia Farrow in Las Vegas, stages the Inaugural Gala for California Governor Edmund "Pat" Brown, and wins Grammys for Album of the Year ("Sinatra: A Man and His Music") and Record of the Year ("Strangers in the Night"), which also becomes a #1 single and album. He appears in "Cast a Giant Shadow," "The Oscar," and "Assault on a Queen."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Nancy Sinatra's Breakthrough Year With Her Father]

Nancy Sinatra, having scored a run of hits with producer Lee Hazlewood, appeared on her father's TV special and scored a major hit duet with him, 'Somethin' Stupid,' the same year.

Source: The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra, chapter "I Want to Be a Part of It, 1971-98."

[Sinatra's First Live Album]

Sinatra at the Sands, recorded with Quincy Jones and Billy Byers arranging, was Frank's very first live recording, capturing twenty songs and two monologues with the Basie band.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

["Strangers in the Night" Hits Number One Despite Frank's Dislike]

Producer Jimmy Bowen's push toward the pop charts paid off: the Strangers in the Night album went to Number One and the title single won two Grammys, for Best Solo Vocal and Record of the Year, even though, Nancy notes, her father didn't even like the song.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Tina Meets Mia Farrow]

Early in 1966, Tina met Mia Farrow for the first time when she stopped by her father's rented Holmby Hills house and he mentioned Mia was coming over; Tina found her striking and the two quickly became close.

Source: Tina Sinatra, "My Father's Daughter: A Memoir" (2000).

['These Boots Are Made For Walkin'' Tops Charts]

In 1966, as Vietnam War controversy grew, Nancy's single "These Boots Are Made for Walking," produced by Lee Hazlewood with arranger Billy Strange, reached number one in three weeks -- a speed then matched only by the Beatles' "I Wanna Hold Your Hand." It sold over four million copies and earned three Grammy nominations, losing to Barry Sadler's "The Ballad of the Green Berets."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

['Strangers in the Night' tops UK charts]

Kaplan: In Britain, 'Strangers in the Night' sat atop the singles chart for three weeks that summer.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Dexter fired from The Naked Runner]

Kaplan: After Sinatra abandoned the Copenhagen shoot to fly home for a Pat Brown fundraiser and refused to return, his lawyer Mickey Rudin ordered production wrapped without him. Producer Brad Dexter defied orders to hand over the footage, finishing the film with a double and delivering the print to Jack Warner himself about two months later; he was subsequently fired from Sinatra's operation and never received the balance of his fee.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Frank and Mia Farrow marry]

Consiglio: Frank and Mia Farrow married in 1966, prompting widespread comment about their roughly thirty-year age gap. Consiglio says Frank knew the relationship might not last but was genuinely in love.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Harper made with Paul Newman instead of Sinatra]

Kaplan: Before Brad Dexter's partnership with Sinatra collapsed, Dexter had tried to revive Frank's film career with a William Goldman script called 'Harper,' but negotiations with producers Elliott Kastner and Jerry Gershwin fell through and the movie was made instead with Paul Newman, becoming an artistic and box-office hit in 1966.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mo Ostin and the Gunga Din single]

Mo Ostin: Mo Ostin recalled trying to quietly shelve the 'Gunga Din' single, only for Sinatra to angrily call him mid-golf-game, shouting 'I own this fucking company!' The record was ultimately distributed only privately to friends.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Nancy Jr.'s hit records with Lee Hazlewood]

Consiglio: It took Nancy Jr. a few years after her divorce to break through, which she did with producer Lee Hazlewood on million-selling songs like "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'" and "How Does That Grab You?" Hazlewood, also known for producing Duane Eddy and the early concept album Trouble Is a Lonesome Town, helped establish Nancy as a star in her own right.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[O.C. Smith's record inspires 'That's Life']

Kaplan: A record of 'That's Life' by soul singer O. C. Smith caught Sinatra's attention that spring; he played it for Jimmy Bowen and proposed they cut their own version, which Bowen enthusiastically endorsed.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Peter Lawford divorces Pat Kennedy]

Consiglio: Peter Lawford divorced Pat Kennedy in 1966, which effectively ended his ties to the Kennedy family. Combined with his falling-out with Frank, it left him without his old circle of friends like Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Sinatra expands Palm Springs compound]

Kaplan: Around this period Sinatra added a two-bedroom bungalow and a four-bedroom New England-style cottage to his Palm Springs property, bringing its capacity to twenty-two guests; friends called him 'the Innkeeper' for how meticulously he ran the place, down to stocked bathrooms and on-call cars.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra films of 1966]

Consiglio: Cast a Giant Shadow, The Oscar, and Assault on a Queen were released in 1966, capping a stretch Consiglio describes as a particularly strong period in Frank's film career.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Sinatra's contempt for Ronald Reagan]

Kaplan: Sinatra had long disliked Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Davis, dating back to the 1940s. A former girlfriend of Jimmy Van Heusen's recalled that Sinatra would leave any party the Reagans attended, complaining he couldn't stand Reagan's folksy, bore-ish manner.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra's fury derails Naked Runner shoot]

Kaplan: During UK filming of The Naked Runner, after a helicopter got lost in fog and made him forty-five minutes late to set, Sinatra flew into a rage and demanded production move to Palm Springs; when he refused to work, director Sidney Furie burst into tears and sped off in his jeep. Brad Dexter had to smooth things over to finish the UK shoot.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra's nervousness before Count Basie shows]

Ed Walters: Walters, prompted by listening to the Count Basie Live at the Sands album, describes Sinatra being visibly more nervous before shows with Count Basie's band than with any other performer, since Basie was one of the few acts Sinatra considered his equal. Unlike the house band (which started only after Sinatra began singing), Basie's band played a full instrumental intro and Sinatra had to time his entrance; Walters says he saw Sinatra miss his cue a couple of times, with Basie smiling and restarting the intro, while Jilly Rizzo kept people away from Frank as he prepared.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[personal life]

Sinatra married Mia Farrow, his third wife, on July 19, 1966. Santopietro notes the marriage was short-lived but the two remained lifelong friends afterward.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), The Rat Pack (pt. 2)

[Frank marries Mia Farrow in a five-minute Vegas ceremony]

Frank abruptly skipped a planned return to London filming and instead flew to Las Vegas, marrying Mia Farrow in a brief ceremony held in Jack Entratter's suite at the Sands. The couple honeymooned in Palm Springs; no family members from either side had been invited.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Life magazine calls Sinatra 'a happening']

In a December 1966 Life magazine piece, writer Jose M. Ferrer described Sinatra as having a rare, almost mystical ability to fascinate audiences wherever he went.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Petula Clark sits in on Sinatra's awkward 'Downtown' session]

According to songwriter Tony Hatch, Sinatra invited Petula Clark, the original artist behind 'Downtown,' to watch him record his version. Riddle's odd pseudo-oriental arrangement embarrassed Frank with her present, so rather than fight it he leaned into camp, adding a vocal 'yuk' before the title word.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Reprise later signs the Electric Prunes]

The book notes, somewhat ironically given Frank's original wish for creative control, that by 1966 Reprise had signed psychedelic rock band the Electric Prunes -- a sign of how far the label evolved from his original vision.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Sinatra jokingly introduces himself as 'Nancy's father']

During a booking at his Miami Beach house, the Fontainebleau, not long after his daughter Nancy's chart success, Sinatra took to introducing himself as Nancy's father.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Tony Hatch's aborted "Sinatra Sings Tony Hatch" album]

Composer Tony Hatch describes being commissioned to write and produce a full album of new songs for Sinatra to record in London. Sessions were repeatedly booked and cancelled by Sinatra himself until the musicians union would no longer allow further rescheduling, so the songs were only ever demoed by singer Mike Redway and later picked up by other artists.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

["The Last Blast of the Blasted Bugler" -- private spoken-word recording made at Sinatra's Palm Springs home -- critical commentary]

A bizarre 1962 ABC-Paramount spoken-word/novelty 45 (credited to Phil Cammarata, narrated by Sonny Gianotta) dramatized the climactic 'Gunga Din' battle scene with old-time-radio sound effects. On June 10, 1966, Sinatra rerecorded the single at his Palm Springs home, adding his own voice to the introductory narration over the same 1962 sound effects. Friedwald notes it has only surfaced on two rare semiprivate collector CDs (Frankly Different, Sinatra Unreleased) and states plainly it 'is not a performance that merits wide release.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 7, "With Billy May" (1953-1979)

[Assault on a Queen (1966 film, scored by Duke Ellington at Sinatra's arrangement) -- critical commentary]

Sinatra arranged for Ellington to write the score to his film Assault on a Queen -- Friedwald calls it 'perhaps the only notable aspect of that forgettable thriller.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 7, "With Billy May" (1953-1979)

[Moonlight Sinatra -- critical commentary]

Granata's discography entry: Moonlight Sinatra, arranged by Nelson Riddle, released March 1966.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

[Strangers in the Night -- critical commentary]

Sinatra landed a surprise hit with 'Strangers in the Night' despite being 'especially vocal in expressing his dislike' of the song; he and producer Sonny Burke built a full album around it that immediately overshadowed the title track.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 6, "With Nelson Riddle" (1953-1979)

[Strangers in the Night -- critical commentary]

Granata's discography entry: Stranger in the Night, arranged by Nelson Riddle and Ernie Freeman, released May 1966.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

[personnel -- critical commentary]

Jimmy Bowen: Motivated by the commercial success of daughter Nancy Sinatra's 1966 hit 'These Boots Are Made for Walkin',' Sinatra hired young producer Jimmy Bowen (on staff at Reprise since 1963, formerly a rock and roller and demo writer) to help update his image. Bowen recalls getting hired via a phone call in which Sinatra simply said, 'James? Glad to have you aboard...click.'

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

February 26, 1966

Extras

Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'," produced by Lee Hazlewood, who reportedly told her to record it like "one for the truck drivers," reached No. 1 on the US Hot 100, having already topped the UK charts a week earlier. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

April 15, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 16, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Segment of Frank's monologue:

April 17, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 18, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 19, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 19, 1969 Chuck Connors 3rd Annual Charity Invitational Golf Tournament Dinner Party Palm Springs Racquet Club in Palm Springs, California

April 20, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 21, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 22, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 23, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 24, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 25, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 26, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 27, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 28, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Earl Wilson column

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Earl Wilson column

4-29-66

note: Frank was mad about Mia Farrow. She didn't like Vegas and Frank did. He missed shows during his two weeks at the Sands and one night there was a near riot. The Sands had to refund more than 500 very miffed customers. Marquee was changed to "Dean Martin, Joey Bishop and maybe . . . Frank."

Ed

------------------------------------------------------

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

April 29, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

April 30, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

Segment of Frank-Dean comedy routine

May 1966

Extras

[Jack O'Brian reports Mia and Nichols reunion]

Jack O'Brian: Early in May, columnist Jack O'Brian wrote that Mike Nichols and Mia Farrow had resumed seeing each other as soon as he returned from Europe, spotted at the Cocoanut Grove and the Daisy Club. Sinatra, an avid gossip-column reader, told a friend at Jilly's he'd have to 'straighten this out' with Mia.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra and Riddle record their last full album]

Kaplan: In May, Sinatra and Nelson Riddle recorded what turned out to be their final complete album together, rushed into production to capitalize on the success of the 'Strangers in the Night' single and eventually released under that title, subtitled 'Frank Sinatra Sings for Moderns.' Highlights included 'Summer Wind' and a remade 'All or Nothing at All'; the album hit number one and stayed on the charts 73 weeks, Sinatra's biggest LP success since 1958's Only the Lonely.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

May 1, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

May 2, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

May 3, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (April 13 - May 3) w/Dean Martin & Joey Bishop

May 7, 1966

Extras

['Strangers in the Night' hits the charts]

'Strangers in the Night' entered the Billboard charts alongside new entries by Simon & Garfunkel, the Lovin' Spoonful, and Dean Martin.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 11, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4234 My Baby Just Cares For Me

(Walter Donaldson/Gus Kahn)

Ann-Rachel Music Corp./Donaldson Publishing Co./Tobago Music Co./ The Songwriters Guild (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-5 (2:31) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2 Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

J4235 Yes Sir, That's My Baby

(Walter Donalson/Gus Kahn)

Donaldson Publishing Co./Gus Kahn International (ASCAP) Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-4 (2:09) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

J4236 You're Driving Me Crazy!

(Walter Donaldson)

Anne-Rachel Music Corp./Donaldson Publishing Co./Tobago Music Co. (ASCAP) Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-3 (2:16) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

J4237 The Most Beautiful Girl In The World

(Richard Rodgers/Lorenz Hart)

Lorenz Hart Publishing Co./Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP) Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-7 (2:24) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

6-18-66

Extras

In two sessions with Nelson Riddle, Frank recorded nine songs for the Strangers in the Night album, including a heartfelt new version of 'All or Nothing at All.'

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

May 16, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4238 Summer Wind

(Heinz Meier/Hans Bradtke/Johnny Mercer)

M. Witmark & Sons (ASCAP/GEMA)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-7 (2:54) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1025Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

45: 0509

J4239 All Or Nothing At All

(Arthur Altman/Jack Lawrence)

MCA Inc. (ASCAP/ZIMRA)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-5 (3:57) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

J4240 Call Me

(Tony Hatch)

Duchess Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-6 (2:46) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

J4241 On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)

( Alan Jay Lerner/Burton Lane )

Chappell & Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-9 (3:18) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

J4242 Downtown

(Tony Hatch)

MCA Inc. (ASCAP/PRS Ltd.)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

-4 (2:09) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 10

CD: 1017-2Strangers In The Night

LP: FS1017Strangers In The Night

note: Lee Hershberg told me this was the brainchild of Jimmy Bowen.

He did not want a stereo recording. AM radio would offer a

mono sound of Frank and the orchestra that would almost

guarantee a smash hit. Bowen felt it would be that compelling.

I'll bet even Sinatra was amazed at how well the idea worked.

Lee told me to play "Strangers" and then listen to the stereo

sound that track two offered, "Summer Wind." Quite a difference.

Ed

Extras

Hollywood

J4238 Summer Wind

J4239 All Or Nothing At All

J4240 Call Me

J4241 On A Clear Day (You Can See Forever)

"On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)"

Frank Sinatra: During the session, Sinatra instructed the orchestra: 'Let it lay back now. Don't push any phrases, let 'em linger.' Riddle picks up on the Basie tradition of stop-time and rests (associated with Thad Jones, Ernie Wilkins, Neal Hefti), pausing the whole ensemble before Sinatra's entrances, then surging in at double volume; the repeating coda pays tribute to Wild Bill Davis's iconic 'April in Paris' arrangement, evoking Basie's 'One more time' / 'One more once!'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

"Summer Wind"

'Summer Wind,' immediately following the title track, is described as the last masterpiece collaboration of Sinatra and Riddle -- reached only #25 on the pop chart (#1 easy listening) but became a deeply beloved 'turntable hit,' like 'Fly Me to the Moon,' known by everyone despite modest chart placement; it later featured in The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984) and remained a perennial concert request. The song originated in Germany with a melody by Henry Mayer (also known for 'My Melody of Love,' also recorded by Sinatra) and was a hit for Danish vocalist Grethe Ingmann; Johnny Mercer's English lyric was introduced in the US in 1965 by Bobby Vinton and Perry Como, both in a countrified 'slip note' Floyd Cramer piano style (Como's version, otherwise dull, includes the rare unsung-by-Sinatra second verse).

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

June 1966

Extras

['Gunga Din' novelty record]

Kaplan: Three days after the Polo Lounge beating of Frederick Weisman, while effectively hiding from the law in Palm Springs, Sinatra recorded a bizarre comedy record based on Kipling's poem 'Gunga Din,' inspired by a comic bit he'd seen performer Jimmy Komack do on TV.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Assault on a Queen released to poor reception]

Kaplan: Sinatra's film Assault on a Queen was released in mid-June to a tepid response from both audiences and critics.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Entratters keep vigil with Sinatra in Palm Springs]

Corinne Entratter: Mia Farrow flew to Palm Springs to be with Sinatra, along with Jack Entratter and his wife Corinne, during the anxious weeks after the Weisman beating. Corinne Entratter recalled it as the only time she saw Sinatra truly scared, with the group staying in and Mia learning backgammon to pass the time.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Police chief publicly targets Sinatra]

Clinton Anderson: In the aftermath of the Weisman beating, Beverly Hills police chief Clinton Anderson told reporters Sinatra had been in hiding but that police would 'get him' to determine the cause of the fight and Weisman's condition.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra denies striking Weisman]

Frank Sinatra: Sinatra called Chief Anderson directly and insisted the fight was Weisman's fault, claiming Weisman cursed at him and struck first before falling, and that he 'certainly did not' hit him. Privately, Sinatra told a friend he was terrified: 'If this guy croaks, I'm fucking finished.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra tapes 'That's Life' for TV special]

Kaplan: In June, Sinatra recorded 'That's Life' with a Nelson Riddle arrangement for his second Man and His Music special with Nancy, giving the soul tune a tough, canny reading with orchestra and jumpy blues organ.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Weisman regains consciousness]

Kaplan: Weisman regained consciousness roughly seventy-two hours after being struck, though his condition remained serious.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

June 5, 1966

Extras

[Frank and Nancy Jr. tape TV special]

On June 5 and 6, Frank and Nancy Sinatra Jr. taped their second joint TV special, 'A Man and His Music Part II,' at NBC Studios in Burbank, with both Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins conducting segments.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 7, 1966

Extras

[Dean Martin's 49th birthday and the Weisman incident begins] Late on Dean Martin's 49th birthday, Sinatra took a party of ten, including Jilly Rizzo and Richard Conte, to the Polo Lounge at the Beverly Hills Hotel. When businessman Frederick Weisman, seated nearby with Franklin Fox, asked the group to quiet down, Sinatra told him he was 'out of line' and reportedly made an anti-Semitic remark.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 8, 1966

Extras

[Weisman struck and hospitalized]

As Sinatra's party was leaving the Polo Lounge, Frank returned to Weisman's table; accounts differ on exactly what happened -- a thrown telephone, a beating by Jilly Rizzo, or a blow from Sinatra himself -- but Weisman ended up with a fractured skull and was rushed to Cedars-Sinai's intensive care unit, not expected to survive. Sinatra and Martin had left before police arrived.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 10, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4364 Gunga Din (spoken word) (N/R)

Note: This odd recording is in private circulation

NOTE: Sinatraphile Rich Warwick reports that Stan Cornyn, in his book "Exploding," says that Sinatra was determined to put out this recording as a follow-up to "Strangers in the Night." Cornyn writes that Sinatra would not listen to reason no matter how long Mo Ostin delayed its release. Finally, Sinatra called Ostin and demanded it be released, saying that he (Sinatra) owned the record company.

According to Cornyn, it was released for a brief period, but the reaction was so negative that Sinatra relented and agreed to have it pulled from the market.

Ed O'Brien strongly recommends reading the Cornyn book, pointing out that it contains lots of fascinating stories about Sinatra during the early Reprise years. O'Brien says that the Sinatra recording of the Kipling poem has to be heard to be believed. Actually, O'Brien says, the recording was only released to radio stations as a demo recording and was recalled shortly thereafter at radio's request.

Sinatraphile Jim White agrees that Cornyn's book contains a lot of stories about Sinatra during the early Reprise years, but it tell us one hell of a lot more about the nature, the raucousness, and the competitiveness and duplicity of the music recording business as it expanded so very, very rapidly later in the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Some of it's very astonishing to a man like me who enjoys a lot of recorded music solely for pleasure, White gasps!

Extras

Liner Notes: STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT

Strangers in the Night was assembled quickly, built around the runaway success of its title single -- a song Sinatra reportedly did not even particularly like, dismissing it in later years as "a piece of shit," even as it became his first number-one single in over a decade and won him the Grammy for Record of the Year. The album around it was recorded fast, in a matter of weeks, to capitalize on the single's momentum, with arrangements split between Ernie Freeman and Nelson Riddle.

Whatever Sinatra's private reservations about the title track, the record surrounding it holds together as a solid, professionally assembled pop album for the mid-1960s -- "Summer Wind," arranged by Riddle, would go on to become one of the more enduringly popular tracks in Sinatra's entire catalogue, its slightly melancholic sway a better showcase, many would argue, for what Sinatra could still do with a contemporary pop song than the title track itself.

Commercially, the album was an unambiguous triumph, reaching number one and cementing Sinatra's continued relevance at a moment when rock and roll had supposedly rendered singers of his generation obsolete. It is, in its own contradictory way, one of the more instructive records in his catalogue -- an album Sinatra didn't entirely believe in that nonetheless proved he could still win.

Written by Claude (Anthropic), commissioned for this chronology, 2026.

June 15, 1966

Film

"Assault On A Queen" (USA Release: June

15, 1966)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Virna Lisi,

Anthony Franciosa, Richard Conte, Alf Kjellin, Reginald Denny, Errol John, Murray Matheson, John Warburton

Screenplay by Rod Serling, Based on "Assault On A Queen" by Jack Finney

Produced by: William Goetz

Directed by: Jack Donohue

A World War II-era German submarine missing for 20 years is retrieved in the Bahamas by diver Mark Brittain (Frank Sinatra) and his partner Linc Langley (Errol John), and hired by the wealthy Rosa Lucchesi (Lisi) and her partner Vic Rossiter (Franciosa), who have been searching for sunken Spanish galleons. The recovery of the submarine results in a plot devised by Eric Lauffnauer Kjellin), a U-boat officer during the war, to pull a daring million-dollar heist on the British ocean liner Queen Mary, which he and the others plan to rob on the high seas while the liner is making a transatlantic crossing.

--DVD & Blu-Ray Release: 2012-03-27

[The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra — Assault on a Queen (1966)]

David Wills's 2015 photo history The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra devotes a section to Assault on a Queen (1966), illustrated with 2 behind-the-scenes and publicity photographs (posters, lobby cards, and on-set/on-location shots) filed here.

Source: David Wills, The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra (St. Martin's Press, 2015), pp. 251–253.

One sheet poster, Assault on a Queen, 1966. / “… the cameras were rolling again, Virna Lisi / was leaning toward Sinatra in the sand, and / then he pulled her down close to him. The / camera now moved in for a close-up of their (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

Lobby cards. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

Extras

"Assault on a Queen"

Assault on a Queen continued Sinatra's affiliation with Paramount (following Come Blow Your Horn and For Those Who Think Young). Based on a novel by Jack Finney, it was produced by William Goetz (close to Sinatra at the time, along with wife Edie, L.B. Mayer's daughter), shot by William Daniels, scripted by Rod Serling, and scored by Duke Ellington -- talent Santopietro says was wasted on a formulaic caper resembling a smaller, less interesting nautical Ocean's Eleven.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Sinatra plays Mark Brittain, a cynical WWII ex-submarine commander turned charter fisherman, recruited by villainous Vic Rossiter (Anthony Franciosa) and love interest Rosa Lucchesi (Virna Lisi) into a scheme to raise a sunken German U-boat and use it to rob the Queen Mary.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Virna Lisi: Co-star Virna Lisi (or her publicist) offered admiring comments on Sinatra, describing him as embodying what she wanted the American male to be -- "magnetic, animal, sensuous" -- saying that quality came through both in his singing and in his screen love scenes.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Frank Sinatra: Sinatra jokingly returned Lisi's compliment with a crack referencing persistent Mafia rumors about him, saying that if Lisi had been in the Mafia, he'd never have torn up his membership card.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Eight days before the film's July 1966 release, Sinatra married Mia Farrow. Santopietro notes that while neither the marriage nor the film ultimately fared well, Sinatra and Farrow remained friends for the rest of his life.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Monthly Film Bulletin: The film was panned by Britain's Monthly Film Bulletin, which likened it to watching "plastic boats in the bath." Its weak box office made it Sinatra's second consecutive box-office disappointment, a slump that would extend to a third with The Naked Runner.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Santopietro grades this a C, calling it "Ocean's Eleven at sea"—a leaky vessel. Golden Laurel Award nomination: Top Male Star of the Year.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"Assault on a Queen"

Santopietro (Filmography): Seven Arts/Sinatra Enterprises. Produced by William Goetz, directed by Jack Donohue, screenplay by Rod Serling based on the Jack Finney novel, musical score by Duke Ellington. Sinatra played Mark Brittain opposite Virna Lisi and Anthony Franciosa.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

June 18, 1966

[Photograph: Strangers in the Night enters the charts amid a crowded debut week. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.297.]

[Photograph: Strangers in the Night enters the charts amid a crowded debut week. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.297.]

Extras

The week Frank's single first charted, eight other songs also debuted on Billboard, including Simon and Garfunkel's 'I Am a Rock' and Dean Martin's 'Come Running Back.' Seven weeks later Frank reached No. 1, dethroning the Beatles' 'Paperback Writer,' which had itself just displaced the Rolling Stones. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

June 27, 1966

Extras

[Weisman questioned by police]

By June 27, Weisman was able to speak with police about the incident but said he remembered nothing after the moment he was struck.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 30, 1966

Extras

[DA closes Weisman investigation]

Citing conflicting accounts and lack of evidence -- and, per one source, threatening phone calls -- Weisman's family chose not to pursue charges. On June 30, the Los Angeles district attorney closed the investigation. George Jacobs claimed Sinatra paid Weisman millions in hush money, though Weisman's brother publicly said there was 'nothing to settle.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 1966

Extras

[Sinatra Marries Mia Farrow in Las Vegas]

Following a brief courtship, Sinatra married actress Mia Farrow in Las Vegas in July 1966.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Dexter warns Sinatra against marrying Mia]

Brad Dexter: In London, after gambling at George Raft's Colony club, Brad Dexter bluntly told Sinatra the 30-year age gap with Mia didn't make sense and suggested he see a psychiatrist. Furious, Sinatra trashed his Grosvenor Square apartment, then called Jack Entratter in Las Vegas to arrange an immediate wedding.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Learjet cake proposal]

Kaplan: Flying east with Mia before leaving for Europe, Sinatra had a pear-shaped diamond engagement ring hidden under cake dessert aboard his Learjet, then told her which finger to put it on.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Newlyweds dine with Dolly and Marty in Fort Lee]

Dolly Sinatra: Frank brought Mia to his parents' home in Fort Lee, New Jersey, where Dolly had cooked for two days. Guests included Toots Shor, Joe E. Lewis, Jilly Rizzo, and Liza Minnelli. Mia ate only salad and said little; Dolly, unimpressed, told a friend afterward, 'This one don't talk. She don't eat. What's she do?' and privately told George Jacobs, 'She's a little nothing. Is that the best he can do?'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra buys an $85,000 engagement ring]

Kaplan: Sinatra went to Billy Ruser's jewelry store in Beverly Hills -- the same shop where he'd bought Ava Gardner earrings in 1953 -- and paid $85,000 for a nine-carat diamond ring, before departing to film The Naked Runner in Europe, his last picture for Warner Bros.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra flies to London without Mia]

Kaplan: After the Cerfs' visit, Sinatra flew on to London with George Jacobs, Jimmy Van Heusen, and Brad Dexter (producer of The Naked Runner) to begin filming, leaving Mia behind.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra proposes to Mia in Palm Springs]

Kaplan: With relief following the closed investigation, Sinatra one morning led Mia outside in Palm Springs, took her hands, and asked her to marry him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

July 2, 1966

Extras

"Strangers in the Night," recorded April 11, 1966, tops the Billboard chart, knocking the Beatles' "Paperback Writer" from the number-one spot. It became Reprise's third chart-topper, following Dean Martin's "Everybody Loves Somebody" and Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'." Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

July 4, 1966

Extras

[Fourth of July weekend at the Cerfs']

Christopher Cerf: Frank and Mia spent the Fourth of July weekend at the Cerf family's home in Mount Kisco, New York. Christopher Cerf recalled Sinatra as very attentive to Mia, though without an obvious burning passion.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 7, 1966

Extras

[Mia announces leaving Peyton Place]

On July 7, Mia Farrow announced she was leaving Peyton Place and signing with 20th Century Fox, seeking $200,000 for a starring movie role.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 10, 1966

Extras

[Mia flashes her ring at P.J. Clarke's]

Mia Farrow: On a Sunday night, Mia arrived at P.J. Clarke's in New York on crutches, having cut her leg on scissors, but flashed a large diamond ring, telling reporters coyly it was 'a friendship ring from Frank.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 14, 1966

Extras

[Maureen O'Sullivan announces the engagement]

Maureen O'Sullivan: After phoning Sinatra in London to press him on his intentions and getting only a vague promise of a wedding sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mia's mother Maureen O'Sullivan publicly announced the engagement to the Associated Press, saying she couldn't be more delighted and that the age difference didn't matter.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 19, 1966

Extras

By phone -- she in Los Angeles, he in London finishing The Naked Runner -- Frank and Mia Farrow settle on marrying the next day in Las Vegas, ending months of on-and-off talk about their future. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

Fifty-two-year-old Frank takes a third wife, Mia, just twenty-one, on July 19, 1966, at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. Their marriage would last two stormy years. Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

Mia on her wedding day. She has said that the marriage was, in some ways, “more like an adoption.” Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

[Wedding date leaks to the press]

Las Vegas Review-Journal managing editor Don Digilio learned from a source that the Sinatra-Farrow wedding, contrary to Frank's public Thanksgiving-to-Christmas timeline, would actually take place that evening at the Sands. The news broke on front pages the morning of the nineteenth, drawing the world's press to Las Vegas.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra and Farrow marry at the Sands]

Frank Sinatra: The civil ceremony, presided over by Judge William Compton, took place at 5:30 p.m. in Jack Entratter's Sands suite and lasted about four minutes. Bill and Edie Goetz served as best man and matron of honor; Entratter gave the bride away. Both were visibly nervous; afterward Sinatra told photographers, 'This is a big day, fellas... it seemed right, and we're in love, and it was logical.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Red Skelton's wife shot same day as wedding]

The morning of the wedding, a .38 pistol accidentally discharged in performer Red Skelton's Sands suite, wounding his wife Georgia in the chest; no charges were filed. Skelton, performing at the Sands, attended the Sinatra-Farrow ceremony regardless.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra tells Tina of the wedding via Dean Martin]

Tina Sinatra: At the moment of the ceremony, Dean Martin pulled Tina Sinatra aside at his home to tell her, 'your dad is marrying Mia as we speak.' Tina was hurt at being excluded; when Frank called later that night asking for her blessing, she refused, telling him she was too busy resenting him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Ava Gardner learns of the wedding]

Accounts differ on how Ava Gardner learned of the marriage -- possibly a call from George Jacobs, or, per one source, a call from Sinatra himself just before the ceremony in which he told her 'It's too late, baby. The judge is standing right there' but that he'd always love her. All accounts agree that when Ava heard, she cried and couldn't stop.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Wedding reception at the Goetzes']

To throw off the press, the newlyweds announced they were flying to New York but instead went to a rented Holmby Hills house, then to a reception at the Goetzes', attended by guests including Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Edward G. Robinson, and Dean Martin -- but no Sinatra family members and no Maureen O'Sullivan.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 20, 1966

Extras

Frank Sinatra, 50, marries Mia Farrow, 21, in a small, secretive ceremony in Las Vegas; comedian Red Skelton was among the few witnesses. Farrow wore a white silk dress with caftan sleeves and kept her hair cropped nearly as short as Frank's own. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

July 25, 1966

Studio

United Recording Studio - Hollywood

4 to 7 P.M.

Arranged & Conducted by Ernie Freeman

Lee Herschberg Engineer

Jimmy Bowen Producer and A&R Rep

J-4410 She Believes In Me 2:42

J-4412 That's Life 3:02

Ed O'Brien:

An orchestral session. There were 40 musicians.

Buddy Greco and Sammy Davis Jr. would do over- dubs on "She Believes In Me." "That's Life" would be rejected. On October 18, 1966 Sinatra would record "That's Life" with a new arrangement and a female vocal trio. The 40 musicians at this session included the great Ray Brown on bass and Michael

Melvoin was on the organ. The track from 7-25 would be mixed with the Sinatra vocal from 10-18 and released on the Japanese bonus disc of "Ultimate Sinatra"( 2015).

note: Frank was set to record at this session but there was

just too much going on in his life. He flew to London on

July 5th and the filming of "The Naked Runner" got underway.

Then he flew back to L.A. and married Mia on 7/19. They wanted

more time together so the vocal session was cancelled. Then the

two-some headed back to London and the film production, arriving on 7-25.

Extras

[Sinatra punches a photographer at '21']

The newlyweds, feted by the Cerfs and Leland Hayward at '21' in New York, were approached by New York Post photographer Jerry Engel as they left; Sinatra slugged him, knocking off his glasses.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 27, 1966

Extras

This heist film, scored with Duke Ellington's music, was released and quickly labeled a low-budget failure. Aside from Frank, the cast had no names likely to draw an audience. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

August 1966

Extras

[Naked Runner filming moves to Copenhagen]

Kaplan: At the end of August, filming of The Naked Runner relocated to Copenhagen, with production back on schedule after the earlier turmoil.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra at the Sands (live album with Count Basie) -- critical commentary]

Billy Byers (quoted) / Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald traces the buildup: Sinatra brought the Basie band on tour to build rapport (two-week Sands run Nov-Dec 1964), then a 1965 tour including a prison outside D.C. (April), a CBS documentary shoot in PA and Detroit (July), the Rat Pack reunion with Sammy Davis Jr. and Dean Martin at the Kiel Opera House in St. Louis (June 20, 1965), Sinatra's only Newport Jazz Festival appearance (July 4, 1965), three nights at Forest Hills tennis stadium in Queens, the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago (July 18), and the Hollywood Palace TV broadcast (videotaped Sept 26, aired Oct 16, 1965). Sinatra opened at the Sands January 9, 1966 after further rehearsals, then waited until the band's chemistry peaked, recording the final five nights (two sets each) beginning January 26, culling ten sets into the 76-minute double LP. Arranger Billy Byers told Friedwald in a March 1995 interview that arranging for stars like Sinatra and Basie was like being 'half psychologist and half tailor -- and even then, the pants don't always fit,' but on Sands 'everything fits perfectly.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

September 1966

Extras

[Ava Gardner interviewed in New York]

Ava Gardner: Ava Gardner came to New York at the end of September for the premiere of The Bible. Interviewed by Rex Reed while drinking heavily, she gave a curt 'no comment' about Sinatra and an unprintable remark about Mia Farrow, later bowdlerized for publication. Sinatra himself was reportedly in New York that same weekend, without Farrow.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Newlyweds buy Bel Air house]

Kaplan: House-hunting that September distressed Mia, who couldn't picture herself in the Beverly Hills mansions they toured. The couple settled on a five-bedroom English Tudor-style house on Copa de Oro Road in Bel Air, previously owned by Dick Powell and June Allyson; Frank remarked to Dean Martin before the wedding that he only expected 'one or two good years' from the marriage.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

September 7, 1966

Concerts

Civic Auditorium, San Francisco

Benefit for the re-election of Governor Pat Brown

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Trini Lopez, Joe Bishop, Rowan & Martin

Sinatra’s songs:

1. I've Got The World On A String

2. Fly Me To The Moon

3. The Shadow On Your Smile (With Help From A Friend)

4. I've Got You Under My Skin

5. It Was A Very Good Year

6. You Make Me Feel So Young

Extras

Civic Auditorium, San Francisco

Benefit for the re-election of Governor Pat Brown

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Trini Lopez

[Sinatra hosts Pat Brown fundraiser]

Barbara Bladen: Sinatra hosted a fundraiser for California governor Pat Brown at San Francisco's Civic Auditorium, with Joey Bishop emceeing and Dean Martin, Connie Francis, Trini Lopez, and Ella Fitzgerald on the bill. Outside, anti-war protesters demonstrated; a local columnist noted Mia Farrow's cropped hair drew applause 'probably for having snagged The Leader.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

October 18, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4569 That's Life

w/Chorus

(Dean Kay Thompson/Kelly Gordon)

PolyGram International Publishing Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-3 (3:06) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1020-2 That's Life

LP: FS1025 Franks Sinatra's Greatest Hits

LP: FS1020 That's Life

45: 0531

Evening Standard

Extras

[Sinatra records 'That's Life' single]

Jimmy Bowen: The single session for 'That's Life' took place at Western Recorders' new eight-track studio. After technical delays, an impatient Sinatra sang the song twice; producer Jimmy Bowen, unsatisfied with a too-gentle rhythm section, pushed for a third, harder take despite Sinatra's visible irritation. The tougher take was used, and Sinatra called Bowen the next day to say it was 'just brilliant.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[That's Life -- critical commentary]

Jimmy Bowen (quoted) / Friedwald (analysis): Sinatra discovered the song himself (unlike 'Softly' or 'Strangers'), probably from soul singer O.C. Smith's record. He originally had Nelson Riddle write a swinging, bluesy chart with Hammond organ (debuted on TV special A Man and His Music Part II) but didn't bring that chart to the studio, instead giving the song to Bowen and Freeman, who added a gospel-style choir. Recording took place at a new studio where most mics weren't working; Bowen used only two mics (on Sinatra and rhythm section) and planned to overdub horns/strings/backup singers and a keyboard part by Mike Melvoin later. Bowen recounted: Sinatra sang a take everyone thought was 'the one'; Bowen said, 'Frank said, "Boy! That's a hit, isn't it?" And I said, "Well, no. If you want a hit, you're going to have to do it one more time." Everybody got real quiet, and he gave me the coldest look an artist ever gave me. But he went right out, and instead of singing it hip -- he was pissed now -- he bit it! That's when he sang "That's Life"!' Bowen believed getting Sinatra genuinely angry was key to capturing the soul feeling, likening the result to Ray Charles-style crossover with pseudo-Raelettes backing.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

[That's Life -- critical commentary]

Granata's discography entry: That's Life, arranged by Ernie Freeman, released November 1966.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology, or lacked a sufficiently precise date; the specific date could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

October 20, 1966

Concerts

Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA

Night of Stars Benefit for Ed Brown for Governor

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Trini Lopez, Danny Kaye, Keely Smith, Danny Thomas and others

Extras

Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA

Night of Stars Benefit for Ed Brown for Governor

Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Trini Lopex, Danny Kaye, Keely Smith, Danny Thomas and others

October 22, 1966

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas

25th Wedding Anniversary of Rosalind Russell and Frederick Brison

Note: This had previously been reported as October 29, 1966 but the event was held on Saturday, October 22, 1966 and ended in the wee small hours of Sunday October 23rd. Sinatra also sang a parody of "Love and Marriage" to the happy couple.

When Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow hosted Rosalind Russell and Frederick Brisson’s 25th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas, Russell wrote the itinerary: “6PM Meet at Chez Brisson with bag and baggage. Sweet punch and salted nuts will be served…7PM Leave in Howard Hughes’ wooden flying boat. Dancing in the aisle to Ina Ray Hutton’s [all-woman] band. Free gum and Kleenex….”

Farrow & Sinatra At Party At the bar in the Sands Hotel, American actress Mia Farrow plays a violin, watched by her husband, singer, actor, and entertainer Frank Sinatra (1915 - 1998) (center right) and two unidentified men, Las Vegas, Nevada, October 1966. The couple were in attendance at a party for actress Rosalind Russell and her husband Freddie Brisson. (Photo by Charles Bonnay/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)

Apparently there was more to this story:

Sands, Las Vegas

25th Wedding Anniversary of Rosalind Russell and Frederick Brison

Excerpt from "Life is a Banquet" by Rosalind Russell:

Saturday evening; the climax of the weekend getaway Frank Sinatra had thrown for Roz and Freddie for their 25th Anniversary. Tonight, Roz was dazzling in a white, beaded crystal gown Galanos had especially designed for her.

Forty-one of them arrived at the special anniversary party at a sectioned off area of the grand ballroom, which were filled with white flowers in baskets. As they arrived, each signed the Brissons' wedding book from 25 years ago. Cary Grant, who had introduced Roz and Freddie, and who was best man at the wedding, signed: "What happiness, my dears... I did it and I'm glad... Your, Cary." Tonight, he added: "And we all head for the next 25 filled with love. Cary—who will be there in 1991, too."

An eight-piece orchestra kept the night filled with music as guests dined at six tables covered in white tablecloths. Overlaid silver mesh kept up the theme. Place cards "were silver double picture frames. In the left-hand frame was a picture of Freddie and me as bride and groom; in the right-hand frame, a picture of the guest couple." To pull this off without their knowledge, Roz sourced them from her own scrapbooks or from other friends. Guests had to look for their own photos to find their seats, and when they saw photos, some of them they'd never seen before, went up to Roz, asking: "Where in the world did you get this picture of me?"

Roz recalled: "Frank had bought silver cigarette boxes for everyone, inscribed '25th—Roz and Freddie.' The ladies were given silver bags stuffed with twenty-five silver dollars for gambling [I doubt any of the guests used them for "gambling"!]. Frank had arranged with the bank to get dollars stamped with the dates of the wedding and anniversary years, 1941 and 1966.

Dinner began at 9:45PM with a brief but warm welcome by Frank. Then guests toasted the Brissons with aquavit from Danish flacons. "Ours was a family table. Freddie and I sat there, along with Lance, who'd brought a young lady, Freddie's mother, Frank and Mia, our best man, Gary, and his wife Dyan Cannon. (I think that marriage was already on the rocks; Cary did nothing but cry all evening.)

John McClain got up and said he'd investigated the Brisson marriage and found that we'd never even had a license [he wished the couple a happy "first anniversary" instead], but that just before this party we'd made a quick trip to Mexico and straightened everything out. At our table, Lance made the speech. (How young he looks in the pictures, his hair so close-cropped his head seems shaved.) He was adorable, very nervous, and he drank lots of water.

"I stared at the tablecloth and said a little prayer that Lance could get through it, because he was decidedly pale.

"He talked about gratitude, the derivation of the word, what it meant to him, how he felt gratitude for his parents. Freddie and I were moved and charmed.

"When it was time for me to speak, I said, 'Frank, I'm afraid I'm going to be inarticulate.' 'That'll be the day when you can't talk,' he said, so I tried. 'Twenty-five years is a very long time,' I said, 'but it is also a very short time when you love someone.' I felt throughout the entire room a feeling of love which circled back to us."

It was clearly one of Roz's most cherished memories, being surrounded by her dearest friends, celebrating her marriage to the love of her life. Nedda Logan, one of Roz's oldest friends, summed it up: "I want to freeze this night in my mind forever. I'll never get over it. I don't think any of us ever really will."

November 1966

Extras

['That's Life' album recorded]

Jimmy Bowen: The That's Life album was recorded over two nights in mid-November, built entirely around the modern, harder-edged sound of the hit single rather than Riddle's classic style; Bowen felt it necessary to fully commit to the new direction rather than mixing old and new styles.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

['That's Life' single climbs the charts]

Kaplan: About a month after the October session, 'That's Life' entered a Billboard chart crowded with the Supremes, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees, and climbed to number four.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Farrow's alienation from Vegas life]

Sheilah Graham: Around this Sands engagement, columnist Sheilah Graham watched Sinatra gamble heavily while Mia waited on the sidelines; when she finally touched his arm and said 'Let's go,' he flung her hand off and snapped at her not to try to change him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mia requests 'The Impossible Dream' for the album]

Rob Fentress: Session attendee Rob Fentress recalled that 'The Impossible Dream,' included on the That's Life album despite Sinatra disliking the song, was recorded at Mia's request.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Refusing to attend Sinatra's LA recording sessions]

Ed Walters: Prompted by listening to a CD of Sinatra's May and November 1966 recording sessions, Walters recalls repeatedly declining Sinatra's invitations in the mid-1960s to fly to LA and watch him record, dismissively telling Frank he already heard him sing every night at work. Sinatra, egged on by friends at the 21 table, tried to explain the sessions took two or three days of hard, repetitive work, but Walters (suspicious Frank was trying to trap him into some multi-day escapade, as he reportedly did with others) refused to go, prompting Frank to call him young and stupid. Walters says he only later realized, from hearing the session tapes decades afterward, how much genuine work went into the recordings.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Sinatra first meets Hubert Humphrey]

Norman Sherman: Frank and Mia paid a courtesy call on Vice President Hubert Humphrey and his wife Muriel at the Waldorf Towers in New York, where Sinatra and Humphrey bonded reminiscing about big bands and boxing; Mia sat quietly beside Frank throughout, according to Humphrey press secretary Norman Sherman.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra heckles Jackie Mason at the Aladdin]

Kaplan / Sinatra quoted: Catching Joe E. Lewis's late show at the Aladdin, where comedian Jackie Mason (who had been mocking Sinatra's hair transplants and his marriage to Mia) was also playing, Sinatra heckled from the audience, saying he'd come to see Mason and that he'd 'bite him on the neck' if Mason came onstage.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Thanksgiving trip to New York]

Kaplan: Frank and Mia traveled to New York for Thanksgiving to see Dolly and Marty and do Christmas shopping; Sinatra bought Farrow a long gray mink coat as an early, unspoken apology gift.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

November 2, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas,

Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

note: Sands engagement was originally set to open on Tuesday (11/1)

Frank had a scheduling conflict and pushed the opening to Wednesday (2).

Bob Melvin was his opening act the first week. Kessler Twins replaced him

for the second week. Frank was dark on Mondays (7 &14). He had his plane

bring in Johnny Prophet from Reno to sub. After the 11/7 off-day, Sinatra told

Jack Entratter he needed to close on Tuesday, the 15th. "That's Life" was a huge

hit and he needed to get an album in the can. Sessions were scheduled for the 17th

and 18th of the month. Dick Shawn was set to open on 11/18 for a week. Entratter

called and told him he was opening on the 16th.

ED

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

FRANK IN LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas: Frank Sinatra opened here on Nov 2. The leader of the "Clan" is at the Sands, playing to turn-away crowds.

Sinatra walked onto the stage at the Sands and received a standing ovation before he even sang a note. There was an extra treat because Gordon Jenkins and a 35-piece re- cording orchestra, including 20 strings, backed

Sinatra.

He sang all the songs he is so famous for in- cluding "Autumn Leaves," "It Was A Very Good

Year,' "The Shadow Of Your Smile," "Foggy Day,'

"I've Got You Under My Skin," "September Of

My Years" and "Yes Sir, That's My Baby."

Sinatra, causing the usual excitement in town, is here for only two weeks. Sinatra doesn't have too much chatter with the audience. He offers a joke or two.

He forgot the words to "Strangers In The Night," the recording hit which has sold over two million copies.

But he joked his way out, then introduced some of the opening night audience including his wife, Mia.

Don Gigilio

Billboard

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

Sands, Las Vegas,

Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

FRANK IN LAS VEGAS

Las Vegas: Frank Sinatra opened here on Nov 2. The leader of the "Clan" is at the Sands, playing to turn-away crowds.

Sinatra walked onto the stage at the Sands and received a standing ovation before he even sang a note. There was an extra treat because Gordon Jenkins and a 35-piece re- cording orchestra, including 20 strings, backed

Sinatra.

He sang all the songs he is so famous for in- cluding "Autumn Leaves," "It Was A Very Good

Year,' "The Shadow Of Your Smile," "Foggy Day,'

"I've Got You Under My Skin," "September Of

My Years" and "Yes Sir, That's My Baby."

Sinatra, causing the usual excitement in town, is here for only two weeks. Sinatra doesn't have too much chatter with the audience. He offers a joke or two.

He forgot the words to "Strangers In The Night," the recording hit which has sold over two million copies.

But he joked his way out, then introduced some of the opening night audience including his wife, Mia.

Don Gigilio

Billboard

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

November 3, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas , Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

1. The Shadow Of Your Smile

2. Yes Sir, That's My Baby

3. Autumn Leaves

4. It Was A Very Good Year

5. A Foggy Day

6. This Is All I Ask

7. Strangers In The Night

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. September of My Years

10. That's Life

note: Sinatra was riding a new wave of immense popularity when he opened at the Sands in November of 1966. He had three albums in the Billboard Top 100,

"That's Life" was a breakout hit single, "Man & His Music II" would air on CBS,12-7-66, placing #13 in the Nielsen ratings for the week, and he would record the album "That's Life" immediately after the Sands engagement. That album would sell a million records in nine days. Heady times for a veteran entertainer.

Antonio Morelli's orchestra backed Sinatra at the Sands.

The comedian Bob Melvin was the opening act. Frank also sang "This Is All I Ask," "My Kind Of Town" and "That's Life."

"Shadow Of Your Smile" had acquired a Riddle string arrange- ment. A studio recording was penned in at a future session.

Frank's appearance at the Sands was his 28th engagement there over a period of 14 years.

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas , Nevada (1-15)

Variety 11-09-66

[Sinatra opens at the Sands, first since marrying Mia]

Sinatra began a two-week engagement at the Sands with Antonio Morelli's orchestra and Gordon Jenkins conducting -- his 28th Copa Room opening and his first since marrying Mia Farrow. He opened with 'The Shadow of Your Smile,' looking directly at his bride in the audience.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra's crude joke embarrasses Mia onstage]

Frank Sinatra: During the Sands show, after introducing Mia to applause, Sinatra joked to the audience that he'd gotten married because he'd 'finally found a broad I can cheat on' -- a line that visibly stung Farrow in front of the crowd before he tried to recover by singing again.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra's Watts joke about Sammy Davis]

Frank Sinatra: At the same Sands show, Sinatra told a crude joke about Sammy Davis Jr. opening a gas station in Watts called 'Whitey's,' selling 'regular, ethyl, and burn, baby, burn' -- a reference to the 1965 Watts riots, delivered in what Kaplan notes was still a racially unenlightened Las Vegas.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 4, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (1-17)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 5, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 6, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

November 7, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 8, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (1-17)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

Extras

[Reagan elected governor of California]

Ronald Reagan was elected governor of California, defeating Pat Brown by nearly a million votes, despite Sinatra's fundraising efforts on Brown's behalf.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 9, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 10, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 11, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 12, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 1-17)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 13, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 14, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 15, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 2-15)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

Riviera, Las Vegas

Nite of Stars

Benefit for St. Jude's Children's Research Center

Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Connie Francis and others

Extras

Riviera, Las Vegas

Night of Stars

Benefit for St. Jude's Children's Research Center

Frank Sinatra, Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Connie Francis and others

The following quote comes from the St. Jude's website ( https://stjudesranch.org/about-us/):

Claudine and Shelby Williams assisted with fundraising and organized a successful gala called the “Nite of Stars.”

With the help of Forrest Duke, the entertainment columnist at the Las Vegas Review Journal, they convinced stars

including Jack Benny, Shecky Greene, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra to perform.

Held November 15, 1966, at the Riviera Hotel, the event was a great success, raising more than $30,000.

November 16, 1966

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas , Nevada (November 1-17)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 17, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4661 Give Her Love w/Chorus

(James Harbert)

WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-9 (2:11) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

45: 0561

J4662 What Now My Love? w/Chorus

(Gilbert Becaud/Carl Sigman/Pierre Leroyer)

Remick Music Corp. (ASCAP/SACEM)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-11 (2:29) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

J4663 Somewhere My Love

(Paul Francis Webster/Maurice Jarre)

Webster Music Co./EMI Robbins Catalog inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-7 (2:16) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

J4664 Winchester Cathedral

(Geoff Stephens)

Southern Music Publishing Co. Inc. (ASCAP/PRS Ltd.)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-5 (2:35) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

NOTE: Author Ed O'Brien points out that before the final take, Sinatra announced to all those attending the session, "We're going to put down the world with this mother."

--Fank DeVito subbed for Hal Blaine on drums during this session. The AFM sheets shows Eddie Brackett Jr, but Frank sent me his own private sheet of this session. He did session work with Frank at Capitol including the, 5-20-57, when "Witchcraft" was recorded. Frank did the June 57 tour with Sinatra and sent me a sheet of the rehearsal Sinatra called, at Columbia Records, 5-31-57,( Friday ). Frank told me the 11/17 session for the "That's Life" album was very interesting. Sinatra was selling a lot of albums and there was a palpable excitement running through the studio that afternoon. --Ed

P.S. Eddie Brackett was the engineer for both the 11/17 and 11/18 sessions.

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 1-17)

Antonio Morelli Orchestra Conducted By: Gordon Jenkins (34-piece which included 21 strings)

Key Musicians: Bill Miller (piano)

Comedian: Bob Melvin

November 18, 1966

Studio

Hollywood

J4665 I Will Wait For You w/Chorus

(Michel Legrand/Jacques Louis Demy/Norman Gimbel)

Songs Of Poly-Gram international/Gimbel Music (BMI/SACEM) Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-11 (2:16) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2 That's Life

LP: FS1020 That's Life

45: 0561

J4666 You're Gonna Hear From Me

(Andre Previn/Dory Previn)

Remick Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-4 (2:56) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

J4667 Sand And Sea

(Gilbert Becaud/Maurice Vidalin/Mack David)

(SACEM)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-3 (2:26) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

J668 The Impossible Dream

(Joe Darion/Mitch Leigh)

Helena Music Co./Andrew Scott Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted Ernie Freeman

-5 (2:31) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1020-2That's Life

LP: FS1020That's Life

Extras

Hollywood

J4665 I Will Wait For You

J4666 You're Gonna Hear From Me

J4667 Sand And Sea

J668 The Impossible Dream

"The Impossible Dream"

Jimmy Bowen (quoted) / Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald calls this a template for 'My Way,' noting Sinatra apparently disliked it and, per collector gossip, only included it as a gift for third wife Mia Farrow, who loved it. Producer Bowen confirmed Sinatra couldn't sing it in one full take: 'We didn't cut it twenty-seven times or anything like that. We broke it up into three or four sections. Then we just recorded the sections, and I edited it together. That was a crazy song to sing, plus he was not in great voice that particular week. I was afraid if we tried to get a whole take, it'd turn into agony, and he'd throw it out. He had promised somebody to do it, so he wasn't going to throw it out, but I didn't find that out until later.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

November 27, 1966

Television

What's My Line (CBS)

Network: CBS

Host: John Charles Daly.

Note: Sinatra Is The "Mystery Guest." He then joins the panel and Mia Farrow is the "Mystery Guest." 28 min.

Extras

What's My Line (CBS)

Network: CBS

Host: John Charles Daly.

Note: Sinatra Is The "Mystery Guest." He then joins the panel and Mia Farrow is the "Mystery Guest." 28 min.

[Howard Hughes moves into the Desert Inn]

Kaplan / Michael Drosnin: Early in the morning, the same day Mia and Frank appeared on 'What's My Line?,' Howard Hughes moved into the blacked-out ninth-floor penthouse of the Desert Inn, where he would remain secluded for four years, having just been forced to sell his majority stake in TWA and now worth $1.5 billion.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 28, 1966

Extras

[Truman Capote's Black and White Ball]

Frank and Mia attended Truman Capote's famous Black and White Ball at the Plaza Hotel, one of 480 guests hand-picked from society's elite, including Katharine Graham, Rose Kennedy, and Alice Roosevelt Longworth. Christopher Cerf danced with Mia; Peter Lawford, also invited, was easily avoided by Sinatra amid the crowd and masks.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

December 1966

Extras

[Sinatra phones Jobim in Rio]

Jobim (via Kaplan): While having beers with friends at his favorite Rio de Janeiro bar, Antonio Carlos Jobim was brought a telephone call from Frank Sinatra, who told the songwriter he wanted to make an album with him. Jobim, in awe of Sinatra, immediately agreed, calling it an honor.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

December 1, 1966

Television

The Dean Martin Show

Network: NBC

Guests: Eddy Arnold, Arthur Godfrey, Elaine Dunne, Dom Deluise, Frank Sinatra

1. Dean: opening

2. show credits

3. Dean: I'm Gonna Change Everything That Holds A Memory Of You

4. Dean: comedy

5. Authur Godfrey: "Broadway number"

6. Dean & Godfrey: Tiny Bubbles

7. psychiatry skit with Don Deluise and Dean

8. Dean: Just Friends w/Ken Lane

9. Elaine Dunne: song/dance number

10. Dunne & Dean: You're Nobody Till Somebody Love You

11. Eddy Arnold Medley: Cotton Fields - Sittin' On Top Of The World

12. Eddy Arnold: Tip Of My Fingers

13. Arnold & Martin Medley:

14. Authur Godfrey, Dom Deluise & Dean Martine: musical number

15. Sinatra walk-on segment closes show

Notes: color 52mins. Sinatra is a surprise walk-on. Wins the mystery singer contest, gets bleeped and closes the show. No songs performed.

Extras

The Dean Martin Show

Network: NBC

Guests: Eddy Arnold, Arthur Godfrey, Elaine Dunne, Dom Deluise, Frank Sinatra

Sinatra is a surprise walk-on. Wins the mystery singer contest, gets bleeped and closes the show. No songs performed.

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

December 7, 1966

Television

A Man And His Music Part II (CBS)

Guest: Nancy Sinatra

Taped June 5-6, 1966 at NBC in Burbank

1. Fly Me To The Moon

2. The Most Beautiful Girl In The World

3. Moonlight In Vermont

4. You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You

5. Yes Sir That's My Baby w/ Nancy

6. medley w/ Nancy: Downtown / These Boots Are Made For Walkin'

7. medley: Just One Of Those Things / My Heart Stood

Still / But Beautiful / When Your Lover Has Gone

8. Luck Be A Lady

9. That's Life

10. Granada

11. My Kind Of Town

12. Put Your Dreams Away

Ed O'Brien added:

For my money, the most exciting and brilliant opening of any Sinatra TV special. Frank down in the pit with the orchestra. Closest we ever got to the raw energy of a Sinatra recording session with the band surrounding the singer. Love the way Riddle employed that organ throughout the segment.

Frank filmed it just a little more than six months after the first "Man & His Music" was completed. Timeless entertainment.

Film

Never So Few, (US Film Release: December 7, 1959)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Gina Lollobrigida, Peter Lawford, Steve McQueen, Brian Donlevy, Dean Jones, Charles Bronson

(Directed by John Sturges and Produced by Edmund Grainger) Sinatra plays Captain Tom Reynolds. During WW2, the American OSS mounts covert operations with the native Kachin against the Japanese army in the jungles of Burma. (1st DVD Release date: 2005-05-31- Blu-Ray released 2018-08-07)

Alternate Title: Sacred and Profane

Release Date: December 7, 1959

Production Date:mid May--mid Jul 1959

The working title for the film was Sacred and Profane. With the exception of Frank Sinatra and Gina Lollobrigida, the onscreen cast were presented in the opening credits with brief clips from the film. According to a HR Nov 1956 news item, M-G-M purchased Tom Chamales' novel Never So Few before its publication. A HR item from that same month and year noted that Sam Zimbalist would produce the film. A Dec 1958 DV item stated that screenwriter Millard Kaufman was being considered to direct. Other news items indicated that John Sturges was in long-pending negotiations to direct. An Oct 1958 HR casting note stated that Roger Moore was being considered for the role of "Maj. Danny De Mortimer." A modern source claims that Sinatra initially had a role rewritten to accommodate Sammy Davis, Jr., but after the two quarreled, Sinatra had the part reworked for Steve McQueen. HR items from Sep and Dec 1958 revealed that shooting had been approved in Burma (now known as Myanmar) by the local government, but by Apr 1959 a LAT item indicated the film was to be shot in Hawaii. The Var review noted, however, that the bulk of the film was shot on the M-G-M Culver City, CA lot and other domestic sites, highlighted by location footage in Burma, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and India. The HR review stated that Chamales was a member of the famed "Merrill's Marauders," a unit that served with distinction in Burma during World War II. According to the HR review, the plot point within Never So Few which shows the anti-Communist Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek providing authorization for warlords to cross borders and kill indiscriminately during World War II was based on fact. Chamales had made the same accusation in a non-fiction article, "Betrayal in China," published in True Magazine in Jan 1958. The review related that the Los Angeles Consul General for the Republic of China vehemently denied the accusation, and the reviewer was unable to substantiate it in his own research.

Extras

A Man And His Music Part II (CBS) note: Budweiser made this album available to their executives throughout the country. Reprise edited the length of some recordings on the album. A collector's item strictly for the cover.

Ed

Chicago Tribune

"Granada"

Written in 1932 by Agustin Lara, the song had previously been treated dramatically by Frankie Laine and later became a Stan Kenton orchestral showpiece via Bill Holman arranger; Friedwald argues only Sinatra and May realized an arch, humorous approach made the song's overwrought elements palatable. Two edits exist (3:38 and 2:45); an unissued alternate take ends with Sinatra shouting 'Ole!' while his 1966 TV performance on A Man and His Music, Part II ends with him chanting 'cha-cha-cha!' May, inspired by a recent mock-mambo Capitol album he'd made, closed the studio chart with the band cha-cha-chanting a phrase borrowed from 'South of the Border.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

"Just One of Those Things" / "My Heart Stood Still" / "But Beautiful" / "When Your Lover Has Gone" A year after the 1965 special's Jenkins-arranged medley, Sinatra and Jenkins devised an equally moving segment for the 1966 special A Man and His Music, Part II, built around a new Jenkins treatment of "Just One of Those Things" framing "My Heart Stood Still," "But Beautiful," and "When Your Lover Has Gone."

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

December 31, 1966

Extras

['That's Life' album released]

Sinatra's album 'That's Life' was released on the last day of 1966 and rose to number 6; it would be the last Sinatra album to hit a single-figure chart position until 'Duets' and 'Duets II' in 1993 and 1994.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

1967

Extras

[A Stalker Threatens Nancy at Home]

When Nancy was twenty-seven, a man came to her home claiming to be her brother and threatened to kill her if she didn't come to the door; police reached him before he could act.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[A Hushed Session for the Jobim Album]

Recording the bossa nova album with Antonio Carlos Jobim, arranger Claus Ogerman worked to strip the sound of every stray click or noise, and Frank sang so softly he joked he hadn't sung that quietly since he'd had laryngitis; one trombonist muffled his horn with a felt hat.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Christmas with the Martins and Sinatras]

A 1967 photograph shows the Sinatra family celebrating Christmas together with the Martin family.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Frank and Nancy Sinatra Record 'Somethin' Stupid']

Sinatra and his daughter Nancy are shown recording their duet 'Somethin' Stupid' in 1967.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Nancy Sinatra Records Three Movie Title Songs]

Around the time of Tony Rome, Nancy Sinatra notes that her recordings were becoming international hits and she was asked to sing three film title songs in this period: one for her own picture The Last of the Secret Agents, one for the James Bond film You Only Live Twice, and one for Tony Rome. She calls being asked "very honored."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Nancy Named Top Female Box Office Personality]

In both 1967 and 1968, motion picture exhibitors named Nancy the Top Female Box Office Personality, a title she attributes to her having appeared, somewhat by accident, in an Elvis Presley film (Speedway) and in the cult film The Wild Angels with Peter Fonda.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[National Chairman of Anti-Defamation League; "Something Stupid" Hits #1]

Sinatra is named National Chairman of the American Italian Anti-Defamation League and scores a #1 hit, "Something Stupid," his duet with daughter Nancy; he appears in "The Naked Runner" and "Tony Rome."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Nancy's USO Tour Of Vietnam]

Nancy joined singer Jimmy Boyd and the group the Gordian Knot for a 1967 USO tour of Vietnam, declining offers to make it a TV special because she felt using the war for profit would be wrong. She called her father for advice beforehand, and he told her to "be aware" -- the same phrase inscribed on a St. Christopher medal he had once given her.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Rosemary's Baby Scheduling Conflict]

A scheduling clash arose when Sinatra wanted Mia to co-star in his film The Detective, but she was committed to finishing Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, which ran over schedule; the standoff badly strained their marriage.

Source: Tina Sinatra, "My Father's Daughter: A Memoir" (2000).

[Recording "Something Stupid" With Nancy]

In 1967 Sarge Weiss brought Nancy a duet to record with her father, tacked onto the end of an Antonio Carlos Jobim recording session. Despite Reprise president Mo Ostin betting two dollars the song would flop, the loose two-take recording of "Something Stupid" became a multimillion-selling number-one hit that some disc jockeys nicknamed "the incest song."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

["Somethin' Stupid" duet with Nancy Jr.]

Consiglio: Around the same period as Nancy Jr.'s solo success, she and Frank recorded the duet "Somethin' Stupid," another huge hit that had both father and daughter on the charts simultaneously.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[The Knights Of Malta Knight Sinatra In 1967]

Nancy Sinatra: The Sovereign Knights of Malta recognized Sinatra with an honor for what they called his "Aristocracy of Deeds," formally knighting him.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

['The World We Knew' single tops easy-listening chart]

Kaplan: The Bert Kaempfert-penned title track 'The World We Knew,' arranged by Ernie Freeman and produced by Jimmy Bowen, was released as a single later in 1967 and spent five weeks atop Billboard's easy-listening chart.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Backstage at Caesars, lie about the records]

Ed Walters: After Sinatra left the Sands (around September 1967), Walters visited him backstage a few years later at Caesars Palace. Frank asked if Walters still had those records and Walters, not wanting to explain or disappoint him, lied and said yes. Walters later regretted the lie, believing Sinatra -- who had stressed honesty to him -- would actually have been proud to learn the records went to dying hospice patients rather than angry. Walters decided to finally tell this story publicly at a FrankFest event in Atlantic City (1999).

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Frank kicks in a car radio over 'Light My Fire']

George Jacobs: According to valet George Jacobs, Sinatra kicked in a car radio with his heel after the Doors' 'Light My Fire' turned up on three stations in a row that summer, reflecting his frustration with the new rock era and his fading cultural dominance.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Frank loses $75,000, credit cut off at the Sands]

Consiglio: In 1967, after Howard Hughes bought the Sands and Jack Entratter lost control, Frank lost $75,000 playing chemin de fer. When he asked for his credit marker to be raised, new Sands vice president Carl Cohen refused (on Hughes's orders), and Frank stormed back to his suite furious. Not long afterward, Frank stopped performing at the Sands and moved to Caesars Palace, taking Sammy Davis, Dean Martin, and Peter Lawford with him.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Gena Rowlands recalls easy Tony Rome shoot]

Gena Rowlands: Gena Rowlands, who had never met Sinatra before, recalled the 'Tony Rome' shoot as enjoyable and easy, saying Frank came prepared, showed no temper, did complicated scenes in one take, and was polite and helpful on set, including on the boat scenes.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Giancana calls Greene after the beating]

Shecky Greene: Fearing Sam Giancana's reaction, both Sinatra and Fischetti begged Shecky Greene not to tell the exiled Mob boss about the beating; Giancana nonetheless phoned Greene from Mexico offering to have 'Milwaukee Phil' retaliate, but Greene insisted he had merely fallen down the stairs.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Nighttime Frank during Tony Rome shoot]

Dan Lewis / Kaplan: While shooting 'Tony Rome' during the day and performing nightly at the Fontainebleau (with Shecky Greene opening), Sinatra drank heavily after hours; Dan Lewis's newspaper story described the Fontainebleau's fourteenth floor, where Frank stayed, as an armed camp thick with bodyguards Frank called his 'Dago Secret Service.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Palm Springs holiday gathering]

Mia Farrow (Photoplay): Frank invited twenty-seven guests, mostly older, wealthy Hollywood and society figures (the Deutsches, Goetzes, Brissons, Cerfs, Hornblows, Haywards, Brynners, Garson Kanin and Ruth Gordon, among others), to Palm Springs for the holidays, with Mia present after asking to be included; she later told Photoplay it was a 'fun crowd' though privately found Frank withdrawn and stern.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Records donated to hospice]

Ed Walters: Later in 1967, Walters accompanied a Sands cocktail waitress, Norma Boyles, to visit her dying aunt at a newly opened hospice in Las Vegas. He found the patients treasured a single badly scratched Sinatra record. Moved by this, Walters brought the box of Reprise records Frank had given him to the hospice and left them there for the patients; the woman who owned the original scratched record died before hearing the new ones.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Rosemary's Baby shoot strains Farrow marriage]

Consiglio: Frank and Mia had planned to co-star in The Detective, but Mia's work on Rosemary's Baby in New York ran long. Frank, waiting in Los Angeles, grew frustrated and demanded she drop the film and come back; when she refused to abandon it, the standoff became a serious rift, with Frank insisting she choose between her career and him.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Sammy Davis Jr. explains onstage racial joking]

Ed Walters: In 1967, in the 21 pit in the early morning, Sammy Davis Jr. told Walters that the joking about his race, religion, and size in the Rat Pack shows was deliberate — a way of addressing what wasn't otherwise being discussed, and of ensuring people wouldn't forget he was Black and Jewish. He credited Sinatra's leadership with teaching him he had standing as a citizen and not just an entertainer, which Walters connects to Sammy's later 'peace and love' gestures.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Sammy Davis explains the racial joking to Walters]

Ed Walters: In 1967, Sammy Davis Jr. told Walters in the 21 pit that the onstage racial and religious jokes with Sinatra were deliberate: "The kidding about my color and religion and size is for them, the audience... I ain't going to let them forget that I'm colored and Jewish and all the rest." Sammy credited Sinatra's example with teaching him he was not just an entertainer but also a citizen with a stake in social issues.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Sammy stayed at Sands after Sinatra-Cohen fight]

Ed Walters: Walters notes that when Sinatra had his well-known altercation with Carl Cohen in late 1967 and left the Sands, Sammy Davis Jr. notably did not leave with him, staying on at the Sands for another year or two — evidence, in Walters's view, that by then Sammy was very much his own man rather than simply following Sinatra's lead.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Shecky Greene beaten by Fischetti and bodyguards]

Shecky Greene: After refusing Sinatra's offer to make him a star ('If being a big star means being like you, then I don't want it'), Shecky Greene was attacked in the hotel lobby at 4 a.m. by Joe Fischetti and Sinatra bodyguards Ed Pucci and Andy Celentano; Fischetti hit him with a blackjack, and Greene, fighting back, ended up hospitalized with a concussion and gash on his temple.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Shecky Greene carries drunk Sinatra to his room]

Shecky Greene: After a girl was reportedly beaten up, Shecky Greene, matching Sinatra drink for drink, hoisted the very drunk Sinatra over his shoulder and carried him to his suite; Sinatra, though extremely drunk, remembered the incident and warned Greene ominously, 'You're gonna get it.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra abandons the party for Acapulco]

Mia Farrow: At a New Year's Eve party in Los Angeles, after Alan Jay Lerner and Joshua Logan told Mia she was fantastic in dailies of 'Rosemary's Baby' and floated her for 'Paint Your Wagon,' a silent Sinatra abruptly announced he was leaving; he drove Mia home to Bel Air and departed for Acapulco to visit Merle Oberon and her husband, without his wife.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra begins Detective location work in New York]

Mia Farrow: Frustrated by the slow pace of the 'Rosemary's Baby' shoot, Frank went to New York to do several weeks of location work on 'The Detective,' with Mia flying out on weekends to see him; he made clear he expected her to satisfy her commitment to join his film even if it meant leaving 'Rosemary's Baby' unfinished.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra cancels shows, meets Caesars Palace owners]

Kaplan: On Labor Day, the casino's biggest night, Sinatra abruptly canceled both shows claiming strep throat and flew to Palm Springs; over the next three days, with Sammy Davis Jr. filling in for him, Frank secretly met with the owners of the still Mob-run Caesars Palace about jumping ship, with a Cal-Neva buyout among his conditions.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra consoles himself with electric trains]

George Jacobs: In Palm Springs following the separation, a desolate Sinatra, feeling he had 'no one, nothing' according to valet George Jacobs, consoled himself by playing with his elaborate set of electric trains housed in its own cottage at the Wonder Palms compound, a hobby he shared with his old mentor Tommy Dorsey.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra has an affair with Lee Remick]

Kaplan: In Mia's absence during the 'Rosemary's Baby' shoot, Sinatra began a halfhearted affair with his 'The Detective' co-star Lee Remick, born of loneliness and boredom on set; word of it got back to Mia.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra sends Reprise records as reconciliation]

Ed Walters: A few days after their casino argument (early 1967), a box was delivered to Walters's house containing all of Sinatra's Reprise recordings, with a note reading roughly: If you're going to sit around and do nothing, then maybe you can listen to these... Get back to work, kid. Walters returned to work; the next time he saw Frank in the casino, Sinatra simply smiled and Walters nodded back, ending the rift without further discussion.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Sinatra's fight with Carl Cohen and departure]

Ed Walters: Walters notes that when Sinatra had his well-known fight with Sands executive Carl Cohen in late 1967 and left the Sands, Sammy Davis Jr. did not follow him, staying on at the Sands for another year or two -- evidence, in Walters' view, that by then Sammy was fully his own man rather than simply Sinatra's follower.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Sinatra's reconciliation gift of records]

Ed Walters: A few days after their argument, a box containing all of Sinatra's Reprise recordings was delivered to Walters's house with a note telling him that if he was going to sit around doing nothing he might as well listen to these, signed 'get back to work, kid.' Walters returned to work and the tension passed without further discussion; the next time Sinatra passed him in the casino he simply smiled.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Sinatra's records donated to a hospice]

Ed Walters: Later that year, Walters visited a newly opened Las Vegas hospice with cocktail waitress Norma Boyles, whose aunt was dying there; patients were listening to one badly worn Sinatra record, the only one they had. Walters brought the box of records Sinatra had given him to the hospice and left them there, though the woman who owned the original scratched record died before hearing the new ones.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[The London taxi gift incident]

Mia Farrow: For Christmas, Mia gave Frank a London taxi she'd had converted to U.S. specifications during her 'A Dandy in Aspic' shoot; Yul Brynner staged an elaborate presentation ceremony, but a grumpy Sinatra, irritated at being told to put on a sweater beforehand, humiliated Mia by making her go back inside and button it up in front of all the guests before he would proceed. He turned out to dislike the boxy Austin.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Tiffany Bolling affair begins]

Tiffany Bolling / Kaplan: Twenty-one-year-old actress Tiffany Bolling, who had a small speaking role in 'Tony Rome,' met Frank at a small dinner he hosted (and cooked) at the Fontainebleau's Gigi Room; the two began an affair, and Bolling soon moved into his penthouse there.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Tony Rome]

Seeking a change of pace, Sinatra next moved into detective films starting with 1967's Tony Rome, a role Santopietro says fit his tough, cynical-but-hopeful screen persona perfectly; from 1967 to 1980 Sinatra would play a detective in five of his final six starring vehicles, the sole exception being the Western Dirty Dingus Magee, marking a final sustained resurgence of his movie-star popularity.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), A Waste of Talent

[Tony Rome]

During filming of Tony Rome in 1967, costar Jill St. John (playing Ann Archer) was rumored to be a real-life romantic partner of Sinatra's.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Tony Rome]

Murf (Variety): Variety's reviewer 'Murf' credited Sinatra's style and the production values for carrying the film even though the mystery plot itself wasn't especially compelling to audiences by the end.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Tony Rome]

Santopietro grades this a B, calling it the first and best of the private-eye flicks, with Frank in his element. Golden Laurel Award nomination: Top Male Star of the Year.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Career Scorecard

[Tony Rome / The Detective / Lady in Cement / Contract on Cherry Street / The First Deadly Sin]

Santopietro frames the late-career detective films Sinatra began shooting in 1967 (through the 1980 TV guest spot on Magnum, P.I.) as the culmination of Sinatra's screen persona: a paternalistic 'knight-errant' loner who bends the rules, loses money and power, but keeps his personal honor. This lone-wolf archetype, Santopietro argues, became the film image most identified with the offscreen Sinatra.

This film/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Santopietro is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Walters and Sinatra's blackjack chip argument]

Ed Walters: Early one morning in 1967, Sinatra approached the 21 pit and gave his usual two-finger signal for $200 in chips, but Walters was distracted and made small talk instead of properly reading what Sinatra wanted. Sinatra erupted in cursing, the two shouted at each other in the near-empty casino, and pit boss Bucky Harris had to intervene. Carl Cohen later told Walters he'd 'missed something' — Sinatra used specific hand signals (two fingers, five fingers, etc.) to indicate different chip amounts and situations, and Walters had failed to read the cue correctly that night.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Yelling match with Sinatra in 21 pit]

Ed Walters: Walters recounts a late-night blowup with Sinatra in the 21 pit, around early 1967. Frank came to play and Walters misjudged how to handle him (failing to correctly read his mood/chip signal), leading Frank to start cursing at him. Both men yelled at each other in front of a nearly empty casino; floormen stayed out of it, and Bucky Harris (running the casino in Carl Cohen's absence) tried unsuccessfully to get Walters to leave the pit, even warning it could cost him his job. Walters eventually walked away to the lobby and drove home. The next day Carl Cohen called asking what happened, telling Walters he'd missed something.

Source: Ed Walters, pit boss reminiscences (compiled by Kraus, Sinatra mailing list)

[Frank and Mia's temporary Christmas reconciliation, then Mia leaves for India]

Frank and Mia spent Christmas 1967 together in what proved only a brief reunion. Soon after, Mia flew to Rishikesh, India with her sister Prudence to study meditation with the Maharishi alongside the Beatles, Mike Love of the Beach Boys, and Donovan.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Howard Hughes buys the Sands, ending Frank's 14-year run]

Midway through this troubled engagement, Howard Hughes purchased the Sands, whose shareholders had included Dean Martin, Jack Entratter, and Frank's old Cal-Neva partner Sanford Waterman. It marked the end of Frank's fourteen-year association with the hotel; he never performed there again.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Third A Man and His Music special taped with Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald]

Frank taped his third A Man and His Music TV special featuring Antonio Carlos Jobim and Ella Fitzgerald. He performed 'Ol' Man River' solo accompanied only by pianist Bill Miller, flubbing the order of 'cotton' and 'taters' in the lyric but leaving the mistake in the broadcast.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Mexico's Interior Ministry Bars Sinatra]

Mexico's Interior Ministry issued a circular barring Sinatra from entering the country, in retaliation for the film "Marriage on the Rocks," which Mexican officials felt mocked the country's quickie-divorce system; Mexico also boycotted his records.

Source: George Carpozi Jr., Frank Sinatra: Is This Man Mafia? (New York: Manor Books, 1979).

[Francis A. & Edward K. (1967) -- how May got the assignment -- critical commentary]

Billy May: Sinatra had long planned for Billy Strayhorn to arrange the Ellington collaboration album, but Strayhorn (one month older than Sinatra) died after a long illness on May 31, 1967; it's been said Sinatra helped pay part of his medical expenses. Billy May, brought in as replacement, said: 'I felt very flattered that they asked me after Billy died.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 7, "With Billy May" (1953-1979)

[Francis A. & Edward K. -- actual recording sessions -- critical commentary]

Lee Herschberg; Milt Bernhart: Engineer Lee Herschberg recalled real doubt over whether the band (playing gigs the night before) would even show up; once underway, 'they were just such an incredible band, it was like they were joined at the base of the skull by some invisible thing.' Trombonist Milt Bernhart, working in an adjoining studio, described Ellington sidemen Hodges and Gonsalves as visibly disengaged -- 'thinking about what they were going to have for dinner that night' -- and that Sinatra also 'wasn't really thrilled'; a birthday cake was wheeled in mid-session (it was Sinatra's birthday, December 12).

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 7, "With Billy May" (1953-1979)

[Francis A. & Edward K. -- pre-session rehearsal at Western Recorders -- critical commentary]

Billy May: A rare pre-session rehearsal was scheduled with May conducting and Ellington at the piano. May discovered the band never looked at the charts again after that day. In a 1982 interview with Stanley Dance he recalled the trumpet section 'wasn't making it' at the actual session but it 'wasn't my place to say so' -- session ace Al Porcino was added to the section, and pianist Jimmy Jones reportedly filled in for Ellington on much of the album.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 7, "With Billy May" (1953-1979)

[Francis A. & Edward K. rehearsal, Seattle -- critical commentary]

Billy May: May and Bill Miller flew to Seattle to rehearse the Ellington band (without Sinatra) during a club engagement at DJs. May found the sight-reading 'terrible,' recalling drummer Sam Woodyard couldn't read music at all and instead cued off a saxophonist's foot movements marked in his part: 'It was all shit like that.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 7, "With Billy May" (1953-1979)

[Somethin' Stupid -- critical commentary]

Billy Strange / Nancy Sinatra / Jimmy Bowen: Arranger-conductor Billy Strange called working with Nancy and Frank on 'Somethin' Stupid' the most fun he'd had in a studio; the session was loose and spontaneous. Producers Jimmy Bowen (for Frank) and Lee Hazlewood (for Nancy) co-produced. Nancy recalled Frank goofing around with a Daffy Duck-style delivery that spoiled the first take, requiring two or three total takes.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[Somethin' Stupid -- critical commentary]

Frank Sinatra / Granata: 'Somethin' Stupid' became a number one hit and Frank Sinatra's second gold record, staying on the charts thirteen weeks (four at number one) -- the first number-one father-daughter duet. Reprise president Mo Ostin had bet Nancy $2 the song would flop and lost; Nancy kept the framed $2 bill as a keepsake. Sinatra reportedly gloated, 'The silly bastard bet me two dollars it would be a bomb!'

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[The Voice (Columbia, 1945) and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antônio Carlos Jobim (Reprise, 1967) -- critical commentary]

Claus Ogerman: Friedwald credits The Voice (1945) as pop music's first true concept album, predating Bing Crosby's compilations. Arranger Claus Ogerman recalled arriving early at Western Studios in Los Angeles before the first Jobim-album session, intending to finish writing his charts, only to find Sinatra already there rehearsing the tunes with Bill Miller -- explaining, Ogerman said, why Sinatra needed only one or two takes: 'he works on all the stuff beforehand. I found it remarkable.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 1, "Night and Day" (Sinatra style overview)

[engineering/personnel -- critical commentary]

Phil Ramone: Engineer Phil Ramone went to great lengths preparing for Sinatra's New York session, including pre-rehearsing the band before Sinatra arrived, setting up dual vocal microphones as insurance, laying a red carpet and velvet ropes from control room to studio, and personally staying until safety tapes were made and stored off-site before he could relax.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[label history -- critical commentary]

The Sinatra-Ellington album was the last 'traditional' studio album Sinatra made for twelve years, until 1979's Trilogy.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[personnel -- critical commentary]

Billy May augmented the Ellington orchestra with a few dependable studio musicians, including pianist Milt Raskin (who reportedly subbed for Ellington on some tunes) and trumpeter Al Porcino.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[recording session/location -- critical commentary]

Jimmy Bowen / Granata: The World We Knew marked the first time in nearly fifteen years Sinatra recorded in New York -- excepting the 1962 London sessions, every Sinatra recording session from his last Columbia date (September 1952) through this point had taken place in Hollywood. The session was held at A&R Studios (formerly Columbia's 30th Street building), engineered by Phil Ramone, with Jimmy Bowen producing and Billy Strange conducting.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[session location/personnel -- critical commentary]

Session time for Duets was booked at Capitol's Studio A on Vine Street. Ramone, remembering the red-carpet treatment Sinatra had received on their first record date together at A&R Studios in 1967, made a point of similarly welcoming Sinatra back to his old home at the Capitol Tower.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part V: Capitol Revisited

January 1967

Extras

[Sinatra and Mia in the Caribbean]

Kaplan: After the Joe E. Lewis party, the Sinatras went island-hopping in their private jet, staying at Claudette Colbert's place on Barbados, and returned a week later with Mia denying pregnancy rumors and announcing she would star in 'A Dandy in Aspic.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra subpoenaed in Miami]

Kaplan: Soon after Frank landed in Miami from the Caribbean trip, he was handed a subpoena to testify before a federal grand jury investigating profit skimming at Nevada gambling casinos.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

January 12, 1967

Extras

[Sinatra hosts Joe E. Lewis birthday party]

Earl Wilson: On Thursday night, Frank gave a sixty-fifth birthday party for comedian Joe E. Lewis at Jilly's South in Miami Beach; columnist Earl Wilson called it 'the wettest party I ever attended,' not mentioning that Lewis had recently suffered a mild stroke. Mia Farrow, the hostess, sat on Frank's knee and the couple greeted all 150 guests together.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

January 26, 1967

Extras

[Sinatra testifies before grand jury]

Kaplan (AP): Frank took a side trip to Las Vegas to testify in a closed-door hearing before the federal grand jury investigating casino skimming, appearing relaxed and confident as he stepped from a limousine with attorney Mickey Rudin, according to the Associated Press. The grand jury handed down no indictments and Sinatra's testimony remained sealed.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

January 30, 1967

Studio

Hollywood

K4807 Baubles, Bangles And Beads w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Robert C. Wright/George Forrest/Alexandre Borodin)

Scheffel Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-7 (2:32) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1021-2 Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

K4808 I Concentrate On You w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Cole Porter)

Chappell 7 Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-4 (2:36) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

K4809 Dindi

(Ray Gilbert/Antonio Carlos Jobim/Aloysio de Oliveria)

Ipanema Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-9 (3:27) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 9-26340-2 The Reprise Collection

CD: 1021-2 Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim (Unedited)

LP: FS1021 Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

K4810 Change Partners w/Al Viola on Guitar

(Irving Berlin)

Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-2 (2:40) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien notes that the Sinatra/Jobim album is now over 50 years old. It is the finest work that Sinatra did at Reprise. The truly great ones are timeless and this album is as exciting and fresh as it was in 1967. The first session was done with a 24-piece orchestra at Western Recorders studio from 8 to11:30 P.M. Sonny Burke, the producer, in an interview described how Frank went into training prior to the sessions, He swam hundreds of laps under water, cut back on his drinking and smoking and got lots of rest. He knew how demanding the sets would be and wanted to be ready.

I would say, without much fear of contradiction, that Frank laid down one definitive track after another at the sessions, O'Brien exclaims. His reading of Cole Porter's "I Concentrate on You" is a minor masterpiece. Aloysia deOliveira, lyricists for "Dindi," dissolved into tears at the session, Sinatra's reading of that song was so perfect and the author knew it. Berlin's "Change Partners" never had nor would sound as romantic as it did that night. Magnificent Sinatra!

In response to Sinatraphile John Brown, O"Brien says he'll never forget the first time he saw the cover of the album. I knew it was a great album before putting it on the turntable. It just had the perfect look to it.. At that time, I bought all my LPs at a now long gone record store, called Dauber's. They had a number of Sinatra collectors including a female professor from Russell Sage College . She had heard about the Jobim and came in one Friday afternoon to purchase it and then rush right home. Well, she decided to take a bath, little wine on the side and Sinara-Jobim on the phonograph very loud. She hopped into the tub and got ready to hear the sublime album, Unfortunately, Reprise had a slight problem with product control. Instead of the Sinatra-Jobim, the LP was the new Jimi Hendrix guitar set. Sol Dauber loved telling the story and her fury upon returning with the album!

K4812 If You Never Come To Me

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gilbert/Aloysio de Oliveira)

Ipanema Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-1 N/R No Final Master

Extras

Hollywood

K4807 Baubles, Bangles And Beads

K4808 I Concentrate On You

K4809 Dindi

K4810 Change Partners

Dayton News The State 4-16-67 4-2-67

Huddersfield Daily, Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England 5-26-67

The Courier Journal

4-30-67 note: I had a wonderful conversation with Champlin about 25 years ago. We talked about his L.A. Times review of Sinatra at the Sands in January of 1966 and his liner notes for "Sinatra & Company" in

1971. He very much admired Sinatra and thought that his Reprise recordings in the late 1960 were outstanding.

This article is a real keeper. Champlin gives us a real inside look at Sinatra the recording artist. We learn that Frank did "Dindi" in four takes and the same number on the rejected "If You Never Come To Me." A most interesting discovery is Colin Bailey on drums for the 1/30 session. And "Somethin' Stupid" required eight takes.

Ed

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[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

"Change Partners"

Al Viola: Sinatra engaged German arranger Claus Ogerman in late 1966 for the bossa nova collaboration with Antonio Carlos Jobim, and the pair entered the studio in January 1967 for Francis Albert Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim. Guitarist Al Viola, originally hired just to help Jobim (whose English was limited), ended up secretly playing uncredited guitar on 'Change Partners' when Jobim struggled with what Sinatra wanted, at Sinatra's direction ('Let Al play it').

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

[Sinatra-Jobim recording sessions begin]

Ogerman/Herschberg: Sinatra walked into Western Recorders to begin the sessions for the Jobim album. Engineer Lee Herschberg and arranger Claus Ogerman recalled Sinatra's total preparation and command of the material, while Jobim, in awe of his idol, gradually relaxed in the sparse, quiet studio atmosphere (ten violins, four cellos, one trombone, three flutes, piano, bass, drums, and Jobim on guitar).

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

January 31, 1967

Studio

Hollywood

K4811 Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars ( Corcovado )

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Gene lees)

Duchess Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

(2:42) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien indicates that the first song done at this session was Once I Loved. Frank did some takes but just couldn't get into it. It was put aside and done the following evening. Quiet Nights was next up and Gene Lees, the lyricist, was at the session and here are his thoughts on Frank's recording of his song:

I tense up like a watch spring, I wrote this lyric and no singer has ever sung it absolutely accurately, a problem that has bugged Jobim and me for five years. They start, and I barely breathe. As Jobim had said earlier, This man is Mount Everest for a songwriter. If he gets it right, we can quit worrying. He does, and I realize that what I've heard about Sinatra's respect for a songwriter's intentions is quite correct. They do it again to raise the level even further, and at last there satisfied.

K4812 If You Never Come To Me

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gilbert/Aloysio de Oliveira)

Ipanema Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

(2:08) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

Ed O'Brien:

I have Morgana King's debut album at Reprise from 1965, "It's A Quiet Thing."

Torrie Zito arranged, Jimmy Bowen was the producer and Phil Ramone was the

engineer. The third track in on side one was a huge surprise. There are a few lyrics

that differ, but, essentially, "Useless Landscape" and "If You Never Come

To Me." are one and the same. Jobim-Gilbert-Oliveira receive credit

for both. I wonder why it was changed? Sinatra's decision or the song-

writer's?

K4813 The Girl From Ipanema

w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/Vinicius De Moraes)

Duchess Music Corp./New Thunder Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

(3:13) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1021-2 Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos

Jobim(Unedited)

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

K4814 Meditation (Meditago)

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/ Newton Mendonca)

Duchess Music Corp./New Thunder Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

(2:52) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

Extras

Hollywood

K4811 Quiet Nights Of Quiet Stars ( Corcovado )

K4812 If You Never Come To Me

K4813 The Girl From Ipanema

K4814 Meditation (Meditago)

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/ New

Evening Post and News, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

February 1967

Extras

[Jackie Mason continues Sinatra jokes in Miami]

Jackie Mason: Appearing at the Saxony Hotel in Miami after receiving a phone threat and hiring a bodyguard, Jackie Mason kept making Sinatra jokes, later saying he'd been warned all week by anonymous callers to shut up about Sinatra.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mia departs for A Dandy in Aspic]

Earl Wilson / Kaplan: As Frank prepared to open a two-week stand at the Fontainebleau, Mia flew to London to begin shooting the spy thriller 'A Dandy in Aspic' opposite Tom Courtenay and Laurence Harvey, marking the first real separation of their marriage.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

February 1, 1967

Studio

Hollywood

K4815 Once I Loved (O Amor En Paz)

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gilbert/Vinicius De Moraes)

Duchess Music Corp./New Thunder Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-10 (2:36) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

K4816 How Insensitive (Insensatez) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/Vinicius De Moraes) Duchess Music Corp./New Thunder Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-7 (3:15) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1021-2Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

LP: FS1021Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim

K4817 Drinking Again

(Johnny mercer/Doris Tauber)

M. Witmark & Sons (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-6 (3:10) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

K4818 Somethin' Stupid w/Nancy Sinatra

(Carson C. Parks)

Greenwood Music (BMI)

Arranged by Billy Strange

Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-2 (2:38) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

LP: FS1025Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

45: 056 IT

note: Song required 10 takes. There is in circulation a tape with just Frank's vocal. It is very interesting.

--Ed

Notes: Frank completed the Jobim album and then did a simply fabulous recording of the great Johnny Mercer-Doris Tauber saloon song, "Drinking Again." The piano work by Bill Miller is exquisite and Sinatra improvised on the lyrics until he got just what he wanted on Take 6. A few friends were lucky enough to catch Frank doing this gem in concert settings, They have assured O'Brien that you would hear a pin drop the audience was so attentive throughout. There should have been an album built around this beauty.

Later, several other Sinatraphiles expressed their wonder why Sinatra did not perform "Drinking Again" more often. Regarding the recording session itself, Jack Tomsky reports that after Take Two, Sonny Burke told Miller that the piano was too percussive and asked him to play lighter. After Take Four, Frank asked Miller to lower it an octave and Burke repeated his request regarding the percussive problem. After listening to two more alternate takes, I wonder how much of the master take was Mercer and how much was Frank adding and subtracting lyrics.

O'Brien, in response, recalls that Sinatra had Bill Miller play his piano accompaniment an octave lower. Or was it the other way around?

Eugene Lo Curto suggests that the fade out at the end of the recording may be a reason why the recording become one of Frank's chief saloon songs. Another reason? It was included on an album that sold poorly

Ed Spiefel asks: "Who knows?" There are countless possibilities, but it would have been a killer of a saloon song done live!"

Extras

Hollywood

K4815 Once I Loved (O Amor En Paz)

K4816 How Insensitive (Insensatez)

K4817 Drinking Again

K4818 Somethin' Stupid

REVIEW

Revisiting A Masterpiece: When Frank Sinatra

Collaborated With Antonio Carlos

Jobim

NATE

CHINEN

Twitter

FROM

Frank Sinatra and Antonio Carlos Jobim in the studio.

Courtesy of Frank Sinatra Enterprises

Frank Sinatra was well into his Rat Pack era, the reigning American embodiment of masculine suavity and aplomb, when he teamed up with a maestro of Brazilian music to make one of the most exquisitely tender albums of his career. That album, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim, has lost none of its luster since it was first released 50 years ago. In fact, a newly remastered anniversary edition extracts additional depth from Claus Ogerman's orchestrations, which frame Sinatra's voice like a Rolex on a velvet cushion.

Jobim, a pianist and guitarist as well as a composer, was the beating heart at the center of a worldwide bossa nova craze, following the success of Getz/Gilberto. A joint effort of the American tenor saxophonist Stan Getz and the Brazilian guitarist and singer João Gilberto, that album also served as a showcase for Jobim's songs, including "The Girl From Ipanema," a runaway smashThe album, recorded in Hollywood in the winter of 1967, captures both Sinatra and Jobim at an apex, flush with creative and popular success. Sinatra was coming off a knockout run of albums on his Reprise label ­ including Sinatra at the Sands, recorded with the Count Basie Orchestra; That's Life, a Top 10; and Strangers in the Night, whose title track became an unstoppable hit.

Frank Sinatra with Antonio Carlos Jobim in 1967.

Ed Thrasher/Courtesy of Frank Sinatra Enterprises

The 50th anniversary edition of Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim has just been released in various formats, including two vinyl packages. And along with the music from the original album, it includes two previously unreleased tracks: A live medley from a television special, and part of a session reel for "The Girl From Ipanema," which Sinatra and Jobim sing as a duet.

"Don't let it run away, fellas, with the tempo," Sinatra cautions at the top of the first take. "Just hold it down, let it settle down. Because it's got a lot of ­ it's got a gang of words." After the take is finished, he caalls for another one, "right away." His decisive brusqueness strikes a jarring contrast to the singing, which is as delectably airy as a soufflé.

The commercial relevancy of bossa nova is one way to explain Sinatra's keen interest in Jobim: He was aware of his tenuous position within a cultural moment increasingly defined by The Beatles. But his treatment of this music belies any charge of opportunism. While bossa nova presented a new angle for him as a singer ­ "I haven't sung so soft since I had the laryngitis," he quipped during the sessions ­ he clearly regarded the style as ssomething more than a novelty.

"No other American pop star would so thoroughly immerse himself in the world of bossa," writes Will Friedwald in his fine critical biography Sinatra! The Song is You: A Singer's Art. "He not only recorded two whole albums' worth of the stuff but sacrificed his signature stylistics in order to more smoothly fit into the new vernacular."

Consider the sensitivity of Sinatra's phrasing on "Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars," a version of Jobim's "Corcovado" with

English lyrics by the critic Gene Lees.

The balance of voice and orchestration is so impeccably calibrated that it has effectively been canonized: When Diana Krall made her own bossa nova album in 2009, she named it Quiet Nights, enlisting Ogerman as arranger (who won a Grammy for his efforts).

In its original iteration, Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim broke into the Top 20 and spent 28 consecutive weeks on the Billboard album chart. According to Michael Bourne, the host of Singers Unlimited on WBGO, it marked another layer of validation for bossa nova in the American pop mainstream. "Even after the album Getz/Gilberto won a Grammy as album of the year," said

Bourne, "the Sinatra/Jobim album was a musical apotheosis, a blessing of Jobim's songs from America's musical Pope."

There was, however, one distinction that eluded the album. Sinatra had won album of the year at the previous two Grammy Awards ­ for September of My Years (1965) and A Man and His Music (1966) ­ but he wasn't destined for a threepeat. While Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim was nominated, and perhaps even the frontrunner, the top honor went to another album that has stood the test of time:

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club

Band.

Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, Australia

K4818 Somethin' Stupid

w/Nancy Sinatra

(Carson C. Parks)

Greenwood Music (BMI)

Arranged by Billy Strange

Conducted by Claus Ogerman

-2 (2:38) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

LP: FS1025Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

45: 056 IT

Frank and Nancy Sinatra recording "Somethin' Stupid" on February 1, 1967

Note, that Glenn Campbell played on this session.

Glen Campbell was on the cusp on superstardom

in 1967. He backed Frank on the Strangers In The Night"

session ( April 66 ), Jobim and a July 67 session. Frank's

singing on the Jobim project garnered him a best male

vocal performance. He lost to Campbell's vocal for "By

The Time I Get To Phoenix."

--Ed

Nancy Sinatra and Frank record their hit single “Something Stupid” in March 1967. Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

Nancy could always bring a smile to Frank’s face. Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

"Once I Loved" / "How Insensitive" / "Drinking Again"

The final bossa nova session took place the evening of February 1, 1967 at Western Recording Studio 1. In under two hours Sinatra recorded the last two Jobim album tracks ('Once I Loved,' 'How Insensitive') plus 'Drinking Again' (Ogerman arrangement) for the upcoming album The World We Knew.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

"Somethin' Stupid"

Nancy Sinatra: Immediately after the Jobim session wrapped that same evening, the string players and Sinatra's regular rhythm section left and the Hollywood 'wrecking crew' session players moved in for Nancy Sinatra to join her father on 'Somethin' Stupid.' Nancy recalled that songwriter Sarge Weiss brought her the song and her father agreed to 'tack it on the end of the Jobim date.'

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

[Drinking Again -- critical commentary]

Will Friedwald: Cited as an example of the Sinatra-Miller 'saloon song' duet format, with Ogerman draping a light, Riddle-like sheen of strings behind what is otherwise all voice and piano.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 1, "Night and Day" (Sinatra style overview)

[Drinking Again -- critical commentary]

Frank Sinatra / Claus Ogerman (quoted) / Friedwald (analysis): Arranger Claus Ogerman, at a meeting with Sinatra at his Warner Bros. office to pick the key, sat at the piano and started noodling 'very modern jazz harmonies'; Sinatra announced to those present, 'Listen, this guy isn't from Germany, he's from Brooklyn. He's just faking with that accent.' Ogerman told Friedwald he had known the song's composer, Doris Tauber (also composer of 'Them There Eyes'), from New York: 'She worked for many years as a staff pianist and song demonstrator for [music publisher] Harms Inc., which is the job Gershwin had earlier. She was practically Gershwin's successor [at that firm].' Friedwald calls the resulting performance 'stunning even by his own Olympian standards' -- a perfect cocktail of tragedy and noir comedy, a buried gem on an otherwise 'ballad rock' album.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

February 8, 1967

Concerts

Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri

Teamster Charity Show

Sinatra, Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Connie Francis

Sinatra segment:

1. Shadow Of Your Smile

2. Summer Wind

3. Yes Sir, That's My Baby

4. It Was A Very Good Year

5. My Kind Of Town

6. This Is All I Ask

7. That's Life

Extras

Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri

Teamster Charity Show

Sinatra, Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Connie Francis

--A video of this show has survived. A friend of mine

saw a showing about 10 years ago

Ed

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

Hi Scott,

A video of this show has survived. A friend of mine

saw a showing about 10 years ago

Ed

On Thursday, March 14, 2024 at 10:23:12 AM EDT, Scott Henderson <scott@falseducks.com> wrote:

Here's an interesting one I came across:

February 8, 1967, Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri

Teamster Charity Show

Sinatra, Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Connie Francis

Here's an interesting one I came across:

February 8, 1967, Kiel Opera House, St. Louis, Missouri

Teamster Charity Show

Sinatra, Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Connie Francis

February 12, 1967

Concerts

University of Southern California

Sunday evening

Friends of the Library 100 trustees

A Tribute to Cole Porter built around George Eells new biography "The Life That Late He Led," published on 1-1-67.

126 minutes

Ethel Merman, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, James Stewart, Roger Edens, Alan Jay Lerner and moderated by Garson Kanin.

1. Anything Goes Ethel Merman

2. I Get A Kick Out Of You Ethel Merman

3. I've Got You Under My Skin (ballad version) Frank Sinatra

4. Let's Do It Frank Sinatra

5. Night And Day Fred Astaire

6.. You're The Top Ethel Merman

7. Down In The Depths Ethel Merman

8. It's All Right With Me Frank Sinatra

9. I Love Paris Frank Sinatra

10. Make It Another Old Fashioned Ethel Merman

11. Be A Clown Gene Kelly

12. Easy To Love James Stewart

13. I Concentrate On You Frank Sinatra

14. Friendship Frank, Fred, Ethel, Gene, Jimmy, Alan, Roger and Garson.

Stupendous is the first word that comes to mind in trying to describe that incredible evening 43 years ago tonight.

Kanin opened the show by introducing the performers on stage. What ensued after that was nothing short of magnificent. The discussions that took place on stage among the performers was pure magic. Sinatra and Astaire got into a friendly disagreement over whether or not Porter was a snob. The audience learned that Cole called Merman "The Divine Ethel." She told wonderful stories about the music he wrote for her. They all read from Eells new bio. Frank told of the debacle he had with Porter at the Rustic Cabin in 1938. There was a great deal of back and forth on the merits of Porter's great work. Astaire told the audience that Frank was the first one at the rehearsal earlier in the day. Stewart was very funny in describing his singing of the song Cole wrote for him. Kelly fondly remembered working with Porter. Lerner discussed the creative process with Astaire and others.Roger Edens provided the sole musical support with his piano backings. Ethel drowned out the rest of the singers on the closing number "Friendship. " Frank yelled to her, "What the hell are you hollering about ? You got the job." A great, great evening in the history of show business.

Notes: Ed O'Brien supplied the notes and listing above.

Extras

University of Southern California

Sunday evening

Friends of the Library 100 trustees

A Tribute to Cole Porter built around George Eells new biography "The Life That Late He Led," published on 1-1-67.

126 minutes

February 13, 1967

Extras

[Jackie Mason assaulted near the Saxony]

Jackie Mason: At 5:00 a.m., while sitting in his car with a female friend a few blocks from the Saxony Hotel, Jackie Mason was punched in the face by an assailant who broke his nose and cut him with a ring; he was hospitalized. He later said the attacker told him, 'This is not the worst that can happen if you don't keep your mouth shut about Frank Sinatra.' Sinatra arrived in Miami two days later.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 16, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1) Lenny Dawson Orchestra

Musical Director: Gordon Jenkins

Comedy by Shecky Greene

Also: Cook & Brown - Comedy Tap Team

Strangers In The Night ( opens behind the scrim and then walks out singing ) Summer Wind

A Foggy Day

The Shadow Of Your Smile ( Riddle string arg. )

Autumn Leaves

My Kind Of Town

This Is All I Ask

Quiet Night

Dindi

I Concentrate On You w/ Al Viola

Drinking Again

It Was A Very Good Year

That's Life

note: Sinatra was a sensation. He opted to accept an offer to extend his engagement until March 5.

Found some great reviews. Will post later today. Years ago I mentioned that

Frank sang "Drinking Again" and Dindi" in his act. A friend saw him during the two plus weeks at the hotel. Both are mentioned in one of the reviews.

Ed

A friend caught Frank's show during this engagement. Among the songs he sang, "Dindi" and "Drinking Again" were two my pal still remembers.

--Ed

Extras

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

Lenny Dawson Orchestra

Musical Director: Gordon Jenkins

Comedy by Shecky Greene

Also: Cook & Brown - Comedy Tap Team

February 17, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1) Lenny Dawson Orchestra

Musical Director: Gordon Jenkins

Comedy by Shecky Greene

Also: Cook & Brown - Comedy Tap Team

February 18, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

Extras

February 19, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 20, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 21, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 22, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 23, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 4)

February 24, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 25, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 26, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 27, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 16 - March 1)

February 28, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 16 - March 4)

Extras

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 16 - March 1) Scott,

Frank extended both engagements.

The 66 w/Basie closed on Friday night 3/11.

The 67 was extended three days and closed on Saturday, 3/4.

Ben Novack asked for a four day extension. Frank agreed but changed his mind. The closing night shows were a sensation.

Ed

March 1, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 16 - March 4)

March 2, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 4)

Extras

[Sinatra's big Grammy night]

Frank had his best night ever at the Grammys, winning Record of the Year and Best Male Vocal Performance for 'Strangers in the Night' and Album of the Year for 'A Man and His Music.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 3, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (February 16 - March 4)

March 4, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (February 16 - March 4)

March 13, 1967

Extras

[Rosemary's Baby novel published]

Ira Levin's horror novel 'Rosemary's Baby' was published and immediately became a best-seller; by month's end Paramount had bought the film rights for producer William Castle and hired director Roman Polanski.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 14, 1967

Extras

[Column notes Sinatra marriage and Bel Air remodel]

Harrison Carroll: Columnist Harrison Carroll wrote that Mia Farrow flew back from England to see Frank on every possible occasion, noting Frank's planned film 'Shamus' (later 'Tony Rome') would start around April 1 in Florida and that crews were rushing to finish redecorating the couple's new Bel Air home.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 18, 1967

Extras

['Somethin' Stupid' released]

Frank and Nancy Sinatra's duet 'Somethin' Stupid,' quickly nicknamed the Incest Song for its 'I love you' lyric, was released and would soon top the Billboard singles chart.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 31, 1967

Extras

[Hughes approved to buy the Desert Inn]

On the last day of March, Howard Hughes received permission from the Nevada Gaming Commission to purchase the Desert Inn's operations for $13 million, with the Clark County Gaming License Board also approving his casino license.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 1967

Extras

[Director Anthony Mann dies during Dandy shoot]

Kaplan: Director Anthony Mann died of a heart attack at the end of April during production of 'A Dandy in Aspic'; Laurence Harvey completed the picture in his place.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Harvey boasts of scenes with Mia]

Laurence Harvey: Laurence Harvey boasted to columnist Leonard Lyons about having 'hot love scenes' with Mia Farrow in 'A Dandy in Aspic,' fueling press attention to their on- and off-screen chemistry.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra enraged by Mia-Harvey photo]

Kaplan: After a bodyguard handed him a newspaper photo of Mia closely entwined with Laurence Harvey while dancing, Sinatra, already sensitive about gibes over his age and Mia's youth, called Mia in Berlin in the middle of the night and screamed at her for nearly an hour; she flew to Miami to placate him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

April 3, 1967

Extras

[Tony Rome begins shooting in Miami]

'Tony Rome,' the first of Sinatra's three detective films for 20th Century Fox, began shooting in Miami, with Frank as the title character, Richard Conte as a police lieutenant, and Jill St. John, Gena Rowlands, and Sue Lyon co-starring. Billy May wrote the score and Gordon Douglas directed.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 7, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

Frank did one show a night from Tuesday to Saturday

Extras

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Miami Herald 3-7-67

Gordon Jenkins was not with him this time.

Frank did one show a night from Tuesday to Saturday. "Shamus" was retitled "Tony Rome." There were plans to do a seconf film right after this one. Didn't happen. Frank was also set to play the Amphitheater, in Miami, 7-11-67, as part of the tour with Buddy Rich.

Last week I posted the song list from the February 67 opening night. I knew one song was missing. It was "Yes Sir, That's My Baby." Frank's closing night of the first 67 engagementm at the Fontainebleau, 3-4, was a sensation. Audience would not let him leave the stage. He wound up doing 20 songs.

--Ed

April 8, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 9, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 10, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 11, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 12, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 13, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 14, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

note: Throughout this engagement Frank had the biggest selling single in the country. "Somethin'

Stupid" was the #1 song on the Billboard charts for four consecutive weeks and also dominated the Adult Contemporary list that April.

Ed

April 15, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

Extras

"Somethin' Stupid," the father-daughter duet with Nancy Sinatra recorded the previous February during sessions for the album The World We Knew, reaches number one on the Billboard chart, where it would remain for four weeks. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

['Somethin' Stupid' hits number one]

'Somethin' Stupid' reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Sinatra's second number-one hit in two years with a song he didn't think much of.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 16, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 17, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

Extras

[Sinatra kicks in a TV set]

Two nights after the chart news, while watching the premiere of Joey Bishop's ABC late-night talk show at Harry Mufson's Miami Beach house with Shecky Greene, Jilly Rizzo, and Joe Fischetti, Sinatra stood up and kicked in the television screen the moment Bishop introduced his first guest, Governor Ronald Reagan.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 18, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 19, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 20, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 21, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 22, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 23, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 24, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 25, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 26, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 27, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 28, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

April 29, 1967

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (April 7-29)

Lenny Dawson and his Orchestra

Comedy by Shecky Greene

May 1967

Extras

[Anti-Defamation League names Sinatra chairman]

Kaplan: The American-Italian Anti-Defamation League named Frank national chairman of a campaign to discourage identifying Italian-Americans with the Mafia, a move critics found ironic given Sinatra's recently revoked Nevada gaming license.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Billy Strayhorn dies]

Terry Teachout: Duke Ellington's longtime collaborator and arranger Billy Strayhorn died in May 1967, leaving the sixty-eight-year-old bandleader increasingly out of step with contemporary music, according to biographer Terry Teachout.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

May 5, 1967

Extras

[Mia on the cover of Life]

Mia Farrow appeared on the cover of Life magazine as 'A Dandy in Aspic' put her on the map, though she still needed a breakthrough starring role.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 9, 1967

Extras

[O'Brian questions League's choice]

Jack O'Brian: Columnist Jack O'Brian asked why the Anti-Defamation League chose Sinatra for the headlines when it could have picked a Joe DiMaggio or Perry Como.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 12, 1967

Extras

[Salerno criticizes Sinatra's Mafia ties in NYT]

Ralph Salerno: Former NYPD detective and Mafia authority Ralph Salerno told the New York Times that Sinatra's associations with known Mafia figures across several cities hardly matched the wholesome image the Anti-Defamation League sought to project; League president Ross J. Di Lorenzo fired back defending Sinatra's record with 'world leaders.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 19, 1967

Extras

[Beck reports on Mia's retirement talk]

Marilyn Beck: Columnist Marilyn Beck wrote that there was talk Mia Farrow would retire to become a full-time wife after her taste of stardom, noting she had already turned down several film offers.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 21, 1967

Extras

[Lyons announces Mia's next film]

Leonard Lyons: Columnist Leonard Lyons announced that Mia Farrow's next movie would be 'The Severed Head,' co-starring Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor (a project that ultimately did not happen for her).

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 1967

Extras

[Rehearsals begin for Johnny Belinda]

Kaplan: Rehearsals for the TV movie 'Johnny Belinda,' starring Mia Farrow, began in the first week of June.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Susskind describes Mia's bruises]

David Susskind: Worried about losing his star, David Susskind flew to see Mia Farrow and later told Kitty Kelley he found her badly bruised, with red gashes and marks on her arms, shoulders, and throat as if she'd been beaten; Farrow insisted on continuing with the role despite his concern. Farrow herself later, in 1986, denied that Sinatra had ever mistreated her.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[The World We Knew sessions begin in New York]

Kaplan: Sinatra began recording a new album, 'The World We Knew,' with the first session held in New York, his first recording date in the city in almost fifteen years; the LP involved five arrangers including Gordon Jenkins, Claus Ogerman, and Ernie Freeman, and was produced in part by Jimmy Bowen, with no Nelson Riddle charts.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

June 4, 1967

Extras

[Graham reports on Mia's competing film offers]

Sheilah Graham: Sheilah Graham's column reported Mia Farrow was poised to sign for 'Rosemary's Baby' at Paramount when George Cukor requested her for 'Nine Tiger Man' at 20th Century Fox, and speculated Sinatra might insist on keeping his wife closer to home.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 8, 1967

Extras

[Mia cast in Johnny Belinda TV movie]

Newspapers reported that Mia Farrow would play the starring role in the ABC television movie remake of 'Johnny Belinda,' a project her own memoir later omits, muddling the true timeline of that period in her marriage.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 11, 1967

Radio

Rally For Israel's Survival

Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles

2 Hour Special

KLAC 2pm

Television

Rally For Israel's Survival

Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles

5PM

Broadcast in Color

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Concerts

Rally For Israel's Survival, Hollywood Bowl, Los Angeles Sinatra appeared along with Joey Bishop, Ernest Borgnine, Judy Garland, Kathryn Grayson, Danny Kaye, Ross Martin, Agnes Moorhead, Carl Reiner, Edward G. Robinson, Eva Marie Saint, Peter Sellers, Dinah Shore, Jan Sterling, Barbara Streisand, and Robert Vaughan and others.

Extras

Hollywood Bowl

All Star Rally for Israel

A "Support Israel" rally and benefit attended by many movie stars an singers, held at the Hollywood Bowl. Singing the "Star Spangled Banner" is actress Kathryn Grayson. Standing from left: Actors, Nehemiah Persoff, Ernest Borgnine, Dinah Shore, Joey Bishop, Frank Sinatra and Peter Sellers (partial view).

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June 12, 1967

Extras

Frank served as a pallbearer at the funeral of Spencer Tracy in Los Angeles.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

June 15, 1967

Extras

[Mia hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai]

Jim Mahoney: Reuters reported that Mia Farrow was under observation at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; press agent Jim Mahoney told reporters she was 'just run down' and resting after a strenuous film role in England.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 29, 1967

Studio

New York City

K5296 You Are There

(Harry Sukman/Paul Francis Webster)

WB Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Gordon Jenkins

-4 (3:27) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2 The World We Knew

LP: FS1022 The World We Knew

45: 0610

K5297 The World We Knew (Over And Over) w/Chorus

(Burt Kaempfert/Herb Rehbein/Carl Sigman)

EMI Screen Gems Music inc. (BMI)

Arranged by Ernie Freeman

Conducted by Billy Strange

-5/6 (2:46) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: FS1025Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

45: 0610

K5298 This Town

(Lee Hazlewood)

Remick Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy Strange

-2 N/R

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien writes that "You Are There" was the theme for "The Naked Runner" movie. Sinatra used a 60-piece orchestra and did four takes. The musicians on the session included many exciting newcomers as well as some old hands. An additional 13-piece section was added for "The World We Knew" and "This Town." Sinatra did five takes on the former plus six intercuts and two takes on the unissued "This Town." The re-do on July 24, 1967 also had two takes and can be heard on the recent film "Ocean's 13."

When the single of "World/You Are There" was issued in July 1967, O'Brien says he fell in love with the B side of the record, "You Are There." Playing it over and over for days!

Sinatra employed a two and a quarter octave range on "World We Knew." O'Brien believes that a strong argument can be made that the closest Sinatra ever came to making a great rock 'n' roll record was "This Town."

Extras

New York City

K5296 You Are There

K5297 The World We Knew (Over And Over) w/Chorus

note: When I was working on my 1991 book, Reprise was a great help to me. I came to know many of the people who were involved in packaging and selling Sinatra for many years. Sinatra was a hot property in 1967. Five of his previous seven albums had gone gold and all charted on the Top 10 Billboard lists. I asked why "The World We Knew" failed to make the Top 20 and only charted for 23 weeks. The consensus at Reprise was the album cover left a lot to be desired. It just wasn't very attractive. They also felt the label had bet on the wrong horse. "World We Knew" peaked at 23 on the chart and was around for a brief seven weeks. "This Town" reached "53 and charted for five weeks. I was told "Something Stupid" was a huge smash. Not only did it make the top of the charts, it stayed at # 1 for five weeks. Sinatra wasn't crazy about the song and it was not hyped like "Strangers" or "That's Life." People are spoke to felt the decision not to emphasis such a smash recording was a terrible mistake.

Here are some reviews of the album from 1967.

Ed

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"The World We Knew (Over and Over)"

Will Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald frames this Bert Kaempfert 'power ballad' (a follow-up attempt to 'Strangers in the Night,' English lyrics by Carl Sigman) as stylistically alien to Sinatra's natural repertoire, more of an 'anthemic' belt number than the contemplative 'big number' style of Ol' Man River or September of My Years. Yet Friedwald argues Sinatra invests real feeling in it, conjecturing that Sinatra is essentially mourning a vanished world -- one where Cole Porter and Rodgers were pop hits and Tommy Dorsey, not the Beatles, led the most popular band -- rather than singing about literal lost romance as the lyric intends.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

July 1967

Extras

[Hughes negotiates to buy the Sands]

Kaplan: Throughout July, Howard Hughes negotiated with the Sands' eighteen official owners, including Jack Entratter, Carl Cohen, and Dean Martin (but not Sinatra, who no longer held a stake), to purchase the casino that had been Sinatra's Vegas headquarters for fifteen years; Hughes rebuffed Sinatra's overture to also buy Sinatra's Cal-Neva stake.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Paramount formally offers Mia Rosemary's Baby]

Mia Farrow: Paramount officially offered Mia Farrow the starring role in 'Rosemary's Baby'; she recalled the timing was terrible given she was mid-rehearsal for 'Johnny Belinda' and recently hospitalized for exhaustion. Sinatra, reading the script in bed in Palm Springs, said he could not see her in the role, but did not forbid her from taking it, and she accepted despite misgivings.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra tours the heartland]

Kaplan: Sinatra toured Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Madison, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Baltimore with the Buddy Rich Orchestra opening, along with comedian Pat Henry and Sergio Mendes; the tour was an unprecedented success, with Frank sticking mostly to classics like 'Day In, Day Out' and 'Moonlight in Vermont' alongside newer hits.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

July 2, 1967

Concerts

Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sunday

4:30 PM first show -- only afternoon performance of the tour 8:30 PM second show

O.A. Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66

Pat Henry

Buddy Rich Orchestra augmented with a string section

"Summer Wind,"

"Yes Sir, That's My Baby

"At Long Last Love,"

"Day In, Day Out,"

"The Shadow of Your Smile,"

"Moonlight in Vermont,"

"A Foggy Day,"

"This Is All I Ask,"

"Fly Me to the Moon,"

"I've Got You Under My Skin,"

"Nancy (With the Laughing Face),"

"You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You,"

"Ol' Man River,"

"Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars,"

"My Kind of Town,"

"That's Life,"

"Strangers in the Night,"

"The Lady Is a Tramp,"

"That's Life." (reprise) note: Here is the 18 song program done at both shows. Frank sold out the two performances. In all, he performed in front of almost 27,000 paying customers. Big selling point was Frank's last appearance, in Pittsburgh, at the Stanley Theatre (July 3 thru 9, 1942). It was exactly 25 years, when he was closing the show as part of the Dorsey band: Sinatra warms them up with "Without A Song" and then goes into "This Love Of Mine" with obbligato by the four trombones, has the Pied Pipers with him in "Just As Though You Were Here," a recent recording, and tears down the stretch with "South Of The Border," a comedy novelty as done here, and "Poor You."

Variety

7-8-42

Ed O'Brien:

Frank Sinatra was riding a wave of phenomenal popularity during this tour. His records -- both singles and albums - - were flying off the record store shelves. He was a major movie star about to begin shooting "The Detective." His "Man & His Music" TV shows were brilliantly conceived and executed ( the third entry with Ella Fitzgerald and Antonio Carlos Jobim would be taped the first week of October in 1967 ). Sinatra was the most in-demand night- club performer in the world. The audiences who saw him that July, 55 years ago this month, were ecstatic throughout his hour on stage. A very heady time in the career of Francis Albert Sinatra.

note: Before the first show, Sinatra was telling people in his dressing room how much he missed Spencer Tracy. The great actor had passed away on 6-10-67. They had been great friends and Frank was still in mourning.

Ed

Extras

Civic Arena, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Sunday

4:30 PM first show -- only afternoon performance of the tour 8:30 PM second show

O.A. Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66

Pat Henry

Buddy Rich Orchestra augmented with a string section

Dylan reveals his first Sinatra concert was here

By Scott Mervis

Pittsburgh Gazette

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A new piece of Pittsburgh lore is revealed in a wideranging interview with Bob Dylan posted on his website Wednesday. Dylan, who will release "Triplicate," his third straight collection of American standards (this one a three-disc collection) on Friday, talks about his appreciation for Frank Sinatra, who so majestically sang many of those standards. Interviewer Bill Flanagan asks Dylan when he first saw Sinatra, to which he responds, "Pittsburgh, maybe "67 or "68 at the Civic Arena. He sang " Summer Wind," "Day In, Day Out," " Moonlight in Vermont." " It was, in fact, July 2, 1967, and it was Sinatra"s first time performing at the arena and his first time in Pittsburgh since playing the Stanley Theatre at the height of the bobbysoxer era in 1942. Remember, in the postWar World II era, Sinatra was a has-been in his mid30s. "He went out of popularity," recalls Pittsburgh promoter Pat DiCesare. "It wasn"t until "53 when "From Here to Eternity" came out ­ and he beggged to do it ­ that he made his comeback." And in those days, he was holed up in Vegas at his playground the Sands, where, in 1966, he married Mia Farrow and recorded his first live album, "Sinatra at the Sands.." (He would leave the Sands the following year when new owner Howard Hughes pushed him out.) Mr. DiCesare says he tried to lure Sinatra and the Rat Pack out of Vegas during that time to do a week at the Stanley, but his manager asked, "What is Frank going to do in Pittsburgh for a week?" Mr. DiCesare suggested he could fly back and forth to New York each day, but that didn"t, well, fly with Frank. In the mid-"60s, despite the British Invasion wiping out the vocal groups, Sinatra was in the midst of a career renaissance, recording some of the finest material of his career, including the albums "September of My Years" (1965), "Strangers in the Night" and "That"s Life" (1966). ("Strangers in the Night" won the record of the year Grammy in 1967.) No wonder Dylan wanted to see him. The strange thing is that, no, Dylan was not also performing in Pittsburgh on July 2, 1967. He wasn"t even touring in 1967. He was in his self-imposed exile period, post-motorcycle accident, in Woodstock, N.Y., holed up in the basement of Big Pink with The Band recording "The Basement Tapes," so he made a special trip here to see Sinatra. Pittsburgh was the start of a nine-city swing that included Cleveland, Madison, Wis., Baltimore and Philadelphia. The concert was self-promoted by Sinatra"s management and the $12.50 tickets were sold via mail order. The show set a new single-day attendance record at the arena of 23,484 for two shows (4:30 and 8:30 p.m.).. He was backed by Buddy Rich and his Orchestra, and the show also featured Brasil "66 and comedian Pat Henry. The Pittsburgh Press review, subtitled "Frankie Boy Sets Records in Attendance, Box Office," was written by Kaspar Monahan, who recalled the teenagers drowning him out with screams at the Stanley, and noted, "Last evening, many of these self-same screaming girls, now plump and fortyish, sat entranced at the Arena and let their daughters and nieces do the screaming." He wrote of Sinatra, at 50, that "the voice is still golden, his technique much smoother and his frame, alas, considerably plumper." Of course, there is no mention of Dylan being there, nor did it ever pop up again in those pages. Dylan"s memory is true. Sinatra started the concert with "Summer Wind" and played all three of those songs mentioned, according the setlist.fm. Mr. Flanagan also asks Dylan about being invited, along with Bruce Springsteen, to Sinatra"s house for dinner around the time they did a TV tribute to him, which would have been in 1995 for Sinatra"s 80th birthday celebration. Here is the exchange: "Had you met him before? Did you feel like he knew your stuff?" "Not really. I think he knew "The Times They Are a-Changin"" and "Blowin" in the Wind." I know he liked "Forever Young," he told me that. He was funny, we were standing out on his patio at night and he said to me, "You and me, pal, we got blue eyes, we"re from up there," and he pointed to the stars. "These other bums are from down here." I remember thinking that he might be right."

-Thanks to Ed O for passing along the Dylan article.

July 4, 1967

Extras

General & Lizette Sarnoff Anniversary Party

1. Intro to: Sammy Cahn

2. Lizzett: Sammy

3. Lizzett (parody): Sammy

4. The Lady Is A Tramp (parody) - But Beautiful (parody)

5. "Toast": Frank

6. Anniversary Waltz: Orchestra

NOTE: Ed O'Brien reports that a fabulous tape exists of this evening. Sammy Cahn wrote a song for Lizette Sarnoff and he insists on singing it. He tells a few jokes and introduces Sinatra. The parodies are well done with just piano and Sinatra introduces the Sarnoffs on their 50th anniversary. They then dance the "Anniversary Waltz." Sarnoff was the long-time head of NBC.

Ed O'Brien:

Sarnoff was the founder of RCA in 1919 and ran it for most of his life. Mrs. Sarnoff's first name was Lizette

Sammy wanted to write a tribute song to both Sarnoffs, but a rhyme for David was impossible.

July 6, 1967

Concerts

Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio

O.A. Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66

Pat Henry

Buddy Rich Orchestra augmented with a string section

Bill Miller conducting

Song List (for 67' tour):

Summer Wind

Yes Sir, That's My Baby

At Long Last Love

Day In, Day Out

The Shadow Of Your Smile Riddle string arrangement

Moonlight In Vermont

A Foggy Day

This Is All I Ask

Fly Me To The Moon

I've Got You Under My Skin

Nancy

You're Nobody 'Til Somebody Loves You

Ol' Man River

Quiet Nights

My Kind Of Town

That's Life

Strangers In The Night

The Lady Is A Tramp

That's Life -- reprise

Extras

Public Hall, Cleveland, Ohio

O.A. Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66

Pat Henry

Buddy Rich Orchestra augmented with a string section

Bill Miller conducting

July 8, 1967

Concerts

Dane County Memorial Coliseum, Madison, WI two shows: 6:30 and 9:30 pm.

Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

1. Summer Wind

2. At Long Last Love

3. Day In, Day Out

4. The Shadow of Your Smile

5. Moonlight in Vermont

6. A Foggy Day

7. This Is All I Ask

8. Fly Me to the Moon

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

12. Ol' Man River

13. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

14. My Kind of Town

15. That's Life

16. Strangers in the Night

17. The Lady Is a Tramp

18. That's Life

tickets: top price 12.50

Note: By June 30th they still had 5000 of the 19,000 ticket left.

Extras

Dane County Memorial Coliseum, Madison, WI two shows: 6:30 and 9:30 pm.

Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

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July 9, 1967

Concerts

Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan

Time: 8:00 P.M. w/Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

1. Summer Wind

2. At Long Last Love

3. Day In, Day Out

4. The Shadow of Your Smile

5. Moonlight in Vermont

6. A Foggy Day

7. This Is All I Ask

8. Fly Me to the Moon

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

12. Ol' Man River

13. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

14. My Kind of Town

15. That's Life

16. Strangers in the Night

17. The Lady Is a Tramp

18. That's Life

note: Frank did 11 concerts in seven cities on this tour with Buddy Rich. Someone figured out that he netted $58,000 per hour

Extras

Cobo Arena, Detroit, Michigan

Time: 8:00 P.M. w/Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

July 10, 1967

Concerts

The International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois (10-11)

Time: 8:30 P.M

Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

Notes: held 16,000. Leo Durocher attended.

1. Summer Wind

2. At Long Last Love

3. Day In, Day Out

4. The Shadow of Your Smile

5. Moonlight in Vermont

6. A Foggy Day

7. This Is All I Ask

8. Fly Me to the Moon

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

12. Ol' Man River

13. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

14. My Kind of Town

15. That's Life

16. Strangers in the Night

17. The Lady Is a Tramp

18. That's Life

Extras

The International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois (10-11)

Time: 8:30 P.M

Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

Notes: held 16,000. Leo Durocher attended.

July 11, 1967

Concerts

The International Amphitheater, Chicago, Illinois (10-11)

Time: 8:30 P.M

Buddy Rich, Sergio Mendes, Pat Henry

Notes: held 16,000. Leo Durocher attended.

1. Summer Wind

2. At Long Last Love

3. Day In, Day Out

4. The Shadow of Your Smile

5. Moonlight in Vermont

6. A Foggy Day

7. This Is All I Ask

8. Fly Me to the Moon

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

12. Ol' Man River

13. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

14. My Kind of Town

15. That's Life

16. Strangers in the Night

17. The Lady Is a Tramp

18. That's Life

July 13, 1967

Concerts

Convention Hall, Philly (13-14)

Buddy Rich and his band with

Bill Miller conducting.

8:30 P.M.

Rich introduced Frank as the "Chairman of the Board."

1. Summer Wind

2. At Long Last Love

3. Day In, Day Out

4. The Shadow of Your Smile (Riddle chart with strings)

5. Moonlight in Vermont

6. A Foggy Day

7. This Is All I Ask

8. Fly Me To the Moon

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Nancy

11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

12. Ol' Man River

13. Quiet Nights

14. My Kind of Town

15. That's Life

16. Strangers in the Night

17. The Lady Is A Tramp

18.. That's Life (reprise)

Philadelphia Daily News

Extras

Convention Hall, Philly (13-14)

Buddy Rich and his band with

Bill Miller conducting.

8:30 P.M.

SINATRA 'SENDS' 3 GENERATIONS

The bobby-soxers of yesteryear -- now plump and fortyish -- joined

their mini-skirted daughters and rushed the stage of Civic Center Con-

vention Hall on Thursday night, trying to get their hands on Frank

Sinatra.

While harried policemen and ushers tried to stem the tide of three

generations, hundreds of women in the crowd of more than 12,000 leaped

from their seats and pressed to the stage, many of them screaming the

way they did 25 years ago.

Thousands more climbed on their chairs, on the main floor and in

the balconies, snapping fingers, clapping hands and generally behaving

just as Sinatraphiles have been since the early 1940s and the heyday

of the Earle, the Paramount, Steel Pier and the Glen Island Casino.

" Honey, he's the best," gushed Mrs. Loretta Quinto, 51, of 1507

S. st.. "My husband and I met at the Million Dollar Pier while

Frankie was sing ""Moonlight In Vermont," and we're hoping he does

tonight." He did.

Mrs. Quinto was pulling her husband Jesse, and their

20-year-old

daughter, Clarissa, into the crowd pressing on the stage and ignoring

the entreaties of the people in the $12 seats to sit down.

The Buddy Rich Band, and a special 12-string supplement from

New York, gave Sinatra the famous "big sound" that has been his trade-

mark, and he made good, it seemed, for everyone with hopes he would

sing " that certain song."

Carl Dubois and his wife, Lorraine, said above the noise that they

flew down from Montreal for the concert. "We're hoping he sings ' Fly

Me To The Moon," said Dubois, a contractor who explained he had

met his wife at a Sinatra record session in Canada.

Sinatra came through with their song.

Order eventually was restored and the crowd settled back, but every

so often, when he belted another nostalgic tune like " A Foggy Day,"

restlessness swept the audience and those squeals were just below

the surface.

There were some dissenters. "I think he is overrated, always has

been," said Michael Sinn, of 124 S. Orange st., Scranton. Sinn

said his daughter, Madeline, 16, " made me buy the tickets."

Edward Barker, 22, of 1449, S. Sharp rd., West Chester, said

he had seven Sinatra albums.

"He can handle vocals better than anybody, and doesn't have to

wear long hair to prove it.," said Barker. His girl friend, Sheila Gibbon,

of Bryn Mawr, agreed.

A pretty blonde, Mrs, Ruth Stone, of 2534 Welsh rd., said she liked

Sinatra purely and simply because "he's sexy."

FINGERS CROSSED

There were many "mother-daughter" duos in the audience, among

them Mrs Kathryn Sherman, of 625 Haverford rd., Wynnewood, and

her 21-year-old daughter, Nina.

Mrs. Sherman, who "used to dance to Sinatra with my husband,

Max," was keeping her fingers crossed that he would sing "It Was A

Very Good Year" - - - - - and he did.

Frank Lisa and his wife, Frances, of White Horse pike,

Chesil-

hurst, N.J., who spent many a Sunday in the summers of the early

1940s, dancing to Tommy Dorsey, Frank Sinatra and The Pied Pipers,

were holding hands in the audience.

PRIVATE JET

Sinatra appeared on stage shortly after 10:PM, after flying in to

International Airport in his private jet, Christina, III.

His actress wife, Mia Farrow, 21, was with him, and joined him

later at a private dinner. Philadelphia was the sixth city of a seven

city tour.that has been turning out capacity crowds.

Among those who were in the Civic Center were two men who

traveled more than 3000 miles for the event. Phil Napier, 32, and

Ed Nunn, 28, members of a Sinatra fan club, flew from their home

in London for the performance.

Carlo M. Sardella of the Inquirer Staff

July 14, 1967

AT CIVIC

CENTER

SINATRA DRAWS VAST CROWD OF YESTERYEAR

It was like a crowd that use to storm the Earle Theatre -- only

four times bigger and many years older.

Twelve thousand adoring fans riveting their attention on the

meticulously dressed vocalist bathed in the white spotlight on

the Civic Center stage. Middle-aged Philadelphia turned out in

full force, eager to let loose their inhibitions and shriek their

welcome to Frank Sinatra, America's king of song.

THINNER ON TOP

Like most of his reverent listeners, he is several pounds

heavier, thinner on top, and a little less clear vocally, but

not one ounce of the charisma that has made him a favorite

here and everywhere for 30 years has been lost.

But Sinatra said it himself, to the delight of his audience:

"I use to look like Twiggy then, and had 40 pounds of hair

like Phyllis Diller."

He came on solemnly, letting the screams sweep around

him as he walked across the stage, his arms raised in the

gesture of a champion, an assured man unruffled by the noise

and the flashbulbs popping like lightning. Amateur photographers

pressed into the aisles until police had to be called to usher

them back to their seats.

Then Sinatra gave a signal to Buddy Rich's band to begin

and the crowd got what it had waited for patiently, a medley

of songs from today and yesterday. All were done with the

special Sinatra touch, many of them with a swinging style

in keeping with the times, unlike the slow crooning vocals

of his earlier years.

"Summer Wind" was his opener and he finished it by

using his hand mike to bless his audience, a smile playing

at his lips as her listened to the pleasure he had stirred.

As if in appreciation he moved uninterruptedly though

"At Long Last Love," "Day In, Day Out," "The

Shadow Of

Your Smile," treating it introspectively ; "Moonlight In

Vermont," inviting the audience "on a little trip to one of

our beautiful States, particularly at this time of the year";

"A Foggy Day," Gordon Jenkins' "This Is All I Ask,"

"Fly

Me To The Moon, " and "I've Got You Under My Skin,"

which he was made to reprise.

BREATH CONTROL

While a husky quality is occasionally evident in his

voice, the years have not diminished his great breath

control, the effortlessness with which he delivers a

song and his amazing articulation, amazing because

so many of his numbers seem to be sung through

clenched teeth.

Taking a brief rest for some amusing repartee

and nostalgic remembrances of Philadelphia, he

soon launched again into another medley, each

song greeted by a louder ovation. "Nancy," which

he had first done at the Earle in 1944: "Yes Sir, That's

My Baby," "It Was A Very Good Year," "You're

Nobody Till Somebody Loves You," "Ol' Man River,"

singing it while perched on a stool, and "My Kind

Of Town, Chicago Is." It was all lovely, lovely, lovely.

And Sinatra's forces hardly minded the hour of warm

up entertainment until their hero came on.

But that was an hour of some pretty lively music

and humor, furnished by Buddy Rich's swinging big

and brassy band playing a torrid suite from "West

Side Story" ; Sergio Mendes and his ingratiating

Brasil 66, and comedian Pat Henry, who observed

that Civic Center is "a nice place. I feel I'm playing

in Jackie Gleason's stomach."

Barbara L. Wilson of the Inquirer Staff

Friday morning

July 14, 1967

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

[Sinatra performs 'That's Life' twice in Philadelphia]

Richard Apt: At Philadelphia's Convention Hall, Sinatra sang 'That's Life' twice, once as a concert-closing reprise, before an audience that included Mia Farrow, who cheered after every song; Sinatra archivist Richard Apt recalled Frank playfully blowing her kisses throughout the show.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 14, 1967

Concerts

Convention Hall, Philly (13-14)

Buddy Rich and his band with

Bill Miller conducting.

8:30 P.M.

July 15, 1967

Concerts

Civic Center, Baltimore, MD

Saturday

w/Buddy Rich

1. Summer Wind

2. At Long Last Love

3. Day In, Day Out

4. The Shadow of Your Smile

5. Moonlight in Vermont

6. A Foggy Day

7. This Is All I Ask

8. Fly Me to the Moon

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

11. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

12. Ol' Man River

13. Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars

14. My Kind of Town

15. That's Life

16. Strangers in the Night

17. The Lady Is a Tramp

18. That's Life

The Aegis

Extras

Civic Center, Baltimore, MD

Saturday w/Buddy Rich

July 19, 1967

Film

"The Naked Runner" (USA Release: July 19,

1967)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan, Derren Nesbitt, Nadia

Gray, Michael Newport

Produced by: Brad Dexter

Directed by: Sidney J. Furie

Sam Laker (Sinatra) is an American industrialist, working in Britain, who has just been awarded an international award for industrial design. He is planning to travel to East Germany to attend a trade show and show off his invention, taking his 10 year old son with him for a holiday. Meanwhile a British Intelligence officer (Vaughan) who served with Laker in the Second World War decides to use the opportunity of Laker's trip and his lack of an intelligence profile to coerce him into carrying out an assassination. To ensure his cooperation, his son (Newport) is kidnapped.

DVD Released as "Colpo Su Colpo" in Italy in March 2019 with English Track -- also released in Spain as "Atrapado" without an English track

Note: VHS Released in 1995

[The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra — The Naked Runner (1967)]

David Wills's 2015 photo history The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra devotes a section to The Naked Runner (1967), illustrated with 5 behind-the-scenes and publicity photographs (posters, lobby cards, and on-set/on-location shots) filed here.

Source: David Wills, The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra (St. Martin's Press, 2015), pp. 254–257.

One sheet and half sheet posters, The Naked Runner, 1967. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

One sheet and half sheet posters, The Naked Runner, 1967. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

The Naked Runner. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

With director Sidney Furie, The Naked Runner. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

As Sam Laker, The Naked Runner. / “Of Sinatra, it must be said that even in this / undemonstrative rendition of undistinguished / material, he commands the screen. Given the / plot there must have been a temptation to / shout, moan and chew the scenery. He put the / temptation down, way down, and un (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

Extras

"The Naked Runner" (USA Release: July 19,

1967)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, Peter Vaughan, Derren Nesbitt, Nadia

Gray, Michael Newport

Note: DVD Released as "Colpo Su Colpo" in Italy in March

2019 with English Track -- also released in Spain as "Atrapado" without an English track

Movie tie in paperback:

"The Naked Runner"

The Naked Runner came to Sinatra through Brad Dexter, then executive VP of production at Sinatra Enterprises. Dexter had first pushed William Goldman's script for Harper, but when that deal collapsed he brought Sinatra The Naked Runner instead -- based on the Francis Clifford novel, directed by Sidney J. Furie, screenplay by Stanley Mann.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Sinatra plays Sam Laker, a former WWII sharpshooter living quietly in England for twenty years, who is manipulated by British intelligence officer Martin Slattery (Peter Vaughan) into assassinating a defector by having his own son Patrick (Michael Newport) falsely believed kidnapped by the disguised British agent posing as Colonel Hartmann (Derren Nesbitt).

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Santopietro praises specific wordless moments of Sinatra's performance as effective -- his hand slackening upon hearing his son is dead, his sweat-drenched near-death reaction in the forest scene -- as evidence of real acting skill within an otherwise flawed, overdirected film.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Sinatra actually halted production partway through shooting in order to marry Mia Farrow in Las Vegas -- so determined to avoid press coverage that he didn't even tell his own daughters about the wedding, and asked Farrow not to tell her mother either. The marriage news broke worldwide once discovered.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

At a party thrown by Bill and Edie Goetz for the newlyweds, the generational gap in the Sinatra-Farrow marriage was already visible: aside from a couple of Mia's siblings, the guest list was almost entirely older Hollywood royalty (George Cukor, Katharine Hepburn, Spencer Tracy, Edward G. Robinson, Ruth and Garson Kanin) -- all roughly Sinatra's age, none of them Mia's peers.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Beyond the marital turmoil, production was plagued by temper: Sinatra reportedly refused to travel to filming locations by car, insisting on helicopters, and director Sidney Furie had his own flashes of temper as well.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

George Jacobs: Sinatra's longtime valet George Jacobs recalled that Sinatra hated London's 1960s Carnaby Street "Mod" scene so much that he essentially abandoned the production, returning to Los Angeles and leaving the producers to assemble the film from whatever footage they had.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Brad Dexter (as recounted by Santopietro): Per Brad Dexter's account, Sinatra returned to California mid-shoot to campaign at a rally for Governor Edmund Brown (running against Sinatra's soon-to-be friend Ronald Reagan), then sent attorney Mickey Rudin to inform Dexter he would not return to the Copenhagen location and would finish his scenes on an LA soundstage instead. Furie and Dexter completed the film without him, using a double where needed; Dexter was subsequently fired from Sinatra Enterprises.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Pauline Kael (The New Republic): The Naked Runner was Sinatra's third box-office flop in a row (after Marriage on the Rocks and Assault on a Queen), released in July 1967 to negative reviews, most famously Pauline Kael's New Republic dismissal that it "might be a good movie to read by if there were light in the theater."

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Charles Champlin (Los Angeles Times): In contrast to Kael, Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times praised Sinatra's restraint in the role, writing that even given the temptation to overplay the material, Sinatra held the histrionics in check, conveying "a sense of power held in check, of power wasted."

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Bosley Crowther (New York Times): Bosley Crowther's New York Times review of The Naked Runner observed it was curious how often Sinatra played men involved in gun violence -- gangsters, soldiers, assassins -- noting he seemed drawn to stories where his character is called upon to kill. Santopietro adds that Sinatra played armed characters (crook, soldier, assassin, detective) in at least twenty-two of his films.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Santopietro grades this a C, saying it starts out well but turns into a mess.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Naked Runner"

Santopietro (Filmography): Sinatra Enterprises/Artanis/Warner Bros. Pictures. Produced by Brad Dexter, directed by Sidney J. Furie, screenplay by Stanley Mann based on the Francis Clifford novel. Sinatra played Sam Laker opposite Peter Vaughan and Derren Nesbitt.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

July 22, 1967

Extras

[Hughes buys the Sands]

It was announced that Howard Hughes had purchased the Sands, property and operations, for an estimated $15 million (later revealed to be $23 million); a Hughes spokesman promised no changes to the successful operation.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July 24, 1967

Studio

United Recording Studio - Hollywood

Monday evening

7 to 9:PM

49 piece orchestra including a 30 piece string section

Al Hendrickson on guitar

K6108 Born Free

12 takes

(Don Black/John Barry)

EMI Screen Gems Music inc. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Gordon Jenkins

(2:02) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

K6109 This Is My Love

3 Takes

(James Harbert)

St. Lawrence Music Inc. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Gordon Jenkins

(3:33) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 11

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

45: 0631

K6110 This Is My Song

(Charles Chaplin)

5 takes

MCA Inc. (ASCAP/PRS Ltd.)

Arranged & Conducted by Ernie Freeman

(2:26)Â CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

note: I posted this last year.

Here are the correct takes for the session: "Born Free" has 12, "This Is My Love" required 3 and Chaplin's song was done in 5. -- Ed

Second session

10::PM to 12:AM

34 piece orchestra including Glen Campbell as one of four guitarists female choral group (6) vocal overdub on 7-27-67

K6111 Don't Sleep In The Subway w/Chorus

4 takes

(Tony Hatch/Jackie Trent)

Duchess Music Corp./ATV Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Ernie Freeman

(2:17) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

K6112 Some Enchanted Evening

4 takes OD

(Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II)

Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by H..B. Barnum

(2:34) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: 1022The World We Knew

K6113 This Town

2 takes

(Lee Hazlewood)

Remick Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy Strange

(2:59) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1022-2The World We Knew

LP: FS1025Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits

LP: FS1022The World We Knew

45: 0631

note: there were orchestral overdubs done for the Hazelwood song on 6-30 and 7/27.

Extras

[This Is My Love / Born Free / You Are There -- critical commentary]

Jenkins arranged three tracks on 1967's The World We Knew: "This Is My Love" (a remake of Sinatra's earlier "This Was My Love" from eight years prior), the movie theme "Born Free" (whose melody was reused a decade later as the Star Wars main theme), and "You Are There," from Sinatra's own film The Naked Runner. Friedwald credits Jenkins's 'inflationary tactics' with elevating fairly meager source material.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 8, "Gordon Jenkins" (1956-1981)

July 31, 1967

Extras

[Wilson floats a Sinatra-Farrow pairing]

Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson's column suggested 20th Century Fox planned to pair Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow onscreen in both 'The Detective' and 'The Chairman' (which never happened for Mia in the latter, ultimately made with Gregory Peck); 'The Detective' was set to begin shooting in mid-October, with Mia's work starting November 17.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 12, 1967

Extras

8-12-15

August 16, 1967

Extras

[Rosemary's Baby production kicks off with hair-cutting stunt] At a Paramount publicity event on a soundstage, hairstylist Vidal Sassoon ceremonially trimmed Mia Farrow's already-short hair by one inch in front of reporters and photographers, marking the start of 'Rosemary's Baby' production.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

Mia Farrow filed for divorce from Sinatra in Juarez, Mexico, citing incompatibility as the sole ground.

Source: George Carpozi Jr., Frank Sinatra: Is This Man Mafia? (New York: Manor Books, 1979).

August 30, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 30 - September 8)

Buddy Rich & His Orch.

Pat Henry

Sammy Davis Jr. did a segment of both shows with Frank opening night

1. Summer Wind

2. Ol' Man River

3. You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

4. You Are There

5. Moonlight In Vermont

6. The World We Knew

7. Day In, Day Out

8. Don't Sleep In The Subway

9. That's Life

10. Some Enchanted Evening

11. monologue

12. I've Got You Under My Skin

13. It Was A Very Good Year

14. Strangers In The Night

15. My Kind Of Town

16. Fly me To The Moon

17. The Lady Is A Tramp

18. Change Partners

SINATRA SCORES AT SANDS WITH 'STUFFED HORN'

LAS VEGAS -- Frank Sinatra made his 29th appearance at the Sands Hotel Wednesday night(30) to a capacity crowd.

Sinatra, who had a sore throat, received medication through- out the day and within minutes of showtime, appeared on stage and sang eight songs. including "Moonlight In Vermont," "Don't Sleep In The Subway, Darling," and brought the house down with a swinging version of his recording "That's Life."

Describing his cold as a "stuffed horn," Sinatra joked about Howard Hughes who recently bought the Sands.

Sinatra spent about 40 minutes on stage, with Sammy Davis unexpectedly spelling him for about 15 minutes. Sinatra and Davis closed the show with a version of "The Lady Is A Tramp."

Buddy Rich and his 16 piece band, conducted by Bill Miller, backed Sinatra. Also on the bill is comedian Pat Henry.

Don DiGilio

Billboard

September 16, 1967

note: Frank's last stand at the Sands. He first appeared there in October of 1953. Over the next 15 years Sinatra would average two engagements a year at the club. SRO crowds would be the norm throughout his reign as the most popular artist in Vegas..

In the mid-1970s, the city would pick Frank the greatest performer to ever play the Strip. And he attracted the big gamblers. The city had a special buzz when Sinatra was in town.

Ed O'Brien:

Sinatra opened at the Sands the same week the Frank-Ella album was canceled at the last minute.The choice of songs was found wanting. Sonny Burke, producer of the project, sought better material and a suitable time to reschedule the sessions.

The Sands appearance, with Buddy Rich's band, opened on 8-30. It was a four week engagement.. Alas! it was not to be. Frank recovered from his sore throat by the weekend, but his problems with the new owner, Howard Hughes, were about to boil over. There was a show on Wednesday, 9/6, Sinatra cancelled on Thursday( 7), and he did two shows on Friday (8). He cancelled on Saturday and flew back to Palm Springs. During this period he was in serious negotiations with Caesars Palace. A tentative agreement was reached prior to that weekend. He would move over to Caesars after a 15 year association with the Sands. Frank's credit had been cutoff that week by Mr. Hughes. Sinatra was furious.

He flew back to Vegas on Sunday(10) and demanded an explanation. By early Monday morning the situation was way out of hand. Sinatra insisted on a meeting with Carl Cohen, an executive at the hotel. It did not go well. Frank knocked a table over, spilling coffee on Cohen, who then proceeded to punch Frank in the mouth. He knocked two caps off Sinatra's front teeth. There was some additional damage to the area around Frank's mouth. He walked out of the room with bloody face. He would dissolve all ties with the Sands immediately.

His years at the Sands was a time when Vegas grew into a vast entertainment capital. And Sinatra was the king of The Strip. His shows were sold out way in advance of his engagements for years. He would bring with him Nelson Riddle,

or Billy May, or Gordon Jenkins, and the latest material from his concept albums would be performed. The second show of September 8, 1967 marked the end of an era.

Ed

Extras

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 30 - September 8)

Buddy Rich & His Orch.

Pat Henry

Sammy Davis Jr. did a segment of both shows with Frank opening night

Variety

Frank's three week engagement lasted one week. Frank did 14 shows.

Sammy subbed for him on Labor Day and Tuesday and Wednesday of the

first week in September..

Here is a list of some of the parodies Frank sang during the engagement.

He checked off the ones he wanted to perform.

Ed

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

[Sinatra opens 29th Sands engagement]

Variety / Kaplan: As Labor Day weekend began, Frank opened at the Sands for the twenty-ninth time since 1952, drawing strong reviews from Variety even as he joked pointedly about Howard Hughes's new ownership of the casino ('Howard Hughes bought it' in place of a drink joke).

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 31, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 28 - September 8)

September 1967

Extras

[Hughes regime disrupts the Sands]

Ed Walters: Pit boss Ed Walters recalled that after Hughes's takeover, his mostly Mormon staff of accountants and lawyers stopped all casino transactions, audited everything, and imposed strict new credit rules, treating longtime staff 'like mobsters and gamblers'; retired Air Force general Edward Nigro oversaw the new operation as casino manager.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

September 1, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 31 - September 17)

September 2, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 31 - September 17)

September 3, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 31 - September 17)

September 4, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas , Nevada (August 31 - September 17)

September 5, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 31 - September 17)

September 6, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas , Nevada (August 31 - September 17)

September 7, 1967

Extras

[Sands cuts off Sinatra's credit]

Eleanor Roth: Casino manager General Nigro decided to cut off Frank's gambling credit at the Sands because he hadn't settled his debt; Carl Cohen informed Jack Entratter, whose assistant Eleanor Roth later felt Entratter should have quietly deducted the markers from Sinatra's salary rather than embarrass him, and that Entratter lacked the nerve to tell Frank directly.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

September 8, 1967

Concerts

Sands, Las Vegas, Nevada (August 31 - September 8)

note: Sinatra opened at the Sands the same week the Frank-Ella album was canceled at the last minute.The choice of songs was found wanting. Sonny Burke, producer of the project, sought better  material and a suitable time to reschedule the sessions. The Sands appearance, with Buddy Rich's band, opened on 8-30. It was a four week  engagement.. Alas! it was not to be. Frank recovered from his sore  throat by the weekend, but his problems with  the new owner, Howard  Hughes, were about to boil over. There was a show on Wednesday, 9/6,   Sinatra cancelled on Thursday( 7), and he  did two shows on Friday (8).  He cancelled on Saturday and flew back to Palm Springs. During this  period he was in serious negotiations with Caesars Palace. A tentative  agreement was reached prior to that weekend. He would move over to  Caesars after a 15 year association with the Sands.  Frank's gambling credit had  been cutoff that week by Mr. Hughes.Sinatra was furious. He flew back  to Vegas on Sunday(10) and demanded an explanation. By eary  Monday  morning the situation was way out of hand. Sinatra insisted on a meeting with Carl Cohen, an executive at the hotel. It did not go well. Frank knocked a table over, spilling coffee on Cohen, who then proceeded to punch Frank in the mouth. He knocked two caps off Sinatra's front teeth. There was some additional damage to the area around Frank's mouth. He walked out of the room with bloody face. He would dissolve all ties with the Sands immediately. His years at the Sands was a time when Vegas grew into a vast entertainment capital. And Sinatra was the king of The Strip. His shows were sold out way in advance of his engagements for years. He would bring with him Nelson Riddle, or Billy May, or Gordon Jenkins, and the latest material from his concept albums would be performed. The second show of September 8, 1967 marked the end of an era.

Ed

Extras

During this closing engagement, Sands executive vice president Carl Cohen cuts off Frank's gambling credit after Frank lost roughly $50,000 at the tables and refused to cash out; the rejection, delivered in front of a group of Apollo astronauts Frank had invited to his show, humiliated him. A furious Frank confronted Cohen, and in the ensuing altercation Cohen punched him, knocking out two of his front teeth. Frank finished his shows that night, but the incident ended his friendship with Sands boss Jack Entratter and kept him off a Las Vegas stage for nearly a year and a half, until he returned at Caesars Palace in November 1968. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

[Sinatra denied chips at blackjack]

Ed Walters: Early Friday morning, Sinatra asked for $200 in chips at a blackjack table; pit boss Ed Walters told him of the new credit rules, and Sinatra walked away seeming annoyed but not furious, keeping his anger in check for the moment.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Astronauts attend Sinatra's show, credit denied again]

Eleanor Roth: Six Apollo astronauts (Jack Swigert, Gene Cernan, Tom Stafford, Walt Cunningham, Wally Schirra, and Ron Evans) attended Sinatra's midnight Copa Room show; afterward, when Frank took them to the baccarat table and asked for credit, he was refused, a humiliation in front of the astronauts that enraged him, according to Eleanor Roth.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

September 9, 1967

Extras

[The golf cart incident]

Mia Farrow (memoir): In the early hours, Sinatra, wearing a shoe box on his head to block the sunlight, suddenly swerved a golf cart toward the Sands lobby's plate-glass window, sideswiping it; both he and Mia Farrow were uninjured. He then went into the casino, piled up chairs, and tried unsuccessfully to set them ablaze with his cigarette lighter before casino guards arrived.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Maheu memos Hughes about Sinatra's rampage]

Robert Maheu: In a memo to Howard Hughes, Robert Maheu described two successive nights of Sinatra behaving badly in the casino, driving a golf cart through a plate-glass window while drunk, and reported that Carl Cohen had cut off his credit after Sinatra had taken out over $30,000 in cash and lost roughly $50,000; Sinatra told Maheu by phone that he was walking away from the engagement.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Dinner at Trader Vic's precedes the Vegas blowup]

Mia Farrow: Mia Farrow recalled that she, Frank, Nancy Sinatra Jr., and Jimmy Bowen had dinner at Trader Vic's in Beverly Hills before Frank, well lubricated, abruptly decided to fly to Las Vegas alone that night, later calling Mia the next morning to tell her about the fight and his broken teeth.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

September 10, 1967

Extras

[Sinatra confronts Carl Cohen]

Robert Maheu / Kaplan: Sinatra returned to the Sands, smashed his hand on the bell captain's desk demanding to see Carl Cohen, and threatened staff; Cohen agreed to meet him in the Garden Room, where Sinatra shouted that he'd built the hotel 'from a sand pile' and could tear it down again.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Carl Cohen breaks Sinatra's teeth]

Kaplan (various sources): After Sinatra cursed at him, threatened to have him killed, and called him 'a kike,' Carl Cohen punched Sinatra in the mouth, smashing the caps off his front teeth and knocking him to the floor; Sinatra then threw a chair (which hit a security guard instead) and ordered Jilly Rizzo, 'Get him, Jilly!'—but Rizzo wisely stood down rather than confront Cohen.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

September 11, 1967

Extras

[UPI reports Sinatra's abrupt Sands departure]

UPI: UPI reported that a Sands spokesman had no explanation for why Sinatra broke off his engagement 'without explanation'; Sinatra, who had opened his 29th Sands engagement on August 30 for a run through September 20, left for his Hollywood home the prior Saturday night before the first show, with Frankie Avalon booked to complete the run.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[The Sands brawl behind Sinatra's abrupt exit]

An FBI memo relayed by SAC Dean Elson filled in what UPI's report of Sinatra's unexplained Sands departure left out: Sinatra, after his wife Mia Farrow lost $20,000 gambling and his own credit was subsequently cut off by new Sands owner Howard Hughes, tore up his hotel room, drove a golf cart around the property, and threw casino chips in manager Carl Cohen's face -- whereupon Cohen "really decked him," knocking out at least two front teeth. A later FBI summary speculated the incident may have been engineered to break Sinatra's Sands contract so he could move to the Mafia-linked Caesars Palace, where -- per Kitty Kelley's biography -- he had in fact signed a $3 million contract that same day.

Source: Kuntz and Kuntz, The Sinatra Files, ch. 8.

September 13, 1967

Extras

[Vegas fight and Caesars defection hit front pages]

UPI / Kaplan: The story of Sinatra's fight with Carl Cohen finally broke publicly, alongside news of his defection to Caesars Palace and Caesars' purchase of Sinatra's Cal-Neva stake for $2.5 million; a Sinatra spokesman told UPI, 'We can't deny any of what happened...We can't even deny his teeth were knocked out.' His longtime dentist, Dr. Abe B. Weinstein, flew from Connecticut to repair the damage.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

September 20, 1967

Studio

Hollywood

K6159 Younger Than Springtime

(Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II)

Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy Strange

-8 (2:41) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS5250 (Italy)

LP: RS6277Movin' With Nancy

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien writes that discographies always credit Sinatra with eight takes on this tune.

But the released recording is not the eighth take on "Movin' with Nancy ." It seems certain that Sinatra did additional takes.

Extras

Hollywood

K6159 Younger Than Springtime

(Richard Rodgers/Oscar Hammerstein II)

Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy Strange

-8 (2:41) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS5250 (Italy)

LP: RS6277Movin' With Nancy

October 1967

Extras

[Television Taping With Antonio Carlos Jobim]

Sinatra taped a television appearance with bossa nova pioneer and 'The Girl From Ipanema' composer Antonio Carlos Jobim; producer Sonny Burke called their first joint session one of his favorites.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Leonard Lyons on Jilly's damaged reputation]

Leonard Lyons: Columnist Leonard Lyons wrote that the Sands fight had destroyed Jilly Rizzo's reputation as a tough guy, since he stood by and watched Sinatra get knocked down without raising a finger.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

October 3, 1967

Television

Taping of "A Man & His Music + Ella + Jobim"

Ed O'Brien:

What many consider to be Sinatra's finest TV effort --

"A Man & His Music + Ella + Jobim" - was taped at the NBC Burbank Studio on 10-1-2-3- 67. Musicians who worked on the special told me the rehearsal time and taping was extensive over the three days. After each taping, Ella-Riddle and Sinatra traveled over to Western Recorder studios and rehearsed the

Frank-Ella album scheduled to be recorded on

October 9/10 ( Monday and Tuesday). Mr Granz demanded, at the eleventh hour, there be two two albums recorded -- one at Reprise and one at Verve. Frank was enraged and the sessions were canceled.

October 8, 1967

Concerts

St. Paul Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota

Benefit for Hubert Humphrey

Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Trini Lopez, Milton Berle, Pat Henry, The 5th Dimension, Buddy Rich and his Orchestra

Note: Dean Martin was scheduled to appear but did not.

Extras

St. Paul Auditorium, St. Paul, Minnesota

Benefit for Hubert Humphrey

Frank Sinatra, Nancy Sinatra, Trini Lopez, Milton Berle, Pat Henry, The 5th Dimension, Buddy Rich and his Orchestra

Note: Dean Martin was scheduled to appear but did not.

Star Tribune

October 9, 1967 note: A fund raiser for a ticket that did not survive the unrest in America

-------------------------------------------------------

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

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[Sinatra headlines Humphrey benefit in St. Paul]

Variety: Out of friendship for Vice President Hubert Humphrey, Sinatra donated his services for a one-night 'Evening of Stars' benefit at St. Paul Auditorium to raise funds for the Citizens for Johnson-Humphrey Committee, lining up Nancy Sinatra, Dean Martin, Milton Berle, Pat Henry, the Step Brothers, and the Fifth Dimension for the bill.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

October 11, 1967

Extras

[Wilson reports on Mia's planned India trip]

Earl Wilson / Maureen O'Sullivan: Earl Wilson's column, headlined 'Sinatra Approves Mia Trip to India,' quoted Mia's mother Maureen O'Sullivan saying she and Frank both approved of Mia and her sister Prudence Farrow going to India to study with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, and that marital relations were 'just fine.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

October 16, 1967

Extras

Filming begins on The Detective, the 20th Century-Fox drama based on Roderick Thorp's novel, with Sinatra in the lead. The production later collided with Mia Farrow's overrunning schedule on Rosemary's Baby, which Frank pressed her to abandon; she refused, and Paramount declined to force her off the picture. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

October 19, 1967

Concerts

Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden, New York City

Thursday Evening

Benefit For Italian American League

Sammy Davis Jr introduced Frank Sinatra

1. At Long Last Love

2. Day In, Day Out

3. Moonlight In Vermont

4. Fly Me To The Moon

5. I've Got You Under My Skin

6. The Lady Is A Tramp w/Sammy

note: A video of this show is in circulation among collectors.

Frank was ushered on stage surrounded by his bodyguards.

They led him off at the conclusion of his performance.

Extras

Felt Forum, Madison Square Garden, New York City

November 1967

Extras

[Rosemary's Baby]

Mia Farrow: While still filming Rosemary's Baby in November 1967, Mia Farrow was served divorce papers on set by Sinatra's attorney Mickey Rudin -- the first indication their marriage was ending. Farrow recalled signing every page without reading it, telling Rudin she would do whatever they wanted and needed no lawyer of her own.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Tony Rome]

Tony Rome, released November 1967 by Twentieth Century-Fox and based on Marvin H. Albert's novel, reunited Sinatra with Robin and the 7 Hoods director Gordon Douglas and cinematographer Joseph Biroc. Score by Billy May; the title song was sung by daughter Nancy Sinatra, with an odd lyric warning mothers to lock up their daughters because of her own father's character.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Tony Rome]

Santopietro (Filmography): Arcola-Millfield/Twentieth Century-Fox. Produced by Aaron Rosenberg, directed by Gordon Douglas, screenplay by Richard L. Breen based on the Marvin H. Albert novel, musical score by Billy May, title song by Lee Hazlewood sung by Nancy Sinatra. Sinatra played private eye Tony Rome opposite Jill St. John, Richard Conte and Gena Rowlands.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Filmography

November 6, 1967

Extras

A Man And His Music + Ella + Jobim

Guests: Ella Fitzgerald, Antonio Carlos Jobim

Toronto Star

Toronto Star

Telegraph Journal New Brunswick, Canada

November 13, 1967

Television

A Man And His Music + Ella + Jobim

Guests: Ella Fitzgerald, Antonio Carlos Jobim

Taped October 1-3, 1967

1. Day In Day Out

2. Get Me To The Church On Time

3. What Now My Love

4. Ol' Man River

5. medley w/Ella: How Hight The Moon / Up, Up And Away / Look Out For

Jimmy Valentine / Theme To Tony Rome / Goody Goody / Don't Cry Joe / Ode To Billy Joe / Goin Out Of My Head 6. Medley w/Jobim: Change Partners / I Concentrate On You / The Girl From Ipanema

7. medley w/Ella: The Song Is You / They Can't Take That Away From Me /

Stopin' At The Savoy / At Long Last Love

8. The Lady Is A Tramp w/Ella

9. Put Your Dreams Away

Notes: 60 min.

Ed O'Brien considers this to be, arguably, Sinatra's finest hour on television. Al Porcino was lead trumpet on the show. He told Ed that it was the best gig ever with Frank. They did a lot of rehearsal work before it was right. The original concept offered a dramatically different show. Frank and Ella's segment opened with "Oh, Lonesome Me."

There was a tribute to the Mamas and Papas with special lyrics. Then they sang "I Dig Rock n' Roll Music" and "Feelin'

Groovy." Next up was Frank singing "Don't Sleep in the Subway." The second medley opened with Frank singing

"Slap Dab in the Middle" and then Ella joined in. Later in the medley they sang "It Don't Mean a Thing if it Ain't Got That Swing." Frank did "That's Life" before

"Tramp." Eventually they ironed out all the problems and songs were dropped while others were added. Porcino loved all the extra pay during those

long rehearsals.

After reading O'Brien comments, Sinatraphile Mary Jane Smetanka says she watched the show, not having seen it for some time. She says she hasn't seen as much of Sinatra's TV shows as others have, but this one is her favorite. The Frank/Jobim medley is classic and Frank is in gorgeous voice. Frank and Ella on screen together is a dream come true for me, she writes.

It is interesting, she continues, that with all the rehearsals Ella seems so nervous during the scripted dialogue. She has heard that Ella was disastrous in the one or two movies she did. She looks terribly uncomfortable and stiff during the nonsense talk that precedes the 1960s song medley. Their voices sounded wonderful together, and I am so sorry they did not make that album together.

I love the 60s medley, she emphasizes. They seem to be having a great time in the final song and it always makes me laugh to see gray Bill Miller pounding away at the piano, poker-faced like he's in a room by himself. In the final songs together, there's a line where Frank sings something like "You rest now" and Ella looks rather thrown.

Does anyone know if that was scripted or a real effort to cover a faux pas? she asks.

In response, no one indicated they knew the answer to Mary Jane's question, but Ed O'Brien sent along two comprehensive reviews of the video and the DVD of this show, but he doesn't remember their source. [NOTE: Neither review is included in this post, because of their length and my temporarily "tired fingers." Sorry! Jim

White

Sinatraphile Dick Bellach claims that the closing rendition of "Lady is a Tramp" ranks as one of the best moments in the history of American popular song ever captured on film. He says he'll go one step further and say "It's not "One of . . ." I think it ranks as the best, he insists.

Sinatraphile Bill Brent asks if all the FAS/Jobim have been released on reoordings. Ed O'Brien responds that Sinatra recorded 20 songs with Jobim. The first 10 in January/February 1967 and the rest in February of

1969. All are available in the 20-cd boxed set released in 1995. Robert

Quartin worked on the second album which was released piecemeal. He sent O'Brien a list of the 16 songs that were originally intended for the album. Unfortunately, the project was whittled down to ten. Roberto told O'Brien that Jobim was very disappointed because he felt the unrecorded songs were perfect for Sinatra. Sinatra told Roberto, during the '69 sessions, that the album from '67 was the best controlled singing he had even done in a studio.

Sinatraphile Ed Spiegel wanted to know the title of the six songs that were not recorded, but O'Brien said he'd have to look for the list that Quartin had sent him.

[The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra — Tony Rome (1967)]

David Wills's 2015 photo history The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra devotes a section to Tony Rome (1967), illustrated with 3 behind-the-scenes and publicity photographs (posters, lobby cards, and on-set/on-location shots) filed here.

“Tony Rome is lively and entertaining and for this we must thank both the capable Mr. Sinatra and the persistent ghost of Mr. Bogart.… Frank Sinatra has been a talent in search of a role ever since The Manchurian Candidate, and, at last, in Tony Rome.” —Hollis Alpert

Source: David Wills, The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra (St. Martin's Press, 2015), pp. 259–261.

One sheet poster, Tony Rome, 1967. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

Tony Rome. / “For those who like their screen detective / recognizable and raw, and their mystery / melodramas seamy and colloquial, this thing / with Mr. Sinatra should satisfy their taste. It is (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

brassy, trashy, vulgar and Miami Beach / colorful.” / As Tony Rome. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

Extras

Forwarded Message -----

From: Ed O'Brien <eob101@aol.com>

To: ed obrien <eob101@aol.com>

Sent: Wednesday, November 12, 2025 at 04:48:40 PM EST

Subject: 11-13-67

A Man And His Music + Ella + Jobim

Guests: Ella Fitzgerald, Antonio Carlos Jobim

Taped October 1-3, 1967

Rehearsal photos from October 1967

Chicago Tribune

November 13th 1972 - Palm Springs, CA: Sinatra gave the bride away Desert Sun, 15 November 1972 ­ Beau Wheat And Ken Venturi Wed At Four O’Clock

[Mia dances with Robert Kennedy at the Factory]

Kaplan (AP): At a benefit fashion show by Andre Courreges at the Factory nightclub, attended by much of Hollywood as well as Robert F. Kennedy and his wife Ethel, Mia Farrow danced repeatedly with Bobby Kennedy in front of hundreds of guests, including many of Frank's friends; word got back to Sinatra quickly.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 17, 1967

Extras

[Mia fails to report for The Detective]

The date Mia was due to join the cast of 'The Detective' came and went without her appearing, and production on the film shut down because its star, Sinatra, was too upset to work.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 22, 1967

Extras

The day before Thanksgiving, Frank's attorney Mickey Rudin arrives on the Rosemary's Baby set and hands Mia Farrow a set of pre-filled divorce papers, telling her simply to sign. She had no prior warning that Frank intended to end the marriage. That evening, Frank's publicist Jim Mahoney announced to the press that the couple, married just over a year, had "agreed to a separation." Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

[Rudin delivers Sinatra's divorce papers to Mia]

Mia Farrow: The day before Thanksgiving, Mickey Rudin appeared on the 'Rosemary's Baby' set at Paramount and handed Mia Farrow, in her dressing room, an application for divorce from Frank Sinatra; blindsided, she signed without reading it and told Rudin she would not hire her own lawyer.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Polanski recalls Mia's devastation]

Roman Polanski: Director Roman Polanski found Mia Farrow sobbing in her dressing room after being served divorce papers, recalling that what hurt her most was that Sinatra hadn't told her himself but sent Rudin instead, 'like firing a servant.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 24, 1967

Extras

[UPI announces Sinatra-Farrow trial separation]

UPI: UPI reported that Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow spent Thanksgiving apart by mutual agreement, the start of a trial separation ending sixteen months of marriage; Sinatra was in seclusion in Palm Springs and Farrow at their guarded Bel Air mansion, with Sinatra's publicist stating there would be no further comment from either party.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 29, 1967

Extras

[Jacqueline Bisset replaces Mia in The Detective]

Richard Zanuck / UPI: 20th Century Fox production chief Richard Zanuck announced that twenty-three-year-old British newcomer Jacqueline Bisset would replace Mia Farrow in 'The Detective,' with her role of Norma MacIver cut down considerably; the production remained shut down pending Sinatra's return from Palm Springs.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

December 1967

Extras

[Recording Francis A. & Edward K. With Ellington]

Sinatra and Duke Ellington recorded their 1968 album Francis A. & Edward K.; arranger Billy May recalled being flattered to work with both men as a replacement for the recently deceased Billy Strayhorn, with Count Basie and Harry "Sweets" Edison among the musicians who stopped by the sessions.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[recording session/personnel -- critical commentary]

Billy May: In December 1967 Sinatra recorded Francis A. & Edward K. with Duke Ellington's band. Billy Strayhorn, originally slated to write the charts, died just before the album began; Billy May stepped in on short notice, flying to Seattle with pianist Bill Miller for a rushed rehearsal with a band May found to be poor sight-readers, though by the actual session everything came together.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

December 2, 1967

Extras

The NME reported plans for singer Long John Baldry to star in thirteen colour TV episodes playing a show-business tycoon modeled on Sinatra, according to his manager Simon Napier-Bell. The project never materialized, but Havers cites it as evidence of how Frank was perceived within the entertainment world by this point. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

December 11, 1967

Studio

Hollywood

K6319 All I Need Is The Girl w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Stephen Sondheim/Jule Styne)

Stratford Music Corp./Williamson Music Co. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(4:59) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 9-26340-2 The Reprise Collection

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

K6320 Yellow Days w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Alarcon Carrillo/Alan Bernstein)

E.B. Marks Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(4:57) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

K6321 Indian Summer w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Victor Herbert/Al Dubin)

Harms Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(4:11) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

K6322 Come Back To Me w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Alan Jay Lerner/Burton Lane)

Chappell & Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(3:22) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

1967

Duke Ellington­Frank Sinatra FRANCIS A. & EDWARD K.­Reprise FS FS1024: Follow Me; Sunny; All 1 Need Is the Girl; Indian Summer; I Like the Sunrise; Yellow Days; Poor Butterfly; Come Back to Me.

Personnel: Sinatra, vocals; Cat Anderson, Mercer Ellington, Cootie Williams. Herbie Jones. Sweets Edison, Al Porcino, trumpets; Lawrence Brown. Chuck Connors, Buster Cooper, trombones; Russell Procopc, Johnny Hodges, Jimmy Hamilton, Paul Gonsalves, Harry Carney, reeds; Ellington, piano; John Lamb, bass; Sani Woodyard, drums; Billy May, arranger.

Rating: ****

At first hearing, this much heralded summit meeting is a bit disappointing, but it grows on you­at least it did on me. To begin with the negatives: it seems odd indeed that only one Ellington piece (Sunrise) was included, and perhaps even odder that the album was not arranged by Ellington himself. Let me hasten to add, however, that Billy May has done a great job. Always an Ellington admirer (older listeners may recall his many Dukish charts for Charlie Barnet in the '40s), he must have relished this assignment, and at times (especially on Yellow Days) his touch is uncannily close to the master's. Two ringers were brought in to beef up the trumpet section, currently the band's weakest link. Everybody was on best behavior, it seems­the band sounds tight and together at all times. The superb recording brings out the full flavor of the magnificent Ellington sound; the reeds, in particular, are opulent. To put it bluntly, this would have been a great album if Sinatra had been in top voice. On a few tracks, he is; at other times, one can sense that he is holding back. But he is nothing if not an old pro. and his mastery of phrasing overcomes all potential pitfalls. Relaxed tempi predominate to the point that the final selection, a way-up romp, comes as a positive relief. Why was it saved for that particular spot? Don't ask me. Quite a bit of space has been granted the band and its key soloists, and the tracks are thus longer than is customary on vocal albums. Cootie Williams, Gonsalves, and Hodges are most frequently .spotlighted, and make their impact felt. Indian Summer is the album's masterpiece, and one of Sinatra's most impressive efforts in recent years. The mood is bittersweet, the reeds add lovely touches, Ellington makes the most of his keyboard presence, and Hodges' touching solo is a perfect extension of the mood set by the singer. This one makes Ihe whole venture worlh the effort. Come Back, the aforementioned swinger, also finds Sinatra in peak form. Few singers could sustain such a tempo, but he never loses his firm grip on the melody and the lyric. The band shouts and romps, with brilliant work from the trumpets, a glimpse of Gonsalves, and superb Woodyard. (The drummer, consistently low rated by critics, does a sterling job throughout.) Sunrise, though well sung and scored, and enhanced by comments from Cootie and Gonsalves, does not measure up to the Al Hibbler original. The song's range, it appears, is more suitable for a voice deeper than Sinatra's, though it was his own choice. Butterfly and Girl are set in a mold that recalls the Sinatra-Basie collaborations, and the former could have stood a few solo comments. The final chorus, however, is top-drawer singing. The cover, featuring photographs of the Iwo protagonists at a tender age, is a cute touch. Young Edward Kennedy already had that regal air, while young Francis Albert (with bangs) hadn't yet found his groove. But then, he seems to be about 5 or so, while Duke must have been at least 8. ­Dan Morgensternn DOWNBEAT April 18, 1968

note: I was not familiar with his review. I must say it was a pleasant surprise. Morgenstern gives the album a very fair review and much of what he has to say rings true to what I know about the album. Ed

Television

Movin' With Nancy

NBC

Monday Evening

8:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

1. Gotta Get Out Of The Town

2. Younger Than Springtime

Guests: Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra Jr.

Ed O'Brien:

Frank's segment was filmed at a Reprise recording session on 9-20-67. You hear take

8 of "Younger Than Springtime." It is not the released recording, but an alternate.

Extras

"Yellow Days"

Adapted from Mexican composer Alvaro Carrillo's 'Se te olvida.' A standout Johnny Hodges solo leads into an extension section styled after Ellington's own habit of adding sections beyond standard song form (as in 'Cotton Tail'), though the 'extra' section is actually built from the original Carrillo tune -- an example of May's mastery of what Strayhorn called 'the Ellington Effect.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

"Indian Summer"

Granata includes 'Indian Summer' among the fifty recordings he considers essential to understanding Sinatra's artistry (arranged by with Duke Ellington, recorded 1967, Reprise); the song was chosen for its musical/interpretive value rather than commercial popularity.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

[Sinatra-Ellington recording session]

Kaplan / Billy May: Sinatra and Duke Ellington's band, with arrangements by Billy May, recorded together at Western Recorders; the Ellington band, notoriously poor sight-readers who barely rehearsed the charts, had to be reinforced with 'ringer' studio musicians including trumpeter Al Porcino and keyboardists Jimmy Jones and Milt Raskin. Highlights included Johnny Hodges's solo on 'Indian Summer' (later called Nelson Riddle's favorite Sinatra chart) and Paul Gonsalves's solo on the closer 'Come Back to Me.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

December 12, 1967

Studio

Hollywood

K6324 Sunny w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Bobby Hebb)

Portable/Unichappel l Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(4:11) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

K6325 I Like The Sunrise w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Duke Ellington)

Duke Ellington Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(4:59) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

K6326 Follow Me w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Alan Jay Lerner/Frederick Loewe)

Chappell & Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(3:54) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K..

K6323 Poor Butterfly w/Duke Ellington & His Orchestra

(Raymond Hubbell/John Golden)

Harms Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Billy May

(4:26) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1024-2Francis A. And Edward K.

LP: FS1024Francis A. And Edward K.

Extras

Hollywood

K6324 Sunny

K6325 I Like The Sunrise

K6326 Follow Me

K6323 Poor Butterfly

----------------------------------------------------

Air Date 1-3-80

December 12, 1979 Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada

"The First 40 Years" Celebration

Orchestra Conducted By: Don Costa

1. New York, New York

2. It Was A Very Good Year

3. The Best Is Yet To Come

4. monologue

5. I've Got You Under My Skin

6. I've Got The World On A String

Notes: FS receives the ASCAP Pied Piper Award

Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien writes that Sinatra was simply sensational on this, his 64th birthday. He sang five songs: New York, New York; It Was a Very Good Year; I've Got You under my Skin; I've Got the World on a String; and The Best is Yet to Come. Actor Darren McGavin was near the stage and the camera filming Sinatra picks up the absolute glee of McGavin as he watches Sinatra give a masterful lesson in the art of popular singing. Only wish he could have done more songs.

Ed O'Brien:

Here is the NBC ad for the TV broadcast on 1-3-80. Caesars gala ran over 3 hours. TV show was a two hour event from 9 to11 p.m.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

[Sinatra's 52nd birthday, subdued mood]

Milt Bernhart / Lee Herschberg: The night after the Ellington session was Frank's fifty-second birthday; he told friends he wasn't in the mood for a party, and Milt Bernhart recalled him seeming unenthusiastic even as a birthday cake was wheeled in, though his spirits picked up when associates arrived with two women as a 'birthday present,' according to Lee Herschberg.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Mia returns to New York to finish Rosemary's Baby]

Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson's column noted that 'Mia Farrow Sinatra slipped quietly into town to finish filming Rosemary's Baby,' as she worked to complete her final location scenes before Christmas.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

December 21, 1967

Television

Dean Martin Show

Taped September 23, 1967

NBC

Thursday evening

10 - 11 PM

Guests: Frank Sinatra & Family + Dean Martin's family

Produced and directed by Greg Garrison

Ken Lane on piano

1. Everybody Loves Somebody Dean sings a few words of his hit and then slides down the

firepole, crashing right through the floor. Frank climbs up out of cellar and tells us not to worry

because "Dean fell in the wine cellar." Opening credits

2. Marshmallow World - Dean & Frank with chorus

3. It's A Most Unusual Day/Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town/Boots( parody) -

Gail Martin & Nancy Sinatra

4. We Wish You The Merriest/More I Cannot Wish You - Frank, Dean,

Gail, Nancy

5. How Do Talk To Your Dad/How Do You Talk To Your Kid - Frank,

Dean, Frank Jr., Dean Jr.

6. Do-Re-Mi - Frank, Dean, Deana Martin, Tina Sinatra

7. Dean and Frank read children's letters to Santa

8. Dean sings parodies of Christmas songs while Ken Lane plays the piano.

Dean opens the closet. Surprise guest is

Sammy Davis, Jr.

9. I'll Be Home For Christmas - Dean

10. Medley introduced by Gail, Tina, Deana, Nancy

I Can't Give You Anything But Love/Too Marvelous For

Words/Pennies From Heaven/A Foggy Day/Embraceable

You/The Lady Is A Tramp/Where Or When/I've Got The

World On A String/Hey Marie!/All Of Me/When You're Smiling - Frank and Dean

11. Sinatra/Martin families sing medley of Christmas songs:

Home For The Holidays/Let It Snow, Let It Snow/The Christmas Song

12. White Christmas Gail sings the verse. Dean does the chorus

13. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas - Frank

14. Second medley by families: Deck The Halls/ O' Little Town Of

Bethlehem/Joy To The World

15. Silent Night Dean and Frank Families join in for second chorus

16. Families announce destination of toys, donated by manufacturers, to children's hospitals around the country

17. We Wish You A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year - Frank,

Dean and their Families

18. Closing credits

note: Show pulled in 75% of all viewers that evening from 10 to 11.

Scott Henderson:

My children argue every year about what specials or Christmas movies to

watch during this season but whenever I suggest the Sinatra-Martin Families

Christmas they are unanimous on it. They love it and it's become a bit of

a tradition to watch this together. Here's hoping a DVD will come soon now

that they have worked out some of the rights issues to the Dean Martin shows.

Extras

Dean Martin Show

Daily News (New York, New York), December 22, 1967

© 1997-2024 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

Dean Martin Show

Daily News (New York, New York), December 22, 1967

© 1997-2024 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

Though father and son had a difficult relationship, despite it all they had an abiding love for one another. Frank Jr. and Sr. at a taping of The Dean Martin Show in 1967. Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

1968

Extras

[Campaigns for Hubert Humphrey]

Sinatra actively campaigned for Hubert Humphrey's presidential run, explaining that he believed Humphrey to be a decent man who cared about people others tended to overlook.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Frank Steps Back to Help a Nervous Raquel Welch]

Director Gordon Douglas recalled that during Lady in Cement, Frank noticed young co-star Raquel Welch was nervous rehearsing a scene, so he deliberately stayed out of sight until she relaxed. He then told Douglas to relax too, predicting Welch would become a big star. Welch later said Frank trusted Nancy Sinatra Sr. completely because she had known him before fame.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Nancy "Produces" the Title Track of Cycles]

At her father's request, Nancy oversaw the New York rerecording of the title song for Cycles so that arranger Don Costa "could be in the room with me." She felt her father's trust meant more than any of her own gold records.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Nancy Sinatra's Hit Streak Ends]

Nancy Sinatra's run of chart hits dried up, though she continued with TV specials and albums before retiring from performing in the early 1970s to raise a family.

Source: The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra, chapter "I Want to Be a Part of It, 1971-98."

[Playboy Hall of Fame; "My Way" Sets British Chart Record]

Sinatra is inducted into the Playboy Hall of Fame, and "My Way" becomes the longest-running single in British chart history to that point, at 120 weeks; he appears in "The Detective" and "Lady in Cement."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Sinatra's 1968 Statement Against Racial Slurs]

In 1968 Frank publicly argued that society had mostly grown past slurs once used against Italian Americans, and warned that continuing to tolerate racist language toward Black Americans threatened everyone's future together.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Tina Moves to Germany for TV Role]

In 1968, seeking distance from Los Angeles and her mother, Tina accepted a part in a European television miniseries and relocated to Germany, which became her base for the next two years.

Source: Tina Sinatra, "My Father's Daughter: A Memoir" (2000).

[Bennett Cerf's dinner for Rod McKuen]

Bennett Cerf: Random House editor Bennett Cerf gave a dinner for poet-songwriter Rod McKuen at '21,' with guests including Ed Sullivan, Walter Cronkite, and the Steinbecks. Cerf recalled that the most important guest to McKuen was Frank Sinatra, who agreed that night to listen to McKuen's songs.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Diane McCue sent to Sinatra as 'gift']

Kaplan: The 'Ingalill Klippinger' story was fabricated: she was actually Diane McCue, a runaway from a troubled Pittsburgh family working as a stripper on Baltimore's 'the Block.' A Baltimore club owner, Sammy Goldstein (a friend of Jilly Rizzo's), sent her to New York as a gift for Sinatra that summer; she was met at JFK Airport and taken to Jilly's. Kaplan notes she was not quite fifteen when she met Frank.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Fentress compares Caesars to Sands intimacy]

Rob Fentress: Longtime Sinatra observer Rob Fentress recalled that Caesars' 1,100-plus-seat Circus Maximus lacked the intimacy of the Sands' 350-seat Copa Room: 'The electricity of the Sands days was not there. And his voice was not the same.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[George Jacobs takes Mia dancing in London]

Consiglio: While Frank was in England staying at the Dorchester Hotel, their houseboy George Jacobs took Mia to a discotheque; word of it got back to Frank, who took it as confirmation his marriage was over. Consiglio suspects Frank may have engineered the outing himself as a pretext to end things, since Frank never fired Jacobs over it.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Graham on Sinatra's film contract terms]

Sheilah Graham: Columnist Sheilah Graham noted Sinatra received a million dollars plus a percentage for each film and got ownership of the negative after seven years -- a deal she said only Cary Grant also had -- while speculating he wasn't actually rich given how lavishly he spent.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Haber skewers Sinatra's smog excuse]

Joyce Haber: Columnist Joyce Haber noted Sinatra didn't actually have a nose-and-throat doctor, and wryly omitted mention of his two-pack-a-day unfiltered Camels habit. She reported he was selling his LA house(s), keeping his desert home plus new places in Manhattan and San Francisco.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Jilly Rizzo opens Palm Springs bar]

Kaplan: Jilly Rizzo opened a Palm Springs branch of his nightclub Jilly's.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Lady in Cement]

Raquel Welch, cast as femme fatale Kit Forrest, is criticized by Santopietro as visually striking but unable to act -- delivering lines flatly and lacking the 'insolence and smoldering heat' the role needed, unlike the young Lauren Bacall or Sinatra's own ex-wife Ava Gardner, whom the film's dialogue explicitly references.

This film/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Santopietro is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Lady in Cement]

Vincent Canby / Charles Champlin: Lady in Cement did fairly well at the box office with mixed reviews: new NYT critic Vincent Canby called it 'consistently crude,' The Hollywood Reporter found it fun rather than leering, and Charles Champlin of the LA Times praised Sinatra's blend of insouciance, cynicism, and 'battered but surviving idealism.'

This film/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Santopietro is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Lady in Cement / Tony Rome]

Lady in Cement, Sinatra's first R-rated film, returned him to the Tony Rome character, retaining producer Aaron Rosenberg and cinematographer Joseph Biroc, with a script by Marvin H. Albert and Jack Guss. Santopietro singles out Hugo Montenegro's score as the film's weak link -- a jokey Bacharach-lite sound that undercuts tense moments, in contrast to Jerry Goldsmith's moody Detective score.

This film/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Santopietro is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[MLK and RFK assassinations]

Consiglio: Consiglio reflects that when Martin Luther King Jr. and Bobby Kennedy were killed by assassins in the spring of 1968, whatever hope remained for the country's future seemed to end for many Americans.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Mia Farrow's trip to study with the Maharishi]

Consiglio: Amid the marital tension, Mia told Frank she wanted to go to India to study Transcendental Meditation with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, whose profile had risen after the Beatles visited his ashram. When Mia insisted she was going whether Frank liked it or not, he told her simply, "Good. Go!" -- effectively ending the marriage.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Mia's summer fling with Peter Sellers]

Kaplan: After finishing Secret Ceremony and reconnecting with old friends, Mia Farrow had a summer fling with Peter Sellers that made the gossip columns; Frank read about it.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Polk appointed MGM studio chief]

Kaplan: After Seagram's Edgar Bronfman bought a controlling interest in MGM in 1966, he appointed thirty-eight-year-old Louis Polk, a Harvard MBA and former General Mills executive with little film-industry experience, as studio chief.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra cites scheduling conflicts for film exit]

Kaplan: Sinatra's stated excuse for dropping The Only Game in Town was scheduling conflicts with an October 30 Teamsters benefit concert in St. Louis and a November 22 opening at Caesars Palace, though Kaplan notes a determined star could have worked around both.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra dates young actresses post-divorce]

Kaplan: Following his divorce, Sinatra was seen dating a string of young actresses, including Carol Lynley, 23-year-old Irene Tsu, and 27-year-old Quinn O'Hara.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra demands to see Godfather manuscript]

Kaplan: After Paramount optioned the still-unpublished Godfather manuscript, Sinatra, concerned about the Mafia-linked singer character Johnny Fontane, had attorney Mickey Rudin demand to see pages. Putnam refused.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra drops out of Only Game in Town]

Kaplan: Sinatra was scheduled to begin shooting 20th Century Fox's The Only Game in Town with Elizabeth Taylor and director George Stevens in Paris in early September, but dropped out after Taylor postponed the start date for health reasons. The role went to Warren Beatty; the film flopped.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[personal life]

Shortly after the Farrow divorce, Ava Gardner came to Florida after reports Sinatra was gravely ill with pneumonia; his illness proved less severe than advertised and old tensions flared, but the visit marked a turning point -- Sinatra and Gardner resumed a routine of late-night calls, though (per the book) their physical relationship, which had continued intermittently since their divorce, did not resume.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Cycles -- critical commentary]

Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra recalls being invited by her father to produce from the control booth during the New York session for 'Cycles' in 1968, so that Don Costa could work with him directly in the studio; she was nervous when she had to stop a take because of a mistake.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

[Cycles -- critical commentary]

Granata's discography entry: Cycles, arranged by Don Costa, released November 1968.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

[Francis A. and Edward K. -- critical commentary]

Granata's discography entry: Francis A. and Edward K. (with Duke Ellington), arranged by Billy May, released January 1968.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

[The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas -- critical commentary]

Granata's discography entry: The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas, arranged by Nelson Riddle and Don Costa, released September 1968.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

January 1968

Extras

[Judy Garland's Late-Night Police Scare]

Nancy Sinatra: While Sinatra was performing in Miami, Tony Bennett got an emergency call from a hysterical Judy Garland claiming someone was threatening her life. Sinatra used his contacts among New York police, developed while filming The Detective, to flood her block with officers; Garland then called Bennett back to joke that she now had a thousand police and about five hundred lawyers crowded into her apartment, followed by a deadpan check-in call from Sinatra himself asking if she was now all right.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

[Frank tells Mia it's over]

Kaplan: A few days after the false reconciliation report, Frank phoned Mia and said he couldn't stop thinking about her but that it was over between them. He offered her all the money she wanted; she said she wanted only him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mia departs for India ashram]

Mia Farrow: Mia Farrow flew to New York to join her sister Prudence, then traveled to the Himalayan foothills to meditate with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. At Kennedy Airport, seated beside the guru, a nervous Mia told the Associated Press, 'I want to be a better person.' The guru said she hadn't mentioned her husband.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

January 12, 1968

Extras

[Muir reports Sinatra-Farrow reconciliation]

Syndicated columnist Florabel Muir wrote that Frank and Mia's post-New Year reconciliation had 'taken,' claiming Mia was giving up acting to be a full-time housewife and had abandoned a planned trip to India to meet the Beatles' guru. Kaplan notes it was pure fiction; Muir, nearly eighty, was fed a false story.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 1968

Extras

[Ava Gardner visits sick Sinatra in Miami]

Ava Gardner / Lee Server: While finishing Mayerling, Ava Gardner got a call that Frank had pneumonia and was asking for her repeatedly. She flew to Miami with her maid Reenie Jordan, a secretary, and 29 pieces of luggage, was taken by private elevator to his penthouse, and -- stressed and jet-lagged -- screamed at him for being a 'selfish prick' before leaving the next day.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Frank feuds with Sammy, Leonard, Wilson]

Kaplan: Sick and mad simultaneously, Sinatra was furious at Sammy Davis Jr. (who'd gone to London to film Salt and Pepper with Peter Lawford), nearly came to blows with comedian Jack E. Leonard at the Fontainebleau's Club Gigi over continued Mia jokes, and turned on Earl Wilson, his longtime friend among columnists.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Lady in Cement production begins]

Kaplan: Sinatra was booked for an unprecedented six weeks at the Fontainebleau's La Ronde Room, two shows nightly, six days a week, while simultaneously shooting the Tony Rome sequel Lady in Cement during the day with the same production team (producer Aaron Rosenberg, director Gordon Douglas, cinematographer Joseph Biroc). Richard Conte returned, Dan Blocker played villain Waldo Gronsky, and Raquel Welch got second billing.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sammy Davis dropped from Lady in Cement]

Kaplan: Sammy Davis Jr., originally cast as Tony Rome's sidekick, was abruptly dropped from Lady in Cement -- Variety called it 'forced to bow out' -- and replaced by Sinatra's warm-up comic Pat Henry at a lower salary.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra hospitalized with pneumonia]

George Jacobs: Sinatra was too sick to open on February 16 or 23; valet George Jacobs recalled he was briefly hospitalized, looking frail, old, and helpless, his skin sallow and green, too weak even to insist on wearing his hairpiece.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Wilson reports Sinatra flu, rumors]

Earl Wilson: Columnist Earl Wilson reported Sinatra was 'causing talk in Miami Beach' amid rumors he'd punched Eddie Fisher and was refusing Mia Farrow's calls -- probably untrue, Wilson wrote -- and that his Fontainebleau opening was postponed because he was in bed with a 102-degree flu.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

February 9, 1968

Extras

[Fontainebleau opening postponed]

Sinatra's Fontainebleau opening, originally set for Friday, February 9 to honor his parents' anniversary, was postponed, then postponed again, as something was clearly wrong with Frank.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 14, 1968

Extras

[Wilson retracts Eddie Fisher rumor]

Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson retracted the rumor that Sinatra had punched Eddie Fisher, explaining that when Fisher had to drop out of his own Fontainebleau show sick, Frank (also sick) had Pat Henry cover for him, then lent Eddie and Connie Stevens his jet for a rest trip.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Mahoney denies Mexico divorce rumor]

Sinatra publicist Jim Mahoney denied a broadcast rumor that Frank had divorced Mia in Mexico. The same day, a front-page Variety story cited rumors Sinatra 'wasn't ill, just mad,' but Fontainebleau physician Dr. Ralph Robbins confirmed the singer had pneumonia.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 26, 1968

Extras

Filming began in Miami for Lady in Cement. Director Gordon Douglas recalled Frank noticing a nervous young co-star (Raquel Welch) and deliberately staying out of view so as not to add to her nerves, reassuring the director she would be fine and predicting she'd become a big star.

Frank Sinatra (quoted): "Relax, she'll be fine... She's also going to be a big star."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

February 28, 1968

Extras

[Wilson on Sinatra's continued illness]

Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson noted that Sinatra 'remains weak -- and unusually quiet' from his pneumonia, and that Fontainebleau boss Ben Novack couldn't say whether he'd open as announced that Friday.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 1968

Extras

[Nancy Visits Her Grieving Father in Miami During Mia Split]

Nancy Sinatra: During his separation from Mia Farrow, Sinatra told his daughter that older people build a protective wall around themselves so painful things hurt less. The two later watched President Johnson's television announcement that he would not seek reelection, after which Sinatra explained his belief that Hubert Humphrey privately opposed the Vietnam War but could not say so publicly while serving as Johnson's vice president.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

[Beatles arrive at Rishikesh ashram]

Mia Farrow: The Beatles arrived at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's Rishikesh ashram in February 1968 (delayed from an October 1967 plan by manager Brian Epstein's death), led by true-believer George Harrison. Mia Farrow, who had found the ashram cold and monotonous, was transformed by their presence; songs written there, including 'Dear Prudence' (about her sister), later appeared on The White Album.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Kazan converted watching Sinatra perform]

Raquel Welch: Raquel Welch recalled bringing a reluctant Elia Kazan, who badmouthed Sinatra's one-take demands all evening, to see Frank's Fontainebleau show. Watching Sinatra perform, Kazan turned to her mid-song and declared, 'This fuckin' guy is the best actor I've ever seen in my life... He's a genius.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Mia flees ashram after Maharishi incident]

Mia Farrow: During a private meditation session in the Maharishi's cave, he suddenly embraced Mia Farrow with 'surprisingly hairy arms.' She fled the cave, the ashram, and the country, deciding to take a role in Secret Ceremony with director Joseph Losey, Elizabeth Taylor, and Robert Mitchum.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Nancy comforts father in Miami]

Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra traveled to Miami to comfort her father after his illness and Mia's departure. 'He was sad. He was hurting,' she recalled.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra returns to stage, new look]

George Bourke: Sinatra returned to the La Ronde Room stage in a new, hippie-inspired look -- white turtleneck and pendant instead of a tux. Miami Herald critic George Bourke, under the headline 'Sinatra Comes On with the Old Gusto,' noted he was 14 pounds lighter and still sang an hour and ten minutes with defiant skill despite lingering throatiness from his illness.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra slaps Pat Henry on set]

Al Algiro: During the tense Lady in Cement shoot, an extra named Al Algiro recalled that after Pat Henry flubbed his lines through three takes, an irritated Sinatra slapped him in the face and told him to shape up.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Wilson devastated by Sinatra ban]

Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson called being barred by Sinatra one of the saddest moments of his career, writing that he felt shame and dejection at being treated like all of Frank's other estranged friends, unable to believe it would happen to him too.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

March 1, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 1 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

Songs performed during this engagement:

--The Lady Is A Tramp

--All or Nothing At All

--I'm Going Out of My Head

--That's Life

--Ol' Man River

--It Was A Very Good Year

Extras

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 1 - April 6)

Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

note: Frank was set to open at the La Ronde Room for a six week

engagement, beginning on 2/9/68. He became quite ill just before

opening night and pushed the opening a week ahead. Unfortunately

his condition deteriorated and a hospital stay was necessary. He

had a fever of 104 and a bad viral infection in his lung. He still

insisted an opening would take place on 2/16. It did not. Then 1/23

was also canceled. Ava and Mia both came to visit him. Recovering

in his suite, at the hotel, many of his friends became very concerned

at how sick he appeared to be. Near the end of the month there was

a sudden improvement and the 3/1 date( Friday) was set for the Fontain-

bleau. Then Frank announced he would not perform if the columnist Earl

Wilson was in the room. Wilson agreed to be a no-show and the

engagement finally got under way(date usually given for the opening

is 3/3 -- a Sunday. Have no idea why). Frank was not fully recovered

and there were some tough nights over the first few weeks of the en-

gagement.There is a tape of the 3/5 show in circulation( another mystery,

for years the accepted date was 5-4-68) "Lady In Cement" had Frank filming

his first scenes on 3/4.. Frank's opening act, Pat Henry, had inherited the role

originally intended for Sammy Davis Jr. in the film. Film took less than six

weeks to complete. Frank did not like the final results. Through the years,

he would threaten to run a copy if his guests, at the Palm Springs house,

stayed up too late.

Here is the basic song list for the engagement:

I've Got You Under My Skin

Goin' Out Of My Head

Nancy

i Get A Kick Out Of You

That's Life

Day In, Day Out

In The Still Of The Night

The Lady Is A Tramp

All Or Nothing At All

Moonlight In Vermont

I Have Dreamed

This Is All I Ask

Ol' Man River

It Was A Very Good Year

All I Need Is The Girl

My Kind Of Town

Angel Eyes

You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You

The Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) 1 Mar 1968, Fri :

Review:

note: Sammy Davis preceded Frank's appearance at the Fontainbleau.

The minimum to see him during the week was $6.00 and $7.50 on

weekends. Frank cost you a cover of $17.50 plus a $10.00 minimum

every night with the exception of opening night. Sammy was one of

the biggest nightclub draws in the early 1960s. And yet the cost

to see Frank was roughly four times as much. There was no other

performer who could ask for $27.00 and still fill every seat.. He easily

the biggest attraction in clubs and the most expensive to see.

Ed

Variety

[Wilson announces Fontainebleau opening]

Earl Wilson: Earl Wilson wrote that the 'Jet Set rush to Miami Beach' would be on with Frank Sinatra 'definitely opening' at the Fontainebleau that Friday; Wilson and his wife packed for the trip, only to be told on arrival that Sinatra wouldn't perform if Wilson was in the audience.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 2, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 1 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

Songs performed during this engagement:

--The Lady Is A Tramp

--All or Nothing At All

--I'm Going Out of My Head

--That's Life

--Ol' Man River

--It Was A Very Good Year

March 3, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 1 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

Songs performed during this engagement:

--The Lady Is A Tramp

--All or Nothing At All

--I'm Going Out of My Head

--That's Life

--Ol' Man River

--It Was A Very Good Year

March 4, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (March 1 - April 6) O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson’s Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

Monday evening

Introduction

1. I Get A Kick Out Of You

2. In The Still Of The Night

3. I Have Dreamed

4. The Lady Is A Tramp

5.This Is All I Ask

6. All Or Nothing At All Riddle chart from 1966

7. That's Life

8. Ol' Man River monologue

9.Angel Eyes Bill Miller on piano

10. All I Need Is The Girl

11. Moonlight In Vermont

12. It Was A Very Good Year

13. You're Nobody Til' Somebody Loves You

14. My Kind Of Town

note: I've been doing some research on Frank's 68 appearance at the Fontainbleau and the filming of "Lady In Cement." For lo these many years, the only tape to surface from Frank's time in Miami has been the 5-4-68 show. Never happened. He wasn't there. The correct date of the show is 3-4-68. Frank was supposed to open on 2-11-68, but he developed a very serious case of pneumonia. So serious that Mia and later Ava flew down to be by his side. The film got underway on 2-26 with Frank's first big scene shot on 3-5. Movie was a six week production. Frank did one show a night at the hotel. The average gross per night was between 90 and 100 thousand dollars. It would be Sinatra's last major engagement at the hotel. Opening night he barred Earl Wilson from seeing the show. Wilson's wife got in to see him accompanied by Joe E. Lewis. Frank picked up there tab.

Extras

[Sinatra bars Earl Wilson from show]

Variety reported that Sinatra refused to open his Fontainebleau engagement if columnist Earl Wilson was in the audience, upset over two recent items in Wilson's column. Wilson was barred and the show went on as planned.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 5, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (March 1 - April 6) O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson’s Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

March 6, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (March 1 - April 6) O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson’s Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

Ed O'Brien:

While filming "Lady In Cement" during the day, Frank did one show a night at the Fontainebleau for five weeks. Frank had jumped from the Sands to Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.

The contract called for a singing commercial to be played leading up to his Caesars debut in November of that year.

Frank decided to use the full orchestra at the Fontainebleau for the recording session in a local studio. The session involved two rehearsal run throughs and three takes. Billy May did an uptempo chart and Frank sailed through the

45 minute session. I would hazard a guess that Sammy

Cahn probably wrote the special lyrics.

March 7, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (March 1 - April 6) O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson’s Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

March 8, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 1 - April 6)

O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson’s Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

March 9, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (March 1 - April 6) O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

Extras

[Mia sneaks into Fontainebleau to see Frank]

At 1:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 9, Mia Farrow slipped into the Fontainebleau via the tennis courts and basement to watch Frank's show, having just escaped a London clinic where she'd been checked in after a breakdown. She watched the rest of his set unseen, then went up to the penthouse with him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 10, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau , Miami Beach , Florida (March 1 - April 6) O.A. Pat Henry

Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Conductor: Bill Miller

March 11, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6)

March 12, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 13, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 14, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6)

Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 15, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 16, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 17, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 18, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 19, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 20, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 21, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 22, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 23, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 24, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 25, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 26, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 27, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 28, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 29, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 30, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

March 31, 1968

Concerts

Fontainebleau, Miami Beach, Florida (March 3 - April 6) Lenny Dawson's Orchestra

Opening Act: Pat Henry

Extras

[LBJ withdrawal announcement watched with Nancy]

Nancy Sinatra: On the night of March 31, Frank and his daughter Nancy watched from his Fontainebleau penthouse as President Johnson announced he would not seek reelection. Afterward they discussed Vietnam and the election; Frank said he felt strongly Hubert Humphrey should run, though Nancy, a Bobby Kennedy supporter, pushed back on Humphrey's silence on the war.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 1968

Extras

[Rudin dismisses Herald subpoena]

Mickey Rudin: Sinatra's attorney Mickey Rudin called the Miami Herald's subpoena of his client 'simply an attempt to harass and an unsuccessful effort to embarrass' Sinatra about his Fontainebleau ties.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

April 3, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra jokes about Herald subpoena onstage]

Frank Sinatra: Amid the Miami Herald's $10 million libel suit against the Fontainebleau (over a story alleging Mob ownership), Sinatra, facing a subpoena for testimony about his ties to the hotel, joked to his audience, 'We're having a wonderful time in Miami Beach. Get a subpoena every day.' He was served the next day and ordered to appear or risk jail.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 4, 1968

Extras

[MLK assassination amid Sinatra's Miami troubles]

On April 4, while Sinatra was preoccupied with his subpoena troubles in Miami, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis, triggering riots in Washington, Baltimore, Kansas City, and Chicago -- though not in Miami.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 5, 1968

Extras

[Lady in Cement wraps filming]

Sinatra wrapped filming of Lady in Cement in Miami on April 5, having completed the picture as quickly as he'd wanted.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 6, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra finishes Fontainebleau run]

Sinatra completed his Fontainebleau engagement the night after wrapping Lady in Cement, then skipped town.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 10, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra leaves Florida to avoid testifying]

The Associated Press reported that Sinatra had 'abruptly left Florida' to avoid testifying under oath about his relationship with the Fontainebleau's owners and operators.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Fontainebleau libel suit testimony on Fischetti]

Variety reported hotel executive VP Frank Margulies testified Sinatra hadn't been paid for his six-week Fontainebleau engagement, that Ben Novack handled Sinatra's arrangements, and that Joe Fischetti (Al Capone's cousin) was instrumental in them. Records showed the hotel paid Fischetti $1,080 a month between 1959 and 1962; Fischetti took the Fifth at his deposition.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 21, 1968

Extras

[Miami Herald retracts Fontainebleau story]

The Miami Herald suddenly retracted its Mob-ownership accusations against the Fontainebleau, and Ben Novack just as suddenly dropped his libel suit against the paper, which ran a front-page statement saying the hotel was 'not owned or controlled by any gangsters or any underworld characters.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 27, 1968

Extras

[Humphrey announces candidacy]

Hubert Humphrey announced his presidential candidacy in Washington, D.C.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

April 30, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra returns to Washington DC]

Three days after Humphrey's announcement, Frank Sinatra returned to Washington for the first time since JFK's inaugural gala, ostensibly to give a Big Brothers of America benefit concert but actually to reenter the political kingmaking business.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 1, 1968

Extras

[Pearson cocktail party, Sinatra meets Humphrey]

Frank and Hubert Humphrey both attended a cocktail party at columnist Drew Pearson's Georgetown house; invitations read 'To meet Frank Sinatra and his candidate.' Sinatra had already gone on record saying he didn't think Bobby Kennedy was qualified to be president.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Pearson column welcomes Sinatra]

Drew Pearson: In his May 1 column, Drew Pearson welcomed Sinatra to Washington and refuted the old rumor that Frank had dodged the WWII draft, without disclosing his own Big Brothers presidency or that the vice president would speak at the upcoming benefit.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Cheshire overhears Dorfman's Hoffa pardon remark]

Maxine Cheshire: At Pearson's party, Washington Post columnist Maxine Cheshire cornered Chicago businessman Allen Dorfman -- a close Hoffa associate -- and asked if he was there to broker a Humphrey pardon for Jimmy Hoffa in exchange for help getting elected. Dorfman replied, 'Yeah, honey, we're here to buy everybody in town who's for sale. What's your price?'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Cheshire follows Sinatra to Georgetown dinner]

Maxine Cheshire: Cheshire followed Sinatra to the Rive Gauche restaurant, where his dinner companions were Teamsters figures Harold Gibbons and Allen Dorfman and Mrs. Jimmy Hoffa. Her questions about a Humphrey-Hoffa pardon deal went unanswered; Mrs. Hoffa stayed tight-lipped.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 2, 1968

Concerts

Shoreham, Washington, DC

Big Brothers Dinner Honoring Drew Pearson

Extras

Washington, DC

Big Brothers Dinner Honoring Drew Pearson

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

Washington, DC

Big Brothers Dinner Honoring Drew Pearson

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

May 3, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra's Shoreham benefit concert]

Betty Beale / Hubert Humphrey: Sinatra gave a Big Brothers of America benefit concert at the Shoreham Hotel in Washington, wowing 1,600 attendees and raising $50,000. Vice President Humphrey, watching, exclaimed, 'He's the king, isn't he?' Columnist Betty Beale gushed over his diamond cross, a gift from Mrs. Leland Hayward.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra offers help with DC unrest]

Frank Sinatra: At the Shoreham dinner, Sinatra told DC Mayor Walter Washington that during the Poor People's Campaign march he would come back on short notice to help keep the peace if needed. He also told Betty Beale he planned to headline Humphrey fundraisers in six to ten cities and organize a hundred-entertainer committee for the candidate.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Awkward White House visit with LBJ]

After midnight, Humphrey, Pearson, and Sinatra arrived uninvited in the Lincoln Bedroom, finding Lady Bird Johnson in bed and the president being massaged. LBJ ignored Sinatra, then handed him a White House souvenir booklet ('I don't suppose you read, but this has lots of pictures') and a lipstick souvenir ('It'll make a big man of you with your women'). Sinatra left without a word.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 1968

Extras

Frank flies to Washington, D.C. to attend a party for Vice President Hubert Humphrey hosted by columnist Drew Pearson in Georgetown, accompanied by Allen Dorfman, an associate of Jimmy Hoffa's; afterward he has dinner with Mrs. Jimmy Hoffa and Teamsters vice president Harold Gibbons. A Washington Post reporter began asking whether the relationship among Dorfman, Sinatra, and Humphrey involved a possible pardon for Hoffa in exchange for Sinatra's endorsement. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

May 19, 1968

Television

Emmy Awards

Sunday Evening

NBC

10:00 P.M. - 11:30 P.M.

Host: Frank Sinatra ( Hollywood)

Host: Dick Van Dyke ( New York City) note: show ran to midnight.

NOTE: Ed O'Brien reports that Sinatra was the host in Los Angeles and Dick

Van Dyke did the honors in New York. This bicoastal event had Sinatra open the show singing "Luck Be a Lady" while he walked from table to table nodding to the celebrities in attendance. He did a comedy routine with Dan Rickles, who savaged Dick Haymes. Sinatra was set to close with "That's Life" but he passed and said a quick goodnight.

Following O'Brien mention of Dick Haymes, Sinatraphile Vance Adair said he hated how Haymes career tanked and never really came back. He was a talent. Adair loves his two Capitol albums. They're masterpieces and were recently released on EMI. His career took a nosedive about the same time Sinatra's did, but Haymes never made it back. He appeared on Johnny Carson late in his life and made two excellent albums in the later 70's. His singing was still superb then. He died in 1980.

Extras

Emmy Awards

Sunday Evening

NBC

10:00 P.M. - 11:30 P.M.

Host: Frank Sinatra ( Hollywood)

Host: Dick Van Dyke ( New York City) note: show ran to midnight.

Emacs!

Get Smart,' 'Mission: Impossible' among Emmy winners 50 years a

Emacs!

Emacs!

Emacs!

Emacs!

May 22, 1968

Concerts

Oakland Coliseum, California

Hubert Humphrey Fund Raiser

1. Day In, Day Out

2. I Get A Kick Out Of You

3. Moonlight In Vermont

4. The Lady Is A Tramp

5. I Have Dreamed

6. I've Got You Under My Skin

7. That's Life

8. Ol' Man River

9. All I Need Is The Girl

10. This Is All I Ask

11. I've Got The World On A String

12. Willow Weep For Me

13. Goin' Out Of My Head

14. Nancy

15. Fly Me To The Moon

16. It Was A Very Good Year

17. My Kind Of Town

Note: Arguably, he emphasizes, this is the best of Sinatra concerts ever to circulate among collectors.

As Frank Foster used to say, "He was in the pocket" and was he ever! Sensational singing on song after song. Best "Moonlight in Vermont" ever. "All I Need is a Girl" is better than the recording with Ellington. Although this recording has never been released commercially, it is a professional recording. One can hope that someday it will be issued.

Ed O'Brien:

This is the concert I would want on that proverbial desert island. By 1968 Sinatra had become The concert performer in the world of pop music. He so commanded a stage and on this particular night his singing was as good as it gets. What a missed opportunity when this beauty was not given a commercial release.

Ed O'Brien (2013)

Forty-five years ago this evening, Sinatra gave this magnificent performance at the Oakland Coliseum. I never tire of singing the praises of this incredible show. By 1968 Frank had become the consummate in-person performer and his singing on 5-22-68 is as good as it is ever going get. What a treasure for any Sinatra collector to have.

Extras

Oakland Coliseum, California

Hubert Humphrey Fund Raiser

1. Day In, Day Out

2. I Get A Kick Out Of You

3. Moonlight In Vermont

4. The Lady Is A Tramp

5. I Have Dreamed

6. I've Got You Under My Skin

7. That's Life

8. Ol' Man River

9. All I Need Is The Girl

10. This Is All I Ask

11. I've Got The World On A String

12. Willow Weep For Me

13. Goin' Out Of My Head

14. Nancy

15. Fly Me To The Moon

16. It Was A Very Good Year

17. My Kind Of Town

note: A great concert that only drew 7,918 and raised $128,500.

Oakland Coliseum, California

Hubert Humphrey Fund Raiser

[Sinatra's Oakland benefit for Humphrey]

Al Martinez: Sinatra gave a benefit concert for Humphrey in Oakland; local columnist Al Martinez dubbed him 'The King of the World' and joked Sinatra could win the Democratic nomination more easily than Humphrey.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

May 28, 1968

Film

"The Detective" (USA Release: May 28, 1968)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, ,Lee Remick, Jacqueline Bisset, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, Horace McMahon, Lloyd Bochner, William Windom, Tony Musante, Al Freeman, Jr

Produced by: Aaron Rosenberg

Directed by: Gordon Douglas

Based on the book by Roderick Thorp

Police detective Joe Leland investigates the murder of a gay man. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in New York City in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs. (DVD Release date: 2005-05-24 -- Blu-Ray Release: 2015-12-08)

Note: The Detective was also issued on Beta, VHS, Laserdisc, as well as excerpts on Super 8mm.

Note: Frank's only film to receive an X rating.

--Ed

[The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra — The Detective (1968)]

David Wills's 2015 photo history The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra devotes a section to The Detective (1968), illustrated with 4 behind-the-scenes and publicity photographs (posters, lobby cards, and on-set/on-location shots) filed here.

Source: David Wills, The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra (St. Martin's Press, 2015), pp. 262–266.

On location in Miami, with director Gordon Douglas and costar Jill St. John, Tony Rome. / “Sinatra is always an interesting / actor … and in The Detective he / has mellowed into a genuinely / convincing cop. He is weary and / wise and tough and cynical in the / way Bogart used to be, and (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

One sheet poster, The Detective, 1968. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

With costar Lee Remick (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

The Detective. Lobby Cards. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

Extras

"The Detective" (USA Release: May 28, 1968)

Starring: Frank Sinatra, ,Lee Remick, Jacqueline Bisset, Ralph Meeker, Jack Klugman, Horace McMahon, Lloyd Bochner, William Windom, Tony Musante, Al Freeman, Jr

Produced by: Aaron Rosenberg

Directed by: Gordon Douglas

Based on the book by Roderick Thorp

Police detective Joe Leland investigates the murder of a gay man. While investigating, he discovers links to official corruption in New York City in this drama that delves into a world of sex and drugs. (DVD Release date: 2005-05-24 -- Blu-Ray Release: 2015-12-08)

Production 10-16 to 12-11-1967

HISTORY

The film rights to Roderick Thorp's 1966 novel, The Detective, were sold to independent producer and former actor Robert Evans, who intimated that he might himself "tackle the controversial role"ť of New York Police Department Detective Sergeant "Joe Leland,"ť the 1 Jun 1966 Var announced. Nearly five months later, however, the book's option was picked up by producer Fred Kohlmar and director Mark Robson for Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corp., according to the 28 Oct 1966 DV.. Abby Mann was writing the screenplay, a starting date was set for the following summer, and Frank Sinatra was signed to play Leland. By the following year, the 22 May 1967 DV and 24 May 1967 Var broke the news that producer Aaron Rosenberg had taken over the project from Kohlmar, and Gordon Douglas would replace Robson as director if prior commitments could be rescheduled. Sinatra and Robson, who had previously worked together, reportedly did not see "eye-to-eye."ť The Rosenberg-Douglas-Sinatra team had recently finished Twentieth Century-Fox's private eye caper, Tony Rome (1967, see entry), with Sinatra in the title role, and were planning to shoot its sequel, The Lady in Cement (1968, see entry), as soon as they finished The Detective. By then, as noted in the 26 Apr 1967 Var, The Detective was a hot property because Roderick Thorp's hardcover novel had sold 300,000 copies and Avon Books had just printed a first run of 800,000 paperbacks. Twentieth Century-Fox signed Frank Sinatra's wife, Mia Farrow, to co-star with him and Lee Remick in The Detective as soon as she finished her role in Paramount Pictures' Rosemary's Baby (1968, see entry), which was set to begin shooting 21 Aug, according to the 15 Aug 1967 DV. Meanwhile, as reported in the 30 Aug 1967 Var, Rosenberg and Douglas were going to scout New York City locations in preparation for six weeks of filming there in Oct and Nov 1967, followed by four weeks of shooting interiors at Twentieth Century-Fox Studios in Los Angeles, CA. Abby Mann, known for writing socially conscious films such as Judgment at Nuremberg (1961, see entry), told the 29 Nov 1967 Var that as part of his deal, he would be on the set every day to revise or create new dialogue if needed. He added that his screenplay "differs sharply from the original novel."ť Changing private eye Joe Leland to a police detective, Mann said, gave him "the opportunity to make several statements about the police and about society that were not in the novel."ť Mann warned the 24 Sep 1967 LAT that the film had "shocking scenes in it, things that have never been seen in a film, things that have never been shown in a film before."ť The 18 Oct 1967 Var announced that principal photography had begun two days earlier in New York City. That day's NYT visited a location on East Sixty-Seventh Street, between Lexington and Third Avenue, where Joe Leland's precinct headquarters were located in an old New York Police Department (NYPD) station house. In the scene, which required a dozen takes, Frank Sinatra escorted a "homosexual murderer"ť through a mob of reporters to a waiting car. "Of course, we're just shooting little bits of dialogue at a time,"ť he told a real reporter. "It'd be different trying to do a big dramatic scene. You couldn't do Hamlet [on the street]."ť The article indicated that Hollywood restaurateur "Prince"ť Mike Romanoff, who was in the crowd, was the film's "assistant producer."ť Aaron Rosenberg mentioned that the company would be in New York for six weeks, spending $1.4 million of the film's $5.5-million budget there. Within a month, the 22 Nov 1967 Var reported that Rosenberg needed to shut down the picture at the end of the month until Mia Farrow finished Rosemary's Baby. The 6 Nov 1967 LAT had already run an item on Sinatra losing his patience over his wife's absence. The Detective was twelve days ahead of schedule, while director Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby was three weeks behind. Sinatra pressured his wife to "walk off the lot,"ť but she had no "stop date"ť in her Paramount contract and could legally be detained as long as necessary. Rosenberg had already finished shooting in New York and was currently completing all scenes without Farrow in Los Angeles. The news broke in the 23 Nov 1967 LAT that Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow had agreed to "a trial separation."ť A week later, the 30 Nov 1967 NYT announced Farrow's replacement in The Detective by English actress Jacqueline Bisset. The 11 Dec 1967 DV announced that filming had ended the previous Friday, 8 Dec 1967, except for a day's work by actor William Windom the following Monday. The Detective had its premiere in New York on 28 May 1968 and opened around the city the following day, according to a review in the 29 May 1968 NYT. Six weeks later, the 20 Jun 1968 LAT noted that The Detective would open in Hollywood, CA, on 26 Jun 1968. The NYT was unimpressed with Gordon Douglas's "weak, unimaginative direction"ť and the film's mix of "the real and the fake."ť The 26 Jun 1968 LAT considered The Detective nothing more than a "tasteless"ť sequel to Tony Rome, the only difference being that it was filmed in New York instead of Miami, FL, with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson replacing boxer Rocky Graziano from the earlier movie. The 29 May 1968 Var mostly praised the film as being commercially "hot,"ť but criticized Abby Mann's "sprawling, untidy, badly-structured"ť script, especially the twenty-four minutes of flashbacks in which Sinatra's character relived his "unstable married life."ť

AFI REPORT

Die Hard's John McClane role had to be offered to 70-year-old Frank Sinatra Ian Sandwell

23 December 2021

Die Hard made a movie star of Bruce Willis and introduced the world to John McClane, who, despite some dodgy later sequels, remains an iconic action hero.

However, as you settle into your festive rewatch of Die Hard (it is a Christmas movie, don't @ us), you might not be aware that the producers originally had to offer the role to Frank Sinatra, who was then 70 years old.

Sinatra turned down the role of John McClane of course, and in reality he was never going to star in Die Hard, but the producers were contractually obliged to offer Ol' Blue Eyes the role after he had starred in Die Hard's 'prequel', The Detective.

Let's rewind a bit. In case you weren't already aware, Die Hard is based on Roderick Thorp's novel Nothing Lasts Forever, which sees retired detective Joe Leland take on some terrorists in the headquarters of the Klaxon Oil Corporation on Christmas Eve.

The movie version obviously made some changes (including removing the bleak ending where Leland's daughter falls to her death), but the structure remains the same and there are nods to the original novel, such as Holly's maiden name Gennaro.

Nothing Lasts Forever was the sequel to Thorp's 1966 novel The Detective which was also adapted as a movie of the same name. The movie saw Sinatra play Joe Leland as the detective investigating a supposed suicide.

The Detective was one of the biggest box-office hits of Sinatra's movie career and became one of the highest-grossing movies of 1968.

While Die Hard wasn't a direct sequel to The Detective and the character name differed, the role of John McClane had to be offered to Sinatra anyway because it was a (loose) adaptation of The Detective's sequel novel.

Sinatra declined the role, but it's not like the producers then went straight to Bruce Willis. At the time, he was largely known for his role on TV comedy Moonlighting and not as a movie star.

The role of John McClane was offered to a variety of names, including Arnold Schwarzenegger (who turned it down because he wanted to get into comedy), Sylvester Stallone, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, James Caan, Richard Gere and more.

When it did get offered to Willis, even he turned it down first time around because of his obligation to Moonlighting. However, his co-star Cybill Shepherd became pregnant and the show took a break from filming, freeing up Willis for the Die Hard role.

And the rest, as they say, is history. Ho ho ho.

MAY 28, 1968: Premiere of movie "The Detective" staring Frank Sinatra and co-star Jacqueline Bisset arrive at Forum Theatre on Broadway and 47th Street.

"Rosemary's Baby" / "The Detective"

Sinatra's marriage to Mia Farrow never recovered after Farrow chose to honor her contractual commitment to finish shooting Rosemary's Baby rather than comply with Sinatra's demand that she leave the production to join him for the filming of The Detective.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

The Detective (1968, Fox), based on Roderick Thorp's novel, had a rocky preproduction: the rights were originally held by producer Robert Evans, and Mia Farrow (then Mrs. Sinatra) was initially cast as Norma Maclver.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective" / "Rosemary's Baby"

Tina Sinatra: Farrow's role in The Detective fell through because her prior film, Roman Polanski's Rosemary's Baby, ran behind schedule and overlapped with The Detective's start date. When Farrow would not leave the Polanski film at Sinatra's demand, she was dropped from The Detective. Daughter Tina Sinatra said Frank felt an obligation to the studio and was 'professionally embarrassed in front of his crew.'

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

After Farrow's departure, Jacqueline Bisset was cast as Norma Maclver in The Detective, in what Santopietro calls a rather perfunctory performance.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

The Detective reteamed Sinatra with producer Aaron Rosenberg and director Gordon Douglas, with a bluesy score by Jerry Goldsmith. Sinatra plays police Sergeant Joe Leland investigating the grisly murder of a wealthy businessman's gay son -- far grimmer material than Tony Rome.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

Frank Sinatra: Sinatra said he prepared for the role of Sergeant Leland by talking with veteran NYPD detective Johnny Broderick about his idiosyncrasies, trying to fold in small authentic details while keeping 'a little tenderness' in the character.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

Santopietro highlights The Detective as surprisingly sympathetic toward gay characters for a major 1968 Hollywood film -- Leland responds to a doctor's disgust with 'I've got my own bag' -- even though he notes the film's gay characters are still ultimately depicted as killers or hysterics.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

Lee Remick played Leland's wife Karen, portrayed via flashback as alternately warm and distant; a memorable exchange has her ask why he's so tough, and he snaps back, 'I am tough.'

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

Santopietro faults Tony Musante's performance as murder suspect Felix Tesla for overdoing the hysteria in his confession scene, and blames director Gordon Douglas for failing to rein him in -- calling it the film's first real misstep.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

A notably showy directorial choice in The Detective: director Gordon Douglas frames Tesla's electrocution by intercutting images of his electrocuted body on either side of Leland's face -- an unusually heavy-handed touch for the normally restrained Douglas.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

The Detective performed well at the box office and Sinatra's performance was praised, but critics generally felt the film buckled under its own self-consciously 'serious' ambitions, cramming in too many taboo topics (murder, homosexuality, nymphomania) at once.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

Santopietro grades this a B, calling it tough but overly ambitious.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

"The Detective"

Santopietro (Filmography): Arcola-Millfield/Twentieth Century-Fox. Produced by Aaron Rosenberg, directed by Gordon Douglas, screenplay by Abby Mann based on the Roderick Thorp novel, musical score by Jerry Goldsmith. Sinatra played Sergeant Joe Leland opposite Lee Remick, Jacqueline Bisset and Robert Duvall, with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson in the cast.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008).

June 1968

Extras

[Ava Gardner's hysterectomy]

Ava Gardner: Ava Gardner, then 45 and haunted by her mother's death from uterine cancer, underwent a hysterectomy at St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank after a fibroid tumor was detected. She recuperated at her sister Bappie's house and recalled watching Robert Kennedy's assassination on TV from her sickbed, followed by vertigo and a deep depression.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Rosemary's Baby becomes #1 film]

Kaplan: Rosemary's Baby opened about ten days after The Detective and quickly became the number one picture in the country, making Mia Farrow a star in her own right -- her box-office triumph over Frank felt like the final blow to their marriage.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra family unites behind Humphrey]

Nancy Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra recalled her father being quiet for a while after RFK's assassination. She then joined him in supporting Hubert Humphrey; Frank told her he believed Humphrey was a decent man who cared about people others ignored.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

June 3, 1968

Extras

[The Detective opens to mixed reviews]

Vincent Canby: The Detective opened nationwide to mixed reviews. Vincent Canby of the New York Times panned the film's direction and called Sinatra's performance waxy and blank, dismissing his toupee even while conceding it was 'the best money can buy.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 4, 1968

Extras

[RFK wins primary, then assassinated]

Robert Kennedy won the California and South Dakota primaries on June 4, but shortly after midnight, after addressing supporters at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, he was shot as he walked through the hotel kitchen.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra reacts to RFK shooting at Jilly's]

Ken Roberts: Sinatra was drinking at Jilly's in Manhattan with concert promoter Ken Roberts when a hat-check girl reported Kennedy had been shot. Thinking she was joking, Sinatra callously said, 'I hope they shot him in the fuckin' head.' When confirmed, he turned white, panicked that he himself might be a target while performing.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

June 5, 1968

Extras

Robert F. Kennedy is shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles while celebrating primary victories; he dies the next day. Frank, who had grown close to RFK after his help during the 1963 kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr., was hit hard by the death, which also revived the grief he still felt over JFK's assassination. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

July 1968

Extras

With his divorce from Mia Farrow still pending and unresolved, Frank asks longtime valet George Jacobs to look after Ava Gardner during a short visit to Los Angeles. While waiting for her at a Beverly Hills nightclub, the Candy Store, Jacobs is seen dancing with Mia, who was there with musician John Phillips; gossip columnist Rona Barrett reported the sighting on the air about a week later. Though Jacobs had worked for Frank without incident for fifteen years, Frank had the locks changed and had Mickey Rudin deliver a letter of dismissal to Jacobs's home before noon the same day the report aired, terminating him with no severance. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

July 18, 1968

[Photograph: Frank tours fundraisers for Hubert Humphrey. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.307.]

[Photograph: Frank tours fundraisers for Hubert Humphrey. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.307.]

[Photograph: Frank tours fundraisers for Hubert Humphrey. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.307.]

Extras

In the wake of Bobby Kennedy's assassination, Frank continued campaigning for Humphrey with fundraisers in Cleveland, Minneapolis, Baltimore, Detroit, and Philadelphia. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

July 19, 1968

Concerts

Public Hall, Cleveland, OH

Sinatra, Frank Valli and The Four Seasons, Pat Henry songs included:

--Goin' Out of My Head Over You

--I've Got You Under My Skin

--That's Life

--Willow Weep For Me

--Fly Me To The Moon

Extras

Public Hall, Cleveland, OH

Sinatra, Frank Valli and The Four Seasons, Pat Henry

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

Public Hall, Cleveland, OH

Sinatra, Frank Valli and The Four Seasons, Pat Henry

© 1997-2026 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

July 24, 1968

Studio

New York City

L5401 My Way Of Life

(Bert Kaempfert/Herb Rehbein/Carl Sigman)

EMI Screen Gems Music Inc. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Don Costa

(3:06) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

45: 0764

L5402 Cycles w/Chorus

(Judith Caldwell)

Irving Music Inc. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Don Costa

(3:10) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

CD: 1027-2Cycles

CD: 2275-2Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hit's Vol.2

LP: FS1034Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.3

LP: FS1027Cycles

45: 0764

L5403 Whatever Happened To Christmas? w/Chorus

(Jimmy Webb)

Audio Arts Publishing Co./kayTeeKay Music Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Don Costa

(3:03) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS1026The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas

45: 0790

NOTE: Ed O'Brien reports that Sinatra devoted two and a half hours recording "My Way of Life." Musicians at the sessions told O'Brien that Sinatra almost busted a gut trying to get it right in take after take.

"Cycles,' however, took only twenty minutes and two takes. The latter was the hit record. Go figure!

Nick Perito conducted some of the session and also played accordion on one track. Teddy Randazzo told O'Brien that he wrote the arrangements for "Cycles." Jonathan Schwartz remembers meeting one of the sidemen a few days after the session. He told Schwartz that Sinatra laid down a bluesy Christmas song.

Danny Faux:

Did Randazzo told you that he wrote the arrangements for "Cycles"?. I've thought for many years that Don Costa had written a rather " busy" chart for the song, and Nancy, who was in the studio, helped out in stripping down the orchestration to an almost bare minimum. I also read that Lee Hazlewood was involved at some point. Could you please bring some light regarding what really happened and who was really the arranger of the song?. A song I´ve always loved from the moment I got the white label, promo single back in´68.

Ed O'Brien:

Hi Danny,

He told me the song was originally conceived as an a la Jimi Hendrick via Sinatra. Nancy and Costa did not think it would work. As the session progressed, Costa and Randazzo tried different ideas. Finally, according to Teddy, the C&W chart was written by him. Costa received credit for it. Randazzo didn't mind. He was very close to Don and was happy to help. He was also at the sessions for "Sinatra & Strings." Costa agonized over how to write charts for "Stardust" and "Come Rain Or Come Shine." Teddy told me he urged Don to write a sweeping chart for the Carmichael classic. Don came up with the driving chart for "Shine." "Cycles" was a surprise hit. I also like, just as much if not more, "Wandering" by the same composer, Gayle Caldwell. Frank certainly liked it better than "My Way," but he was still uneasy about singing such songs. During the May 75 London concerts, he told his audience it was a little country but not much. At Caesars, in 68, Sinatra mentioned that it was never the type of song he thought of singing.. But here he was singing it. Not exactly a ringing endorsement either time. And it charted better than "My Way."

Extras

"Whatever Happened to Christmas"

Granata includes 'Whatever Happened to Christmas' among the fifty recordings he considers essential to understanding Sinatra's artistry (arranged by Don Costa, recorded 1968, Reprise); the song was chosen for its musical/interpretive value rather than commercial popularity.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

[Sinatra records 'My Way of Life'/'Cycles']

Sinatra stepped into a New York recording studio for the first time in seven months, cutting the Don Costa-arranged Bert Kaempfert tune 'My Way of Life' as the A-side, and, as the B-side, his first folk-rock foray: 'Cycles,' written by former New Christy Minstrels singer Gayle Caldwell, arranged by Teddy Randazzo.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

July-August 1968

Extras

Frank embarks on a stumping concert tour for Hubert Humphrey's presidential campaign, performing in Cleveland, Baltimore, Minneapolis, Detroit, and Philadelphia. Around the same time, Wall Street Journal reporter Nicholas Gage published a scathing exposé again linking Sinatra to organized crime, prompting some Humphrey aides to urge distance from the entertainer; Humphrey would go on to lose narrowly to Richard Nixon that November. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

July 25, 1968

Extras

In only his second New York session in nearly sixteen years, Frank recorded three Don Costa-arranged songs including the title track for his next album, 'Cycles,' and Jimmy Webb's 'Whatever Happened to Christmas?'. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

July 26, 1968

Concerts

Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota

Sinatra, Pat Henry, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

Extras

Metropolitan Sports Center, Bloomington, Minnesota

Sinatra, Pat Henry, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons

July 27, 1968

Extras

[Manners reports on Mia's dating life]

Dorothy Manners: Columnist Dorothy Manners reported Mia Farrow was seeing both Peter Sellers and young realtor Sammy Hess, with the 'jolly threesome' spotted around town, including at a screening of Sellers's I Love You, Alice B. Toklas.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 1968

Extras

[Sinatra and Mia Farrow Divorce]

Sinatra's marriage to Mia Farrow ended in divorce in August 1968, amid the broader social upheavals of the decade.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Humphrey distances himself after DOJ probe news]

Kaplan: Humphrey's special counsel Martin McNamara learned Sinatra was part of a new Justice Department investigation into ties between the entertainment industry and the Cosa Nostra, and wrote his own warning memo. Soon after, Humphrey stopped returning Frank's calls.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra skips Democratic Convention]

Kaplan: Sinatra had been scheduled to emcee a luncheon for Muriel Humphrey and appear at a gala for Mayor Richard Daley at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. On the Sunday before, he abruptly canceled, citing a nonexistent 'pressing recording commitment,' and instead stayed in California halfheartedly romancing 26-year-old actress Carol Lynley.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Winchell reports on Ava's recovery, Sinatra's help]

Walter Winchell: Walter Winchell's column reported -- nearly two months late -- that Ava Gardner was recovering from major surgery, having been flown by Sinatra's private plane to St. Joseph's Hospital and then to his Palm Springs home to convalesce, with Frank reportedly covering her $8,000 hospital bill.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[personal life]

Sinatra and Farrow's Mexican divorce was finalized in August 1968. When asked what she wanted in the settlement, Farrow said only 'your respect and friendship.' The two remained close for the rest of Sinatra's life -- Farrow spoke with him or his daughters nearly daily late in his life, attended his funeral at Nancy Jr.'s request, and later named an adopted Vietnamese daughter Frankie Minh in his honor.

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

August 1, 1968

Concerts

Civic Center, Baltimore, MD

Hubert Humphrey Campaign Benefit

Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller

1. Day In, Day Out

2. I Get A Kick Out Of You

3. Moonlight In Vermont

4. The Lady Is A Tramp

5. I Have Dreamed

6. I've Got You Under My Skin

7. That's Life

8. Ol' Man River

9. All I Need Is The Girl

10. This Is All I Ask

11. I've Got The World On A String

12. Nancy

13. Willow Weep For Me

14. Goin' Out Of My Head

15. My Kind Of Town

Extras

Civic Center, Baltimore, MD

Hubert Humphrey Campaign Benefit

Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller

August 2, 1968

Concerts

Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan

Humphry Fundraiser with/Trini Lopez and Pat Henry

1. Day In, Day Out

2. I Get a Kick Out of You

3. Moonlight in Vermont

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. I Have Dreamed

6. I've Got You Under My Skin

7. That's Life

8. Ol' Man River

9. All I Need Is the Girl

10. This Is All I Ask

11. I've Got the World on a String

12. Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

13. Willow Weep for Me

14. Goin' Out of My Head

15. My Kind of Town

Extras

Cobo Hall, Detroit, Michigan

Humphry Fundraiser

with/Trini Lopez and Pat Henry

August 3, 1968

Concerts

The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fund Raiser for Hubert Humphrey

Frank Sinatra w/Buddy Rich and his Orchestra

1. Day In, Day Out

2. I Get a Kick out of You

3. Moonlight in Vermont

4. The Lady is a Tramp

5. I Have Dreamed

6. I've Got You under my Skin

7. That's Life

8. Ol' Man River

9. Goin' Out of my Mind

10. This is All I Ask

11. I've Got the World on a String

12. Nancy

13. My Kind of Town

note: Sinatra also sang "Stay With Me" from "The

Cardinal."

Through the years I have heard many Sinatra fans

express a sense of wonder over Frank's performance

in Oakland on 5-22-68. There is no question he was

wonderful that night, but Frank is just as good in Philly

and Baltimore in early August.. That is not the case

at Caesars in Nov/Dec of that year. I think the two

shows nightly, in a smoked filled room, took its toll

on his voice. Just an observation.

Ed

Extras

The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Fund Raiser for Hubert Humphrey

Frank Sinatra w/Buddy Rich and his Orchestra

August 12, 1968

Studio

Hollywood

L6755 The Twelve Days Of Christmas w/Frank Jr, Nancy & Tina

(Traditional, adapted by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen) WB Music Corp./The Songwriters Guild (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

(4:27)Ă‚ CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS1026The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas

L6756 The Bells Of Christmas(Greensleeves) w/Frank Jr, Nancy & Tina

(Traditional, adapted by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen) WB Music Corp./The Songwriters Guild (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

(3:39) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS1026The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas

L6757 I Wouldn't Trade Christmas w/Frank Jr, Nancy & Tina

(Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)

WB Music Corp./The Song Writers Guild (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

(2:51) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS1026The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas

45: 0790

L6758 The Christmas Waltz

(Sammy Cahn/Jule Styne)

WB Music Corp./Chappell & Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

(3:10) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 12

LP: FS1026The Sinatra Family Wish You A Merry Christmas

Note: Jr. dubbed his vocals on August 19, 1968

NOTE: Ed O'Brien points out that this was an afternoon session with a

39-piece orchestra and the Jimmy Joyce Singers. O'Brien has interviewed six of the musicians on this session plus Nelson Riddle. Not many of them could recall any outstanding moments. "Christmas Waltz" was Sinatra's third-time around on the Styne-Cahn holiday tune. It would have been nice if Sinatra had opted to do "Winter Wonderland" or "Sleigh Ride" instead of a tune that had been done so well during the Capitol years.

Extras

Posing for the cover of their 1968 Christmas album, The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas: (l-r) Tina, Frank, Nancy, and Frank Jr. Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

[Sinatra family Christmas album session]

Tina Sinatra: Frank made it to Los Angeles to join daughters Nancy and Tina in recording The Sinatra Family Wish You a Merry Christmas (Frank Jr. would dub in vocals later while touring county fairs). Nelson Riddle and Don Costa arranged; it marked Tina Sinatra's only recorded vocal, which she said she performed 'in a coma' with fear.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 15, 1968

Extras

Sinatra does taping for "FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA DOES HIS THING"

Baubles, Bangles and Beads

Frank taping "FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA

DOES HIS THING" NBC BURBANK

AIRED ON CBS 11-25-68

[Jacobs dances with Mia at the Daisy]

George Jacobs: The night before her divorce was finalized, valet George Jacobs ran into Mia Farrow -- accompanied by John Phillips of the Mamas and the Papas -- at the Daisy nightclub. She seemed high and insisted on dancing with him for what felt like an eternity while Phillips lingered in the men's room.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 16, 1968

Extras

[Farrow finalizes Mexican divorce]

Vernon Scott (UPI): Mia Farrow flew with Mickey Rudin to Juarez, Mexico, and finalized her divorce from Sinatra before Judge Lorenzo Holguin Seniceros. She testified her life with Sinatra 'had been unbearable' and that they hadn't lived as husband and wife since December 1967; wire reports described her hands trembling as she signed.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Sinatra learns of divorce during CBS taping]

Nancy Sinatra: While the divorce was finalized in Mexico, Frank was taping the TV special Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing at CBS Television City with Don Costa, Diahann Carroll, and the Fifth Dimension. Jilly Rizzo told him mid-taping that Rudin had called to confirm the divorce was complete; Sinatra opted to air the dress rehearsal rather than redo the performance, saying, 'Let's go with the dress. I can't do it again now.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Mia declines divorce settlement]

Mia Farrow refused any financial settlement from the divorce, leaving the Bel Air house with only the jewelry Frank had given her, their forty-eight-place silverware set, and her stuffed animals.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Rona Barrett item leads to Jacobs's firing]

George Jacobs: The night of the divorce, gossip columnist Rona Barrett made an on-air insinuation about Mia's dance with George Jacobs at the Daisy. Furious, Sinatra locked himself in his room and had Mickey Rudin fire Jacobs after fourteen years of service, believing his valet had slept with his ex-wife.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 19, 1968

Extras

Frank and Mia Farrow's divorce is finalized in Juarez, Mexico. Mia, accompanied by Mickey Rudin, made a brief court appearance; Frank did not attend. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

[WSJ publishes Sinatra Mafia expose]

Nicholas Gage: The Wall Street Journal ran a front-page investigative story by Nicholas Gage detailing Sinatra's decades of friendships with organized-crime figures including Willie Moretti, Lucky Luciano, the Fischetti brothers, and Sam Giancana, and his forced exit from the casino and racetrack businesses. Publicist Jim Mahoney's rebuttal called the reports 'rumors and vicious, unnecessary attacks.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Gage links Sinatra to Gambino associate visit]

Nicholas Gage: The Journal piece also reported that the previous October, after speaking in New York for the American-Italian Anti-Defamation League, Sinatra had driven to Turnbull, Connecticut, to visit Dave Iacovetti, identified by police as a member of the Gambino crime family.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

August 21, 1968

Extras

[McMillin column on Sinatra-Humphrey liability]

Miles McMillin: Columnist Miles McMillin wrote in the Madison Capital Times that Republicans were laying groundwork to attack Humphrey over Sinatra's role in his campaign, comparing Nixon's law-and-order rhetoric to 'Matt Dillon running against Billy the Kid.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

September 1968

Extras

[Columnist previews The Godfather]

Jack O'Brian: Columnist Jack O'Brian wrote that Putnam would publish Mario Puzo's The Godfather, featuring 'an internationally known male singer as a prominent fictionalized character,' disparagingly comparing it to the earlier fictionalized Sinatra novel The King.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

September 27, 1968

Extras

[Wiedrich reports on Sinatra's 'Klippinger' romance]

Robert Wiedrich: Chicago Tribune columnist Robert Wiedrich reported Sinatra's name being linked overseas to a 20-year-old Swedish blonde named Ingalill Klippinger, whom he supposedly met at a London gambling club.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

October 15, 1968

Extras

[Jilly's West grand opening with McCue]

Diane McCue: Frank and Diane McCue arrived by stretch limo at the grand opening of Jilly's West in Palm Springs. McCue recalled a female star (later identified as Lucille Ball) whispering to David Janssen that she 'looks a little like Mia.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[Orr covers Jilly's West opening]

Robin Orr: Oakland Tribune society columnist Robin Orr covered the Jilly's West opening, noting host Danny Schwartz (whose Lear jet Natilus was named for his wife) and roughly 400 attendees including Sinatra, Lucille Ball, her husband Gary Morton, and Jilly Rizzo.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

October 30, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra's Teamsters benefit, St. Louis]

Sinatra performed a benefit concert for the Teamsters in St. Louis.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

October 31, 1968

Extras

Fox Theater, St. Louis, Missouri

Teamster Charity Show

Sinatra, Dean Martin, Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Sinatra, Trini Lopez, and others

!

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The Sinatra Archive)

November 1968

Extras

[Sinatra And Don Costa At Reprise Session]

A photograph shows Sinatra with arranger-conductor Don Costa at a Reprise recording session in November 1968, one of two such sessions pictured together around that time.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Sinatra announces leaving Los Angeles]

Frank Sinatra: After UCLA School of Medicine professors warned of dangerous smog levels and urged residents to leave the city, Sinatra announced he was leaving Los Angeles, his home of 25 years, declaring, 'The air isn't fit to breathe, so I'm moving out,' and claiming (falsely, per columnist Joyce Haber) that he saw a doctor three times a week for it.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra opens at Caesars Palace]

Kaplan: Two days before Thanksgiving, Sinatra opened at Caesars Palace's Circus Maximus, backed by the Harry James Orchestra, with Jose Feliciano, the Fifth Dimension, and Pat Henry also on the bill.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Cycles -- critical commentary]

Bill Boggs (anecdote) / Friedwald (analysis): Songwriter Gayle Caldwell, per an interview cited by Friedwald, wrote the song for herself but her publisher thought it sounded more like a 'guy' song, so a New Christy Minstrels baritone sang the demo that reached Sinatra's office. Friedwald analyzes the lyric's cyclical, waltz-time (3/4) structure matching its message that hardship passes. Footnote: Sinatra fan Bill Boggs recalled taking a lady friend who'd just lost her job to a 1975 Garden State Arts Center Sinatra show and being moved by 'Cycles'; he sent Sinatra a note, and that Labor Day at the Jerry Lewis telethon Sinatra asked him, 'How's your friend doing? The one who got fired?'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

November 3, 1968

Extras

[Sinatra rallies for Humphrey at Astrodome]

Two days before the presidential election, Sinatra performed at a rally for Hubert Humphrey at the Houston Astrodome.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 4, 1968

Television

Hubert Humphrey Telethon, Los Angeles

Monday night election eve

Ed O'Brien:

Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Vincent Price and a slew of other celebrities manned the phones and asked that you support their candidate.

Humphrey and Edmund Muskie took calls from their supporters.

L.A. Times called it "a marathon four hour rally."

Film

The Tender Trap, (US Film Release: November 4, 1955)

Starring: Frank Sinatra,Debbie Reynolds, David Wayne, Celeste Holm

Directed by Charles Walters.

Sinatra plays Charlie Reader, a 35-year-old theatrical agent in New York City, living a seemingly idyllic life as a bachelor with numerous women who come and go, cleaning and cooking for him until one day Charlie meets singer-actress Julie Gillis (Debbie Reynolds) and his bachelor life is put to the test. (1st DVD Release date: 2008-05-13)

This was one of Frank's most satisfying film experiences The production was first rate and he had returned to MGM after being banished by Louie B. Mayer in 1950. The film cost $1,274,000 to make. Filming got underway in May of 1955. Frank was very comfortable with cast and crew and it shows in the final product. His association with the songwriting team of Cahn & Van Heusen got it start with the title track from this movie (Frank would record it at MGM, Capitol and Reprise). The song received an Oscar nomination and was sung at the award ceremony by Dean Martin..Sinatra had full publishing rights to the tune. The British arranger/conductor Jeff Alexander was reunited with Frank for this film. He had worked with Sinatra on the NBC Light Up Time series in 1949-50. Frank was 39 years old during the two month shoot at MGM and Debbie Reynolds was 23. One day he asked Debbie to have lunch with him. She was, at the time, engaged to Eddie Fisher, Frank tried to dissuade her from marrying Eddie. He told Debbie that singers made terrible husbands. Debbie ignored his advice and we all know how that worked out. Released the day after "Guys & Dolls," in a few major cities, the film received far better reviews and Sinatra got rave notices. The general release would be on 11/17. It was a box office success, pulling in almost four and a half million dollars. Frank was becoming a major movie star and his services were in great demand after this performance. And he was about to accept the most challenging role of his career, playing Frankie Machine in "The Man With The Golden Arm." --Ed

Concerts

Hubert Humphrey Telethon, Los Angeles

Monday night election eve

Ed O'Brien:

Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Vincent Price and a slew of other celebrities manned the phones and asked that you support their candidate.

Humphrey and Edmund Muskie took calls from their supporters.

L.A. Times called it "a marathon four hour rally."

Extras

Hubert Humphrey Telethon, Los Angeles

Monday night election eve

November 5, 1968

Extras

[Nixon defeats Humphrey]

On Tuesday, November 5, Richard Nixon defeated Hubert Humphrey for the presidency by roughly half a million popular votes, a campaign damaged by the Chicago convention chaos, the ongoing Vietnam trauma, and George Wallace's independent run.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 6, 1968

[Photograph: Humphrey narrowly loses to Nixon. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.309.]

Extras

Despite Frank's fundraising efforts, Hubert Humphrey was narrowly defeated by Richard Nixon in the presidential election. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

November 11, 1968

Studio

Hollywood

L6927 Blue Lace

(Riz Ortolani/Bill Jacob/Patty Jacob)

Warmer-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

(2:42) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

LP: FS1032 Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.2 ( England )

45: 0817

L6928 Star!

(Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)

Twentieth Century-Fox Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted by Nelson Riddle

(2:34) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 9-26723-2Sinatra Sings The Songs Of Van Heusen & Cahn

CD: 2275-2Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.2

LP: FS1034Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.3

45: 0798

Extras

[Sinatra's last 1960s session with Nelson Riddle]

Sinatra recorded two singles, the ballad 'Blue Lace' and the title theme from the Julie Andrews film Star!, with Nelson Riddle at Western Recorders -- neither man knew it would be their last studio collaboration for eight years, as Don Costa had become Frank's go-to arranger for Top 40 attempts.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

November 12, 1968

Studio

Hollywood

L6929 Little Green Apples N/R

(Bobby Russell)

Poly-Gram International Publishing Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

L6930 Gentle On My Mind

(John Hartford)

Ensign Music (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(3:21) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

L6931 By The Time I Get To Phoenix

(Jimmy Web)

Charles Koppelman Music/Jonathon Three Music Co./Martin Bandier Music (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(3:55) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

Extras

[Cycles album sessions, Harrison visits]

George Harrison: Sinatra began recording the Cycles album over three nights (November 12-14) with Bill Miller conducting Don Costa's arrangements. George Harrison and his wife Pattie attended one session; Harrison, impressed by Sinatra's efficiency, reportedly asked, 'How do you do it? It takes us months just to do one album.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[By the Time I Get to Phoenix / Wandering / Little Green Apples / Rain in My Heart -- critical commentary]

Don Costa's arranged album Cycles demonstrates Sinatra's ability to strip away the superficiality of contemporary songs like 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' and 'Little Green Apples' and find their real emotional core, according to Granata.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology, or lacked a sufficiently precise date; the specific date could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

November 13, 1968

Studio

Hollywood

L6929 Little Green Apples

(Bobby Russell)

Poly-Gram International Publishing Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(4:57) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

L6932 Moody River

w/Chorus

(Gary D. Bruce)

Gary Bruce Music/Gil Music (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(2:31) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

L6933 Pretty Colors

w/Chorus

(Al Gorgoni/Chip Taylor)

EMI Blackwood Music Inc. (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(2:34) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

Extras

[Little Green Apples / Gentle on My Mind / By the Time I Get to Phoenix -- critical commentary]

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald notes all three (Bobby Russell, John Hartford, Jimmy Webb respectively) were hits for Glen Campbell, the session guitarist who played on Sinatra dates. Sinatra sings all in a sing-songy folk voice with understated dynamics. Friedwald calls 'By the Time I Get to Phoenix' the underappreciated gem of the album, an 'Angel Eyes' for a later era, noting the remarkable compassion Sinatra conveys for the woman being left, since the lyric never explains why he's leaving -- calling it 'about as close as we get in this era to truly classic Frank,' more so than 'Strangers in the Night' or 'My Way.'

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

November 14, 1968

Studio

Hollywood

L6934 Rain In My Heart

(Teddy Randazzo/Victoria Pike)

Aldor Music (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(3:20) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

45: 0798

L6935 Wandering

(Judith Caldwell)

Irving Music, Inc. (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(2:45) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

L6937 (From) Both Sides, Now

(Joni Mitchell)

Siquomb Publishing Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Don Costa

Orchestra Conducted by Bill Miller

(2:55) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1027-2Cycles

LP: FS1027Cycles

NOTE: Ed O'Brien says that Tony Randazzo told him that Sinatra thought he had another "Strangers in the Night" with "Rain in my Heart." Tony was astonished by the amount of work done by Sinara to get just the sound he wanted. O'Brien says he personally prefers "Wandering" and loves the line "Now in November, I think of July and a warm sky." Reprise made a big mistake not releasing "Both Sides Now" on a single, he indicates. It has a dynamite vocal by Sinatra and Costa's chart is the perfect compliment to the vocal.

Danny Faux:

I also think " Both Sides Now " should have been released as a single. Joni Mitchell wrote this song when she was 24 years old and had recently divorced. The lyrics show a maturity of a much older person than her age at the time. Frank's rendition is beauti- fully controlled and understated. Loved it from the first time I've listened to the " Cycles " album. Costa's chart is very good too, complementing Frank perfectly. I also think that Sinatra does a great reading of the album title song. I remember getting the Reprise white label promo 45rpm single and listening a whole afternoon to the song over and over. I believe that originally " Cycles " was the "b" side, but was the tune that got me me immediately.

Ed O'Brien:

"Cycles" was so superior to the flipside of that 45. Frank devoted two and a half hours to recording "My Way Of Life." The Gayle Caldwell song was done in 20 minutes. I also like her other song for Frank, "Wandering." Frank really nailed "Both Sides Now." Don't know what Reprise was thinking not to release it on a single.

Danny Faux:

I think you're right about " Wondering ". Lovely song and tender reading by Frank. Just a thought; have you heard the song " Wait by the fire " recorded for the " Cycles " album or was the master destroyed?.

Ed O'Brien:

It wasn't recorded. Song was run down. Sinatra felt it just wasn't right.

Danny Faux:

Thanks for the info. Really surprising. The copy of the " Cycles " LP I had back then even had the title of that song printed in its cover. Or so I remember it.

Ed O'Brien:

You are correct; it was printed on the cover. The liner notes explained that Frank acted the perfectionist in deciding to scrap a not quite right "Wait By The Fire." I have the Reprise session work sheets for the three sessions done that November. It is not listed. Often a song not recorded would still make the sheet for a particular session. Nada. I also have the master files. Nil. There are songs listed that Sinatra was set to record, ran down once, etc. It did not make the cut at all.

Danny Faux:

I suppose that even Frank did a run-down of Gordon Lightfoot's " If You Could Read My Mind " in the mid-seventies - with the presence of the cana- dian singer-songwriter in the recording booth - no evidence on tape has survived. Again, could you please shed some light on the going-ons of this session?. Thanks.

Ed O'Brien:

Great story: Lee Herschberg was the engineer at the 5-21-74 session.

He greatly admired Lightfoot's song. When Lee learned that "If You Could Read My Mind" was set to be done, he clued in Lightfoot. The session had 39 musicians and five songs were set to be recorded. Lee told me Lightfoot was very nervous and paced in the control booth. His song was the last to be done that evening. According to Lee, Costa's chart for the song was sensational. Frank ran it down once, looked up at the booth and said, "too many words." And he was gone. Lightfoot's jaw dropped about a mile. And that was it. I asked Lee if a master was done of the rehearsal take. Frank's run through was rather perfunctory, a sort of feeling out process. There was nothing to master.

Extras

"Both Sides, Now"

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald calls this Joni Mitchell song a major missed opportunity -- Sinatra and Costa 'completely misread it,' approaching it like 'Somethin' Stupid': quick, folksy, and sing-songy, a minor throwaway. He contrasts it with Mitchell's own 2000 re-recording, which extracted considerable drama and wisdom, comparing that later version to a companion piece to 'Send in the Clowns.' Footnote: the Cycles track is mistitled 'From Both Sides, Now,' and Sinatra actually recorded his version before Judy Collins's famous 1967 recording made it known and before Mitchell's own 1969 Clouds recording.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

November 20, 1968

Extras

[Lady in Cement released]

Lady in Cement was released to mixed-to-positive reviews. The New York Times's Vincent Canby gave an ambivalent so-bad-it's-good notice, while the Los Angeles Times's Charles Champlin praised Sinatra's evident enjoyment of the role; the film proved more profitable and better received than The Detective.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra — Lady in Cement (1968)]

David Wills's 2015 photo history The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra devotes a section to Lady in Cement (1968), illustrated with 5 behind-the-scenes and publicity photographs (posters, lobby cards, and on-set/on-location shots) filed here.

“Sinatra's Tony Rome is a fusion of insouciance, cynicism, battered but surviving idealism, wisecrackery, courage, libido, thirst, and all the more interesting hungers. He clearly enjoys the role.” —Charles Champlin

Source: David Wills, The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra (St. Martin's Press, 2015), pp. 267–272.

With costar Raquel Welch, Lady in Cement, 1968. / “He has the most raw talent and / magnetism of any man I've met. / While we were filming, Frank was / working at the Fontainebleau, and it / was a complete revelation to see him / in front of an audience. To (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

completely hold people the way he / did is a remarkable thing.” / One sheet poster, Lady in Cement. (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

On set, Lady in Cement, 1968. / “I had been continually rehearsing a / scene with a young actress who had / little experience and understandably (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

As Tony Rome, Lady in Cement. / “Sinatra's Tony Rome is a fusion of insouciance, / cynicism, battered but surviving idealism, / wisecrackery, courage, libido, thirst, and all the / more interesting hungers. He clearly enjoys the / role.” / (Los Angeles Times, review, Lady in Cement) (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

As Tony Rome, Lady in Cement. / “I was a stage-struck bobby soxer when he was / singing at the Paramount in New York City. I / remained a tongue-tied fan of his … He was / such a gifted singer—and then grew into a fine (Photo: The Cinematic Legacy of Frank Sinatra, David Wills, 2015.)

November 22, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV (11-22 to 12-19-1968)

Frank Sinatra

Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension,

Pat Henry

Harry James & His Orchestra

Extras

note: After an almost 15 month hiatus from the Vegas strip, Frank Sinatra returned with his inaugural engagement at Caesars Palace.

On opening night he sang a special parody composed by Cahn & Van Heusen plus "All Or Nothing At All," w/H. James, "By The Time

I Get To Phoenix," "Little Green Apples," "Please Be Kind" and a long medley of his hits. Bill Miller conducted the 33 piece orchestra

and did a few numbers with Frank during the show. The one month appearance would be the first of many at Caesars over the next

15 years.

Ed

MARQUEE 11-22-68

Decorative metal sign for the engagement

November 23, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV (11-22 to 12-19-1968)

Frank Sinatra

Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension,

Pat Henry

Harry James & His Orchestra

November 24, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV (11-22 to 12-19-1968)

Frank Sinatra

Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension,

Pat Henry

Harry James & His Orchestra

November 25, 1968

Television

FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA DOES HIS THING

Taped August 16, 1968 (Dress Rehearsal Used)

Monday Evening

9:00 p.m - 10:00 p.m.

CBS-TV

Arranged and Conducted by Don Costa

Guests: Diahann Carroll & The Fifth Dimension

1. Hello Young Lovers

2. Baubles, Bangles And Beads

3. Cycles

4. medley w/Diahann: Diane / Sometime I Feel Like A Motherless Child / Lonesome Road / Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen / Amen

5. medley: Glad To Be Unhappy / Here's That Rainy Day / It Never Entered My Mind / Gone With The Wind

6. Sweet Blindness w/5th Dimension

7. Nice And Easy

8. How Little We Know

9. Lost In The Stars

10. Angel Eyes

11. Put Your Dreams Away

Notes: 50 min.

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV (11-22 to 12-19-1968)

Frank Sinatra

Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension,

Pat Henry

Harry James & His Orchestra

Note: Frank was dark on this day

--Ed

Extras

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV (11-22 to 12-19-1968)

Frank Sinatra

Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension,

Pat Henry

Harry James & His Orchestra

© 1997-2025 The Sinatra Archive

This calendar, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any fashion

whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher (The

Sinatra Archive)

Frank and the Fifth Dimension rehearsing "Sweet Blindness"

TV GUIDE NOVEMBER 23-29, 1968

Baubles, Bangles & Beads

Sweet Blindness

Ed O'Brien:

On the evening of November 25, 1968 (Monday),at 9:PM EST, CBS aired

the one hour musical special "Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing."

Frank's guests were Diahann Carroll and the 5th Dimension.

The show was taped in Studio 4 at NBC Burbank on August 14th and 15th.

The producer-writer team of Saul Ilson and Ernest Chambers( Smothers

Brothers Comedy Hour) put the show together. Don Costa was the

arranger/conductor and Frank used a 47 piece orchestra, including 16 strings

and three guitars.

His constant sidemen Bill Miller, Al Viola and Irv Cottler were part of the

biggest band Frank had ever employed for a TV special, and there was also

a choral group of six backing him on some numbers.

The Wednesday taping(14) was done without a studio audience. The

singer arrived at 2:30 P.M. for the saloon segment of the show. Titled

"The Rainy Day Spot," Frank stood in a motel room setting, looking into

a mirror,singing.the verse of Rodgers & Hart's "Glad To Be Unhappy,"

followed by a very interesting Costa chart on "Here's That Rainy Day."

(a song Sinatra often called "the daddy of all the saloon songs."). The

great Rodger's & Hart classic "It Never Entered My Mind" was sung

as Frank left the motel room and wandered around the back yard

of the motel set..A rather loud chorus joined him on"Gone With The Wind"

and then the segment was concluded with a reprise of "Rainy Day,"as

Frank walked through the rain and got into his 1968 Pontiac.and drove

away.

Thursday's schedule included a run-through at 12:30, dress rehearsal

at 5:30 and then the actual taping of the show at 8:30, with an audience

made up of Budweiser dealers from throughout the country. The run-

through went smoothly and Sinatra retired to his dressing room. Around

mid-afternoon Frank received a phone call from Juarez, Mexico. Mia

was seeking a quickie divorce and there was urgent news. Ilson and

Chambers were summoned and told that the dress rehearsal would

be the show.The guests were told to give it everything because it

would be a one-shot deal.Frank needed to be elsewhere that evening.

At exactly 5:30, with the audience in place, the taping began. Frank

opened the show with a finger-snapping uptempo chart on Rodgers

& Hammerstein's "Hello Young Lovers." The choral backing, an attempt

to capture a more contemporary sound, continued as Frank sang "Baubles,

Bangles And Beads." He then introduced the show and made some funny

remarks about "his thing" and how the record buyers kept him in mad

money in case he got the urge again." He sang the Country and Western

tune "Cycles," still with chorus (At the time Lee Hazelwood was putting

together a C&W project for Frank and Jimmy Webb had been asked to write

an album for him. This search for a modern sound would eventually lead to

Frank's most unconventional work, "Watertown").

Diahann Carroll was introduced and sang two numbers.Frank joined her

for a medley of quasi gospel tunes including "Lonesome Road" and "Amen."

Then the 5th Dimension did their segment with the 6th Dimension joining

them on Laura Nyro's tune "Sweet Blindness." Sinatra was dressed in a natty

blue and white outfit for the number. As it concluded, he said, "Don't look now

Francis Albert but your generation gap is showing.."

Two very attractive young ladies helped him don beads and a Nehru jacket

for the Riddle segment of the show. Frank sang "Nice N' Easy," "How Little

We Know"( the more uptempo Reprise chart from 1963) and closed it out with

a big production treatment of the Kurt Weill-Maxwell Anderson standard "Lost

In The Stars.".Costa conducted the large orchestra.

The show closed with Sinatra singing the first few lines of "Angel Eyes,"

with a few altered lyrics to fit the occasion, a big thank you to his guests, and

a gorgeous rendition of the Riddle arranged Sinatra theme song "Put Your

Dreams Away." And he was gone.

The Budweiser executives, arriving for what they thought would be the "air

play" show were given the choice of attending a Jerry Lewis taping or watching

the rehearsal on TV monitors.

"Francis Albert Sinatra Does His Thing" is unique among the many TV specials

Sinatra did over a period of 35 years. The previous.year NBC had offered the

magnificent "A Man & His Music + Ella + Jobim", and the following year the Nehru

and beads were gone for "Sinatra 69." The attempt to bridge the generation gap,

speak in the patois of the 60s counter-culture and be hippie-hip was gone.

The show is certainly entertaining with some fine singing. Frank wore a

very modest wig and it looked great on him. He was very comfortable with

his guests, there are some fine one time arrangements by Costa and the

set decoration was very bright and attractive. Not a bad hour of television.

note: After three years of watching Frank's one hour specials and waiting for

the rerun in the spring, I decided in November 1968 to try and preserve

the audio. Got myself a very nice tape recorder, high performance tape

and alligator clips. The latter attached very nicely to the speaker inside

the TV. What I was able to do thrilled me. A line recording of the full hour

show. It was the equivalent of two Sinatra albums. I listened to that tape

many times through the years.

Ed

November 26, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, NV (11-22 to 12-19-1968)

Frank Sinatra

Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension,

Pat Henry

Harry James & His Orchestra

1. I've Got The World On A String

2. Day In, Day Out

3. You Make Me Feel So Young

4. Cycles

5. Please Be Kind

6. Monologue

7. By The Time I Get To Phoenix

8. All Or Nothing At All

9. This Is All I Ask

10. I've Got You Under My Skin

11. Medley: Strangers In The Night / Young At Heart / Nancy / It Was A Very Good Year / All The Way / That's Life / My Kind Of Town

12. Little Green Apples

13. The Lady Is A Tramp

14. Chaser "12 O'clock Jump"

15. Intro: Frank Sinatra Jr. & Good Night

note: Frank opened his first engagement at Caesars on 11-22-68. Celebrities were his main audience that night. Frank sang 30 songs including "Soliloquy" and a special parody written by Sammy Cahn, telling how his appearance at Caesars came to be. The three week stay was extended another, because Frank became ill the second week in December.Closing night was 12/19. Frank did one show a night except on Friday and Saturday. --Ed

November 27, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

November 28, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry note: Frank was dark on 11/25,12/2-9-16

--Ed

November 29, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

November 30, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 1968

Extras

[Sinatra spotted with the Marxes]

Kaplan: A December 1968 social-column item placed Sinatra at the Beachcomber nightclub with a party that included Barbara and Zeppo Marx and Jilly Rizzo.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

December 1, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 2, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

Note: Sinatra was dark this night

December 4, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 5, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Thursday evening

1. I've Got The World On A String

2. You Make Me Feel So Young

3. This Is All I Ask

4. Cycles

5. Please Be Kind

6. monologue

7. By The Time I Get To Phoenix

8. All Or Nothing At All ( Riddle 66 arg. H. James on trumpet)

9. Moonlight In Vermont

10. I've Got You Under My Skin

11. medley : Strangers In The Night/Young At Heart/Nancy/ It Was A Very Good Year/All The Way/That's Life/My Kind Of Town

12. Little Green Apples

13. The Lady Is A Tramp note: When Frank did his introductions of celebs in the audience, he tells the audience that Cyd Charisse's legs go all the way up.

December 6, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 7, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Cancelled due to the flu (7-9)

December 8, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Cancelled due to the flu (7-9)

December 9, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Cancelled due to the flu (6-9)

December 10, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 11, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 12, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 13, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 14, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 15, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 16, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry

December 17, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Wednesday Night

Harry James Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller

December 18, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (November 22 - December 19) w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Wednesday Night

Harry James Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller

Partial song-list:

1. I've Got The World On A String

2. Day In, Day Out

3. Cycles

4. Please Be Kind

5. monologue

6. By The Time I Get To Phoenix

7. All Or Nothing At All

8. Moonlight In Vermont

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Little Green Apples

11. medley: Strangers In The Night / Young At Heart / Nancy / All The Way / That's Life / My Kind Of Town

12. The Lady Is A Tramp

Ed O'Brien notes:

Frank's penultimate show of a three week engagement.

His first ever appearance at Caesars opened on 11-22-68 with Harry James fronting a 40 piece orchestra and Bill Miller conducting. Opening night Frank sang 30 songs including "Soliloquy" The rest of the shows were scaled back quite dramatically.

The opening act was Mr. James followed by Jose Feliciano, The Fifth Dimension, Pat Henry and then Sinatra.

After singing "Cycles," Frank told the audience, with an air of resignation, he never thought he would be singing such material, but he was doing it.

December 19, 1968

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada w/Harry James, The Fifth Dimension, Jose Feliciano, Pat Henry Harry James Orchestra Conducted By: Bill Miller

December 30, 1968

Studio

Hollywood

L7053 My Way

(Paul Anka/Jacques Revaux/Gilles Thibault/Claude Francois) Chrysalis Standards Inc. (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted by Don Costa

(4:35) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

CD: 2275-2Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.2

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1034Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.3

LP: FS1029My Way

45: 0817

Extras

"My Way" began life as a French song, "Comme d'Habitude," with English lyrics written by a young Paul Anka specifically with Sinatra in mind; Anka later said Frank brought more to the song than he ever could have himself. Despite becoming his signature anthem, Frank reportedly disliked the song throughout his career, telling audiences on more than one occasion, "I hate this song." It was only a modest hit on the U.S. charts when released in 1969, peaking at number twenty-seven, though it became a phenomenon in the United Kingdom, charting for 122 weeks. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

"My Way"

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald states bluntly, 'It's not particularly good Sinatra record -- there, I said it! -- but it proved to be a career milestone nonetheless,' promising fuller discussion of its later impact in the next chapter (covering the post-retirement period).

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

"My Way"

The title track 'My Way' (English lyrics by Paul Anka) was recorded in December 1968. Sinatra's longtime pianist Bill Miller was unable to play on the session because he had recently been injured in a mudslide that destroyed his LA home and killed his wife; jazz pianist Lou Levy filled in.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

[Sinatra records 'My Way' in one take]

Frank Sinatra: In a rare afternoon session on the second-to-last day of the year, with Bill Miller conducting a forty-piece orchestra, Sinatra recorded 'My Way' in one take. Paul Anka had adapted the melody from the French 'Comme d'habitude,' writing lyrics he imagined Frank would say. Sinatra later admitted the song 'had nothing to do with my life whatsoever' and that he gritted his teeth over its boastfulness each time he sang it, despite loving its success.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

[My Way -- critical commentary]

Milt Bernhart: Don Costa arranged and Bill Miller conducted (Lou Levy on piano) the December 30, 1968 session that cut 'My Way' in under half an hour after just two takes. Trombonist Milt Bernhart, noting only one chart on the stand, joked to the band it was a Christmas present since they'd finish fast. Bud Brisbois played the demanding Maynard Ferguson-style lead trumpet part. Bernhart believed the released master is a composite of the two takes, pointing to an audible, unnatural vocal-quality splice right before the line 'I've loved, I've laughed and cried' -- Sinatra drops from a big voice to a small one faster than seems humanly possible, and he never quite reproduced that transition live.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 10, "Concert Years" (1973-1994)

[My Way -- critical commentary]

Paul Anka: Paul Anka optioned the English rights to the French song 'Comme d'habitude' in 1967 after hearing it in Paris ('I thought it was a shitty record, but there was something in it'). In 1969, after a Florida dinner with Sinatra and several 'mob guys' where Frank announced he was quitting the business, Anka went home to New York and at 1 a.m. sat at an IBM electric typewriter asking himself 'If Frank were writing this, what would he say?' He said he used phrases he'd never normally use, like 'I ate it up and spit it out,' influenced by the mobster talk at dinner. He called Sinatra in Vegas at 5 a.m. to play it for him, and Sinatra agreed to record it immediately.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 10, "Concert Years" (1973-1994)

[My Way -- critical commentary]

Will Friedwald: Friedwald notes 'My Way,' with its hard-to-remember melodic line, occasionally caused Sinatra to lose his bearings in concert (as in an otherwise excellent March 1992 set), yet in May 1994 he delivered one of the best renditions of his career: 'Haughty, arrogant, aggressive, and irresistible, it was everything that Frank Sinatra singing "My Way" ought to be.'

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 10, "Concert Years" (1973-1994)

[My Way / Didn't We / If You Go Away / All My Tomorrows / Mrs. Robinson -- critical commentary]

Sinatra completed the My Way album in February 1969, mixing introspective Costa-arranged ballads ('Didn't We,' 'If You Go Away,' a strong remake of 'All My Tomorrows') with more incongruous contemporary covers like Simon and Garfunkel's 'Mrs. Robinson.'

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology, or lacked a sufficiently precise date; the specific date could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

[My Way / In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning -- critical commentary]

Alan Livingston: Alan Livingston, who signed Sinatra to Capitol in 1953, said 'My Way' is 'absolutely Frank' because Sinatra's own lived experience of divorces, lost women, and career collapse gave him the credibility to interpret and phrase the lyric convincingly, just as he understood 'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning' from personal experience. Friedwald contrasts Paul Anka's original English lyric (to a French melody) as inherently self-aggrandizing text that made other interpreters -- Sid Vicious deliberately, Elvis Presley unintentionally -- sound like pretentious egomaniacs, unlike classic Porter/Berlin songs that flattered everyone who sang them. Sinatra reportedly disliked the song every time he sang it.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 1, "Night and Day" (Sinatra style overview)

[My Way / Put Your Dreams Away -- critical commentary]

Tony Bennett (to Friedwald): Tony Bennett told me that when he did his album Perfectly Frank in 1992, he wanted to include only great standards, and deliberately avoid signature themes like “My Way” and “Put Your Dreams Away.”

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 4, "With Axel Stordahl" (1943-1948)

1969

Extras

[A Man Alone Made During a Painful Year]

Poet Rod McKuen wrote and produced A Man Alone for Frank during a difficult period, after his split from Mia Farrow and while his own father was ill. Frank pulled the song "Happy Birthday Me" from the album because it hit too close to home, and McKuen recalled Frank arriving an hour early to every session, something he'd never seen him do before.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[First Hearing "My Way" at Caesar's Palace]

Frank first played Nancy the original French version of what would become "My Way" at Caesar's Palace, and they both sensed it would be important; Paul Anka later wrote the English lyric. At fifty-four, Frank was still young enough to sing its near-morbid closing lines without it depressing him, though by the time of Nancy's writing, sixteen years later, she preferred not to hear it.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Frank Sinatra Jr. Given His Own TV Special]

Frank Sinatra Jr., who had pursued a singing career in a swing style much like his father's despite Frank Sr.'s comment at his birth that there would be 'no following in Dad's footsteps,' was given his own television special.

Source: The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra, chapter "I Want to Be a Part of It, 1971-98."

[Marty Sinatra's Death and Funeral]

In January 1969, after years of emphysema, Frank's father Marty suffered heart failure; Frank flew him to Houston for emergency surgery by Dr. Michael DeBakey, but it was too late. Thousands of New Jersey residents lined the funeral procession route, and firemen saluted as the motorcade passed. Frank was visibly grief-stricken, later calling his father "a helluva guy" who had been tough on him.

Source: Tina Sinatra, "My Father's Daughter: A Memoir" (2000).

[Named Honorary Alumnus of UCLA]

UCLA names Sinatra an Honorary Alumnus.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[A Man Alone recorded]

Kaplan: Three weeks after completing the My Way album, Sinatra returned to the studio to record A Man Alone, an album composed entirely of Rod McKuen songs and spoken pieces, arranged by Don Costa.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Barbara Marx becomes a compound regular]

Kaplan: By 1969, Barbara Marx, wife of Zeppo Marx and nearly forty, had become a regular visitor to Sinatra's Palm Springs compound, ready to leave her older husband and trade up.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Death of Frank's father Marty]

Consiglio: Marty Sinatra died of asthma in 1969 at the Fort Lee, New Jersey home Frank had bought his parents, the last house they owned.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Dirty Dingus Magee]

Nancy Sinatra Jr.: Santopietro suggests Sinatra took on the broad comic Western Dirty Dingus Magee partly to distract himself after his father Marty's death from heart disease on January 24, 1969. Nancy Sinatra Jr. wrote that 'something snapped' in her father after Grandpa died and that he needed the silliness of the project.

This film/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Santopietro is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Dirty Dingus Magee creative team assembled]

Kaplan: MGM signed director Burt Kennedy (fresh off Support Your Local Sheriff), screenwriting brothers Tom and Frank Waldman, and novelist Joseph Heller (of Catch-22) to adapt David Markson's comic novel The Ballad of Dingus Magee for the screen.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Dupuytren's contracture origin]

Kaplan: Sinatra's chronic right-hand pain stemmed from Dupuytren's contracture, a tissue disorder triggered when he karate-chopped a table while filming The Manchurian Candidate; it would keep him from making movies for roughly the next two years.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Earl Wilson on Sinatra's fears]

Earl Wilson: Columnist Earl Wilson wrote that in his down periods Sinatra feared he'd 'had it' professionally, physically, and politically, confiding that his voice tired after three straight nights of singing, and that pain in his right hand—the mic hand—genuinely scared him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Edie Goetz on her romance with Sinatra]

Edith Mayer Goetz: Edith Mayer Goetz recalled that Sinatra 'took such good care of me' after her husband's death, traveling with her to Palm Springs and New York, and giving her an elaborate Christmas gift including a gold box engraved 'To Edie, With Much Love—Noel. Francis.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Frank pressures Dolly to move to Palm Springs]

Kaplan: After Marty's death, Frank tried to get Dolly to relocate to Palm Springs, offering to build her a house and buy her a condo near a racetrack. She resisted over the heat, her friends, and Marty's untended grave; Frank offered to move Marty's remains to Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City. It took over a year for her to agree.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Gaudio and Holmes pitch Watertown]

Bob Gaudio: After their concept album The Genuine Imitation Life Gazette flopped, Bob Gaudio and lyricist Jake Holmes wrote new songs for Sinatra, then pitched him on recording them as a full concept album, Watertown, about a small-town man abandoned by his wife.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Gay Talese encounters Sinatra at a party]

Gay Talese: At a small summer party for Rod McKuen at Bennett and Phyllis Cerf's Mount Kisco home, Gay Talese was surprised to find Sinatra among the guests; Frank never acknowledged him, instead listening loudly to a baseball game on a radio.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Jobim sessions for unreleased album]

Kaplan: Over three nights, Sinatra recorded ten new Antonio Carlos Jobim compositions with young Brazilian arranger Eumir Deodato and conductor Morris Stoloff, intended for an album to be called Sinatra-Jobim, including 'One Note Samba,' 'Wave,' 'Drinking Water (Aqua de Beber),' and 'Song of the Sabia.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Kinney buys Warner-Reprise for $400 million]

Kaplan: In 1969 Steve Ross's Kinney National Company would buy Warner-Reprise, by then called Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, for $400 million, vindicating Sinatra's one-third stake.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Marty Sinatra dies]

Consiglio: Frank's father, Marty Sinatra, died in 1969 after his asthma worsened into emphysema; Frank had sent him to Houston to be treated by Dr. Michael DeBakey, but it was too late. Consiglio wasn't present but heard that Frank never left his father's side during his final days.

Source: Tony Consiglio (as told to Franz Douskey), "Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years" (2012)

[Mrs. Robinson cover angers Paul Simon]

Phil Ramone: Sinatra recorded a satirical cover of Paul Simon's 'Mrs. Robinson' with altered lyrics referencing Jilly Rizzo and Dean Martin. Producer Phil Ramone recalled that Simon was initially upset enough to consider suing over the changed lyrics.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Ostin's rise and Sinatra's fading sales]

Mo Ostin: By 1969, Mo Ostin, soon to become Warner/Reprise president, was signing rock and folk-rock acts like Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, and the Grateful Dead, and was less deferential to Sinatra, whose pop recordings—including the McKuen album—were not selling well.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Served with New Jersey subpoena]

Kaplan: While relaxing off Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey, aboard his yacht, Sinatra was served with a subpoena to appear before a committee investigating organized crime in the state; he had Mickey Rudin handle it.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra overdubs Watertown vocals in L.A.]

Lee Herschberg: Unusually for Sinatra, who disliked recording without a live band, he had the Watertown tapes shipped to Los Angeles to overdub new vocal tracks rather than remain in New York, where he was also being served legal papers. Engineer Lee Herschberg said he 'never really connected with that project.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra promises McKuen an album]

Rod McKuen: Rod McKuen recalled that after years of trying to reach Sinatra, once they met, Frank promised him an entire album of his songs rather than just one or two—something Sinatra had never done for any other songwriter.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra proposes to Edie Goetz]

Kaplan: One night in the library of the Goetz mansion on Delfern Drive, Frank proposed marriage to Edie Goetz. She was taken aback, telling him, 'Why, Frank, I couldn't marry you... you're nothing but a hoodlum.' He got up and walked out, never speaking to her again.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra watches Apollo 11 launch]

Kaplan: During his cruise, Sinatra watched the Apollo 11 launch at Cape Kennedy, took the Cerfs to visit the William Styrons on Martha's Vineyard, and sailed to Vero Beach, Florida, with comedian Phil Harris.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra's barber killed in Manson murders]

Kaplan: Frank's barber, Jay Sebring, was among the four people murdered along with Sharon Tate during the Manson Family killings.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Sinatra-Jobim album shelved]

Lee Herschberg: Despite having album cover art made, Reprise never released Sinatra-Jobim. Engineer Lee Herschberg recalled that the 'Desafinado' duet, in which Frank and Jobim traded romantic-sounding lines to each other, alarmed someone over its implications, though it was 'a wonderful take.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[The Pride and the Passion / The Kissing Bandit / Johnny Concho]

On his November 3, 1969 TV special titled Sinatra, Frank included a self-deprecating comedy sequence mocking his own worst movies, singling out The Kissing Bandit, Johnny Concho, and The Pride and the Passion (all 'outdoor' films). He mocked The Pride and the Passion again on his 1973 comeback special Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back.

This film/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Santopietro is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), The Peak Years (pt. 2)

[Tina Sinatra on Frank's grief]

Tina Sinatra: Tina Sinatra recalled that after their father's death, Frank 'became a little more quiet, a little less ebullient... as though a piece of him had been chipped away.'

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[music/career]

Frank Sinatra: Discussing his 1969 Rod McKuen song-cycle album A Man Alone, Sinatra explained his singing philosophy: 'Real singing is acting. I sang well because I felt the lyrics here [head], here [heart], and here [gut].'

No corresponding dated entry could be identified in the chronology for this film/context.

Source: Tom Santopietro, "Sinatra in Hollywood" (2008), Knight-Errant (pt. 1)

[Sammy Davis Jr stars in Bob Fosse's Sweet Charity]

In the 1960s Sammy Davis Jr appeared with Frank in Ocean's Eleven, Sergeants Three, and Robin and the Seven Hoods, and starred in Bob Fosse's 1969 musical Sweet Charity.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[The Godfather echoes the Sinatra-Dorsey contract legend]

Mario Puzo's 1969 novel The Godfather contains a storyline echoing rumors that Sinatra's gangster associates strong-armed Tommy Dorsey into releasing him from his contract; Puzo claimed he based it on stories he had heard. The book's author considered the more mundane account of lawyer Henry Jaffe and MCA negotiating the exit far more credible than the mob-pressure legend.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

[Landslide at Bill Miller's House]

A landslide struck pianist Bill Miller's Los Angeles home, killing his wife; Sinatra paid the hospital bills, set him up in a new apartment and bought him new clothes. The My Way album, recorded around this time, was the only Sinatra record not to feature Miller until Trilogy a decade later.

Source: Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra (Rough guide 7.pdf), chapter "The Inner Circle."

[Mrs. Robinson -- critical commentary]

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald offers extended analysis of this Paul Simon song as a generational battleground, comparing Sinatra/Costa's swinging Basie-style 4/4 treatment (with a lusty tenor solo probably by Nino Tempo) to Ella Fitzgerald's contemporaneous scat-style Beatles covers. He notes Sinatra 'zings back' at Simon's generational dig ('Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?' -- notable since DiMaggio was a close Sinatra friend) by substituting Jilly Rizzo's name for Jesus in the lyric: 'Here's to you, Mrs. Robinson, Jilly loves you more than you will know.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

[The Song of the Sabia -- critical commentary]

Granata includes 'The Song of the Sabia' among the fifty recordings he considers essential to understanding Sinatra's artistry (arranged by Eumir Deodato, recorded 1969, Reprise); the song was chosen for its musical/interpretive value rather than commercial popularity.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Afterword & Appendices A-D

January 1969

Extras

[Marty Sinatra Treated By Dr. Michael DeBakey In Houston]

Frank Sinatra rushed his father Marty to renowned heart surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey in Houston for treatment of an aortic aneurysm, but Marty, weakened by longstanding asthma that had progressed to emphysema, worsened over five days and could not be operated on; DeBakey later told Nancy he had never seen such devotion from a son.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Dolly's grief at Marty's funeral]

Kaplan: At the funeral, Dolly Sinatra grieved without restraint, trying to throw herself on the casket while screaming for Marty not to leave her; Frank and Jilly had to hold her back, and an annoyed Frank urged the priest, Father Robert Perrella, to hurry through the service.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Marty Sinatra hospitalized]

Kaplan: Marty Sinatra, 76, was hospitalized with an aortic aneurysm. When his condition worsened, Frank had him rushed to Methodist Hospital in Houston, home of heart-transplant surgeon Dr. Michael DeBakey, but Marty's lifelong asthma had progressed to emphysema and little could be done.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Marty Sinatra's chaotic funeral]

Joey D'Orazio: Marty Sinatra's funeral at Holy Name Cemetery in Jersey City turned into what Nancy Sinatra called 'pure bedlam,' with celebrities, twenty-five limousines, bodyguards, and reporters. Frank's boyhood friend Joey D'Orazio blamed the chaos on Dolly, who had publicized too many funeral details.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Wake at Dolly's house]

Nancy Sinatra: After the funeral, the family's 'Uncle Vincent' (Vincent Mazzola, Marty's cousin from Sicily) served food to roughly sixty mourners in Marty's beloved basement bar. Nancy Sinatra wrote that something in her father 'snapped' when Marty died.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

January 10, 1969

Extras

[Suzy Knickerbocker column on Palm Springs Christmas]

Society columnist Suzy Knickerbocker (Aileen Mehle) published a lavish column describing Sinatra's Palm Springs Christmas house party at his 'five-house desert pleasure dome,' with guests including the Bennett Cerfs, the Armand Deutsches, Freddie Brisson and Rosalind Russell, the William Goetzes, Claudette Colbert, and the Hornblows. She noted his Christmas gift of twin Sicilian donkeys, which he named Cosa and Nostra.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

January 19, 1969

Extras

With his father Marty gravely ill from an aortic aneurysm complicated by emphysema, Frank flies his parents to Houston to see cardiologist Dr. Michael DeBakey at Methodist Hospital, then stays at his father's side for the last days of his life. Nancy Sinatra recalled DeBakey telling her he had never seen a son so devoted to a dying parent. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

January 20, 1969

Television

Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In

Guests: Frank Sinatra

January 24, 1969

Extras

Martin "Marty" Sinatra, Frank's father and a retired member of the Hoboken Fire Department, dies. At the funeral at Fort Lee's Madonna Church and burial at Jersey City's Holy Name Cemetery, a grief-stricken Dolly Sinatra tried to throw herself onto the casket; Frank and Jilly Rizzo held her back as mourners, police, and reporters turned the procession into a public spectacle. Source: J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend.

While Nancy Sinatra was hosting a Kraft Music Hall TV special taping, Frank and Jilly Rizzo arrived unexpectedly; Frank, visibly shaken, asked her to call her grandfather (Marty Sinatra), who was gravely ill. She was unable to take the callback in time because she was mid-wardrobe change, and deeply regretted missing it before her grandfather became too ill to speak.

Frank Sinatra (quoted): "Please call your grandfather."

Source: Nancy Sinatra, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend, 1995.

January 26, 1969

Extras

[Death of Marty Sinatra]

Anthony Martin 'Marty' Sinatra, Frank's father, died. Born Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra in Lercara Friddi, Sicily, in 1894, he had been a Hoboken fire captain and former bantamweight boxer who took years to approve of his son's singing career but came to be proud of him.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

February 1969

Extras

[Sinatra And Don Costa At Second Reprise Session]

A companion photograph shows Sinatra with Don Costa at another Reprise recording session in February 1969.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Reprise Session for My Way]

A low camera angle captured Sinatra in a sound booth during a Reprise recording session for the My Way album.

Source: Charles Pignone, "Frank Sinatra 100" (2015).

[Frank's father Marty dies at 74]

Marty Sinatra was flown to Houston with Dolly to consult heart specialists but his heart gave out and he died at age 74. His funeral in New Jersey drew a large crowd of celebrity watchers and huge floral tributes, requiring 75 limousines to transport guests.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

February 11, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7141 One Note Samba (Samba De Uma Nota So) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Newton Mendonca)

Duchess Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

-6 (2:19) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033Sinatra & Company

M7142 Don't Ever Go Away (Por Causa De Voce)

(Ray Gilbert/Delores Duran/Antonio Carlos Jobim)

Devon Music, Inc. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:27) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033Sinatra & Company

M7143 Wave

(Antonio Carlos Jobim)

Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(3:18) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2Sinatra & Company

CD: 9-26340-2The Reprise Collection

LP: FS1033Sinatra & Company

M7145 Bonita

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gibert/Gene Lees)

Corcovado Music Corp./Hollis Music Inc./VM Enterprises/Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI) Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

N/R

Ed O'Brien notes:

Many years after the sessions for the Sinatra/Jobim album , Antonio was a guest on Jonathan Schwatz's radio show. He told Jonathan how Sinatra had insisted on rehearsing for the album. He had to learn all 10 Jobim songs, including one in Portuguese. At one point during the process, Sinatra told Jobim that he still loved recording, doing concerts and nightclub work and even occasional TV appearances, but he hated rehearsing.Frank told Jobim that when a new album project came up he tried to get a couple of "chestnuts" into the mix so there was less rehearsal time.

I mentioned this to Skitch Henderson a few years ago and he told me Frank got it from Crosby. During the forties, according to Skitch, Sinatra was tremendously influenced by Der Bingle and tried in many ways to emulate him. Skitch remembered how much of an impression Crosby's antipathy to rehearsing influenced Sinatra's attitude toward this aspect of performing.

Extras

Hollywood

M7141 One Note Samba (Samba De Uma Nota So) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

M7142 Don't Ever Go Away (Por Causa De Voce)

M7143 Wave

(Antonio Carlos Jobim)

M7145 Bonita

[Bonita / Song of the Sabia (Sabiá) -- critical commentary]

Milt Bernhart (quoted) / Friedwald (analysis): Trombonist Milt Bernhart, who played on the dates, told Friedwald: 'I'm not sure what was on his mind. He was unhappy because there were a couple of very difficult songs. These weren't just ballads, these were art songs that Jobim had written. He fought that one because it was very hard. It just was not reading right.' Bernhart nonetheless named 'Sabia' one of the most gorgeous things he ever heard Sinatra sing; Friedwald calls it beautifully gnomic and likens Jobim to 'a Brazilian Billy Strayhorn.' The 1969 Sinatra-Jobim album was completed in three sessions (Feb 11, 12, 13, 1969) yielding ten masters, but was pulled from release after a cover was already designed (Sinatra in front of a Greyhound bus); seven tracks eventually surfaced on Sinatra & Company (1970), with the full set finally issued complete in 2010 as Sinatra/Jobim: The Complete Reprise Recordings.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

[One Note Samba / This Happy Madness / Wave / Drinking Water (Água De Beber) / Triste / Don't Ever Go Away (Por Causa de Você) -- critical commentary]

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald describes the second Jobim collaboration as brassier and higher-powered than Ogerman's softer 1967 charts. 'Drinking Water' gives Sinatra the extra kick of singing several lines in Portuguese; 'Triste' creates an ineffable melancholy despite the dance beat; 'Wave' may be the dramatic apex of the whole Sinatra-Jobim cycle, with Sinatra diving to a spectacular low note an octave beneath the tonic.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

February 12, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7162 Someone To Light Up My Life

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Gene Lees/Vinicus De Maraes)

Hollis Music inc./VM Enterprises/ Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI) Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:36) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033Sinatra & Company

M7163 Desafinado (Off Key) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Jon Hendricks/Antonio Carlos Jobim/Newton Mendonca)

Bendig Music Corp./Hollis Music inc./Corcovado Music Corp.. (BMI) Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:58) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien wonders what others on Sinatraphiles think of this duet with Jobim. He reports that Sinatra got it in his head that the song had homosexual overtones and didn't want it released. O'Brien says that he has talked with many Sinatra collectors who regard it as bizarre.. Personally, O'Brien writes, I like it and wish Reprise 1028 had been issued in album form with all 10 tracks.

Wow! Rich Rosenberg reacts. The guy who has been with Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and a cast of thousands was worried about sounding gay? And, if it did, who would dare say anything about it? That was not long after the time when, after Jackie Mason joked about Frank and Mia, he ended up getting a rather substantial beating. I'm not saying Frank had something to do it, but it would tend to make one restrain one's comments about him. The song doesn't sound homosexual to me. Musically, it's not among my favorites of the bossa nova numbers, Rich emphasizes.

Rich adds that Mason's joke was that he didn't know who did it, but the guy was singing doobie dobbie do as he walked away!

Sinatraphile Mary Jane Smetanka says recalling this gives her a laugh. A few years ago on another song list, someone commented on the "unusual intimacy" of the Sinatra/Jobim duet on "Man and His Music" and asked for reaction. No one replied, she says. She loves that segment of the show.â It's a true duet, in some of the other filmed d duets I've seen, Sinatra seems to be doing his own thing at the expense of his partner, but FS and Jobim are really in sync.

"Sinatra-Jobim" was set to be release in March and then September of 1969. Reprise decided to release "My Way" and then "A Man Alone" instead. Finally, in January 1970, the album was issued. The initial release was in the form of an 8-Track tape. But, at the same time, their was a meeting at Reprise. Sinatra, Mo Ostin and others decided that "Watertown" had tremendous potential and the "Jobim" was pulled from circulation. But all plans at the time included "Off- Key." Sinatra was on board and had no problem with the recording. The commer- cial release got around and that is when the gay question started to rear its ugly head. Frank was not happy that "Strangers In The Night" was embraced by the gay community. Frank was far too, too heterosexual to have credibility and in- fluential people asked Johnny Mathis to record the song. He did and it became a much played jukebox song in gay bars. Frank was then burned again when ""Somethin' Stupid" was dubbed the "incest song." In the late 1990s, Roberto Quartin, who had worked on the session dates for Rep 1028, was asked to put out the two Jobim sets in one package. It would be released in Brazil. One afternoon, Roberto received a call from Sinatra. He had listened to the masters and complimented Roberto for doing a fine job. But, Frank did not want "Off-Key" issued. When Roberto asked why, Frank would not not ex- plain. Roberto thought it was a terrible mistake. A few days after the call, Roberto contacted Sinatra and begged him to reconsider. Frank would not budge. The set contains "A Day In The Life Of A Fool" in lieu of the Jobim duet.

Roberto had put together, a few years earlier, a two LP set titled "Lonely At The Top." When Frank learned of the forthcoming project, he called Roberto and asked him to include "Together" from the "All Alone" album. He was very proud of his vocal and thought it was a perfect selection for the concept being planned.

--Ed

M7164 Drinking Water (Aqua De Beber) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Vinicius De Moraes/Norman Gimbel) Butterfield Music (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:34) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033Sinatra & Company

M7145 Bonita

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Ray Gibert/Gene Lees)

Corcovado Music Corp./Hollis Music Inc./VM Enterprises/ Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI) Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(3:39) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

LP: K64039 Portrait Of Sinatra (England)

Scott Henderson:

I think Bonita is a beautiful song. There was a foreign Reprise issued LP called "The Most Beautiful Songs of Frank Sinatra". I think Dindi, Bonita, & Song of the Sabia should have been on it.

I remember when I tracked down "Portrait of Sinatra", it was a joy to finally hear Bonita. I felt the same way about Song of The Sabia when I finally tracked down the Schlagers LP.

I know there was a February 11th version of Bonita but to my knowledge, it's never been released. Anyone know if it's on a bootleg somewhere?

Ed O'Brien:

Wasn't recorded. Frank ran it down and decided to push it ahead one day.

Extras

Hollywood

M7162 Someone To Light Up My Life

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Gene Lees/Vinicus De Maraes)

Hollis Music inc./VM Enterprises/ Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI) Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:36) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033Sinatra & Company

Thanks to Ed for the above images

Photo session for the My Way album, 1969. “I think we all see now how timeless the music is,” observed Frank’s daughter Nancy. “His songs, hopefully the great American songbook, will live forever.” Source: photo and caption from J. Randy Taraborrelli, Sinatra: Behind the Legend (mptvimages.com).

"Desafinado"

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald finds the 1969 studio duet of 'Desafinado' (new English lyric by Gene Lees, replacing Jon Hendricks's disliked 1962 lyric) awkward and 'almost could be mistaken for a homoerotic love song,' unlike the TV duet of 'Girl from Ipanema' which he calls 'sheer magic.' He speculates Sinatra would have redone it solo with Jobim in the background given more time, and footnotes his suspicion that the 'strangely homoerotic nature of Desafinado' contributed to the shelving of the second Jobim album.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

"Duets I"

Granata's discography entry: Duets I, arranged by Patrick Williams, released November 1993 on Capitol Records.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003).

February 13, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7165 Song Of The Sabia

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/ Chico Buarque)

Duchess Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(3:37) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

LP: K64039 Portrait Of Sinatra ( England )

45: 0970

NOTE: Sinatra Scholar Ed O'Brien recalls that Warner-Reprise put out a two LP set titled "Schlagers!" (hits, pop songs) in 1969. They offered it to members receiving their newsletter for $1.25. O'Brien knew about the Jobim sessions from February 1969 and was thrilled to see "Sabia" was on the set. They also had Ella, Petula Clark and many more. When the set arrived, O'Brien said he'll bet he played the Sinatra track 50 times. He loved it then and still loves it now. He says he has always thought of it as "Frank's existential song."

M7166 This Happy Madness (Estrada Branca) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Gene Lees/Vinicius De Moraes)

Hollis Music inc./Bendig Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:53) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2 Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033 Sinatra & Company

M7167 Triste

(Antonio Carlos Jobim)

Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

(2:39) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 13

CD: 1033-2 Sinatra & Company

LP: FS1033 Sinatra & Company

Extras

Hollywood

M7165 Song Of The Sabia

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Norman Gimbel/ Chico Buarque)

Duchess Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

M7166 The Happy Madness (Estrada Branca) w/Antonio Carlos Jobim

(Antonio Carlos Jobim/Gene Lees/Vinicius De Moraes)

Hollis Music inc./Bendig Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

M7167 Triste

(Antonio Carlos Jobim)

Corcovado Music Corp. (BMI)

Arranged by Eumir Deodato

Conducted by Morris Stoloff

note: An album that was almost released three times. The first issue was scheduled for March 69, but "My Way" got the nod instead. A second attempt took place in September of 69, but the McKuen album was considered a safer bet and finally in January of 1970 when the 8 track was issued in Northern California and withdrawn the next day. This time "Watertown" was the choice over Sinatra-Jobim.

note: Al Porcino told me the first album Sinatra did with Basie was an equal billing, but the second was with Basie. Seems the same billing occurred with the second Jobim. Interesting. Ed

February 18, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7180 All My Tomorrows

(Sammy Cahn/Jimmy Van Heusen)

Maraville Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(4:37) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

M7181 Didn't We?

(Jimmy Webb)

Jobete Music Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:55) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

Extras

Hollywood

M7180 All My Tomorrows

M7181 Didn't We?

[All My Tomorrows -- critical commentary]

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald says the 1969 reading is a full minute longer and ten years darker/deeper than the 1958 original, noting Sinatra makes 'arms that cling at all' into 'an incredibly potent, not to mention clinging, verb' at the climactic high note.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

[Didn't We -- critical commentary]

Jimmy Webb (quoted) / Friedwald (analysis): Songwriter Jimmy Webb told Friedwald about his technique for pitching songs to stars like Sinatra: 'If I may say so, I used to be a damn good at it. I didn't think of myself as much of a performer or a singer, but I did think that I was a hell of a pitcher! In fact, we used to deliberately sing songs in a kind of half-assed way, because we knew that the ego [not only of Sinatra but other stars] we were dealing with was so huge, that their frustration level would build to the point that they would say "Oh shut up! Let me sing this song! Just get out of here and leave me the lead sheet, I'll sing it!"' Friedwald calls this maybe the best of the four Webb songs Sinatra recorded, praising how Sinatra stretches a single chorus over three minutes as a slow torch song rather than a genre piece.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

February 20, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7182 A Day In The Life Of A Fool

(Luiz Bonfa/Carl Sigman/Antonio Mariz)

Anne-Rachel Music Corp. (ASCAP/SACEM)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:00) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

M7183 Yesterday

(John Lennon/Paul McCartney)

Maclen Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:55) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

VANCE ADAIR commented: What a solemn arrangement FS had to experiment with on 'Yesterday.'

It should have been a gift.

The fabled FS phrasing seems strangely inadequate here. In fact he seems to demonstrate considerable difficulty phrasing the title itself!

FS sounds mannered and insincere. A rare claim, indeed.

Ed O'Brien responded:

I fervently wish Riddle had done the "My Way" album. I can hear his work on "A Day In The Life Of A Fool,"

"Watch What Happens," "Yesterday" and so on.

I have often wondered why Sinatra let the

"saiddddd... " go on the released take of "Yesterday."

In concert, he never once had that problem with his vocal control on the song. Tis' a mystery.

Vance responds:

Ah, yes! One can only marvel at what might have happened there.

I can think of a clutch of Lennon/McCartney tunes that could have been reworked beautifully by Riddle - even more so with a chamber orchestra.

The title song of the album, however, was made for a

Don Costa treatment. The sentiment may be schlock, but

Costa's cosmetic surgery on the tune was expertly done.

M7220 If You Go Away

(Jacques Brel/Rod McKuen)

(SACEM)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:31) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

Extras

"Yesterday"

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald compares the 53-year-old Sinatra's rendition (slower than the Beatles' string-quartet original) to McCartney's own performance (written when McCartney was 22, coincidentally the same age Jimmy Webb was when he wrote 'Didn't We'): 'McCartney's yesterdays seem more vague and symbolic when he sings about them, compared to Sinatra's yesterdays, which are tangible and concrete -- you can actually feel their weight.'

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition).

February 24, 1969

Extras

Hollywood

M7221 Watch What Happens

M7222 For Once In My Life

M7224 Hallelujah, I Love her So

Hollywood

M7221 Watch What Happens

(Norman Gimbel/Michel Legrand/Jacques Louis Demy)

Songs Of PolyGram International/Gimbel Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:18) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

M7222 For Once In My Life

(Ronald Miller/Orlando Murden)

Jobete Music Co. Inc. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:50) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

M7223 Mrs. Robinson

(Paul Simon)

Paul Simon Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:53) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

M7224 Hallelujah, I Love her So

(Ray Charles)

Unchappell Music (BMI)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:48) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1029-2My Way

LP: FS1029My Way

On February 24, 1946, a special CBS radio program was broadcast to mark the beginning of National Negro Newspaper Week (February 24–March 2, 1946) and to celebrate the 119th anniversary of the Black press.

[Georgia Historic Newspapers]Georgia Historic Newspapers

Here are the key details regarding this special broadcast:

Broadcast Details: The CBS network program aired on Sunday, February 24, 1946, at 11:30 p.m. EST.Theme: The broadcast focused on the role of the Negro newspaper in the postwar world, with a central theme that the establishment of democracy is the concern of every man.Participants & Highlights:Helen Hayes: The acclaimed actress served as the mistress of ceremonies.Josh White: The renowned folk singer and guitarist appeared on the program.General Dwight D. Eisenhower: Scheduled to appear on the program.Other Guests: The broadcast featured national, military, and artistic leaders.Organizers: The program was arranged by a committee headed by Dowdal H. Davis of the Kansas City Call, under the auspices of the Negro Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA).Context: This was part of a larger, week-long observance that included an essay contest for high school students on "The Negro Newspaper in the Postwar World" and was followed by an NBC broadcast on March 2, 1946.

[Georgia Historic Newspapers]Georgia Historic Newspapers +3

This 1946 observance aimed to highlight the achievements of the Black press and its fight for democracy at home, paralleling the efforts of Black soldiers fighting for freedom abroad.

[Georgia Historic Newspapers]Georgia Historic Newspapers +1

note:Afro-America has Frank on the 2-24 show and the Atlanta Daily World

March 1969

Extras

['My Way' hits the charts]

Kaplan: The single 'My Way' hit the Billboard charts at the end of March 1969 and eventually rose to number 27; the My Way album, released around the same time, reached number 11. Both did notably better in England.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

["My Way" enters the Billboard chart]

'My Way' debuted on the Billboard chart at No. 69, the week's highest new entry, though it would ultimately stall at No. 27 in the US despite becoming a much bigger and longer-running hit in Britain.

Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).

March 10, 1969

Extras

[The Godfather published]

The Godfather was published and went straight to number one on the best-seller lists, competing with Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint for the top spot; readers widely assumed the Johnny Fontane character was based on Sinatra.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015).

March 19, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7263 I've Been To Town

(Rod McKuen)

Almo Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:10) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7264 Empty Is

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:42) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7265 The Single Man

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:59) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7266 Lonesome Cities

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:15) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

Ed Notes:

Frank Sinatra spent a great deal of time in recording studios in 1969. He began the year with Mr Jobim and their second album of bossa nova songs-- this time all Jobim com- positions. He then laid down the "My Way" album, then the McKuen and finally "Watertown." There were also a few singles sessions. In all, he recorded 39 songs plus he read four poems by Mr. McKuen. Although I much prefer "Sinatra- Jobim," "A Man Alone" is the finest singing done by Frank that year. As a matter of fact, he would never sound this good again. The vocal timbre is so rich and reedy here.

The album only sold 60,000 copies and was dismissed by a number of music critics because of the content. They may have been right. But I find the vocals so damn good throughout, the work is really required listening if you are a Sinatra fan.

Larry Crawford:

I agree with you, I quite like " A Man Alone". I like all the FS recording done in 1969. I think it was a very good year indeed.

Danny Faux:

I agree too. I like " A Man Alone ", " Watertown " and " Sinatra- Jobim 2 ". And some tracks of " My Way " as well. " I love " All My Tomorrows ", - the arrangement by Costa is excellent, and Frank's vocal has a hauntingly quality I find heart-wrenching in a way I can't quite describe in words. The same song he recorded in 1959, the same lyrics, but you can feel the wistful nuances in his delivery, we can actually feel that he doubts its original hopeful message. Maybe all his tomorrow didn't quite turn the way he had believed. Hey, maybe I am reading too much out of the recording, but that is what I felt when I listened to it for the first time in the lp. Having said that, I love both recordings of "All My Tomorrows ". 1959 was a very good year indeed...

And I believe that the " B" side of the " My Way " single is a real beauty too. A Riz Ortola- ni lovely tune, " Blue Lace "

Ed O'Brien:

We have Tony Bennett to thank for Frank's marvelous recording of "All My Tomorrows" in 1969. Tony did a very intelligent, gentle reading for his 1965 "Songs for the Jet Set" with Don Costa. Frank was knocked out by it. He realized his 1958 effort had missed the mark. He more than rectified that misstep with his definitive effort with Mr. Costa. It is in my "Sinatra 101" book.

"Blue Lace" is a lovely recording Riddle gave Frank a great backing and the bittersweet memory piece is one of my favorite Sinatra recordings. Frank and Nelson would only work together on three more sessions after that evening in November of 1968.

Extras

Hollywood

M7263 I've Been To Town

M7264 Empty Is

M7265 The Single Man

M7266 Lonesome Cities note: Fold-out edition of the album: note: In December of 1969, Rod McKuen issued a limited edition hardcover book( 500 ) as a companion piece with the Sinatra Reprise album.

Amazon has two copies available this morning. Reprise also issued a limited pressing of a fold-out edition of the album. It contained McKuen's ode to Frank and some photos of the session.

Ed

March 20, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7267 The Beautiful Strangers

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:38) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2 A Man Alone

LP: FS1030 A Man Alone

M7268 A Man Alone

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:44) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2 A Man Alone

CD: 9-26340-2 The Reprise Collection

CD: 2275-2 Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.2

LP: FS1034 Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.3

LP: FS1030 A Man Alone

45: 0852

M7269 A Man Alone (Reprise)

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(1:29) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2 A Man Alone

LP: FS1030 A Man Alone

M7270 Love's Been Good To Me

(Rod McKuen)

Almo Music Corp. (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(3:23) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2 A Man Alone

CD: 2275-2 Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.2

LP: FS1034 Frank Sinatra's Greatest Hits Vol.3

LP: FS1030 A Man Alone

45: 0852

Extras

Hollywood

M7267 The Beautiful Strangers

M7268 A Man Alone

M7269 A Man Alone (Reprise)

(Rod McKuen)

M7270 Love's Been Good To Me

[A Man Alone / The Single Man / Lonesome Cities / Love's Been Good to Me / Out Beyond the Window / Some Traveling Music -- critical commentary]

Rod McKuen (quoted) / Burton Kittay (anecdote) / Friedwald (analysis): McKuen told Leonard Feather (around the time of the album): 'I had tried for years to reach Frank; wrote songs with him in mind, but could never get to him... When we finally met, instead of just offering to do just one or two [of my songs], he promised me an entire album, which he'd never done before for any other composer. It was incredible.' Friedwald frames the album's template as Glenn Yarbrough's 1966 RCA album The Lonely Things (spoken poetry + songs over strings, arr. Mort Garson) -- crediting Chuck Granata for pointing this out. Friedwald analyzes 'Love's Been Good to Me' as structurally akin to Ervin Drake's 'It Was a Very Good Year' (ABABAB folk-derived form), with Sinatra making McKuen's fictional 'October Hill' feel like a real, vital place. He calls 'Some Traveling Music' -- referencing a phrase from 'the sainted philosopher Jackie Gleason' -- an example of McKuen becoming Sinatra's 'ghostthinker' (comparing it to Mike Shore's 1963 Playboy interview ghostwriting), quoting the lyric: 'One day, I'm gonna find me an island, a think place / Go there with a mess of records and a ukulele. / Just sit strumming, I might even do some thinking.' Footnote: fan Burton Kittay told Friedwald he met McKuen at an AIDS benefit and told him A Man Alone was his favorite Sinatra album; McKuen started to cry and asked for a hug.

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

March 21, 1969

Studio

Hollywood

M7271 Out Beyond The Window

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:41) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7272 Night

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:22) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7273 Some Traveling Music

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(2:33) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7274 From Promise To Promise

(Rod McKuen)

Editions Chanson Music (ASCAP)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

(1:28) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

CD: 1030-2A Man Alone

LP: FS1030A Man Alone

M7264 Empty Is - Spoken Introduction

(Rod McKuen)

Arranged & Conducted By Don Costa

CD: 1030-2

LP: FS1030

Notes

Ed O'Brien:

Lee Herschberg, engineer at this session, told me it took

Frank 45 minutes to complete the poetry reading for the McKuen

album.

Ed

Extras

[Out Beyond the Window / A Man Alone / Didn't We / Forget to Remember -- critical commentary]

Friedwald (analysis): Friedwald describes the ballad segment: Sinatra, presented as a lonely man in an apartment set wearing a turtleneck, opens with the spoken 'Out Beyond the Window,' sings 'A Man Alone,' then moves into Jimmy Webb's 'Didn't We' and Teddy Randazzo's 'Forget to Remember' (previously a single), calling it 'exactly what Sinatra was going for: a sequence of songs that's at once classic and contemporary.'

This song/context matches multiple dated entries in the chronology; the specific date Friedwald is referring to could not be determined with confidence.

Source: Will Friedwald, "Sinatra! The Song Is You: A Singer's Art" (2018 revised edition), Ch. 9, "Looking for the Hook" (1960-1971)

March 25, 1969

Studio

Los Angeles

M7225 In The Shadow Of The Moon

(Earl Brown/Heinz Kessling)

Ebron Music/ASCAP/ Ingo Music/Claus Ogerman Productions (BMI/GEMA) Arranged by Don Costa

Conducted by Sonny Burke

(2:54) CD: 46013-2 The Complete Reprise Studio Recordings Disc 14

LP: W54093 I Sing The Songs Vol.2 (Italy)

Extras

Los Angeles

M7225 In The Shadow Of The Moon

Ed O'Brien:

"Romeo and Juliet 70'' was Tina Sinatra's first film appearance. The German production was shot in Munich in June of 1968. Michael Pfleghar directed both this film and "Frank Sinatra A Man & His Music + Ella + Jobim." He had a close personal relationship with Tina and was a great admirer of her father. Frank paid a visit to the set during the filming. Heinz Keissling( German composer) and Earl Brown wrote "In The Shadow Of The Moon" for the TV miniseries. Frank liked it enough to record it at Reprise on 3-25-69. The session ran from 3 to 6 PM at Western Recorders Studio. The Tuesday afternoon recording featured a 41 piece orchestra including the great Joe Pass on guitar. The song was on the soundtrack of the miniseries and was also released as a single in West Germany. The picture sleeve photo from the session was quite striking and the flipside was "Mrs. Robinson." The film also had Frank's 'That's Life" on the s/t. "In The Shadow Of The Moon" was finally released in this country in 1995 on the 20 CD "Complete Reprise Studio Recordings." The song has never been issued in stereo.

There was an eclectic group of well known personalities in the series including Ray Charles, BeeGees, Hugh Hefner, Richard Nixon, Jerry Lewis, Eartha Kitt and Timothy Leary. Hampton Fancher was Romeo to Tina's Juliet. The series falls into the genre of fantasy. Flying Frankie set to sing for Hubert

Stars and Stripes June 23, 1968

FRANKFURT ­ "You do what I think everyone ought to do: Pick a man and then try to get him elected. If he's not elected, you wait until the next time." Not a civic leader or civics teacher, but Frank Sinatra it was who laid these words on newsmen Friday at Frankfurt International Airport as he explained why he was jetting back to New York to "get ready to do some campaigning for Mr. (Hubert) Humphrey." Sinatra, 52, had just finished a 48-hour winging to Europe, which included a short stop in London Wednesday for a meeting with estranged wife Mia Farrow ("We have no plans for a reconciliation.") and a surprise visit to daughter Tina in Munich to celebrate her 20th birthday. Tina's first move in show business is a two-part TV show, "The Year of the Joker, or Romeo and Juliet 1970," now being filmed in the Bavarian capital. She was "astounded when I showed up at her Munich hotel last night. It wasn't easy to keep it a secret with all the people involved," said the man show business calls "The Chairman of the Board" or "The Boss." Asked what his work for Humphrey involved, Sinatra explained that they have appeared together. "I sing and he speaks. The money is used to get people to register to vote. That's the only way you get a truly free election ­ when as many people as possible go to the polls."

Back to Munich and Tina: "It was a simple party. We just had a cake with some of the cast. Tina's very happy and Michael (the director of the show, Michael Pfleghar) thinks she's doing very well."

Will she sing, make records? "Not at the moment, at least. When she's in a joking mood, she claims the reason is that there's too much competition in the family. She wants to be an actress ­ but she does sing a little." For the non-American press "Yes, she likes Germany and the Germans and she's trying to learn the language." He was equally enthusiastic about his two other children and emphatic about both singers having made their own way in show business: "Both Nancy and Frank (Jr.) have had little advice from me. I think it's just great. They had their own ideas and are doing their own things. Frank's working in Las Vegas ­ if you happen to be around there." When asked if Bing Crosby had had any influence on his singing, and on his career, a relaxed, laughing Sinatra answered: "Yes, he did. He had a very basic influence. When I heard him, I thought: `If he can do it, so can I.'"

March 28, 1969

Extras

Desert Circus, Big Top Ball, Las Flores Ballroom, El Mirador Hotel

Palm Springs, California

Benefit for the United Fund

Don Rickles, Bill Miller and Frank Sinatra.

The date has been reported as March 29th, 1969 but the Desert Circus, Big Top Ball, was on March 28th, 1969

April 14, 1969

Television

41st Academy Awards, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Monday evening

Time: 7:00 PM - 12:00 AM

Network: ABC

Hosts: The Friends of Oscar - Burt Lancaster, Ingrid Bergman, Jane Fonda, Rosalind Russell, Tony Curtis, Walter Matthau, Diahann Carroll, Natalie Wood, Sidney Poitier and Frank Sinatra.

1. Star

Ed O'Brien:

Frank sang the Oscar nominated song "Star,' then sat on the lip of the stage and read the five nominees for Best Supporting Actor and presented the Oscar to Jack Albertson.. He also, later on in the show, presented the writing awards with Roz Russell; presented Best Song "The

Windmills of Your Mind." When Burt Lancaster announced Cliff Robertson as Best Actor, Frank accepted on his behalf.

Although Sinatra appeared on many Oscar shows, he only sang a nominated song(s) on the 1946 and 1969 broadcasts. Although he introduced many of the tunes nominated in the 50's and 60's, other vocalists sang them for Oscar.

Extras

41st Academy Awards, The Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles

Frank 4-14-69 at the Academy Awards ceremony

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

[image referenced in source but could not be recovered]

May 9, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. My Way

5. The Lady Is a Tramp

6. Lost in the Stars

7. Didn't We

8. Try a Little Tenderness

9. I've Got You Under My Skin

10. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It Was a Very Good Year /

All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

Extras

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

Beard was not a hit. It was gone by the first weekend.

May 10, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace , Las Vegas , Nevada (May 9-25)

First Show

Caesars Palace , Las Vegas , Nevada (May 9-25)

Second Show

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. Lost in the Stars

6. Didn't We

7. Try a Little Tenderness

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It

Was a Very Good Year / All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

May 11, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. Lost in the Stars

6. Didn't We

7. Try a Little Tenderness

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It Was a Very Good Year / All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

May 12, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

May 13, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. Lost in the Stars

6. Didn't We

7. Try a Little Tenderness

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It Was a Very Good Year / All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

May 14, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

(Two Shows)

May 15, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. Lost in the Stars

6. Didn't We

7. Try a Little Tenderness

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It Was a Very Good Year / All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

May 16, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. Lost in the Stars

6. Didn't We

7. Try a Little Tenderness

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It Was a Very Good Year / All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

May 17, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

1. Mrs. Robinson

2. Please Be Kind

3. Cycles

4. The Lady Is a Tramp

5. Lost in the Stars

6. Didn't We

7. Try a Little Tenderness

8. I've Got You Under My Skin

9. Medley: Medley: Strangers in the Night / Young at Heart / Nancy / It Was a Very Good Year / All the Way / That's Life / My Kind of Town

May 18, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

May 20, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

May 21, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

Ed O'Brien reports that Sinatra opened his

Caesars engagement with "Mrs. Robinson."

May 23, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

May 24, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

Extras

May 25, 1969

Concerts

Caesars Palace, Las Vegas, Nevada (May 9-25)

June 20, 1969

Extras

Home visiting for her 21st birthday, Tina was told her father had been called away on an emergency and missed her party. During dinner, a procession of violinists in tuxedos filed into the garden to serenade the guests - with Frank himself disguised as the fifth violinist in line, having secretly flown in to surprise her. (Source: Tina Sinatra, "My Father's Daughter: A Memoir" (2000).)

June 20, 1969

Extras

Home visiting for her 21st birthday, Tina was told her father had been called away on an emergency and missed her party. During dinner, a procession of violinists in tuxedos filed into the garden to serenade the guests - with Frank himself disguised as the fifth violinist in line, having secretly flown in to surprise her. (Source: Tina Sinatra, "My Father's Daughter: A Memoir" (2000).)

July 1969

Extras

[recording session -- critical commentary]

By July 1969, Sinatra had completed two experimental albums: A Man Alone, set to poetry by Rod McKuen, and Watertown, produced by Four Seasons arranger Charles Callello -- both admired by Granata for their ambition despite mixed commercial reception.

Source: Charles L. Granata, "Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording" (1999/2003), Part IV: The Reprise Years

July 4, 1969

Extras

July 10, 1969

Extras

THE JOURNAL

7-10-69

July 14, 1969

[Photograph: Watertown orchestral sessions begin. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.312.]

[Photograph: Watertown orchestral sessions begin. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.312.]

[Photograph: Watertown orchestral sessions begin. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.311.]

[Photograph: Watertown orchestral sessions begin. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.311.]

[Photograph: Watertown orchestral sessions begin. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.311.]

[Photograph: Watertown orchestral sessions begin. From Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007), p.311.]

Extras

Work began on the orchestral tracks for Watertown, a concept album written entirely by young songwriters Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes about a small-town man whose wife has left him. Singing against a pre-recorded backing track was unusual for Frank and made the sessions especially demanding. (Source: Richard Havers, "Sinatra" (Dorling Kindersley, 2007).)

July 16, 1969

Extras

Astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins brought the Sinatra/Basie/Quincy Jones recording of "Fly Me to the Moon" aboard Apollo XI on this date; Nancy calls hearing her father's voice broadcast from Mission Control one of the great thrills of the family's lives. Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

August 1969

Extras

[Three Singing Sinatras Play Las Vegas Simultaneously]

In August 1969, Nancy, Frank Sinatra, and Frank Sinatra Jr. all performed in Las Vegas at the same time -- Nancy at the International Hotel, Frank Sr. at Caesars Palace, and Frank Jr. at the Frontier -- and Frankie Jr. hosted a buffet breakfast for all three bands and crews.

Source: Nancy Sinatra, "Frank Sinatra, My Father" (1985).

[Death of Bill Goetz]

Kaplan: Producer Bill Goetz, husband of Edith Mayer Goetz (daughter of MGM founder Louis B. Mayer) and a friend of Sinatra's for nearly fifteen years, died of cancer. After a discreet interval, Frank began courting the widowed Edie Goetz.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Extended yacht cruise on the Roma]

Kaplan: From June through mid-August 1969, Sinatra took one of his longest breaks, cruising the East Coast on his new eighty-five-foot yacht, the Roma, this time with a mystery blonde instead of Mia Farrow.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

[Watertown sessions in New York]

Will Friedwald: Sinatra recorded three New York sessions for Watertown with arrangers Charles Calello and Joe Scott at the end of August 1969, but was dissatisfied with his own singing.

Source: James Kaplan, "Sinatra: The Chairman" (2015)

August 16, 1969

Concerts

Astrodome, Houston, Texas All Star Tribute to Apollo 11 astronauts

1. The Lady is a Tramp

2. Fly Me to the Moon

3. God Bless America

NOTE: Sinatraphile Jim White writes: "Hey, folks, I was there and helped organize the downtown parade which preceded the Astrodome gala. And I found a place in the parade, too! By the time of the Astrodome show, I was too high to remember much that went on, but Sinatra acted pretty much as M.C. and didn't sing many songs or, rather, not as many songs I would have liked for him to have sung. Driving my brand new orange Camaro convertible with white racing stripes that evening, I had a very, very hard (and scary) time finding my way home afterwards! God or Someone Up There was looking out for this Sinatra fan and all who could have gotten in his way as well, I guess!