Born in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants, Sinatra began his musical career in the swing era with bandleaders Harry James and Tommy Dorsey. Sinatra found success as a solo artist after he signed with Columbia Records in 1943, becoming the idol of the "bobby soxers". He released his debut album, The Voice of Frank Sinatra, in 1946. Sinatra's professional career had stalled by the early 1950s, and he turned to Las Vegas, where he became one of its best known residency performers as part of The Rat Pack. His career was reborn in 1953 with the success of From Here to Eternity, with his performance subsequently winning an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Sinatra released several critically lauded albums, including In the Wee Small Hours (1955), Songs for Swingin' Lovers! (1956), Come Fly with Me (1958), Only the Lonely (1958) and Nice 'n' Easy (1960).
Sinatra left Capitol in 1960 to start his own record label, Reprise Records, and released a string of successful albums. In 1965, he recorded the retrospective September of My Years, starred in the Emmy-winning television special Frank Sinatra: A Man and His Music, and released the tracks "Strangers in the Night" and "My Way". After releasing Sinatra at the Sands, recorded at the Sands Hotel and Casino in Vegas with frequent collaborator Count Basie in early 1966, the following year he recorded one of his most famous collaborations with Tom Jobim, the album Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carlos Jobim. It was followed by 1968's collaboration with Duke Ellington. Sinatra retired for the first time in 1971, but came out of retirement two years later and recorded several albums and resumed performing at Caesars Palace, and reached success in 1980 with "New York, New York". Using his Las Vegas shows as a home base, he toured both within the United States and internationally until a short time before his death in 1998.
Sinatra forged a highly successful career as a film actor. After winning an Academy Award for From Here to Eternity, he starred in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), and received critical acclaim for his performance in The Manchurian Candidate (1962). He appeared in various musicals such as On the Town (1949), Guys and Dolls (1955), High Society (1956), and Pal Joey (1957), winning another Golden Globe for the latter. Toward the end of his career, he became associated with playing detectives, including the title character in Tony Rome (1967). Sinatra would later receive the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1971. On television, The Frank Sinatra Show began on ABC in 1950, and he continued to make appearances on television throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Sinatra was also heavily involved with politics from the mid-1940s, and actively campaigned for presidents such as Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan, though before Kennedy's death Sinatra's alleged Mafia connections led to his being snubbed.
While Sinatra never formally learned how to read music, he had an impressive understanding of it, and he worked very hard from a young age to improve his abilities in all aspects of music. A perfectionist, renowned for his dress sense and performing presence, he always insisted on recording live with his band. His bright blue eyes earned him the popular nickname "Ol' Blue Eyes". Sinatra led a colorful personal life, and was often involved in turbulent affairs with women, such as with his second wife Ava Gardner. He went on to marry Mia Farrow in 1966 and Barbara Marx in 1976. Sinatra had several violent confrontations, usually with journalists he felt had crossed him, or work bosses with whom he had disagreements. He was honored at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1983, was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Ronald Reagan in 1985, and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997. Sinatra was also the recipient of eleven Grammy Awards, including the Grammy Trustees Award, Grammy Legend Award and the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. After his death, American music critic Robert Christgau called him "the greatest singer of the 20th century", and he continues to be seen as an iconic figure.
Sinatra died with his wife at his side at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on May 14, 1998, aged 82, after a heart attack. Sinatra had ill health during the last few years of his life, and was frequently hospitalized for heart and breathing problems, high blood pressure, pneumonia and bladder cancer. He was further diagnosed as having dementia. He had made no public appearances following a heart attack in February 1997. Sinatra's wife encouraged him to "fight" while attempts were made to stabilize him, and his final words were, "I'm losing." Sinatra's daughter, Tina, later wrote that she and her sister, Nancy, had not been notified of their father's final hospitalization, and it was her belief that "the omission was deliberate. Barbara would be the grieving widow alone at her husband's side." The night after Sinatra's death, the lights on the Empire State Building in New York City were turned blue, the lights at the Las Vegas Strip were dimmed in his honor, and the casinos stopped spinning for a minute.
Sinatra's funeral was held at the Roman Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, California, on May 20, 1998, with 400 mourners in attendance and thousands of fans outside. Gregory Peck, Tony Bennett, and Sinatra's son, Frank Jr., addressed the mourners, who included many notable people from film and entertainment. Sinatra was buried in a blue business suit with mementos from family members—cherry-flavored Life Savers, Tootsie Rolls, a bottle of Jack Daniel's, a pack of Camel cigarettes, a Zippo lighter, stuffed toys, a dog biscuit, and a roll of dimes that he always carried—next to his parents in section B-8 of Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City, California.
His close friends Jilly Rizzo and Jimmy Van Heusen are buried nearby. The words "The Best Is Yet to Come", plus "Beloved Husband & Father" are imprinted on Sinatra's grave marker. Significant increases in recording sales worldwide were reported by Billboard in the month of his death.
A Good Man Is Hard To Find
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Now here's a story with quite a moral,
And all you gals, you gotta pay some mind,
When you find a guy
Shelley Winters:
[yeah?]
Frank:
worth keeping, be satisfied,
'Cause a good guy
Shelley Winters:
[Ow!]
Frank:
is hard to find,
You could always get the other kind.
Shelley Winters:
[But when you think that you got her tied, you'll find her]
Frank:
Messing around with another guy.
Then you rave and you'll even start to crave,
Man, you want to see her lying deep down in the grave.
So if the guy's nice, you better take my advice,
You better love him in the morning, kiss him every night,
Ooo, give him plenty of loving, treat him right,
Because a good man nowadays is hard to find.
Shelley Winters:
[Buster, you gotta be kidding, you see this little guy?]
[The one with the feeble mind, he always been, he moving time.]
[One fine day he dug another chick, she took all his loot and cut him quick.]
[Now, he's calling me back on the phone, he says]
Frank:
Baby, don't you go away, I'm coming right home.
Shelley Winters:
[But if you wanna come back, come on in our little grass shack,]
[You gotta love me in the morning, kiss me in the night,]
[You give me lots of loving, treat me right,]
['Cause a good gal nowadays is hard to find.]
Frank:
Well, I went back, but I told this doll,
I said: Woman, then is then, but now is now,
If you want me to stay, there's just one but (what?)
Keep a smile on your face, and keep your big mouth shut.
Well, we're back together, and everything is fine,
Shelley Winters:
[I'm a-running the show, jack, you better stay in line.]
[Now you know what to do when the day is through.]
Frank:
I better love you in the AM
Shelley Winters:
[that's right!],
Frank:
kiss you in the PM
Shelley Winters:
[what else?]
Frank:
Give plenty of loving
Shelley Winters:[show me!]
Frank:
with all my mind
Shelley Winters:
[good boy!]
[For a good gal nowadays are hard to find.. Leroy!] Yes, ma'am!
[I am just .. you better keep those cotton picking hands off all those other dames or I'll]
Frank:
Or you'll what?
Shelley Winters:
[I'll fly over there and turn off all your lights.]
Frank:
Uh yeah, like I was saying, a good
Shelley Winters:
[Oh man, yes!]
The song A Good Man Is Hard To Find by Frank Sinatra is all about the struggle of finding and keeping a good partner in life. The song has a strong moral message for women to appreciate their partner and treat them with kindness as it's hard to find a good man. The song portrays the consequences of not doing so, as the man may stray away and find someone else. Frank advises people to love their partner in the morning, kiss them every night, and give them plenty of love to keep the relationship strong.
The song takes a conversational tone with Shelley Winters who narrates how she encountered a man who left her for another woman but now wants to come back. Shelley shares how she will treat him right but expects the same from him as a good gal is now hard to find. Ultimately, the song sends out a reminder to people to cherish their loved ones and treat them with the love and respect they deserve.
Line by Line Meaning
Now here's a story with quite a moral,
This song is going to tell a story with an important message.
And all you gals, you gotta pay some mind,
Women should listen closely because the story will have a lesson for them.
When you find a guy worth keeping, be satisfied,
If you meet a good man, appreciate him and don't take him for granted.
Make sure you treat him very kind..
Be kind to your good man so that he knows he is appreciated.
'Cause a good guy is hard to find,
It is difficult to find a man who is kind and worth keeping.
You could always get the other kind.
There are a lot of men out there who are not worth keeping.
Messing around with another guy.
If your man is not good, he may cheat on you.
Then you rave and you'll even start to crave,
If your man cheats on you, you will become angry and start to miss him.
Man, you want to see her lying deep down in the grave.
If your man cheats on you, you may wish ill on him.
So if the guy's nice, you better take my advice,
If you have a good man, listen to this advice.
You better love him in the morning, kiss him every night,
Show your good man that you appreciate him by being affectionate.
Ooo, give him plenty of loving, treat him right,
Be kind and loving to your good man so that he knows he is appreciated.
Because a good man nowadays is hard to find.
It is difficult to find a man who is kind and worth keeping these days.
You gotta love me in the morning, kiss me in the night,
In order to keep a woman worth keeping, a man must be affectionate.
You give me lots of loving, treat me right,
Be kind and loving to your woman so that she knows she is appreciated.
'Cause a good gal nowadays is hard to find.
It is difficult to find a woman who is worth keeping these days.
Well, I went back, but I told this doll,
The man in the story went back to his woman, but had to say something to her.
I said: Woman, then is then, but now is now,
He is telling her that what happened in the past doesn't matter now.
If you want me to stay, there's just one but (what?)
There's one condition for him staying with her.
Keep a smile on your face, and keep your big mouth shut.
She needs to be happy and not nag him in order for him to stay.
Well, we're back together, and everything is fine,
They got back together and everything is good again.
I'm a-running the show, jack, you better stay in line.
She is in charge and he must follow her rules if he wants to stay with her.
I better love you in the AM (that's right!),
The man needs to be affectionate towards his woman in the morning.
kiss you in the PM (what else?),
He needs to be affectionate towards his woman at night as well.
Give plenty of loving (show me!)
He needs to be affectionate towards his woman so that she knows he appreciates her.
with all my mind (good boy!)
He needs to be fully committed to his woman.
For a good gal nowadays are hard to find.. Leroy!
It is difficult to find a woman worth keeping these days, according to Leroy.
Or you'll what?
Frank Sinatra is asking what Leroy will do if he doesn't behave.
I'll fly over there and turn off all your lights.
Leroy will punish Frank if he misbehaves.
Oh man, yes!
Leroy agrees that it is difficult to find a good woman these days.
Contributed by Gabriel C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Mike
on The Lady Is A Champ
She gets too hungry for dinner at eight
She can't eat late and stay up all night, because unlike society types, she has to get up in the morning.
She likes the theatre and never comes late
She cares more about seeing the play than being seen making an entrance.
She never bothers with people she'd hate
Her friends are friends, not social trophies.
Doesn't like crap games with barons or earls
While barrns and earls probably don't play craps, she associates with friends, not people to be seen with.
Won't go to Harlem in ermine and pearls
She doesn't "slum", the practice of the rich in the 30's, when the song was written, of touring poor neighborhoods dressed in rich clothes to "tut, tut" about the deplorable conditions, and congratulate each other for "caring about the poor"
Won't dish the dirt with the rest of the girls
Doesn't trade gossip for acceptance among an in-crowd
She likes the free, fresh wind in her hair
She cares more about how her hair feels than conforming with current hair fashions
Hates California, it's cold and it's damp
Since most of California is noticeably warmer and / or drier than New York, where the play the song was written for is set, this is probably a facetious excuse to like what she likes.
And she won't go to Harlem in Lincoln's or Ford's
Another reference to slumming, but facetious, since Lincolns and Fords were middle-class, not luxury brands when the lyric was written
Anonymous
on Try a Little Tenderness
Here are the correct lyrics
Try A Little Tenderness - Frank Sinatra - Lyrics
Oh she may be weary
Women do get wearied
Wearing that same old shabby dress
And when she’s weary
You try a little tenderness
You know she’s waiting
Just anticipating things she’ll may never possess
While she is without them
Try just a little bit of tenderness
It’s not just sentimental
She has her grieve and her care
And the words that soft and gentle
Makes it easier to bear
You wont regret it
Women don't forget it
Love is their whole happiness
And it’s all so easy
Try a little tenderness
Musical Interlude
And, it’s all so easy
Try a little tenderness
Daniel
on The Way You Look Tonight
I met Frank Jr. in Las Vegas, a real gentleman. RIP you both.
Giorgi Khutashvili
on Theme from New York, New York
)))