Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American s… Read Full Bio ↴Francis Albert Sinatra (December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer, actor, and producer who was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century. He is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 150 million records worldwide.
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.
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.
All I Need Is The Girl
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I really need is the girl
Got my tweed pressed, I got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes 'way up high
I got the time and the place and the rhythm
All I need's the girl to go with 'em
Mm, if she'll just appear we'll take this, this great big town for a whirl
And if, if she'll say "My, darlin', I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I real, really need is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
Got my tweed pressed, I got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes 'way up high
I got the time and the place and the rhythm
All I need's the girl to go with 'em
Mm, if she'll just appear we'll take this, this great big town for a whirl
And if, if she'll say "My, darlin', I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I real, really need is the girl
The song "All I Need Is The Girl" is a classic tune sung by Frank Sinatra, with Duke Ellington on piano. The song is about a hopelessly romantic and optimistic young man who is out on the town, dressed in his best clothes, and looking for the girl of his dreams. The singer has everything he needs to impress any girl- his tweed, vest, striped tie, hopes, time, and rhythm, but he believes his life would be complete if he were to find the perfect girl to share it all with.
Throughout the song, the lyrics emphasize the singer's desire to find his true love. If she were to appear, he would take her out on the town and give her the time of her life. If she would only say she is his, he would throw away his striped tie and his best-pressed tweed. The hopeful tone of the song and the singer's romantic vision of life suggests that to him, finding love is the key ingredient that is missing in his life.
Line by Line Meaning
Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
I have dressed up and prepared for a date, but what I need to complete this is the presence of a girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
I have set high expectations for this date and I am dressed accordingly
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
I have planned out the time and place for this date and I am prepared with the right attitude
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
The only missing piece for a successful date is the girl's company
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
If the girl arrives, we will explore the city and have a great time together
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
If the girl expresses her love for me, I will be ecstatic
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
If the girl reciprocates my love, I am willing to discard my prized possessions to display my affection
All I really need is the girl
Despite all the preparations, what I truly need to complete my happiness is the presence of the girl
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Songtrust Ave, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Jule Styne, Stephen Sondheim
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Javier Contreras
Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I really need is the girl
Got my tweed pressed, I got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes 'way up high
I got the time and the place and the rhythm
All I need's the girl to go with 'em
Mm, if she'll just appear we'll take this, this great big town for a whirl
And if, if she'll say "My, darlin', I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I real, really need is the girl
50sarebackhoney
Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I really need is the girl
Got my tweed pressed, I got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes 'way up high
I got the time and the place and the rhythm
All I need's the girl to go with 'em
Mm, if she'll just appear we'll take this, this great big town for a whirl
And if, if she'll say "My, darlin', I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I real, really need is the girl
Javier Contreras
Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I really need is the girl
Got my tweed pressed, I got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes 'way up high
I got the time and the place and the rhythm
All I need's the girl to go with 'em
Mm, if she'll just appear we'll take this, this great big town for a whirl
And if, if she'll say "My, darlin', I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I real, really need is the girl
Beverly Foster
I love this song makes you want to move to the groove.
Norman Watts
Great tune with the Chairman at his best. Amazing arrangement - especially since he & Ellington didn't work together much.
50sarebackhoney
Got my tweed pressed, got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes high
Got the time and the place and I got the rhythm,
Now all I need's the girl to go with 'em
If she'll just appear we'll take this big town for a whirl
And if she'll say "My, darling, I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I really need is the girl
Got my tweed pressed, I got my best vest, all I need now is the girl
Got my striped tie, got my hopes 'way up high
I got the time and the place and the rhythm
All I need's the girl to go with 'em
Mm, if she'll just appear we'll take this, this great big town for a whirl
And if, if she'll say "My, darlin', I'm yours"
I'll throw away my striped tie and my best-pressed tweed
All I real, really need is the girl
Jim Smith
Pretty sure Billy May arranged this album.
blastor8or
Thank you Milton Page !
This entire album quite frankly floors me.
Julie Lilie
So restrained and perfect. Quintessential Frank of a certain time.
Avi Ebriani
So Underrated Tune, Yet The Greatest Hit Ever!
Pop This Song While Driving Through Your Favorite Street Where Ever You May Be & Voila~ Feel The Magic! !
Joe Girard
The arrangement, phrasing all compelling.
Sherri Brown-Webster
Aaaah Music at it's best!!! WHY can't this music come back...AND STAY! Please Lord!