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.
Lulu
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
"But with is invitation, there is a stipulation,
When you attend this party, you'll be treated right, but
There's a wild and wooly woman you boys can't invite, now.
[Chorus]
You can bring Pearl, she's a darn nice girl, but don't bring Lulu.
You can bring Rose with the turned up nose, but don't bring Lulu.
Lulu always wants to do, what we boys don't want her to,
When she struts her stuff around, London bridge is falling down,
You can bring cake or Porterhouse steak, but don't bring Lulu.
Lulu gets blue and she goes cuckoo like the clock on the shelf,
She's the kind of smartie who breaks up every party,
Hullabaloo loo, don't bring Lulu, I'll bring her myself.
We all went to the party, real hi-toned affair,
Then along came Lulu, wild as any Zulu,
She started into Charleston, and how the boys did stare, but
When she did the hula-hula, then she got the air, now.
[Chorus]
You can bring Pearl, she's a darn nice girl, but don't bring Lulu.
You can bring Rose with the turned up nose, but don't bring Lulu.
Lulu always wants to do, what we boys don't want her to,
When she struts her stuff around, London bridge is falling down,
You can bring cake or Porterhouse steak, but don't bring Lulu.
Lulu gets blue and she goes cuckoo like the clock on the shelf,
She's the kind of smartie who breaks up every party,
Hullabaloo loo, don't bring Lulu, I'll bring her myself.
The lyrics to Frank Sinatra's "Don't Bring Lulu" are a playful cautionary tale about a wild and unpredictable woman named Lulu who wreaks havoc on social gatherings. The song is essentially a humorous warning to potential partygoers to leave Lulu at home, while still inviting other women who are more agreeable and less disruptive.
At the beginning of the lyrics, a little boy named Johnny White invites the listener to a party, but warns them not to invite Lulu, who is described as a "wild and wooly woman" that the boys can't handle. The chorus emphasizes this point by listing other women who are acceptable to bring to the party, but reiterating that Lulu is not welcome. The lyrics suggest that Lulu is a troublemaker who always wants to do what the boys don't want her to do, and that her outrageous behavior can even cause London bridge to fall down.
The song's humor comes from the exaggerated descriptions of Lulu's antics, from doing the Charleston to doing the hula-hula, and from the repeated insistence that she not be invited, despite the fact that the singer himself ends up bringing her to the party. Overall, the lyrics caution against the dangers of inviting someone who can't be controlled or who disrupts the social order, while also acknowledging the allure of her wild and unpredictable nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Your presence is requested,” wrote little Johnny White,
Little Johnny White sent an invitation for you to come to his party
But with this invitation, there is a stipulation,
However, there is a condition to attending this party
When you attend this party, you’ll be treated right, but
If you come to the party, you will be treated well, but...
There’s a wild and wooly woman you boys can’t invite, now.
You cannot invite a woman named Lulu to this party, as she is a troublemaker.
You can bring Pearl, she’s a darn nice girl, but don’t bring Lulu.
You can invite Pearl to the party, but you must not invite Lulu.
Lulu always wants to do what we boys don’t want her to,
Lulu always wants to do things that the boys do not want to
When she struts her stuff around, London bridge is falling down,
When Lulu starts dancing, chaos ensues like a collapsing bridge
You can bring cake or Porterhouse steak, but don’t bring Lulu.
You are allowed to bring food to the party, but Lulu is not invited.
Lulu gets blue and she goes cuckoo like the clock on the shelf,
Lulu becomes sad and crazy like an old clock when she is not allowed to attend the party.
She’s the kind of smartie who breaks up every party,
Lulu is known for causing problems and ruining parties.
Hullabaloo loo, don’t bring Lulu; I’ll bring her myself.
Despite everything, the singer decides to bring Lulu to the party himself.
We all went to the party, real hi-toned affair,
We went to a fancy party.
Then along came Lulu, wild as any Zulu,
Suddenly, Lulu arrived and acted as wild as a Zulu warrior.
She started into Charleston, and how the boys did stare, but
Lulu began dancing the Charleston, and the boys were mesmerized.
When she did the hula-hula, then she got the air, now.
However, when she started doing the hula-hula dance, people stopped paying attention to her.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: BILLY ROSE, LEW BROWN, RAY HENDERSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Jesse Murphy
Great!! :-)