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.
The Hucklebuck
Frank Sinatra Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When the lights are down low
Grab your baby
Then go
Do the hucklebuck
Do the hucklebuck
If you don't know how to do it
Boy
Push your partner out
Then you hunch your back
Have a little movement in your sacroiliac
Wiggle like a snake
Wobble like a duck
That's the way you do it when you do the hucklebuck
"The Hucklebuck" is a dance song that invites everyone to join in the dance floor. The lyrics begin with an invitation to learn the dance, which is best performed when the lights are down low. The song encourages grabbing a partner and performing the Hucklebuck together. If you don't know how to dance Hucklebuck, then you are better off not even trying because you are out of luck. To perform the dance, you need to push your partner out, hunch your back, and wiggle like a snake. The movement in your sacroiliac is crucial in maintaining the rhythm of the dance. The song suggests wobbling like a duck to add to the fun.
The whole song is about having fun and letting loose on the dance floor. The lyrics are playful and easy to follow, which makes them perfect for dance beginners. The Hucklebuck was not just a song, but also a popular dance style that originated in the United States in the late 1940s. The Hucklebuck dance style was a fusion of swing dance and rhythm and blues music. It was characterized by shaking the hips, moving the body side-to-side, and performing energetic footwork.
Line by Line Meaning
It's the dance you should know
The Hucklebuck is a dance that you should be familiar with
When the lights are down low
This dance is best done in low lighting or a dimly lit environment
Grab your baby
Take your partner or date by the hand and bring them onto the dance floor
Then go
Start dancing
Do the hucklebuck
Perform the specific moves of the dance called the Hucklebuck
Do the hucklebuck
Repeat the moves of the dance called the Hucklebuck
If you don't know how to do it
If you are not familiar with this dance
Boy
You
You're out of luck
you are in trouble because this dance needs practice and skill
Push your partner out
You need to separate from your partner for one of the steps
Then you hunch your back
Arch or curve your back in a specific way
Have a little movement in your sacroiliac
Move your hips by flexing your sacroiliac joint in a specific way
Wiggle like a snake
Move your body in a way that resembles a snake's movement
Wobble like a duck
Move your body in a way that is similar to a duck's waddle
That's the way you do it when you do the hucklebuck
These are the specific movements you need to perform when doing The Hucklebuck dance
Lyrics © CARLIN AMERICA INC, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ROY ALFRED, ANDY GIBSON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@timobrien8809
The Finest Hours brought me here !!
@Pstephen
The Fall for me (Hassle Schmuck)
@stephmaroon2913
Same great movie.
@gordoncarolyndinnage6436
Just shows how different artists can bring out the same song. Chubby Checker, Coast to Coast and my favourite The Royal Showband all having their own style.
@BabkaPierogi
Difficult to go back to this after listening to the fast tempo versions.
@Lisa-gj1kc
Wish that had this kind of music now
@karajokoo
Simply wonderful!
@knexpert1700
Brought by The Finest Hours
@dianaflores7543
me too!
@Sparkina
Remember when Jackie Gleason/Ralph Kramden danced to this on The Honeymooners