Why Sinatra Matters

Rating:
Summary: I Know Now Why Sinatra Matters....
Review: Why Sinatra Matters is an uncensored realistic book on whom other, Frank Sinatra. The book tells of his life, his friends, family, and most of all his intoxicating voice as a singer. To his late night partying, to his ridiculously famous music, this book gives a background not only to his singing and song writing, but to his complex life behind the curtain. However, through marriages, divorces, relationships and more, his music remained untouched. Music remained a rescue boat in his fast pasted life. One of his good friends Pete Hamill, the writer, talks about their past enjoyment at certain clubs and talking about various topics as boxing, women, and their favorite writers. The book also tells about Sinatra's early years and how he came to the road to stardom and how he even paved some of it himself.
This book was defiantly something that interested me. Not very many books catch my eye like this book, and that's saying a lot. Most books contain too much blain description, but this book had description to the point where I want to go buy the whole Sinatra collection. I would tell others to read book to gain knowledge of how one of the greats lived, loved, and never took it for granted. Frank Sinatra will live in infinity as well as his music, and the way he lived his life. The youth of today as well as the adults, that live in modern suburbia could learn more than one thing of this legend of a man. If I even live one year of my life the way he did, I would die a happy man......



Rating:
Summary: Oh, if only it were longer.
Review: As an ex oldies rock and roll disc jockey who managed to squeeze two or three Sinatra tunes in every week, I looked forward to reading this book, especially since it was written by one of my favorite chroniclers of the American passing scene. I was not disappointed. In this little book, or elongated essay, Pete Hamill makes a compelling case for the value of Frank Sinatra to the America psyche. He contends that Sinatra matters because he created the American male image of being tough, yet at the same time tender. He also states that Frank matters because of his music, grounded in loneliness, yet still optimistic. I also learned something. My world has often been surrounded by those of Italian heritage, and Hamill has made me understand them better. First, he relates the beginning of the awareness of the Italian Mob/Mafia in our country. He claims the myth began in 1891 when eleven Italian immigrants were accused of killing a corrupt police superintendent in New Orleans. Although all 11 were found innocent, a mob of several thousand people, roused to rabble by incendiary newspaper articles, attacked the jail where the men were waiting release, and killed them all. (This is another glaring incident that was never mentioned in my America-is-never-wrong high school or college history lessons.) Hamill does indeed say the mob/Mafia was a factor in America, but came to fruition, decades after the New Orleans incident, through the stupidity of our country's prohibition. He also explains why Italians call themselves Genoese or Sicilians, not Italians. It's because there really was no united Italy until 1871. Instead of the country, an immigrant thought of his region of birth as his homeland. Hamill spends a good deal of time pointing up the importance of Sinatra's Italian background. He points to pre-war 1940 when Mayor LaGuardia, Yankee Centerfielder Joe Dimaggio, and Frank, each of Italian ancestry, were three of the most beloved individuals in the country. In this work, Hamill discusses Frank's childhood, the immense impression of Bing Crosby, Frank's big band years, his beginnings as a solo vocalist, his career collapse coinciding with his marriage to Ava Gardner and the hatred many returning soldiers felt toward the 4-F crooner, concluding with his artistic rebirth beginning with his Oscar winning role in "From Here to Eternity." Much of Hamill's insight is culled from conversations he had with the singer during the 1970s and `80s, although there are a couple of times he delves deep into Sinatra's head as a youth and I wondered, "How could he ever know that?" But, except for those few lapses, this is a right-on book about one of the world's greatest entertainers. At the end of the book, Hamill proposes a list of must-have Sinatra recordings, must-see Sinatra movies, and a bibliography of books dealing with Sinatra and his era. I have all the recordings, seen all the movies, but Hamill has inspired me to read some of the books. (But not Kitty Kelley's character assassination, thank you very much.)

Rating:
Summary: Great book, horrible book-on-tape
Review: Do not buy the book on tape! Get it in hardcover or paperback.

This is a fine little book, but it's the first book on tape I have had to turn off because the narrator's voice was too grating (and I've listened to tons of books on tape). Had it been read by the author himself, certainly allowances could be made. Instead, the publisher went out to find a professional reader and chose someone who speaks in an harsh, barking monotone, one part Howard Cosell, one part Rain Man, one part the guy who does the Moviephone listings. When the voice first came on, reading the copyright information and other technical details, I assumed that, well, that's just the preliminaries, surely someone else will narrate the rest of the tape. Nope. Amazing.
I have switched to the print version, which is excellent.

Rating:
Summary: There will never be another...
Review: I only saw my hero, Frank Sinatra, perform once. It was at the end of his career - and his life. It was a strange evening; he was obviously at the end - he couldn't remember the words to his songs or read the teleprompter. Few people left however - the evening soon became about us - his fans - letting him know that we still loved him. "I LOVE YOU FRANK!" a huge, middle-aged, rough-looking man yelled out during a pause. Sinatra, taken aback by the violence of the outburst, chuckled and replied, "I love you too, pal." As Pete Hamill once pointed out, "Seeing Sinatra in ruins is like seeing the Coliseum in ruins - it's still magnificent."

Why Sinatra Matters is a must-read for any Sinatra-phile. In the Overture, Hamill cites Sinatra's death as the impetus for writing this book. He saw all these young reporters from MTV and VH1 doing stories on Sinatra (obviously prepared in advance) telling the world Sinatra was important, without really understanding why. It certainly wasn't just because he did it "his way."

This is a very short book. As Hamill points out it is not a "definitive biography" - although once he was in talks with Sinatra to write just that. It is, as the title plainly states, an explanation of why Sinatra matters - artistically and culturally - and why he always will. In terms of Culture, Hamill reminds the reader of a time when America felt it was morally obligated to persecute Italians - Sinatra helped change all that. Musically, the reasons are more complex. To put it succinctly, no one ever sounded like Sinatra before.

The book is great because it also sheds light on Sinatra the man, who is often lost in the obscurity of his own public image. He was not just some gruff tough guy - a kind of idiot savant who could churn out a great recording in one take. He was a fiercely intelligent, well-read, well-cultured, self-educated man who worked hard at his craft. The most enjoyable parts of the book are the conversations Hamill recounts between himself and Sinatra. Most shocking of all - to me at least - was to imagine Sinatra using the F-word!

Rating:
Summary: There will never be another...
Review: I only saw my hero, Frank Sinatra, perform once. It was at the end of his career - and his life. It was a strange evening; he was obviously at the end - he couldn't remember the words to his songs or read the teleprompter. Few people left however - the evening soon became about us - his fans - letting him know that we still loved him. "I LOVE YOU FRANK!" a huge, middle-aged, rough-looking man yelled out during a pause. Sinatra, taken aback by the violence of the outburst, chuckled and replied, "I love you too, pal." As Pete Hamill once pointed out, "Seeing Sinatra in ruins is like seeing the Coliseum in ruins - it's still magnificent."

Why Sinatra Matters is a must-read for any Sinatra-phile. In the Overture, Hamill cites Sinatra's death as the impetus for writing this book. He saw all these young reporters from MTV and VH1 doing stories on Sinatra (obviously prepared in advance) telling the world Sinatra was important, without really understanding why. It certainly wasn't just because he did it "his way."

This is a very short book. As Hamill points out it is not a "definitive biography" - although once he was in talks with Sinatra to write just that. It is, as the title plainly states, an explanation of why Sinatra matters - artistically and culturally - and why he always will. In terms of Culture, Hamill reminds the reader of a time when America felt it was morally obligated to persecute Italians - Sinatra helped change all that. Musically, the reasons are more complex. To put it succinctly, no one ever sounded like Sinatra before.

The book is great because it also sheds light on Sinatra the man, who is often lost in the obscurity of his own public image. He was not just some gruff tough guy - a kind of idiot savant who could churn out a great recording in one take. He was a fiercely intelligent, well-read, well-cultured, self-educated man who worked hard at his craft. The most enjoyable parts of the book are the conversations Hamill recounts between himself and Sinatra. Most shocking of all - to me at least - was to imagine Sinatra using the F-word!

Rating:
Summary: Great book, horrible book-on-tape
Review: I've read several books on Sinatra;But this one is really different.Hamill is an excellent writer and shows us why Sinatra matters;this was not done in other books.He has also shown what made Sinatra so popular,what influenced the changes in his audiences and without coming right out and saying so;why there won't nor can't ever be another one like him.He also reveals the art form that Sinatra perfected in his voice.
As great as Sinatra's music was;it was Sinatra as a man,and all that he represented, as well as the use of the microphone like a painter uses a brush;that made him so great.
Read this book;it will give you a deeper appreciation of Sinatra.

Rating:
Summary: MUSIC LOVERS WILL ENJOY THIS BOOK
Review: Many books have been written about the legendary singer. This is one of the best.

Rating:
Summary: One More For The Road.....
Review: Pete Hamill hits the nail right on the head with this Sinatra book. No it's not a spicy, gossipy tellall - it a truthful essay on a man that has created music that the world marks time by. Sinatra Matters, made me think of the days from my childhood when the whole family would be sitting around a Christmas tree and instead of listening to Christmas music we were listening to Sinatra and maybe a Sinatra Christmas album would makes its way onto the turntable, but it was Sinatra all the way.

Rating:
Summary: Why Sinatra Matters is a fine book.
Review: Pete Hamill is a fine reporter who knew Frank Sinatra as a friend. Sinatra was an enigmatic, charismatic and complex singer of the American soul. Perhaps no singer in 20th century America popular song could get inside a lyric and make it his own like the great "ole blue eyes."
Hamill's opening chapter in which we sit beside Sinatra and his cronies in a Brooklyn bar in 1970 is like something out of Hemingway in its description of a man, era and city.
Hamill points out that it was Sinatra in music, Laguardia in politics and Joe Dimaggio in sports who raised the immigrant Italian ethnic group to greatness in insular, xenophobic America of the 1940s.
Sinatrta could be obnoxious and cruel but he could also be
generous and kind,
This book reminds me of the Penguin Lives series as it is a good starting place for anyone who wants to learn more about Sinatra, his women, his era and most importantly his music. The music will live forever in the American soul.
Sinatra did it his way and Hamill does a fine job of writing in this interesting little book. A good read to take on vacation or a long flight. I recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful read--like an old song
Review: Pete Hamill, beyond a doubt, is an excellent writer. He does a wonderful job here. The book is part bio, part history of immigrants in America, and part memoir. It works on all levels. Hamill treats Frank with the respect he deserves. The book is not a gossipy memoir--Kitty Kelly fans should look elsewhere. Instead, he makes the important arguement that Sinatra gave voice to first, a generation, and then an entire country. His artisty is what matters. The myth of the man is fun and gets most the attention, but that is besides the point for Hamill. And he is right. We all talk about the "Sinatra in a hat" (as Hamill dubs him) and the Rat Pack--but the music endures. It is, argues Hamill, what matters in the Wee Small Hours of the Morning. It is what will stand the test of time and give voice to a thousand broken dreams, hearts, and help us--like Frank after the Fall--get back up and start all over again. Thanks, Pete Hamill for getting it right.