...so make it one for my baby, and one more for the road....
The day was May 15, 1998. I was awaken in the morning by the sound of the radio alarm clicking on.
The station had just broken for the news. the first thing I heard as I shook the cobwebs of slumber from my
heard was.... "Frank Sinatra died last night from an apparent heart attack..."
I needed to hear no more. Nothing else needed saying to me. The death of yet another music legend
has diminished us once more.
Two years ago it was Dean Martin. A man who, in my opinion, was the greatest crooner of all time,
and now the greatest showman of all time has left us. No matter what the odds, Frank always managed
to overcome adversity and rise to the top to become King of the Hill, Top of the Heap, Cream of the Crop,
Seventy years of great music and 60 movies an Oscar, The congressional Medal of Honor,
and so many more awards and commendations than I can even concieve is what he hs left for us as a legacy.
For those who can appreciate it, these gifts from Frank are even more special now than ever before,
because they are the last gifts he will ever give us. So I honor and cherish them as I would any
sacred article of my life.
Frank Sinatra meant more to me than I can really say in words. He taught me what music really was,
and what it could be. His choice of material, and arrangers, and orchestras were perfection, to say the least.
He filled his songs with such depth of emotion. He could make you dance around the room, fly to
the moon, or cry in your beer. So few performers can, or will, do that these days.
Frank took a song and studied it.
Made it a part of himself so that when he gave it back, it was more that it was when he discovered it.
There was piece of Frank Sinatra in every song he sang. Say what you will about Frank Sinatra the man,
but nobody, and I mean nobody could hold a torch to the magnificance that was Frank Sinatra when
he picked up his golden microphone and began crooning a low, soft melodic love song. He was the best
in his field, and there may never be another. We lost one of our greatest treasures on that saddest
of nights, and I will mourn the loss for as long as I live.
So it is with a sad and heavy heart that I raise my glass one more time to the leader of the Rat Pack,
and offer a fianl toast to honor the memories of Peter Lawford, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., and Frank Sinatra.