Frank Sinatra was widely known from coast to coast. He was definitely one of the most popular stars of his era. (3) He, not only was a singer/ song writer, but as his career grew he shifted smoothly into acting and dancing. Ole Blue Eyes was an American icon who was capable of charming his way through each decade that rolled by. He had a sound that carried like no other. His soft voice could sweep women off their feet and right into his arms. Ole blue eyes had an extraordinary talent and sure did not waste it.
It all started when Italian immigrants, Martin and Natalie Sinatra gave birth to a baby boy on December 12, 1915. On that night Francis Albert Sinatra was born not breathing. His grandmother decided to hold him under water. Thankful, he began to gasp for air. Even since the beginning Frank made his way through unfavorable odds. Martin, Sinatra’s father, was a firefighter for the city of Hoboken, New Jersey. Frank’s mother, Natalie or she was often referred to as Dolly, was an amateur singer; who often played at clubs and social events. (1)
As Frank grew so did his love for music. His first real passion for music came when his uncle gave him a ukulele. On hot summer nights Sinatra would sit out on his front porch while playing and singing to family and friends. Frank never had to take singing lessons. His wonderful gift came from the Lord. Were they lived was a rough neighborhood so Frank had to be on his guard almost all the time. To protect himself, he decided to take up boxing. Later on he would become a competetent boxer. (1) Frank Attended Demarest High School. He was a generous, but pugnacious person. These characteristics would follow him throughout his entire life. He competed in all...
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...e and alcohol abuse.
Frank Sinatra’s career spanned for more than fifty years. He ventured from recordings, film television as well as countless performances in night clubs, concert halls, and sports arenas. (3) He was truly the first modern pop star. The audiences who grew up with him and his music were complemented by adoration from younger generations. They have all made Ole Blue Eyes one of the most outstanding popular singers of the 20th century. His smooth style transcends through all generations and can survive the cold hard fact of time. He was able to withstand the great shifts in the time eras. He was a creative and gifted man who charmed the world with his blue eyes and beautiful smile. No matter how you see him; the starry eyed boy next door, the bruised romantic, or the smooth cosmopolitan man he was and always will be Frank Sinatra.
Growing up in Limerick, in his memoir Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt describes the continuing difficulties The McCourt’s face in 1930’s with World War II going into motion after in the early 1940s. Frankie goes through many changes as he progresses through his childhood. He is enrolled in Catholic school, with many rigorous Headmasters with a seemingly sole purpose of belittling the students. To get ready for confirmation Frank is forced to join the Confraternity, a brotherhood group that all the boys must join in preparation for confirmation. Frank becomes friends with Paddy clohessy and they get into many forms of mischief for a time. Through his younger years he falls ill of serious illnesses that complicates things
The music industry during the 1940s was filled with many talented artists who impacted the music industry and the history of rock n’ roll forever. But one of the very well known and talented artists was Buddy Holly. Buddy Holly was the first to pioneer new music genres and progressive music. Charles Hardin Holley (1936-1959) was an American musician and artist whose creative career began in 1956. The family name is correctly spelled “Holley” but his first recording contract from Decca Records in 1956 spelled his last name “Holly” and he kept it that way for the rest of his career (Griggs 1). Holly took a very influential position in the music industry and built an audience for his Rock and Roll music very quickly due to his unique voice and advanced knowledge of music. Buddy Holly is a prime example of a musical pioneer who blended resources from various music genres including a variety of popular genres such as rhythm and blues (RNB), oriental, and African (Schinder and Schwartz 85).
Sinatra was not just a singer he was also an actor, television and radio personality, and on occasion a producer, direct, and conductor. (Pond, n.d) “Sinatra earned three Oscars, three Golden Globes, including the Cecil B. DeMille Award, ten personal Grammy's (and a total of 20 for his albums), an Emmy, a Peabody, and the Kennedy Center Honors Award in 1983. A generous charitable contributor, he was honored with the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.” (Pond, n.d) Sinatra was named by some as the top entertainer of the twentieth Century. As a person Sinatra was known as a philanthropist he would donate over a billion dollars to charities around the world through his life time. He would also contribute to civil rights for African Americans through his work with Count Basie and appearing in the movie “From Here to Eternity” which denounced rac...
...lliam’s career were 1950and 1951. He was one of the most successful touring acts in country music. Every one of his records charted, except for those issued as “Luke the Drifter” and his religious songs with a female artist named Audrey. His songs had matured greatly since the demos he had submitted to Molly o Day, began finding a wider market than his own recordings of them ever could. Started with “Honky Tonkin” in 1949, his songs had been covered for the pop market, but it was not until Tony Bennett covered “Cold Cold Heart” in 1951 that he had began to recognize as an important popular songwriter. From that point, there was a rush to revise his songs for the pop market. Guy Mitchell, for instance, had a hit with “I Can’t Help It If I’m Still in Love with You”, and the pair of Frankie Lane and Jo Stafford took Hey, Good looking in the pop top ten. (Hank Williams)
Anne Frank was born in 1929 just at the beginning of turmoil in German society. At the beginning of her life, Frank’s family was a relatively normal German-Jewish family living just outside of Frankfurt. Her father, Otto Frank, was a business owner and her sister, Margot Frank, was three years older than her. They moved to Amsterdam, Netherlands in 1933 because of the threat to their lives because of their Jewish Heritage.
The success in Pal Joey started his numerous cooperation with Stanley Donen. Kelly and Fred Astaire were considered as the brain and heart of the drama. His success in Singin’ in the Rain made him known to the world. He was remembered by his excellent dancing skills and natural humor in his performance. He received many awards from Hollywood for his contributions to the performance industry.
...1998 for his long and successful career in music (Elton John). He continues to perform “Your Song” in all of his concerts and once said, “I don’t think I’ve written a love song as good since.”
Johnny Cash who lived under a non-conformist lifestyle went through various complications that caused a downfall in his life. However with the help of his supportive friends and events, Cash was able to overcome the difficult barriers he faced throughout his lifetime. With the defeat of his life obstacles Cash became widely popular and admired. His unique style of music, which was greatly based on his past, influenced young Americans because they were able to relate with him. Up to this day his music continues to shape the style of many other famous artist in the world. Johnny Cash, known as the “Man in Black,” will always be remembered and admired for his accomplishment in defeating the downfalls of his early life.
Ser Elton John has been one of the most iconic and successful British pop stars since the 1970’s. His music is based from his own life experiences as well as those of his country and of his time. Elton John is known for his passion and vivacity for his career, his fortitude to fight AIDS, his homosexuality and his importance to the evolution of the British and the American pop/rock genre.
...f his time. During his heyday, he was as popular as anyone, including the legendary Frank Sinatra. This is even more remarkable when one takes into account the fact that Nat refused to play in segregated halls – his popularity was such that he was one of the few African-Americans who could do so.
Louis Armstrong was born to William and May-Ann Armstrong, on August 4, 1901; although it is rumored he was born on July 4, 1900. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana where as he went back and forth between his 'grandmother’s house and his mother’s house. He had on sister named Beatrice who was just two years younger than him who he looked after as a young child. When he was seven he begin singing on the street for a little money with his friends and that is where he got his nickname “Satchelmouth” which was later changed to “Satchmo” because of his smile. While playing in the street he met a trumpeter by the name of Bunk Johnson who taught him things he knew about music and the trumpet. In his memoir he said, “But somehow all that jive didn’t faze me at all, I was so happy to have some place to blow my horn” (Armstrong). Trouble didn't meet Mr. Armstrong until 1912 during a New Year’s Eve celebration. Louis Armstrong fired a pistol into the air and was immediately arrested and he spent the night in a jail cell. He was sentenced to a Colored Waif’s House, where he stayed for 18 months.
As the era of War and Depression was coming to a close, a new America was on the rise. Women began taking their place within the role of housewife while teenagers were careless with their actions. Since the Great Depression was over, the economy was booming and all the worries about money were gone. Race and segregation was still a problem and becoming more and more controversial. African Americans were fighting for desegregation, especially in schools such as in the Board v Brown case. While the new era brought on some social changes, many known changes came from one man known as “The King of Rock and Roll”: Elvis Presley. With Market potential on his mind, Sam Phillips of Sun Records was looking for an artist who appealed to both whites and blacks, found just what he was looking for in Elvis, a man with a white face and a black sound. Phillips managed to find an artist who appealed to the largest consumer base; white society. Presley’s music would go on to revolutionize future genres along with the people themselves. Elvis Presley did not only impact fashion, attitude, music and views on race during the 1950s, but also had a profound influence regarding these aspects that can still be seen in today’s society.
The music created by the legendary Scott Joplin can be heard everywhere around the world even to this day. Many of his works are immediately recognizable to millions of people, including myself. I was not even aware that I knew any of Scott Joplin’s masterpieces but I certainly did. The composition entitled The Entertainer has been featured countless times in movies and games that I have experienced and its catchy beat was cemented in my mind (IMDb). Joplin was the king of the ragtime musical genre, and his name is synonymous with that period of music.
At the young age of thirteen, he experienced several tragedies that would affect his life forever and would greatly impact his music later in life. Within a year, his father, his uncle, and his minister all died. He lost every important male influence in his life. After graduating from high school in High Point, he moved to Philadelphia in 1943, where he lived in a small one-room apartment and worked as a laborer in a s...
Born on 28 February 1929 in Toronto, Canada, Frank O. Goldberg entered a household with a strong Polish and Jewish heritage. Twenty years earlier, Thelma Caplanski left Poland with her parents, a couple with deep religious morals. Once they settled in Toronto, the two decided to change their last name to Caplan. The owner of a hardware store, her father was also the president of a synagogue. His wife, Frank’s grandmother, was said to have good visual abilities. Thelma would continue working with the Jewish community through a Yiddish theater and the Jewish Women’s Organization as she raised Frank. Like several of Howard Gardner’s figures, Frank was close with his mother and grandmother.