Frank Sinatra's Contribution to Elevating Las Vegas to its Current Status - Essay Example

?David Zaremba American Popular Song Introduction to Final Paper 15 April Frank Sinatra’s Contribution to Elevating Las Vegas to its Current Status This paper examines Frank Sinatra’s influence in shaping the history of Las Vegas, a nondescript town in Nevada during the early twentieth century, which has become an enigmatic metropolitan in the present day, bustling with activity. Born on December 12, 1915 in New Jersey, Frank Sinatra is one of the most accomplished musicians in American history, whose rise to stardom began in the mid nineteen thirties. A career marked with constant ups and downs, failures and successes, Sinatra has become popular for his works in music as well as in films alike. His professional career as musician spans over 60 years throughout which he has displayed a “remarkable ability to maintain his appeal and pursue his musical goals despite often countervailing trends” (Sinatra). However, his biggest contributions came in the state of Nevada, the city of Las Vegas. When Vegas was not the glamorous metropolis in the desert it is today, early casinos such as the Sahara and The Desert Inn relied on the star power of their headlining performers to bring guests into their door. However, mainly it is Frank Sinatra’s fabulous and captivating songs hits such as “Summer Wind” and “My Way,” with his irrefutable talent and ability to mesmerize an audience, which has led to Las Vegas’ enviable rise to fame. The legend was brought up in Hoboken, New Jersey, where he attended Demarest High School. After his graduation, he enrolled for journalism classes and later became a cub sports reporter. His mother, with her domineering and stubborn nature, encouraged him to sing in a band. Subsequently, after a while, she got him a job, which would broadcast his talents through the WNEW station. He married Nancy Barbato in 1939 and had three children with her. During the time, he met the Frank Mane band by whom he signed a one year contract of performing together. This was the beginning of his career and he made his first recording with this band, performing the song “Our Love.” Once the contract was over, Frank coupled up with Henry James’s band in his bid to make himself a name in the music industry. With his hard work and enthusiasm, he recorded ten songs along with this band under the labels- Brunswick and Columbia. Then he received overtures from Tommy Dorsey to become a member of his band Frank realized that perhaps this was the break that he was looking for and he accepted the offer happily. Fortunately for him, this venture got him into the movie “Las Vegas Nights.” Besides, as another stroke of good luck, he was also able to top the charts for twelve weeks with the song “I’ll never smile again.” The Billboard and Downbeat magazines, which were dominant authorities in music ratings, featured him with high ranks among the singers of that period. He was really rising to fame, achieving so much in such short time. Within a span of just three years, 23 of his songs were among the top ten on Billboard. He then left the Dorsey band and started solo music. By this time he had acquired thousands of fans, known as ‘Bobby Soxers.’ When he made an appearance in the Paramount theatre, everyone got so wild that the crowd was literally uncontrollable. Next in Sinatra’s agenda came his debut at the Hollywood Bowl and Madison Square Garden, when he was under the contract of Columbia Records. It is relevant to note here that when a person attain certain level of a celebrity status, the town or city he hails from or lives in, also becomes a center of attraction for the masses as well as media. Thus, Sinatra’s fame also began to make Las Vegas a place of attraction. Celebrities like Gregory Peck has endorsed that Sinatra and his band need to be credited for the everlasting “sense of free-floating fun and frolic that captured the imagination of the world” (Weatherford par. 4). On the other hand, Lt Gov Lorrain Hung claims that “Sinatra aura brought international royalty and made us a global destination” (Weatherford par. 6). Many of his performance in this little town have brought herds of his fans to this area and they loved this place and made it prosper. Frank Sinatra is known not only for his incredible singing but also his portrayal of memorable characters in several films. As stated earlier, he became popular both in the music and film industries. His film career was back on track when he was signed into contract by RKO the film “Step Lively.” He also starred in the movie, “Higher and Higher.” Impressed by Sinatra’s acting skills and talents, Louis B. Mayer procured his contract from RKO and Sinatra was then signed under MGM, which gave him various films like “Anchors Aweigh,” “Till the Clouds Roll By,” “It Happened in Brooklyn,” “On the town” (Sinatra) and other such works. He also released his first album during this time, “The Voice of Frank Sinatra.” Being an acclaimed star by this time and popular for his versatility, he was shining so bright. However, as misfortune might have it, problems started creeping up. His reputation and image began to deplete as he had some issues because of bad publicity. To add fuel to the fire, rumors also started mushrooming about his being a womanizer. However, his performance in the movie “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” helped in improving his image and the rumors slowly subsided. After acting in these films he decided to go back to his music, and resumed his career in this field by staging live performances. Unfortunately, calamity again struck when his vocal cords developed a few problems during the time. Due to this, he had to take a small break. Nevertheless, he recovered and came with another performance at Desert Inn, located in Las Vegas. Again, this event in which the legend appeared after considerable gap brought his fans in deluges to this town, thus adding to its popularity and drawing media attention. In 1953, he was signed under Capitol Records and he gave several hits like “Young At Heart,” “The Tender Trap” and “Learnin’ the Blues.” His success knew no bounds and he received a multimillion dollar TV contract from NBC. The same year, he starred in the film “From Here to Eternity” and won Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for depiction of the character Maggio. ‘Ol’ Blue Eyes’ has become a popular cult that will forever remain in everyone’s heart. His iconic glory, in turn, has translated into the fame of Las Vegas also, projecting this town as dignified spot in the public eye. His contributions to Las Vegas, the music world as well as the film world are truly wonderful. This late star, who has been active for most part of his life, still inspires and encourages people all over the world. Similarly the city of Las Vegas, with its pomp and fanfare, instills a sense of freedom and merriment in the visitor’s heart. It is very unfortunate that he was born in the early 20th century because the generations now cannot watch him in action, performing in live shows, the way he used to. But if he was to be born in this generation, it is very likely that Las Vegas would not have been what it is today. Everyone is not blessed with the ability to understand and realize what meaning and spirit music truly holds. But this is not the case with Frank Sinatra’s music. People, irrespective of their age, race, caste, creed, social status or geographical boundaries, enjoyed his incredible voice and that is what lured so many tourists and visitors to Las Vegas when Sinatra was at the peak of his career. This boosted the town’s prosperity and lifted its glory to heights beyond the imagination of its inhabitants. Although his music was directed towards an adult audience, he soon realized that the majority of them was teenagers. So the songs and lyrics were developed to suit the tastes of teenagers. This change made him even more popular and helped to extend the peripheries of his success. Sinatra’s performance in Las Vegas made the city popular all over the country. Seeing the potential of this city, Italian Americans arrived in Las Vegas and “opened a “casino on the ground floor of the Sal Sagev hotel” (The Beginning). Such events have had a decisive role in making the city a significant attraction for tourist. To make the things favorable to the place, by this time gambling was also officially recognized as an entertainment activity. This accounts for the emergence of several casinos, bars and hotels in this city, which, in turn, boosted tourism in the locality. The tourist activities increased with the city’s hosting of many events where celebrities such as Sinatra performed. Thus, Las Vegas became a center of attraction for tourists from most part of the world. The city’s heritage as the Sin City as well as the Meadows might have had some influence in attracting visitors to this place. But, this trend continued because the tourists had the opportunity to feast on the captivating musical fiesta offered by Sinatra and his boys. Every place has its own attraction, and as hard as it is to believe, Las Vegas was not all this glamorous and exotic destination in the olden days. So then what made so many people to come all the way to Vegas? That is where Frank Sinatra gains significance. Millions of fans watch their favorite stars in televisions, internet and read all about them in magazines and journals. But the thing that gives them the most excitement and thrills is to watch these stars live, in person. So, no matter how far away they have to travel, they will do so in the hopes of at least getting a glimpse of these celebrities. So when they are drawn into the city, they stay there for a couple of days before the show actually starts so that they can get into queue for purchasing the tickets. It need not be emphasized how much income this would generate for the place. In 1958, people everywhere saw the release of “Come Fly With Me,” Sinatra’s number one album, which was a collection of some of the best songs of that time. The year 1960 brought Sinatra together with the Rat Pack, who put up interesting shows and performances, which made them the center of attention for the whole world. Rat Pack was a group that comprised of Sinatra and his friends Dean Martin, Joey Bishop, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. They gave live performances at the Sands Hotel and also acted in one of the original James Bond movie, “Ocean’s Eleven” and even “Robin and the Seven Hoods.” In the next year, ‘the Chairman of the Board’ released more albums like “Ring-A-Ding-Ding,” “Sinatra at the Sands” and “Sinatra-Basie.” He took a brief retirement in 1971 but did a comeback in 1973 with his album “Ol’ Blue Eyes is Back.” In 1994, he performed for the last time and was honored with the Legend Award at the Grammy’s. Tourist activities naturally boost the economy of the place and provide jobs as well as business opportunities for the people in the community. Iconic figures always remain a factor of attraction for people. Thus, it transpires that a celebrity’s presence in a locality can facilitate the overall development of that place. The continued live performances by Sinatra have, therefore, resulted in the uplifting of Las Vegas and elevated it to its present status. Frank Sinatra is known to have given Las Vegas “an image” (Weatherford par. 1). He is one of the several significant people who are responsible for putting the glam and glitter into Vegas. His fame and popularity not only attracted thousands of people but also brought the city to life, “made the city swing” (Sinatra). Works Cited Sinatra, Frank. Biography of Famous Popular Singers Frank Sinatra Part 2. Trivia Library.com. 2010. Web. 15 April 2012. Sinatra, Frank. Biography. AllMusic. 2012. Web. 15 April 2012. Las Vegas. n.d. Web. 15 April 2012. Weatherford, Mike. The Swinger and the Strip. Las Vegas Review-Journal. n.d. Web. 16 April 2012. Read More