I have never heard anything good about Sinatra. I understand he pimped for J.F.K. & his treatment of Sammy Davis is legend. He had to be a bully as physically he was a shrimp particularly when he was young. Dean may have hung out with the guy but was always his own man & often told Sinatra to "Fuck Himself".

I think you are on the mark & as a human being Frank could only be considered Infamous!!!!!

Frank's respect was based on FEAR!
You can tell by his attitude how he got to where he was. What a role model!

I am posting this for anyone who stumbles accidentally upon this article in the future, as I did.

The author states he is basing his critique of Sinatra on information that everyone has. But he hasn't looked deeper than a Google search, and then been very selective with facts.

The fact is, Sinatra was no racist. He was very close with many African-American performers, including Bill Basie and Ella Fitzgerald, and worked often with them. He boycotted clubs and venues that would not accommodate these artist when they were discriminated against based on their race. Sinatra was a strong supporter of the civil rights movement and promoted African-American acts at the height of the civil rights movement, when it was dangerous to do so.

As far as his voice -- he sang "from the top of his larynx"? No singer or anyone who knows about singing would ever use such a phrase, to begin with. And the idea that Sinatra's voice was "blown out by 1952" is laughable. Some of his best recordings, including his entire body of work for Capitol Records from 1953-1961, took place after 1952. Nevermind the entire 1960's which saw his collaboration, tours, shows and recordings with the Count Basie Orchestra.

Was Sinatra a perfect person -- no. Is anyone? No. Are many artists -- beyond Marilyn Manson and Tupac - volatile? Absolutely. So while there may be reasons to criticize Sinatra, the quality of his voice and accusing him of racism are not based in reality or fact, which is clear when the entire history of his life is known.

Songster28: Hard for me to overlook the fact that Sinatra was a bully, one of the worst traits any human can possess. Also, as is documented by virtually hundreds of sources, Sinatra treated underlings and common people very poorly.

i don't dispute your premise, but you should know more about the life of Stan Getz if you want to use him as a comparison. He is said to have had an affair with Astrud Gilberto, which caused Astrud and Joao to split up. I have heard, from a source who was on the professional jazz scene back in the day, Getz had a really nasty side. Admittedly, I know no more than what I've heard, but I'm not writing articles on the web, either. Cheers.

Stan Getz did plenty of worse things than have the shakes, including beat his girlfriend so badly he couldn't leave Italy.

This article is beyond foolish.

Frank Sinatra may have been a complete jerk, but he wasn't Adolf HItler, or a criminal, or even as bad as a politician or bought-off journalist. Was he crappy to the women in his life? Maybe - I wasn't there, but his daughter and son both loved him, and his son continued to sing his standards as a tribute to his career. Some of the women he chose were insane as well. He was a pop star, and used the groupie power he had, as if men are now held to a standard that powerful women never are. Whose right is it in the press to judge celebrities? Some celebrities are genuine heros of the people, while most of the press is the tool of the wealthy, or engaged in moronic misdirection like this article. Do some real on the street journalism, if your editor will let you publish any.

Sinatra supported JFK, a budding hero of the working classes who took on the CIA and ended up killed by the real maniacs in the USA, so even politically, Sinatra was closer to modern liberals than modern conservatives. That means that Sinatra's politics showed a man who gave a crap about people other than the elites. Granted, the Kennedys did anger the mob, but Frank was hardly in a position to do anything about it.

Sinatra also regularly defended Sammy Davis Jr, although the RatPack did mock Davis on stage as part of their act. However, Sinatra shoved segregationists back vigorously when they tried to exclude blacks from shows, and this was before and during the heat of civil rights, a moral challenge I'd like to see the writer of this article tested by.

Sinatra had mob connections, wow, what a surprise. Every club in the USA was probably run by the mob from Prohibition into the 1980s, and most record labels had mob owners as well. He didn't exactly have a choice.

Now, let's get to the part that really matters. I am a singer and musician, and therefore have greater authority on the topic than non-players. He WAS a GREAT SINGER.
I'm not even a particular fan of the style, and I'm too young to feel any personal connection to his music, but I can tell he's fantastic. Mel Torme, Nat King Cole, Bobby Darin, Ella Fitzgerald, also all great singers, and Sinatra is right up there with them without a shadow of a doubt. He didn't get famous and stay famous for 40 plus years? being the throwaway hack you make him out to be, and he's a darn sight better than any Millennial singer I can think of currently. Oh, he didn't write his songs? Wiki Tin Pan Alley before you make such uneducated comments. We've just endured over a decade of hack female singers not writing their own material. That's not an issue when a vocalist has developed talent and a buying audience.

Harry Connick Jr and MIchael Buble have both made careers out of imitating him. Whether you like them or not, and I don't much, they're selling to an audience looking for a style that Sinatra pioneered, and let me tell you, he was WAY better at it than they are, because he was closer to the real jazz. It's such a dumb point to make, since most of the people who could defend him are dead. He's a historical figure, you are not.

I guess dumb stories like this get readers, just like beefs in rap, but you really should try harder to sound credible if you're going to do one.

If this is journalism then I'm the Pope. Most jazz musicians had great respect for his artistry. He could be very difficult to deal with at times because he had a thin skin. But he was generous to a fault and very quiet about that generosity. He was very ahead of his times regarding race relations. You judge with a rear view mirror. I can't wait to judge you with that same mirror.

he's called "the voice" for a reason nobody ,I mean nobody sings with more control of their voice than Frankie. perfection man. I love the guy. I'm 50, not old enough to understand his generation. but there ain't a man on this planet that can belt out a song like frank.