Frank wasn’t just a great singer;
he was a fine actor, a shrewd businessman... and a philanthropist. He was a family man who liked to womanize, and
drink….He was involved with politics much of his life, but was stigmatized as being
overly close with the Mafia.
He was born in a poor neighborhood
in Hoboken New Jersey in 1915... His mother, a midwife, was the dominant figure
in his early life….She worked hard to earn a living, and his father was a boxer….
Frank loved music, especially
jazz and as a boy, he loved to sing and play though he never learned to read music.
He didn’t do that well at
school, because he was focused on singing. In 1938 and 39, he began to get jobs in the music
business, as a singing waiter, and on a radio show. In 1940, he got a contract as lead singer
with the Tommy Dorsey band. His voice was sweet and beautiful, and he improved
his range by taking singing lessons.
But he began to feel that he
wanted to go solo and he had to get out of the Dorsey contract, which gave
Tommy a hefty amount of his earnings...43%. Eventually,
he managed to get out of the contract, though at the price of a bitter row with
his mentor. There were rumours that his Mafia connexions had used threats, to help get him out....(The incident has of course been mentioned in Mario Puzo's Godfather -where the Godfather threatens the man to whom Johnny Fontane is contracted, with a gun.. to frighten him into letting Fontane out of the contract...Famously, he "told him that either his brains or his signature " would be on the release document).
Over those years, as Frank's career took off, he had
built up a following among young girls, who adored his voice and were attracted
by him, in spite of his skinny frame… His
crooning style, the love songs he sang, all added to his insane popularity, and
he was rivaling the famous Bing Crosby…
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