Welcome To Our Companion Weblog

This is your source for news, links and notes from our program celebrating the life and career of the Entertainer of the 20th Century.

TCM May Celebration

I got an email from Turner Entertainment Media about their Frank Sinatra Festival coming every Sunday and Wednesday in May on Turner Classic Movies. There's lots of fun stuff, a sweepstakes and the full television schedule at http://tcm.com/sinatra on the Web. Enjoy!

Note: I replaced the TCM Mood Machine widget with an image file, since the widget plays automatically whenever one visits this site and there was no way to disable the autoplay. You can enjoy the widget, with Sinatra singing from his movies, by clicking on the image.

Episode 94: All Alone

This week on The Frank Truth Podcast, we're delving into Frank Sinatra's haunting 1962 Waltz album, All Alone.

There's also some follow up on The House I Live In, and lots of listener feedback.

Click here to download the MP3, or click here to subscribe for free at iTunes.

Special thanks to Mike McGlone of Seal Beach, California for his help with this episode.

Links and Shownotes

• Episode 94 Amazon Shop
• Jazz Improv Magazine Sinatra Issue
• The House I Live In
• There's A Star-Spangled Banner Waving Somewhere
• Colin Kelly
• Julius LaRosa Episode
• Rocky Fortune Episode

Songs and Clips

• All Alone
• Are You Lonesome Tonight?
• What'll I Do?
• When I Lost You
• The Song Is Ended
• Call Me

This podcast is licensed by BMI and ASCAP. We encourage you to purchase and enjoy legally distributed music.

This episode of The Frank Truth is sponsored by GoDaddy. Click here for more great deals and information.

This episode is also sponsored by eMusic. Get 35 songs for free with our two week trial offer. Click here to learn more.

Jazz Improv On Sinatra

The current issue of Jazz Improv magazine features Frank Sinatra on the cover, and a 40 page Sinatra special inside.

One of the articles is excerpted online. Click here to take a look.

Episode 93: Rocky Fortune - Carnival One Way

This week we've got another episode of Frank Sinatra's 1950s NBC Radio Drama, Rocky Fortune. It originally aired on December 8th of 1953 and involves a kid, and a carnival.

Click here for the MP3 download of the Podcast.

We've also got some quick notes at the top this time as a follow up to the video episode of The House I Live In.

This eMusic offer described in this episode is no longer valid.

Links

Video Episode 3 - The House I Live In

Video Episode 2 - Bellagio Fountains (Luck Be A Lady)

Video Episode 1 - Bellagio (Fly Me To The Moon)

Insytworks

Dear Zanny

Welcome GoDaddy

The Frank Truth Podcast is proud to welcome GoDaddy.com as a sponsor to our show.

I personally have more than a dozen Domain Names currently registered through GoDaddy. I've been using them for several years. I love the service, the reliability, the ease of use and the price. I highly recommend GoDaddy, and have done so often prior to their sponsorship of this program.



If you're looking to save money on Domain Names or hosting, use one of our codes at checkout.

I'll be posting more here (and speaking on the show) about how to get the most from these discount codes. Feel free to email me with any questions in the meantime.

Get your own piece of the Web at GoDaddy, and when you do, you'll also be helping to support this program!

Video Episode 3: The House I Live In

I've released video episodes of The Frank Truth so infrequently that in over three years of Podcasting we're now up to only number 3 - but this one's a doozy.

On September 11th of 1945, Frank Sinatra made The House I Live In - a short film in which he portrays himself, teaching the American values of tolerance and unity to a group of kids on the street. According to Nancy Sinatra's excellent book Frank Sinatra: An American Legend "The film was written by Albert Maltz, produced by Frank Ross and directed by Mervyn LeRoy, but it was Dad's baby from start to finish."

In the last post, I linked to the video from the Internet Archive site. I decided that I'd also put it in the Podcast feed, so that people who don't visit this site can view it.

I believe that the film gives us some insight into the character of Frank Sinatra. Though the ideals expressed might find little vocal opposition in our society today, these were fairly radical notions for an entertainer to champion in 1945 - and Sinatra paid the price for getting on the wrong side of right-leaning newspapers of the day.

I think this film really demonstrates Sinatra's way with a lyric too. The song, penned by Lewis Allan and Earl Robinson, has long been an inspiration to me. I hope that the film will provoke some thought (and perhaps some measure of soul searching) as well.

I'd love to hear your reactions and views. Feel free to leave comments here on the Weblog, send me an email to frankfeedback@gmail.com or call our listener comment line at (312) 235-2139.

Click here to download the MP4.

IMDB Page

Internet Archive Page

Wikipedia Page

The House I Live In

Regular listeners to our program will no doubt recall many mentions of Frank Sinatra's short film The House I Live In, a call for ethnic and religious tolerance that won a special Academy Award in 1946. This film (written by Albert Maltz and produced by Frank Ross) stands in testimony to the highest ideals of the day - and sets an example for our time as well. Our country would be a better place if this film were part of the curriculum in every grade school, and today's entertainers could take a lesson both in civic responsibility and in courage from Frank Sinatra.

I was thrilled to find that the film is in the Public Domain and in the collection of the Internet Archive. I present it here in the hope that my children will one day live in a world where the acceptance of others, just as they are, is the rule rather than the exception.

Here's the MP4 for download.

Give Us A Shout!

We now have an additional way for listeners to contact the show, with a brand new voicemail number.

Call (312) 235-2139, leave a message, and you may hear it on an upcoming episode.

Call with your comments on the program, musings about Frank Sinatra, album reviews, etc.

Drunk dials will be accepted and may be played for the amusement of thousands, so if you get into the Jack Daniels call at your own risk.

Episode 92: Julius LaRosa

This time around on The Frank Truth Sinatra Podcast, we're donating Silly String to help the Troops, updating email and listening to some great tunes from Italian Crooner Julius LaRosa.

Click here to download the MP3.

Shownotes and Links

Silly String for the Troops

TCM May Schedule

Smooth Jazz USA

The Rat Pack Ultimate Collectors Edition DVD Set

May Commemoration Amazon Shop (Check Back For Updates)

My Marilyn

Julius LaRosa

Studio C Episode (listen at your own risk - very raw)

Songs and Clips

• Domani
• These Foolish Things
• Let's Make Up Before We Say Goodnight
• Eh Cumpari

This podcast is licensed by BMI and ASCAP. We encourage you to purchase and enjoy legally distributed music.

Episode 91: May Commemorations, A Voice In Time, Brian Setzer?

This time around on The Frank Truth Podcast, we've got some Jersey Boys follow-up, a review of Frank Sinatra: A Voice In Time, and some information on commemorations of the 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's passing.

Also, some great swingin' tunes from The Brian Setzer Orchestra.

Click here to download the MP3.

This episode of the Podcast is sponsored in part by eMusic.

Click here for our special offer to get Wolfgang's Big Night Out from The Brian Setzer Orchestra, along with an additional 23 song downloads, all for free with your 2 week eMusic trial.

Shownotes and Links

Jersey Boys in Las Vegas

Erich Bergen

Jersey Boys Podcast Interview with Erich

Jersey Boys Podcast Tommy Devito Interview

Tommy Devito on Acoustic

Frank Sinatra: A Voice In Time

Sinatra: Nothing But The Best

Sinatra Family News Item on May Commemorations

Warner Brothers Press Release

Jazz Profiles Sinatra Episode

A Voice In Time Radio Special

Episode Amazon Shop (Check Back For Updates)

Song Clips

• Wolfgang's Big Night Out - The Brian Setzer Orchestra
• One More Night With You - The Brian Setzer Orchestra

Music tracks are courtesy of the Podsafe Music Network.

This podcast is licensed by BMI and ASCAP. We encourage you to purchase and enjoy legally distributed music.

Nothing But The Best

As I mentioned awhile back on the Podcast, there are a lot of special commemorations coming in May as we observe the 10th anniversary of Frank Sinatra's passing. We'll continue to discuss these on the show and to share information here over the coming weeks.

As a part of the observance, on May 14th Reprise is releasing Sinatra: Nothing But The Best, a collection of 22 newly remastered classics. It's the ultimate selection of hits from Sinatra's Reprise years.

Our pal, Alexander, emailed in to say that he'd pre-ordered the album, and found that the first 500,000 copies will include a Limited Edition USPS First Day Issue Stamp with official cancellation. This is an incredible addition to any Sinatra fan's collection.

Click here for pre-order information at Amazon.

We'll hear Alexander's review of Frank Sinatra: A Voice In Time on the next show, and he also promised me a review of Nothing But The Best once it's released.