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Sinatra, Frank, 1915-1998

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51:42

Fresh Air Celebrates Frank Loesser's 100th Birthday.

Frank Loesser wrote the musicals Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying -- in addition to over 700 other songs. On today's Fresh Air, musical anthropologist Michael Feinstein discusses Loesser's musical legacy and plays some of his favorite Loesser tunes -- including several rare archival recordings.

Interview
07:32

Sinatra, The Singing Veteran Of 'Brooklyn'

In the 1947 film, It Happened In Brooklyn, Frank Sinatra plays a soldier who returns after four years at war and decides to pursue a singing career. Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews the recently-released DVD version of the film.

Review
26:40

With Paul Anka, 'Rock Swings,' Part Two

Fresh Air broadcasts the second part of its interview with singer-songwriter Paul Anka. He's new album is called Rock Swings. It's a collection of covers from the 1980s and '90s, re-set to a swing beat.

Interview
06:45

Songwriter Matt Dennis

Songwriter Matt Dennis died Sunday at the age of 88. He wrote the songs "Angel Eyes," "Everything Happens to Me" and "Let's Get Away from It All." In the 1940s he worked with Tommy Dorsey as an arranger and vocal coach when he wrote his biggest hits. This interview first aired December 12, 1995.

Obituary
41:40

Record Producers Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch

Record producers Charles Granata and Didier Deutsch have collaborated on the new CD box set, Frank Sinatra In Hollywood (1940-1964) (Reprise records/Turner Classic movies) which collects Sinatra's film recordings - many of them rare. In fact only ten percent of the 160 tracks included on the collection have been released before. Granata is a Sinatra historian and author of Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra And the Art of Recording (A Capella Books, 1999). He was Project Director for the box set: Frank Sinatra: The Best of the Columbia Years 1943-1952.

37:34

Actress Angie Dickinson

Actress Angie Dickinson. She played an undercover cop in the TV series Police Woman from 1974-78. Her film roles include Dressed to Kill, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues, Pretty Maids all in a Row, and Ocean Eleven which she made in 1960 with the rat pack: Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Sammy Davis Jr.

Interview
21:41

Sinatra and the F.B.I.

Editor Tom Kuntz and reporter Phil Kuntz. Their new book “The Sinatra Files: The Life of an American Icon Under Government Surveillance” (Three Rivers Press) excerpts and analyzes portions of the FBI’s massive file on Frank Sinatra. The file is 1,275 pages long and was begun in the mid 1940s and lasted until 1972. Tom Kuntz is the editor of “Word for Word,” a column in The New York Times Week in Review section. Phil Kuntz is a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

10:30

Tribute to Frank Sinatra: "Sinatra Has a Cold."

Writer Gay Talese reads from "Sinatra Has a Cold" an article he first published in Esquire Magazine in 1966. The reading aired on public radio's This American Life last February. Talese's books include, "Unto The Sons," the story of the immigrant experience in America, and also the chronicle of Talese's own Italian ancestors coming to this country. Also the best-sellers "The Kingdom and the Power," "Honor Thy Father," and "Thy Neighbor's Wife."

Commentary
17:51

The Evolution of the Teenager.

Michael Barson is the author of the new book "Teenage Confidential: An Illustrated History of the American Teen (Chronicle Books, illustrated by Steven Heller). The book traces the evolution of the "teen" and the concept of the "teenager" which didn't exist before World War 2. The book also collects teenage artifacts, like movie posters, magazine covers, and advertisements.

Interview
44:07

A Musical Biography of Frank Sinatra.

Will Friedwald has written a new encyclopedic guide to the music legacy of Frank Sinatra: "Sinatra! The Song is You: A Singer's Art" (Da Capo Press). The work chronicles Sinatra's five-decade career, drawing on interviews with his many collaborators, and interviews with Sinatra himself, and includes a discography of his well know, as well as little known recordings. Friedwald is also the author of "Jazz Singing."

Interview
12:04

Nancy Sinatra Discusses Her Life and Career.

Nancy Sinatra daughter of Frank Sinatra. She's recorded a few hits of her own including "These Boots are Made for Walking," and "Something Stupid," the duet she recorded with her father. Nancy Sinatra has written a book about her father, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend (General Publishing Group). Nancy Sinatra has a new album too, (her first in 20 years) "One More Time." (Cougar records). (WE AIRED PART OF HER INTERVIEW 12/12/95 ON THE OCCASION OF HER FATHER'S 80TH BIRTHDAY.)

Interview
15:39

Celebrating Frank Sinatra: Nancy Sinatra Discusses Her Father.

Today is Frank Sinatra's 80th birthday. So we've brought a number of people on the show to comment on Sinatra's life and work: Nancy Sinatra, Sinatra's daughter. She's recorded a few hits of her own including "These Boots are Made for Walking," and "Something Stupid," the duet she recorded with her father. Nancy Sinatra has written a book about her father, Frank Sinatra: An American Legend (General Publishing Group). Nancy Sinatra has a new album too, (her first in 20 years) "One More Time." (Cougar records).

Interview
13:39

Remembering Lyricist Sammy Cahn

Cahn died last Friday at the age of 79. We rebroadcast an interview Terry Gross recorded with him in 1985. Cahn wrote many of the songs that Frank Sinatra recorded, including Come Fly With Me, Teach Me Tonight and High Hopes. He also wrote the scores for many Broadway shows including Walking Happy and Skyscraper, and for the movies Come Blow Your Horn, Robin and the Seven Hoods, and A Pocketful of Miracles.

Obituary

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