My family was sitting in the living room and watching a TV documentary showing sites around Hoboken, New Jersey, a small town just across the Hudson River from New York City.
As the show continued, my father, suddenly shouted out loud, “THAT WAS HIM“!!!!
“Who was HIM, Dad?”, I asked.
He then mentioned that he had played in almost all the bars, catering halls, small gatherings just about everywhere in the state of New Jersey for a period of thirty plus years. I knew that because that was how my sister and I were able to vacation at the Jersey Shore when we were younger. His playing piano in bars and night clubs gave us the money to enjoy our summers at the seashore.
This TV Show jogged his memory when he realized that he got a job playing at a oblong shaped “piano bar” in Hoboken. The piano was up on a stage and a large beer glass was visible for the patrons to see, in order for the bartenders to put the customers’ gratuities. These tips sometimes ended up being more than my father’s actual paycheck for the night.
The bartenders handed out the song sheets (See the Attachment, to come soon) …. so all the customers so they could all sing along with my dad’s vocals which were loud and clear over the sound system in the bar.
After an hour or so when my father was on a break, a bartender asked my father if he would accompany a young boy around ten or eleven years old, to sing on mike. My father was never shy about helping a singer to show off his or her talents, no matter the age. (As long as they weren’t too inebriated!)
“Murray”, as he was called, asked the boy what song and what key would be his preference. The boy named a selection (Pop didn’t remember which song) and the key was established and on went his performance. After the song was finished, the patrons all applauded and they all chipped in a few cents and bought the young performer a beer! (At that time, there were no age limits for the consumption of alcohol)
“So Pop?” I asked, what was so special about that experience. He replied, “THAT, MY BOY, WAS FRANK SINATRA!!” WHAT???? “How could you forget THAT experience, dad?”
He explained, “If you listen to Sinatra when he first joined Harry James band, his voice was much higher and he sounded fine, but his voice was quite ordinary, like an amateur.”
He continued, “When he aged and joined the Tommy Dorsey Band, his voice matured and his ‘phrasing’ became the key to his new style which became the rage with the teenage set.” Girls would line up at the New York Paramount Theater, just to get a look at him and their screaming drowned out the performance of the “Voice”, as he was called in those days.
“I really never put this all together!”, he said, “but in fact, I played piano, accompanying the late and great Frank Sinatra!”
WOW, my family couldn’t be any more proud that my father played behind FRANK SINATRA!
WOW IS RIGHT!