mp3 running time: Frank Sinatra and
Count Basie appeared often at the Sands Hotel in
Las Vegas together and this rare, in-performance recording shows
the man and his music entertains as much today as it did 50 years ago.
For Windows Media versions scroll down the page.
The
Sands Hotel and Casino is Las Vegas is long gone. It closed its
doors for good in 1996 making way for the Venetian Resort, but
memories of old Las Vegas still linger and the Sands Hotel was
the mainstay of Frank Sinatra and his rat pack until Howard
Hughes bought the place in 1976. Sinatra moved his act to
the mob-operated Caesar's Palace, but his glory days were at the
Sands in the 60s. Here is a rare recording of Frank on stage
with Count Basie and his orchestra. To capture the
ambiance of this exciting time in entertainment history for Las
Vegas listen here:
Segment One
Recorded 1966, Count Basie Orchestra Arranged By Quincy Jones,
Warner Music, AAD
Many think that this recording of
Frank Sinatra performing on Stage in 1966 is probably the best
in-depth study of the entertainer. He seemed always to be at his
best at the Sands.
Segment Two
At 2:06 a.m. Nov. 26, 1996, the
Sands Hotel and Casino came crashing down in the night on the
Las Vegas Strip. It was the end of an era and Frank Sinatra was
definitely part of the sizzling history of this world
famous hotel and Casino. Listen to Sinatra on stage in the
Copa Room holding forth as only Sinatra could:
Segment Three
Music included in the Frank Sinatra Performance : Come
Fly With Me, I Got a Crush on You, I've Got You Under My Skin, The
Shadow of Your Smile, It's a Quarter to Three, Fly Me to the Moon,
You Make Me Feel So Young, When We Were Young, Luck Be a Lady
Tonight, Get Me to Church on Time, It was a Very Good Year, Don't
Worry Bout Me, Where or When, My Kind of Town. (Reprise Records -
all songs ASCAP)
Click Here
for Jerry's Birthday Salute to Frank Sinatra December 12, 2005
Learning to Love Sinatra,
Vegas-Style
To
NPR program,
All Things Considered,
December 7, 2006 - A son who grew up with Frank
Sinatra music playing all the time -- compliments of his
father, "the coolest black man around," -- finally comes to
appreciate Sinatra's Vegas stylings.
Frank Sinatra was one of the most talented and colorful
entertainers of the 20th Century. He single handedly made Las Vegas
successful in at least three venues. The famous rat pack hanging out at the
Sands in the 60s, making the motion picture Oceans Eleven (the original) and
then later when Steve Wynn hired him to appear downtown at the Golden
Nugget, he is credited with breathing life into Casino Center again.
On this interview taped in 1989 off the air at KVEG in
Las Vegas, Jerry talks with Nifty Victorsen, who worked as road manager for
Sinatra and Tom Jones. Here are some great stories:
To
NPR program,
All Things Considered,
December 7, 2006 - A son who grew up with Frank
Sinatra music playing all the time -- compliments of his
father, "the coolest black man around," -- finally comes to
appreciate Sinatra's Vegas stylings. 
