Monday, September 6, 2021

The Rat Pack






FRANK SINATRA -  DEAN MARTIN

And SAMMY DAVIS Jr.






The RAT PACK



FRANK SAMMY & DEAN






SUNDAY SAUCE

alla SINATRA





FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA



























 

Frank Sinatra - Ol Blue Eyes - Painting

 




"Ol BLUE EYES"

FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA






SINATRA









FRANK SINATRA







SUNDAY SAUCE

alla SINATRA

alla BELLINO







LINCOLN CONTINENTAL

1966


by BELLINO





FRANK SINATRA















Monday, June 21, 2021

Sinatra & The Ali Frazier Fight





ALI - FRAZIER

"FIGHT of The CENTURY"

Madison Square Garden

NEW YORK

March 8, 1971


When Joe Frazier met Muhammad Ali at Madison Square Garden on March 8, 1971, the storyline went much deeper than two undefeated heavyweights clashing for the belt. Ali had refused induction in the U.S. Army, was considered radical chic and seemed to embody the culture of the 1960s. Frazier was cast as a champion fighting for the establishment. Frank Sinatra was a ring-side photographer for Life magazine. Barbra Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Hugh Hefner, Dustin Hoffman and Diana Ross were ringside. Burt Lancaster was part of the closed circuit broadcast team. All that, and the fight actually lived up to its billing as the "Fight of the Century." After 15 rounds of thrilling toe-to-toe action, Frazier won a unanimous decision.






ALI FRAZIER Fight Poster






FRANK SINATRA at The ALI - FRAZIER Fight

March 1971  MADISON SQUARE GARDEN , New York


Frank Sinatra figures into this story as a boxing fan and amateur photographer – and also, of course, by his own high-powered celebrity (for more on Sinatra see “Sinatra Stories”). The famous singer and Hollywood actor was then known for his 1969 hit song, “My Way,” which had reached the Top 40 in the U.S. and did even better in the U.K. However, by early 1971 he was also talking retirement, possibly by June, after he completed a charity event.
But that March of 1971, Sinatra was keen to get a ringside seat for the Ali-Frazier fight, but few were available. One report had it that he made a deal withLife magazine to do some photography for the magazine at the Ali-Frazier fight, which would give him more or less free license to roam around up close to the action. But in the introduction to Life’s March 16th, 1971 edition reporting on the fight, managing editor Ralph Graves explained in an “editor’s note” column how the magazine came to use both Sinatra and writer Norman Mailer beyond its own reporters and photographers. On Sinatra’s role, contrary to some other stories at the time, here’s how Graves described it:
…For our pictures of the action, we were relying on the magazine pool photographers at ringside, especially Sport’s Illustrated’s Neil Leifer and Tony Triolo, who delivered outstanding pictures. But it never hurts to have a horseshoe in your glove. Six years ago staff writer Tommy Thompson and photographer John Dominis were doing a story on Frank Sinatra. Sinatra was fascinated by Dominis’ equipment and admitted he had been interested in taking pictures for 20 years. Shortly before the fight Tommy learned that Sinatra had wangled himself a ringside seat and was going to take pictures with a battery of cameras. Tommy went to work wangling Sinatra into letting us have a look at his film. We didn’t expect to get anything the professional photographers didn’t have, but it might be worth inspecting. Indeed, Sinatra wound up getting the cover, a memorable full-spread picture [inside the magazine] (yes, he held his camera at that angle on purpose), and two other shots in our story. We are offering him a job…





ALI Dodges a BULLET From JOE FRAZIER





Ali / Frazier

"FIGHT of The CENTURY"








Ali / Frazier










FRANK SINATRA

COVER PHOTO For LIFE MAGAZINE

MARCH 1971


ALI FRAZIER


The FIGHT of THE CENTURY



Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier, billed as the Fight of the Century (also known as The Fight), was the boxing match between WBC/WBA heavyweight champion Joe Frazier (26–0, 23 KOs) and The Ring heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali (31–0, 25 KOs), held on Monday, March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden in New York City.It was the first time that two undefeated boxers fought each other for the heavyweight title. Frazier won in 15 rounds via unanimous decision. It was the first of a trilogy, followed by the rematch fights Super Fight II (1974) and Thrilla in Manila (1975), both won by Ali.


On the evening of the match, Madison Square Garden had a circus-like atmosphere, with scores of policemen to control the crowd, outrageously dressed fans, and countless celebrities, from Norman Mailer to Woody Allen. Frank Sinatra, who, after being unable to procure a ringside seat, took photographs for Life magazine instead. Artist LeRoy Neiman painted Ali and Frazier as they fought. Burt Lancaster served as a color commentator for the closed-circuit broadcast. Though Lancaster had never performed as a sports commentator before, he was hired by the fight's promoter, Jerry Perenchio, who was also a friend. The other commentators were play-by-play announcer Don Dunphy and boxing champion Archie Moore. The fight was sold to, and broadcast by closed circuit, to 50 countries in 12 languages via ringside reporters to an audience estimated at 300 million, a record viewership for a television event at that time. Riots broke out at several venues as unresolvable technical issues interrupted the broadcast in several cities in the third round. And, although no live radio coverage of the fight itself was allowed under the terms of the promotion, the Mutual Radio Network did broadcast the fight, the night of March 8th, with announcers Van Patrick and Charles King, together with many other sports commentators, providing round-by-round summaries live as they came out over the UPI and AP wire services.
The referee for the fight was Arthur Mercante, Sr. After the fight, Mercante, a veteran referee of hundreds of fights, said "They both threw some of the best punches I've ever seen."
The fight itself exceeded even its promotional hype and went the full 15-round championship distance. Ali dominated the first three rounds, peppering the shorter Frazier with rapier-like jabs that raised welts on the champion's face. In the closing seconds of round three, Frazier connected with a tremendous hook to Ali's jaw, snapping his head back. Frazier began to dominate in the fourth round, catching Ali with several of his famed left hooks and pinning him against the ropes to deliver tremendous body blows.
Ali was visibly tired after the sixth round, and though he put together some flurries of punches after that round, he was unable to keep the pace he had set in the first third of the fight. At 1 minute and 59 seconds into round eight, following his clean left hook to Ali's right jaw, Frazier grabbed Ali's wrists and swung Ali into the center of the ring; however, Ali immediately grabbed Frazier again until they were once again separated by Mercante.
Frazier caught Ali with a left hook at nine seconds into round 11. A fraction of a second later, slipping on water in Frazier's corner, Ali fell with both gloves and his right knee to the canvas. Mercante stepped between Ali and Frazier, separating them as Ali rose. Mercante wiped Ali's gloves and waved "no knockdown." At 18 seconds into round 11, Mercante signaled the fighters to engage once again. Round 11 wound down with Frazier staggering Ali with a left hook. Ali stumbled and grabbed at Frazier to keep his balance and finally stumbled back first to the ropes before bouncing forward again to Frazier and grabbing on to Frazier until the fighters were separated by Mercante at 2:55 into the round.
Heading into Round 15, Frazier held the thinnest of leads on the judges scorecards (7–6–1, 10–4–0, and 8–6–0); so thin that, were he to lose the final round, he could still win, but only be by a single point. To be sure, Frazier closed convincingly. Early in round 15, Frazier landed a left hook that put Ali on the canvas. Ali, his jaw swollen noticeably, got up at the count of four, and managed to stay on his feet for the rest of the round despite several terrific blows from Frazier. A few minutes later the judges made it official: Frazier had retained the title with a unanimous decision, dealing Ali his first professional loss.







FRAZIER / ALI

by Leroy Neiman




SUNDAY SAUCE

alla SINATRA



.
















Monday, April 12, 2021

Sinatra Trivia

 




"Don't Sit on Sinatra"

Telly Savalas as KOJAK





POP CULTURE TRIVIA


In the December 1974 Kojak episode, Cross Your Heart and Hope to Die, Frank Sinatra is mentioned several times by Greg (George Shannon), the soon-to-be-murdered victim, while in his apartment attempting to seduce his date. He then puts on a Sinatra record but the music is not heard. In an attempt to solve the crime, Kojak (Telly Savalas) mentions Sinatra several more times during the episode. Halfway through the program, he enters the police department holding a copy of Some Nice Things I've Missed and throws the record on a desk as he begins a conversation with others officers. Meanwhile, Sgt. Stavros (Telly's real-life brother George Savalas) sits on the desk without paying attention to what's underneath. Before leaving the office, Kojak turns to Stavros as says "Fatso, you're sittin' on Old Blue Eyes". Unnerved, Stavros picks up the vinyl and hands it over to Kojak before walking out. In the next scene, Kojak arrives at the apartment of Lisa Walden (Andrea Marcovicci), still holding the album, and tells her "I brought you a Frank Sinatra album". Coincidentally, Telly Savalas also recorded a cover of the song "If" (as Sinatra did on this album), which was released as a single only three months later.







SUNDAY SAUCE alla SINATRA

RECIPE by DOLLY SINATRA





.




 



Frank Sinatra 

"COME FLY with ME"






"SINATRA"







SINATRA

"COME FLY with ME








FRANK SINATRA

"COME FLY with ME"







SUNDAY SAUCE

alla SINATRA 












Monday, March 22, 2021

Iconic Sinatra Picture

 




BOB HOPE, JOHN WAYNE, RONALD REAGAN

DEAN MARTIN, FRANK SINATRA

1975





Learn How to Make Sinatra Sunday Sauce

And Spaghetti Meatballs alla Dolly Sinatra





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Thursday, February 4, 2021

Chicken alla Sinatra Sicilian Recipe

 

 






CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO

CHICKEN with SAUSAGE and PEPPERS

SHOEMAKERS STYLE










HOW to MAKE CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO

SHOEMAKERS CHICKEN








CHICKEN SCARPARIELLO

MY SHOEMAKER GRANDFATHER'S RECIPE

And GREAT SICILIAN RECIPES




Yes, my Grandfather Nonno Filipo Bellino was a Shoemaker in the town of Lercara Friddi, Sicily,
40 minutes south of Palermo. Frank Sinatra's father Saverio Antonino Martino Sinatra was born in Lercara Friddi and his father was a shoemaker in the town. You might recognize another famous name of someone born in Lercara Friddi, and that would be Salvatore Lucania, better known to millions as Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

Anyway, my grandfather was born and raised in Lercara Friddi where he was a shoemaker, and you can bet money that Frank Sinatra's Shomaker Grandfather knew my shoemaker Grandfather 
Filipo Bellino. They were both around the same age, give or take a few years.

My grandfather immigrated to America through Ellis Island, New York in 1902. Filipo then
settled in Lodi, New Jersey where he set up a Shoemake Shop on Main Street, marrying 
Giuseppina Salemi. Filipo and Giuseppina lived upstairs from the Shoemaker Shop and had 4 children, my Aunt Lilly was born first, then Uncle Jimmy (James) veteran of WW II and recipient of the Purple Heart in The Battle of The Bulge, Uncle Frank was the 3rd child. Frank Bellino was in 
The United States Marine Corps during World War LL, in the Pacific Theater. Then came Uncle Tony who was also in the US Army in WW II where he was head of The Officers Club at 
The George V Hotel in Paris after the Allied Forces Liberated the city.

My mother Lucia (Lucy) was the youngest, born in Lodi 1923 ...







Fillipo Bellino of LERCARA FRIDDI SICILY

And LODI, NEW JERSEY USA







The BELLINO'S

FILIPO, LUCIA (Mommy) ANTONINO, GIUSEPPINA

LODI,  NEW JERSEY

Sometime around 1940 ???







FRANCIS ALBERT SINATRA







CHARLES "LUCKY LUCIANO"

From LERCARA FRIDDI , SICILIA

And The LOWER EAST SIDE of NEW YORK

East 10th Street