Frank Sinatra Remembered: A Fan and Collector Looks Back – Music News

By “Bad” Brad Berkwitt
(Painting photo copyrighted by badbradberkwitt.com)

“I detest bad manners. If people are polite, I am. They shouldn’t try to get away with not being polite to me.”— Francis Albert Sinatra

This past May 14th, marked the 15th anniversary of the passing of Music Icon Francis Albert Sinatra at the age of 82. As an avid fan who grew up to the sounds and stories of Sinatra from my late Father, Alvin Berkwitt, who collected his albums, worked rooms that he played at the Fountainbleau Hotel on Miami Beach, and watched all of his movies, I didn’t learn to really appreciate what Frank did for the world. It would hit me on my 22nd year on Planet Earth back in 1990, while stationed in Italy, and it hit me like a ton of bricks.

Never has one artist been so recognizable by a body of songs, recorded over a span of almost 70 years. Whether its unrequited love in the Columbia Version of “I’m A Fool To Want You,” or maybe one of his finest vocal recordings on his 1957 album “Come Fly With Me” of “April In Paris,” which takes you to the wonderful city as Sinatra belts out the tune. Or maybe the “Summer Wind” came blowing into your town to his cover of that song. How about a reflection on your own life in: “It Was A Very Good Year?” I know as I have listened to this song, I can relate at each point from 17 to 21 to 35 for sure, and it’s been many good years.

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