Sinatra does it his dad’s way at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe
By Mel Shields, Sacramento Bee
The career of Frank Sinatra Jr. has never been easy.
His appearance at Harrah’s Lake Tahoe on Saturday night will mark the fourth time he’s performed “Sinatra Sings Sinatra,” but he’s quick to point out that this is not a simple undertaking. Nor is it a gimmick.
Frank Sinatra Jr.
“It dates back to 1998 when Frank Sinatra died,” Sinatra said. “At the end of that year, I decided I would do a show that celebrates his music. It was when he was very fresh in people’s minds, and I thought a testament show would be the right way to pay tribute. My original idea was to do it for a year and a half to two years.
“It has been very successful, which is unusual for me, and we’ve been traveling around the world.”
In his early years, the younger Sinatra would open acts for big stars, play the small lounges, occasionally hit the headlines (like with the famous 1963 kidnapping, which happened while he was playing the cabaret at Harrah’s Tahoe), and endure the inevitable comparisons, usually to his detriment, with his famous father.
During the latter years of the elder Sinatra’s life, however, the son embraced the relationship.
“For the last seven years he worked, I had the experience of being his conductor,” Sinatra said. “This gave me a chance to go through all the music and learn all the charts. I did not allow him to do the same music performance after performance. I wanted to keep him frosty.
“It is certainly no secret that, in those late years as he was approaching 80, he was slowing down. I wanted to keep him on his toes.”
Those charts inevitably necessitated a live orchestra. Sinatra would perform in front of 30 musicians. The younger Sinatra will use even more.
