Chris Dalla Riva's s story is so crazy that it's irresistible. I loved his quest from start to finish. He discovered as much about his own family as he did Sinatra. The family photographs and yearbook entries are particularly wonderful. As his beautiful grandmother would say, "Ge-beep!"
When I was a new critic/reporter on the music beat at Long Island's Newsday, then the largest and most influential suburban newspaper in the country, my editor noticed my schedule was quiet one August week. And Frank Sinatra was turning 65, which was old in those days! So he assigned me to spend a week at the NY Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, which is still there, and research and write an advance obituary appreciation of Frank Sinatra. It had newspaper clippings and microfilm going back to the 1920 and 1930s. It not only honed my research skills, but made me the No. 1 writer on the Sinatra beat, and I saw him perform every time he was in New York. You do data, in which every item is essential to your calculations. Journalists and biographers sift and choose, sift and choose. So I'm not surprised even your expert witnesses never came across the school assembly your grandmother no doubt saw. There was no mass media besides radio and (local) newspapers then, so it was easy to fall through the cracks, and even the most dedicated biographer might have found it non-essential. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Lincoln Center library of performing arts had that clipping. They collected everything. BTW, my daughter graduated from the Frank Sinatra H.S. of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, in 2012. The school was founded by Tony Bennett. In 2013 or the next year, Bennett invited a friend of his to do an assembly performance at the school: Paul McCartney. My daughter was pissed she missed this because she was already in college. But I'm sure this won't show up even in the most complete biography of McCartney, unless it is a compendium of every performance he ever made, every day of his life. A great piece of detective work, btw, Chris.
I lived in Astoria two blocks from that HS in the early 2010s. I remember kicking myself that Paul had performed so close to me and I had missed it (tho as I recall it was a total surprise, so everyone except those students missed it)
One small typo (which made me chuckle): probably you meant "epithet" not "epitaph"....though Sinatra did have a certain reputation I guess. As Don Rickles famously greeted him, "Frank, make yourself at home, hit somebody."
Amazing story and respect for the dogged research!
Reminds me of a personal story - and this is no where near of such a big thing: my mother used to talk about how she had The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown play at a summer fete at the mental hospital* she worked at the late 60s (*outmoded term from the time, sorry) because one of the band had lost it on acid and ended up there. I didn't think too much about this, mostly because my mother - of her own admission - didn't really like music. Then a few years ago in a Guardian interview about Fire, Brown mentions the co-writer and keyboardist Vincent Crane was committed and the wiki link confirms it was the same hospital my mother worked at in the late 60s! No idea if she actually ever 'booked' them to play or not but the dates match so I'm going to allow it.
This was great. I also was surprised by the dismissal experts had of the idea of Sinatra performing at a high school. This was done. I know from my Beach Boys research, the band would return to play proms at Hawthorne High School (alma mater, of course, of Ted Gioia as well) and they actually played a fair amount of high school auditoriums in the 60s.
That initial round of dismissal was not encouraging. But I will say everyone I reached out to was thrilled when I did find it! I wonder when the high school concert by local musician trend died, if it ever did?
That portrait of Frank Sinatra in Hoboken is from his mug shot taken in 1938 by the Bergen County Sheriff's office. He was arrested for a crime that wouldn't even draw notice today. The charges were dismissed but the photo and paperwork did find their way to the FBI.
Hong Kong calling. As an American journalist and Jersey born boy, I greatly enjoyed this piece! I was born in Jersey City (on Hudson Blvd, later changed to Kennedy Blvd), though grew up in rural Morris County. But also grew up hearing stories about Hoboken in the 1940s from my dad and his older sister, my Aunt Margie. Indeed, even as an old lady Margie's greatest claim to fame was that her best girlfriend's sister had actually met Blue Eyes. Whether this was just a few seconds to get an autograph or something more...enticing... we'll never know. Delighted that your grandmother's story turned out to be true. Bravo on the story, and all the obvious work you put into it. As a reporter who often covers intl politics, I'm a classic cynic, who believes in the old journalist adage: "If your mom tells you she loves you - check it out!" But I have to say that the people of my parent's generation rarely felt the need to make things up simply to promote themselves. Alas, that seems to rarely be the case with people today.
Thanks Chris, it's an old line that crusty editors tell their young investigative reporters. When I first heard it, it made me laugh out loud. And even after all these years, it still makes me smile.
B.B. king used to do a song: "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother", which was also the first line. The second line was, "But she might be jiving, too." That always got a big reaction out of his audiences when he would perform in prisons. His 'Live At San Quentin' album has a medley of songs that ends with that one, but it's listed as only NLMBMM. The full medley is my favorite track from everything he recorded his entire career.
Wonderful article. As I was reading it up to when your grandmother’s veracity was proven true, the thought about never letting facts get in the way of a good story kept dancing in my head. Your grandmother knows truth, so good for her.
Another Italian story worth looking into has to do with Connie Francis’s father going after Bobby Darin with a gun. Hell hath no fury like an Italian scorned. Again, the article was well worth the effort.
Thanks! I read that Connie Francis-Bobby Darin tale while researching this. Her father seemed sorta nuts so I’d assume it’s within the realm of possibility
i really enjoyed your story. As a family historian, I have undertaken similar hunts, but never with such a rewarding finale. My mother was one of those girls who was nuts over Sinatra, she went to West Side Highschool in Newark. She never mentioned if she'd seen him, but she enjoyed his music most of her life. As an alumni of Nutley High, with friends from Belleville High, the whole article was delightful thanks
Great sleuthing. It dug up a long-buried memory I have of Muddy Waters playing at my elementary school. Which seems far-fetched, but I did live on the south side of Chicago, so maybe…?
My research though took 10 seconds just now, going to Wikipedia to determine Muddy died three years before I was born. Guess not. I do remember some blues singer playing for us, I can picture it; he probably talked about Muddy Waters and I got confused.
I thought your grandmother's story might end a similar way—so glad it didn't!
Chris Dalla Riva's s story is so crazy that it's irresistible. I loved his quest from start to finish. He discovered as much about his own family as he did Sinatra. The family photographs and yearbook entries are particularly wonderful. As his beautiful grandmother would say, "Ge-beep!"
Thanks, Dana!
When I was a new critic/reporter on the music beat at Long Island's Newsday, then the largest and most influential suburban newspaper in the country, my editor noticed my schedule was quiet one August week. And Frank Sinatra was turning 65, which was old in those days! So he assigned me to spend a week at the NY Library of Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, which is still there, and research and write an advance obituary appreciation of Frank Sinatra. It had newspaper clippings and microfilm going back to the 1920 and 1930s. It not only honed my research skills, but made me the No. 1 writer on the Sinatra beat, and I saw him perform every time he was in New York. You do data, in which every item is essential to your calculations. Journalists and biographers sift and choose, sift and choose. So I'm not surprised even your expert witnesses never came across the school assembly your grandmother no doubt saw. There was no mass media besides radio and (local) newspapers then, so it was easy to fall through the cracks, and even the most dedicated biographer might have found it non-essential. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Lincoln Center library of performing arts had that clipping. They collected everything. BTW, my daughter graduated from the Frank Sinatra H.S. of the Arts in Astoria, Queens, in 2012. The school was founded by Tony Bennett. In 2013 or the next year, Bennett invited a friend of his to do an assembly performance at the school: Paul McCartney. My daughter was pissed she missed this because she was already in college. But I'm sure this won't show up even in the most complete biography of McCartney, unless it is a compendium of every performance he ever made, every day of his life. A great piece of detective work, btw, Chris.
I lived in Astoria two blocks from that HS in the early 2010s. I remember kicking myself that Paul had performed so close to me and I had missed it (tho as I recall it was a total surprise, so everyone except those students missed it)
Outstanding stuff, really enjoyed it.
One small typo (which made me chuckle): probably you meant "epithet" not "epitaph"....though Sinatra did have a certain reputation I guess. As Don Rickles famously greeted him, "Frank, make yourself at home, hit somebody."
I knew a typo would creep into this. Thank you! Will fix
Amazing story and respect for the dogged research!
Reminds me of a personal story - and this is no where near of such a big thing: my mother used to talk about how she had The Crazy World Of Arthur Brown play at a summer fete at the mental hospital* she worked at the late 60s (*outmoded term from the time, sorry) because one of the band had lost it on acid and ended up there. I didn't think too much about this, mostly because my mother - of her own admission - didn't really like music. Then a few years ago in a Guardian interview about Fire, Brown mentions the co-writer and keyboardist Vincent Crane was committed and the wiki link confirms it was the same hospital my mother worked at in the late 60s! No idea if she actually ever 'booked' them to play or not but the dates match so I'm going to allow it.
That’s cool!!
unbelievable dogged rewarding work
love it and his music
This was great. I also was surprised by the dismissal experts had of the idea of Sinatra performing at a high school. This was done. I know from my Beach Boys research, the band would return to play proms at Hawthorne High School (alma mater, of course, of Ted Gioia as well) and they actually played a fair amount of high school auditoriums in the 60s.
That initial round of dismissal was not encouraging. But I will say everyone I reached out to was thrilled when I did find it! I wonder when the high school concert by local musician trend died, if it ever did?
That portrait of Frank Sinatra in Hoboken is from his mug shot taken in 1938 by the Bergen County Sheriff's office. He was arrested for a crime that wouldn't even draw notice today. The charges were dismissed but the photo and paperwork did find their way to the FBI.
If I recall, the mugshot poster was on the wall of the room in the fictional Bada Bing! strip club that Tony Soprano and his crew used as a clubhouse.
Hong Kong calling. As an American journalist and Jersey born boy, I greatly enjoyed this piece! I was born in Jersey City (on Hudson Blvd, later changed to Kennedy Blvd), though grew up in rural Morris County. But also grew up hearing stories about Hoboken in the 1940s from my dad and his older sister, my Aunt Margie. Indeed, even as an old lady Margie's greatest claim to fame was that her best girlfriend's sister had actually met Blue Eyes. Whether this was just a few seconds to get an autograph or something more...enticing... we'll never know. Delighted that your grandmother's story turned out to be true. Bravo on the story, and all the obvious work you put into it. As a reporter who often covers intl politics, I'm a classic cynic, who believes in the old journalist adage: "If your mom tells you she loves you - check it out!" But I have to say that the people of my parent's generation rarely felt the need to make things up simply to promote themselves. Alas, that seems to rarely be the case with people today.
“If you’re mom tells you she loves you — check it out” is a good line
Thanks Chris, it's an old line that crusty editors tell their young investigative reporters. When I first heard it, it made me laugh out loud. And even after all these years, it still makes me smile.
B.B. king used to do a song: "Nobody Loves Me But My Mother", which was also the first line. The second line was, "But she might be jiving, too." That always got a big reaction out of his audiences when he would perform in prisons. His 'Live At San Quentin' album has a medley of songs that ends with that one, but it's listed as only NLMBMM. The full medley is my favorite track from everything he recorded his entire career.
Never heard that song, will check it out. Tks! And happy to know that some musicians can be as cynical as reporters!
Wonderful article. As I was reading it up to when your grandmother’s veracity was proven true, the thought about never letting facts get in the way of a good story kept dancing in my head. Your grandmother knows truth, so good for her.
Another Italian story worth looking into has to do with Connie Francis’s father going after Bobby Darin with a gun. Hell hath no fury like an Italian scorned. Again, the article was well worth the effort.
Thanks! I read that Connie Francis-Bobby Darin tale while researching this. Her father seemed sorta nuts so I’d assume it’s within the realm of possibility
Great article - I really like the deep dive into the process of investigating this. You were incredibly thorough and it eventually paid off!
Chris, I deeply admire your dedication and determination. Your sleuthing skills are outstanding!
i really enjoyed your story. As a family historian, I have undertaken similar hunts, but never with such a rewarding finale. My mother was one of those girls who was nuts over Sinatra, she went to West Side Highschool in Newark. She never mentioned if she'd seen him, but she enjoyed his music most of her life. As an alumni of Nutley High, with friends from Belleville High, the whole article was delightful thanks
This was fascinating!
Great sleuthing. It dug up a long-buried memory I have of Muddy Waters playing at my elementary school. Which seems far-fetched, but I did live on the south side of Chicago, so maybe…?
My research though took 10 seconds just now, going to Wikipedia to determine Muddy died three years before I was born. Guess not. I do remember some blues singer playing for us, I can picture it; he probably talked about Muddy Waters and I got confused.
I thought your grandmother's story might end a similar way—so glad it didn't!
Great story. Nice work!
Beautiful post. Congratulations on confirming the story. Genuinely moved when you finally nailed it.