Frank Sinatra Show (1960)
“But to know that you love me brings fame and fortune my way”
While Elvis was in the Army, Ed Sullivan called The Colonel to have him on the show the moment he returned. On July 15th, 1959, it was announced that he would make a television appearance with Frank Sinatra. The original title was Frank Sinatra’s Welcome Home Party for Elvis Presley. Elvis received $125,000 for his single television appearance. Frank Sinatra was not happy about how much Elvis was making because not even he was making that much for the show. This payment ensured that Elvis would sing two songs which would add up to about 8 minutes.
The special brought Elvis and Frank Sinatra together and The Colonel hoped it would introduce Elvis to an older audience. Ironically enough, Frank Sinatra shared the same feelings Ed Sullivan use to have toward Elvis. Sinatra was quoted speaking of Elvis in 1957: “Snug, played and written for the most part by cretinous goons; and by means of its almost imbecilic reiterations and sly, lewd – in plain fact, dirty – lyrics it manages to be the martial music of every side burned delinquent on the face of the Earth. This rancid-smelling aphrodisiac I deplore. His kind of music is deplorable, a rancid smelling aphrodisiac… It fosters almost totally negative and destructive in young people.” 3 years later these two are on stage together and singing a duet becoming friends.
Love Me Tender/Witchcraft
On March 26th, 1960 at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami, Elvis tapes Fame and Fortune and Stuck On You. The best part of the entire show is when Elvis and Sinatra sing a duet of Witchcraft and Love Me Tender. Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy Sinatra, is in the show as well. She and Elvis would later star in Speedway together. The Frank Sinatra Timex Show airs on May 8th. It was sponsored by the Timex Company and aired on ABC.
Stuck On You
Though reviews were good, the media did not seem impressed with the return of Elvis. Billboard magazine stated: “The expected dynamite was, to put it politely, a bit overrated… Presley has much to learn before he can work in the same league with pros like Sinatra, Joey Bishop and especially Sammy Davis Jr., who just about broke up the show with his chanting impressions… The real winner was probably the Fontainebleau Hotel, where the show was taped last March. The hostelry got a terrific publicity break.”
Fame and Fortune
Though the review was not the nicest, Billboard was tame compared to The New York Times who stated: “While he was in service, he lost his sideburns, drove a truck and apparently behaved in an acceptable military manner. But now he is free to perform in public again, as he did on last nights’ Frank Sinatra Show over Channel 7… Although Elvis became a sergeant in the Army, as a singer he has never left the awkward squad. There was nothing morally reprehensible about his performance; it was merely awful.”
Full Show – 1 Hour
That review was awful, but because of his talent, his fans and the audience loved Elvis. Though I watched the performance years later, I think it is one of the most legendary performances of all time. After this show, Elvis and Sinatra became friends. Frank Sinatra sang My Way and Elvis later recorded it himself. After Elvis’s death in 1977, Frank Sinatra said, “There have been many accolades uttered about his talent and performances through the years, all of which I agree to wholeheartedly, I shall miss him dearly as a friend.”
TCB,
Little Sister