Jazz Singers

"The whole thing had lasted only about three minutes. And three minutes after it was over, Frank Sinatra had probably forgotten about it for the rest of his life — as Ellison will probably remember it for the rest of his life: he had had, as hundreds of others before him, at an unexpected moment between darkness and dawn, a scene with Sinatra."

"He is a wholly unpredictable man of many moods and great dimension, a man who responds instantaneously to instinct — suddenly, dramatically, wildly he responds, and nobody can predict what will follow."

"He is what in traditional Sicily have long been called uomini rispettati — men of respect: men who are both majestic and humble, men who are loved by all and are very generous by nature, men whose hands are kissed as they walk from village to village, men who would personally go out of their way to redress a wrong."

"All the Way; All or Nothing at All. This is the Sicilian in Sinatra; he permits his friends, if they wish to remain that, none of the easy Anglo-Saxon outs. But if they remain loyal, then there is nothing Sinatra will not do in turn — fabulous gifts, personal kindnesses, encouragement when they're down, adulation when they're up. They are wise to remember, however, one thing. He is Sinatra. The boss. Il Padrone."

"Sinatra brings out the best and worst in people."

"Words that warmed women, wooed and won them, snipped the final thread of inhibition and gratified the male egos of ungrateful lovers; [...] for which they were eternally in his debt, for which they may eternally hate him."

"He seemed now to be also the embodiment of the fully emancipated male, perhaps the only one in America, the man who can do anything he wants, anything, can do it because he has money, the energy, and no apparent guilt. ... The man who had everything, lost it, then got it back, letting nothing stand in his way, doing what few men can do."

"Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without paint, without fuel — only worse."

"Worst of all was when I went to see Frank Sinatra in Atlantic City and left before the end because I didn't want to be recognized when the lights went up. I heard later that the woman I had been sitting next to was a friend of Sinatra's and she said to him after the show 'Guess who was here? Nina Simone.' And Sinatra said 'Why didn't anybody tell me? Why wasn't she up here with me?' I cried for a year when I heard that."

"I did not want to do anything hokey, corny or make a tribute to Sinatra. So when I went in, I felt the best way was to be absolutely honest, rather than hope I could turn the script my way later."

"It's Frank's world, we're all just livin' in it."

"I think Frank Sinatra was the most hated man of World War II, much more than Hitler."

"For Sinatra, there was also an androgynous quality, which also makes the youth-middle age transformation interesting. There's also a certain innocence and vulnerability. Something special happened -- when he got up on the stage he was transformed by the gift."

"I'll tell you who liked a laugh [He holds up a finger]. Frank Sinatra. [...] He was very nice, he became my friend, and he loved to laugh. But he never did many things that made you laugh. He was tough ... very tough. He took me to Las Vegas on his private plane, and then I knew every mafia guy in Las Vegas. I had dinner with them all."

"There are certain artists who belong to all the people, everywhere, all the time. The list of singers, musicians, and poets must include David the harpist from the Old Testament, Aesop the Storyteller, Omar Khayyam the Tent Maker, Shakespeare the Bard of Avon, Louis Armstrong the genius of New Orleans, Om Kalsoum the soul of Egypt, Frank Sinatra, Mahalia Jackson, Dizzy Gillespie, Ray Charles .... Celia Cruz ... All great artists draw from the same resource: the human heart, which tells us all that we are more alike than we are unalike."

"[On religion] I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, benzedrine or a bottle of Jack Daniel's."

"The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything."

"Fear is the enemy of logic."

"For years I've nursed a secret desire to spend the Fourth of July in a double hammock with a swingin' redheaded broad … but I could never find me a double hammock."

"I'm supposed to have a Ph.D. on the subject of women. But the truth is I've flunked more often than not. I'm very fond of women; I admire them. But, like all men, I don't understand them."

"If you don't know the guy on the other side of the world, love him anyway because he's just like you. He has the same dreams, the same hopes and fears. It's one world, pal. We're all neighbors."

"I'm for decency — period. I'm for anything and everything that bodes love and consideration for my fellow man. But when lip service to some mysterious deity permits bestiality on Wednesday and absolution on Sunday — cash me out."

"There are things about organized religion which I resent. Christ is revered as the Prince of Peace, but more blood has been shed in His name than any other figure in history. You show me one step forward in the name of religion and I'll show you a hundred retrogressions. Remember, they were men of God who destroyed the educational treasures at Alexandria, who perpetrated the Inquisition in Spain, who burned the witches at Salem. Over 25,000 organized religions flourish on this planet, but the followers of each think all the others are miserably misguided and probably evil as well."

"I'm not unmindful of man's seeming need for faith; I'm for anything that gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniel's. But to me religion is a deeply personal thing in which man and God go it alone together, without the witch doctor in the middle."

"I believe in you and me. I'm like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life – in any form. I believe in nature, in the birds, the sea, the sky, in everything I can see or that there is real evidence for. If these things are what you mean by God, then I believe in God. But I don't believe in a personal God to whom I look for comfort or for a natural on the next roll of the dice."

"And may the last voice you hear be mine!"

"I'm going to be the best singer in the World, [...] the best singer that ever was."

"The only male singer who I've seen besides myself and who's better than me – that is Michael Jackson."

"If you possess something but you can't give it away, then you don't possess it... it possesses you."

"Whatever else has been said about me personally is unimportant. When I sing, I believe. I'm honest."

"You can be the most artistically perfect performer in the world, but an audience is like a broad — if you're indifferent, Endsville."

"I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living his life, and who had good friends, a fine family. I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually."

"If I had as many love affairs as you've given me credit for, I would now be speaking to you from a jar at the Harvard Medical School."

"What I do with my life is of my own doing. I live it the best way I can."

"In terms of my singing I have sometimes been asked how it all began, and it’s usually been a little hard for me to set the story down in any continuous narrative. From the days of my childhood I’ve been listening to sounds and singers, both colored and white, and absorbing a little bit here and a little bit there. Countless musicians of talent have helped. But it is Billie Holiday, whom I first heard in 52nd Street clubs in the early 1930s, who was and still remains the single greatest musical influence on me. It has been a warm and wonderful influence and I am very proud to acknowledge it. Lady Day is unquestionably the most important influence on American popular singing in the last 20 years. With a few exceptions, every major pop singer in the U.S., during her generation has been touched in some way by her genius."

"Jane Monheit is skyrocketing up the jazz charts. By next year, we won't be able to get her."

"I’ve always chosen all my own material; no one ever told me what to sing or how to sing it, but I’ve always been pressured intensely to use musicians outside of my band."

"It's not so bad to live out of a suitcase. It's a really beautiful life ."

"I've listened to Jazz since I was born and always knew I'd be a Jazz singer!"

"It's [Joni Mitchell's "A Case of You"] been one of my favorite songs for my entire life."

"I tell you, when we travel with our own band and we're on the road . . . Well, I can't even believe this is work."

"It [Ella Fitzgerald's "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas"] is the happiest Christmas album I've ever heard. That album totally changed the way I look at Christmas albums. I loved what a happy, festive album it truly was . . . it's the best [[music] to have playing when you have a Christmas celebration. I wanted my album to feel just like that."

"I … started out to become a jazz pianist; in the meantime I started singing and I sang the way I felt and that's just the way it came out."

"I felt something impossible for me to explain in words. Then when they took her away, it hit me. I got scared all over again and began to feel giddy. Then it came to me— I was a father.""

"Madison Avenue is afraid of the dark."

"The buzzard told the monkey "You're chokin' me Release your hold and I'll set you free" The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said "Your story's touching but it sounds like a lie.""

"A buzzard took the monkey for a ride in the air The monkey thought that everything was on the square The buzzard tried to throw the monkey off his back But the monkey grabbed his neck and said — "Now listen, Jack..." "Straighten up and fly right Straighten up and fly right Straighten up and fly right Cool down, papa, don't you blow your top.""

"«There's just one thing I can't understand. My income tax!”»."

"Critics don't buy records. They get 'em free."

"I'm a musician at heart, I know I'm not really a singer. I couldn't compete with real singers. But I sing because the public buys it."