The following is an excerpt from Chapter Fourteen of Vincent Falcone's book,
Frankly—Just Between Us: My Life Conducting Frank Sinatra's Music
FRANK SINATRA WAS big on respect. To get it, you had to give it. It was difficult to get to know the Chairman of the Board. It was even more difficult to be in his inner circle. One thing was for sure: If you wanted "in," you were "out." I learned to keep my distance when I had to. Italians are big on respect. I had learned that from my family, and it paid big dividends playing for Sinatra.
My relationship with Mr. Sinatra was very much a teacher/student, father-son mentoring relationship. It never became Frank and Vinnie, it was always Mr. Sinatra and Vinnie. I called him Mr. S or Boss. I never ever called him Frank, yet he was the one who gave me the nickname Vinnie. However, during a performance he always made a point of using my full name. When he introduced me to the audience I was always Vincent Falconer.
He was the "old man" to most of the musicians in the band. I was only around him when he wanted me to be. I never tried to insert myself, which I found to be the secret of getting along with him. And the more I observed that philosophy, the more I was around him.
Often I traveled with him. Of course that raised the ire of many people that had been with him a lot longer than I had. In fact, it pissed off a lot of the people who had been there before me, but that's the way it was. We became, in my estimation, not only friends, but we could and did tell each other things that would normally be discussed only between close friends. For me it was a cherished relationship. But it was always with respect for a man who was old enough to be my father.
Only after conducting at Radio City Music Hall did Mr.
Sinatra and I really start discussing anything. First we talked about musical things, and then, as we spent more time together, we started talking about family. As I grew to know him better, he began to talk about personal things and he started to open up to me a little more. It was interesting to hear him reflect. He would tell me tales about the old days, the glory days of Las Vegas.
He also told me very moving stories about his family and funny stories about the people he met over the years. Every once in awhile he would tell me stories about when he worked for the "boys," because they used to own all the clubs. He was often accused of knowing the mob. He told me that in his early years of performing it was impossible to be in show business and not know some of the mob because, for the most part, they controlled the nightclubs. But he certainly did not want to be identified with the mob.
It was wonderful to hear the stories of his youth and also about his amazement with the fanatical treatment he received from the public. I think, however, that he learned to deal with it very quickly. He knew who he was. I saw world leaders grovel at his feet. It was amazing. His stories were all so interesting because they were about famous people, and included some of the most important and influential people on earth.
He told me about his mother. He had great respect for her.
He said she had been involved with local politics, and was very powerful and respected in her community.
As he talked to me about his mother, I recalled the night she died. He was performing at Caesars Palace and I was still house pianist at the time. His mother was flying in from Palm Springs for the show. I was not yet close to Sinatra and I didn't know she hadn't yet arrived when the show began.
He went on and did the first show. When I came back to do the second show there was a pall backstage that you could cut with a knife. I asked what was going on and they told me she was missing and that there had been no report of an accident. He went ahead and did the second show, but when he sang "My Funny Valentine" he actually broke down crying.
During the course of the evening it was revealed that the plane had been lost and he cancelled the rest of the engagement. Two days later they found the plane buried in the snow on the top of a mountain. The weather was bad the night that the plane had disappeared. Apparently the pilot had become disoriented and hit the mountaintop.
Sinatra also told me of his father and the love he had for him. He believed that there would one day be a movie made about his life, and he told me that he wanted Martin Balsam to play his dad, and Robert DeNiro to play him.
He talked a great deal about his days with Tommy Dorsey.
He related to me his utmost respect for Tommy as a player, but most of all for the way he handled being a leader. When describing to me the best way to handle certain situations pertinent to the orchestra, he would always refer to the way Tommy would handle it. (I believe that Sinatra's mother and Tommy Dorsey were the two biggest influences in his life.) I liked hearing about the old days, and the musicians from the past. Sinatra talked about the old days, the mob, the women, the music, and I listened.
As I understand, he grew up in the school of hard knocks.
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