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Frank Sinatra

I actually have thoroughly enjoyed completing this assignment. The insight and knowledge that I have gained from researching Frank Sinatra has expanded my understanding of the developing United States. From the history of music and art and their influence on society to the changing American mentality and the development of organized crime, Frank Sinatra was "right in the middle" of it all. I chose to research Ol' Blue Eyes because of my love for music, and I wanted to learn of his greatness as an artist and vocalist. Little did I know of his influence on American culture and involvement with prolific mobsters of the 1930s and 40s.
Widely held to be the greatest singer in American pop history, Sinatra was also the first modern pop superstar. Frank Sinatra set musical trends for over half a century. Sinatra's style and personality seemed to change with time from decade to decade. In fact, he filled the role of trendsetter for two different styles of music in the 1940s and 50s. He defined that role in the early 1940s when his first solo appearances provoked the kind of mass pandemonium that later greeted Elvis Presley and the Beatles. But don't let the "Pop" label fool you, "Ol' Blue Eyes" provided much more than simply popular entertainment for the world. America experienced a cultural explosion in which Sinatra contributed to greatly. During a show business career that spanned more than 50 years and comprised recordings, film and television as well as countless performances in nightclubs, concert halls and sports arenas, Sinatra stood as a singular mirror of the American psyche. During World War II, Sinatra's tender romanticism served as the dreamy emotional link between millions of women and their husbands and boyfriends fighting overseas. By the late 1950s, Sinatra had become so much the personification of American show business success that his life and his art became emblematic of the temper of the times. "His evolution from the idealistic crooner of...