Why Sinatra Wore Tuxedos
Last night, another Saturday night in, boredom reigned supreme. A few small wagers on the UFC fights to keep sane, a nice dinner and a couple drinks. Usually that’s the exact opposite scenario, but for the past 8 weeks, not so much. This boredom lead me to a rabbit hole of Sinatra, something else to pass the time until the next day. Searching on demand I stumbled upon “Frank Sinatra - The Main Event”. This is the live taping of Frank making his return to the stage at the Garden, October 13, 1974, after a brief M.J like “retirement” in 1971. The stage is set in the style of a boxing ring, and Howard Cosell dictates the introduction as if he was leading Muhammad Ali in from the dressing room at the Thrilla in Manila. Celebrities like Robert Redford and Walter Cronkite line the front rows, but on this night, everyone in the audience is a VIP. Men in their finest suit and tie, women dressed to the nine. This is a night out for them, a night on the town, an opportunity to escape the kids and offer their appreciation to a man whose music has been a part of their lives for forever.
Sinatra, as always, is dressed in his full battle regalia, a black tuxedo, tailored to perfection. If you ever see him perform live in front of an audience more than likely this is his get up. You’d think that a man in his late 60’s who performs a few hundred shows a year might get tired of the tux’s stuffiness. This was the same thought his opener Tommy Dreesen had. Dreesen was a stand up comedian from the south side of Chicago that toured with Sinatra as his opening act in the latter half of his career. Tommy himself, tired of the black and white digs, asked Frank “Frank, why do we have to wear tuxedos at every single show”? Sinatra answered with no hesitation. He said “Tommy, if we were going to preform for a king or a queen, don’t you think we’d be expected to wear formal tuxedos”? Tommy responded with the obvious yes. “Well”, Frank said, “the construction man or the waitress, who save all year to buy a ticket to come see us, to me they deserve as much respect and attention as any king or queen in this world”.
As they panned to the many loving faces in the crowd, you get the feeling that people are dressed to the T because it is a night they have looked forward to for months, and that such a night deserves their absolute best. Sinatra in turn dawned his black tux because he knew that he owed his best to them. “You showed up for me, so I am going to give you everything I’ve got - you deserve that from me”. When you think about it, it is a beautiful give and take.
Here’s to that type of class, that we can retain some of it, and nights out on the town to look forward to.
-J.H