Essay on Frank Sinatra

Rock and roll never officially started without a true performer named Buddy Holly. Holly pioneered in the new wave of rock and roll along with Elvis Presley. No matter what Holly did, his fans seemed to never leave his side and fell in love with a style of music all his own. Forever young, buddy Holly still has a musical impact on his fans.

His career first started as a child star singing “You Drive Me Crazy” with the Coon-sanders orchestra at the age of only four. He worked as a radio actor until he was 13 and wrote his first song “Lament to Love.” In 1944 he created his first band “Mel Torme and the Mel-tones” modeled after Frank Sinatra’s band at the time, they were one of the first jazz-vocal bands at the time.

     During the 1920’s which is also known as the “Roaring Twenties”, Chicago became the focal point for Jazz after clubs around New Orleans were closed. Record deals were being made there and soon Jazz was being acknowledged for the brilliant music it played. Famous musicians who received acclaim for their work in Chicago were Earl Hines, Johnny Dodds, Louis Armstrong, and King Oliver. In New York City, it

Cornet Band for about a year. He went as far as New York in 1895. He worked as a

Charles Hardin Holley, also known as Buddy Holly, was one of the most significant and influential rock ‘n’ roll icons of the 1950’s even though he only ever had one chart topping single. Holly’s musical legend was one of many firsts: First rock ‘n’ roll performer to insist on artistic control over his material and to write/arrange his own songs and supervise his studio sessions. First to master the technical parts of recording including echo, double-tracking and overdubbing (he recorded his own voice and guitar playing). First to add classical stringed instruments in rock music. First to ditch the “pretty boy” looks of most 1950’s performers for a more intelligent, slightly geeky look, and the first rock musician to attract not only a female, but also a male audience.

J.J. Johnson transformed the way his instrument, the trombone, was played. He was born on January 22, 1924, in Indianapolis, IN and died in February 4, 2001, Indianapolis, IN. J.J. Johnson, with his new execution and imagination, was the musician who brought bebop into the trombone. However, after battling cancer and a muscular-skeletal disorder, J.J. Johnson passed away, leaving behind a legacy of groundbreaking work that he had done accomplished with the trombone.

admired in the popular music business and because of the Cotton Club opportunity, he was.

Louis was born in New Orleans where he grew up and learned to play the trumpet. He also learned to sing. Because of his long improvised solos, he inspired jazz so that long solos became an important part of jazz pieces and performances. (Cayton, 462) Armstrong was the king of jazz trumpet players. The new style that he created gave a voice-like quality to his horn. (Hakim, 58) Although Jazz was very popular itself, a majority of the fans and listeners were younger people. Flappers were commonly known during this time. They danced to the jazz music with a whole new style.

The type of music that he sang was soul and protest music. His most famous number one hit was the song war.

This led to his first professional gig in 1921 in a vaudeville show at Central Park Theater.

musical talent came honestly. His father was a mellophonist and his mother was a pianist.

band in New Orleans. The first jazz bands were usually made up of one or two

As Frank Sinatra grew up in Hoboken, New Jersey, and was a classic representation of an average Italian American. He was the child of two Italian American immigrants, was Roman Catholic, but unlike others, he was particularly interested in singing, and he was good at it. Sinatra started off performing at family get togethers with his ukulele and before everyone knew it he was a great American singer, actor, and producer.

Gaining some popularity with a few hit singles, the Beatles slowly started their climb to the top. It wasn 't until they

(Wiener, 4). The new band had no name, and their early inspirations were Buddy Holly, and the