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Sebastian Ritscher
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SINATRA AND ME

Mary Jane Ross Tony Oppedisano

In the Wee Small Hours

An intimate, revealing portrait of Frank Sinatra - from the man closest to the famous singer during the last decade of his life.
More than a hundred books have been written about legendary crooner and actor Frank Sinatra. Every detail of his life seems to captivate: his career, his romantic relationships, his personality, his businesses, his style. But a hard-to-pin-down quality has always clung to the man - a certain elusiveness that emerges again and again in retrospective depictions. Until now.

From Sinatra's closest confidant and an eventual member of his management team, Tony Oppedisano, comes an extraordinarily intimate look at the singing idol. Deep into the night, for more than two thousand nights, Frank and Tony would converse - about music, family, friends, great loves, achievements and successes, failures and disappointments, the lives they'd led, the lives they wished they'd led. In these full-disclosure conversations, Sinatra spoke of his close yet complex relationship with his father, his conflicts with record companies, his carousing in Vegas, his love affairs with some of the most beautiful women of his era, his triumphs on some of the world's biggest stages, his complicated relationships with his talented children, and, most important, his dedication to his craft.

Toward the end, no one was closer to the singer than Oppedisano, who kept his own rooms at the Sinatra residences for many years, often brokered difficult conversations between family members, and held the superstar entertainer's hand when he drew his last breath.

Featuring never-before-seen photos and offering startlingly fresh anecdotes and new revelations that center on some of the most famous people of the past fifty years - including Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Sam Giancana, Madonna, and Bono - Sinatra and Me pulls back the curtain to reveal a man whom history has, in many ways, gotten wrong.

Tony Oppedisano - aka "Tony O" - is a former professional musician and singer who went on to become an award-winning producer and personal manager to entertainment icons Frank Sinatra and Don Rickles. Tony met and befriended the singing legend when the younger man was only twenty-one years old. He later became Sinatra's best friend and road manager, a contributor to two of the singer's platinum albums, and a producer of the documentary "To Be Frank: Sinatra at 100." Tony grew up in Brooklyn, New York, and currently lives in Los Angeles. He is the author of Sinatra and Me.

Mary Jane Ross has collaborated on numerous bestselling memoirs, including books by Albert DeMeo, Ray Charles Robinson Jr., Nancy Mace, and Piper Laurie.
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Published 2021-04-06 by Scribner

Comments

I knew and loved and dated and worshipped Frank Sinatra - he was like no one else - and I consider myself a very contented survivor. This book was one of the best trips I've ever had. Tony captures the real Frank. I think I'll be reading Sinatra and Me over and over.

Having a friendship like the one between Frank Sinatra and Tony O. was a true gift. Believe me, Tony was there in the 'wee small hours of the morning.' Sinatra and Me is a wonderful book.

If you knew Frank Sinatra you knew Tony Oppedisano. The love, loyalty, respect, and friendship Tony showed Frank was infinite, and perhaps most important, wasn't just directed to the artist and legend but to the human being.

I loved Tony's book. t's fun and paints such a vivid picture of the times that I felt I'd actually just spent a weekend in Palm Springs with Frank... and still have a hangover.

Tony O. was Frank Sinatra's go-to guy, and in this affectionate and intimate memoir, he writes about the wee small hours with the love and even awe that the great singer evoked. Even veteran Frankophiles will enjoy the twice-told tales, the striking new ones, and the natural eloquence of heartfelt eulogy in Sinatra and Me.

What a great book! Tony O. does here what many have tried to do without quite succeeding: he's made Frank Sinatra accessible. Tony had a front-row seat for a big chunk of the show that was Sinatra's life and times. And for those years during which Tony was too young to be a part of Frank's world, the singer filled in his friend - secrets and all. As a result, the enigmatic Sinatra really comes alive in these pages. Certainly, this is one of the very best of the Sinatra books and, I daresay, maybe the only one the man himself would actually read!

Frank Sinatra, never anything less than a riveting presence, was a man I was lucky enough to be around and get to know - but Tony O. knew him as few men know each other. Frank, so proud and defiant with most, let Tony see him at his most vulnerable. In Sinatra and Me, Tony O. exhibits a fierce devotion to presenting Francis Albert Sinatra as he really was, especially in the singer-actor's most reflective moments when he half-marveled at - and half-regretted - what he'd become. This is a deeply intimate book, and well worth the read.

Everybody wanted to know Frank Sinatra; almost nobody really did. Tony Oppedisano really did. Through twenty years as a trusted member of Sinatra's crew, and then, after the death of Jilly Rizzo, as Frank's road manager and closest friend, Tony O. sat through thousands of wee small hours with the Chairman, drinking with him and talking about the things that ran deepest in him. Utterly clear-eyed yet truly loving, Sinatra and Me is a matchless portrait of a flawed, brilliant man - and of a great friendship. A gem of a book.

The legend that is Frank Sinatra remains a fascinating topic. Tony O. had a deep and abiding friendship with Ol' Blue Eyes and an all-access pass to his life. We all are fortunate that he chose to share these intimate recollections with us.