I figured out the meaning of obeisance via context.

Had to look up opprobrium..

Sinatra was a smart man.

opinion about a thorny subject.

Very smart—they would have had that in common.

I’m sure the interviewer gave him questions in advance so that he could prepare, but it’s still a very thoughtful and (given the conditions in the country in 1963) courageous thing to say.

With a high degree of inner morality.

Who knew?

Stevens Institute of Technology?

https://www.nytimes.com/1985/05/23/nyregion/our-towns-frank-sinatra-doctor-of-engineering.html

He probably got several over the years. I'm still surprised and impressed at the depth of the answers in that interview.

I love this:

Just a selection: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41426419

I like to say Hugh Hefner was a genius - he got stupid teenage boys to fund a literary journal.

context of some pretty horrible sexual exploitation, especially in things like 'pig night' at the Playboy Mansion. We watched a documentary about this, and I was pretty appalled.

Apparently, this interview did not really hurt Sinatra, his penis did. He had a scandalous affair that ended his marriage with Nancy, then his records stopped selling as much, he couldn't get really good movie roles and he had a vocal chord problem that hurt his singing.

But yeah, let's not go overboard in praising Playboy for 'intellectual articles.'

....is the hijacking of morality by religion." --Arthur C. Clarke. I don't need a sky-daddy to make me value life, or to respect my fellow human beings who have as much right to the fruits of this world as I do.

figured out that they need to cooperate and share in groups in order to survive and thrive. That's the undoubtedly the true origin of Do Unto Others... To me, that's all anyone needs. Keep it simple. If we all just stuck to that as humans, our history as a species would have been infinitely better for all. But many people insist on bringing their human-created supernatural fantasies and mythologies into the mix (mostly as a way for a relatively few poohbahs to procure and maintain power and money and control over the masses, especially over women). They have been a cancer on the planet.

I am impressed.

but he broke my mom's heart (and mine) when he switched his support to the Republican party. That said, I'm sure he would have supported Obama.

The beginning of the end.

One thing people have never been able to understand is the difference between religion and spirituality.
Spirituality is God's love flowing down to the Earth and Humanity, while Religion is Humanities interpretation of their relationship to God.
The latter is created by people, and is not necessarily based on truth; in fact truth often gets lost over the centuries as more people revise the original religious ideals to suit their needs.
Spirituality is based on God's love, and is independent of religion. Anyone who opens themselves up to it can feel the difference.
Spirituality allows you to be in harmony with everyone and everything; in harmony with life.
Religion creates little islands of conformity, on which their members must reside to belong the that particular religion. As a result, it becomes restrictive, limiting, and judgemental in it's nature.

"spirituality" is a lot of hooey. Nobody knows what it is. It really means just that humans have emotions and feelings. Feeling something when experiencing beauty, love/tenderness, awe, sudden realizations, etc. is normal, worthwhile; humans have mental and physiological reactions. Fears are often involved.

This has nothing to do with 'spirits'', religion, sky gods, $$ to churches, and is only slightly related to sex.

Just because we evolved to feel love and tenderness to other humans and to animals and to have the brain capacity to appreciate the beauty and power of nature doesn't mean anything supernatural is involved in those feelings of awe and wonder.

But, I have engaged in spiritual endeavors all my adult life, and, although feelings like beauty, love/tenderness, awe, sudden realizations are a part of it, the true sense of being connected with people, the environment, and literally everything goes way beyond that.
Spirituality comes from the spirit that is at the center of your being; it's an angelic presence that is very powerful, and not just an emotional feeling.
Love is the connection that opens you up to your spiritual nature, and I can agree with you that true spirituality has little to do with sex; they are two very different things.

Thanks for posting this. His eloquence is unmatched.

I had to laugh at his disclaimers of not being an expert in the field and then proceed to answer sounding almost like an expert. Sinatra was, apparently, highly intelligent and more importantly, curious about the world and its inhabitants.

I did not know Sinatra was such an intelligent person.

Truth to power.

Frank Sinatra probably thought he could get away with comments like these because in 1963 most of the Playboy readers were college-educated white men. The rest just looked at the photos and didn't bother reading anything. Secondly, there wasn't much chance of him insulting his own fans, since racist Southerners and ultra-conservative religionists weren't really among his fans anyway. (Nor did many admit to being readers of Playboy.)

Also there's a good chance that the interviewer paraphrased some of Mr. Sinatra's comments to make him sound more educated and philosophical than he really was.

Although I hope that isn't the case as I really would like to think it came naturally. I guess in the long run it doesn't really matter because it's what he wanted to say, and was most likely approved by him.

He may or may not be totally wrong about everything, but he was obviously very articulate and cerebral.

on Twitter (before the bird died).

Nancy Sinatra made a comment criticizing trump.

A MAGA fired back, and said, "Your dad probably would have voted for trump."

Nancy answered, "You don't know my dad."

Trump didn't want to pay the full amount plus the additional acts of Sinatra's proposed 12-show residency at the Atlantic City Taj Mahal. The additional acts involved Sammy Davis Jr. and another vocal duo.


Sinatra relayed a message to some manager telling Trump to "go eff himself." Rumor has it, Sinatra even gave Trump his phone number so that Sinatra could tell Trump that himself.


I'm inserting this tidbit in case the MAGAt crowd still insist that Sinatra would have voted for Trump.

in his communication style and vocabulary. Wow.

A natural on the next roll of the dice.

He also refused to perform once in the south unless Sammy David Jr. was given a room next to all the white performers.

“As I see it, man is a product of his conditioning, and the social forces which mold his morality and conduct— including racial prejudice—are influenced more by material things like food and economic necessities than by the fear and awe and bigotry generated by the high priests of commercialized superstition.”

Just WOW!

And “I can’t help wondering how many public figures make avowals of religious faith to maintain an aura of respectability.”

Just WOW AGAIN!

His vocabulary is as powerful as are his vocals (“avowals” and “opprobrium” and “obeisance“, for example).

TRIPLE WOW!

And this one: “How can a free people make decisions without facts? If the press reports world news as they report about me, we’re in trouble.”

Holy Cow!!!

And on top of this well-reasoned and deeply thoughtful perspective, his grammar is Catholic-school-nun perfect. Including the usage of the word/object “whom”. I’m nitpicking here, and I know he was no saint. But still…

Mongo impressed! PROFOUNDLY impressed.

He was much brighter than I am. Unfortunately, between growing older and facing unresolved issues re alcohol excess, he was known to act up. I recall that, back in the 1980s, he made particular a comment to an Atlantic City blackjack dealer. That comment is contrary to his philosophy as reported in the interview. Okay, he was under the influence and showing off in the presence of one of his Rat Pack buddies. (Also, It may have been at nighttime which gave him anxiety.) All that I am saying that Sinatra was a mixed bag and that I neither extoll him nor criticize him.

You can tell he's well read. He has earned my respect.

Although he did have 11 months at Drake Business School before dropping out. And yet, some believe on his own he came up with, for example,

"Sidestepping Marxian philosophy and dialectical vagaries, I think that communism can fester only wherever and whenever it is encouraged to breed..."

"I’m like Albert Schweitzer and Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein in that I have a respect for life—in any form."

song Sinatra recorded - it says everything he believed in - it gives me chills every time I hear it

What is America to me?
A name, a map, a flag I see
A certain word, democracy
What is America to me?
The house I live in
A plot of earth, a street
The grocer and the butcher
And the people that I meet
The children in the playground
The faces that I see
All races and religions
That's America to me
A place I work in
A worker by my side
A little town or city
Where my people lived and died
The howdy and the handshake
The air of feeling free
And the right to speak my mind out
That's America to me
The things I see about me
The big things and the small
The little corner newsstand
And the house a mile tall
The wedding and the churchyard
A laughter and the tears
And the dream that's been a growing
For a hundred and eighty years
The town I live in
The street, the house, the room
Pavement of the city
Or a garden all in bloom
The church, the school, the clubhouse
The million lights I see
But especially the people
That's America to me

Thank you, Frank!

that didn't go nearly as far.

His Wednesday/Sunday example is great.
Cheap forgiveness for repetitive sinning.

Forgiveness should include repentance and the effort of not doing it again.

I don't think he participated in any illegal activities, but some of his friends did.

it just might be. This "interview" was probably ghostwritten by Mike Shore.

RA: One of the things that stunned me in your book is that the Playboy interview is a fraud.

JK: Yes.

RA: How did you stumble into that? Was that widely known before?

JK: No, it was not widely known before.

JK: Yes, of course, and they’re all attributed to Sinatra: “18-karat manic depressive,” “I’m for whatever gets you through the night, be it prayer, tranquilizers, or a bottle of Jack Daniels.” Yeah, there are at least three or four of these very, very famous quotes. Mike Shore was a genius, and I found him. I had heard the rumor that he was responsible for the interview. I interviewed the now late Stan Cornyn, who had written liner notes for Sinatra and was a strange and wonderful man, and when I asked him if Mike Shore was around anywhere, Stan Cornyn said, “No, I think he died a few years ago.” Well, I did some more hunting and Mike Shore was very much alive. He was 90. I talked with him a lot, and I met with him in L.A. Fascinating, fascinating guy. I wish he were still with us because there are a lot of questions I would still like to ask him.

RA: I have a couple. Did Sinatra see the answers before they were submitted?

JK: Yes, yes, yes. He rubber-stamped it. He loved Mike Shore.

https://www.thesmartset.com/under-our-skin/

I still respected Sinatra, flaws and all, throughout the later part of his life.

Someone certainly had a million dollar vocabulary there.

Thanks for shedding some light on the matter, Abolishinist.

First of all, even if those WERE the words of Sinatra (they clearly are not), if this was in fact a live interview, for anyone except say a Christopher Hitchens type to speak profoundly in whole paragraphs I find to be most unlikely. That's not to say Sinatra didn't agree with all that was stated.

Mike Shore was an advertising executive with Reprise Records at the time. Some speculate he wrote both the questions and the answers and Sinatra signed off on it, knowing the significance of a Playboy interview. Playboy in turn agreed to run it as an interview knowing the significance of having Ol’ Blue Eyes named on the cover.

And thank you as well for being open to looking further into your OP, which is not always the case around here!

"But to me religion is a deeply personal thing in which man and God go it alone together,
without the witch doctor in the middle."

He also talks about nuclear war and disarmament and world politics. Obviously some of his observations have been overtaken by events but his analyses are as good as, or better than, many of today's punditry class.

I wouldn't mind sitting down with Frank for a drink or two. (None for the road, however.)

From the beginning, Sinatra stood up for Sammy. Some time in the late 1940s, Frank appeared in a theater in New York during the lull of his career. He goes to Harlem to see the Will Maston Trio and is blown away by Sammy’s talent. After the show, he heads backstage to pay his respects, and asks Sammy to come see him perform.

About a week passes. No Sammy. So Sinatra goes back to Harlem to see the show again and says something to the effect of, “I’m angry with you, I came to see you twice and you never came to see me. Sammy, speaking to the man he admired more than anyone else in the world, said, “Frank, I did. They wouldn’t let me in.”

Frank then storms back to the theater, tears up his contract and leaves. This was not Sinatra during his peak fame. He needed the gig. Sammy, the boy with the scrapbook, talked about that day a lot over the yea

it for me. Live and let live would be a breath of fresh air.

I still do.


🎼🎶

Makes sense from his interview. He and JFK were similar politically.

I'll put it on file for later use.
Thanx for sharing.

The man who sang "The House I live in" and went to the mat for Sammy Davis Jr. is and was a good man.
Good ol Nathan Detroit.