[sinatraphiles] Re: Frank in Cuba

From: "eob101" <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> ("eob101")
To: "sinatraphiles@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <sinatraphiles@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2022 21:14:24 +0000 (UTC)

Hi Carl, Frank's visit to Cuba was in February 1947. While
down there the American journalist Robert Ruark happened upon Frank and
friends. He wrote three long columns that were published that month. MGM was
furiousand so was Frank's radio sponsor. Ed


Frank Sinatra in Havana
Photo of the Day: Frank Sinatra in CubaNovember 24, 2019 by Alberto de la
CruzFrank Sinatra visits Cuba before Fidel Castro and socialism destroyed the
nation and turned it into an island prison.

Frank Sinatra (center) with US Joe and Rocco Fischetti in Havana's Sloppy Joe's
bar.Francis Albert Sinatra (Frank) “the voice”, the tone color and the
atmosphere of the North American music, one of the more polemical artists of
the modern times was the most heard singer for many generations. He survived
different rhythms like rock and roll, mambo, chá, pop, beat, the symphonic rock
music, pachanga and salsa.The centenary of Sinatra’s birth was celebrated last
year (December 12, 1915- May 14, 1998). He came to Havana twice, in 1946 and in
1951. The first visit had to do with the meeting of the main heads of the
organized crime syndicate. The formal reason for such an important meeting of
such importance was Sinatra’s trip as the guest of an Italian millionaire to
receive a tribute in the exquisite halls of Havana’s Hotel Nacional. A group of
the famous singer’s admirers attended such meeting. Lucky Luciano said: “If
anyone had asked, there was actually an apparent reason for such meeting. It
had to do with a celebration to honor an Italian boy from New Jersey called
Frank Sinatra, the singer that had become an idol for the teens of our country.
He had flown to Havana with his friends, the Fischetti, to meet his friend
Charlie Luciano and during the week it was scheduled a gala to honor Sinatra
(…) Frank was a good guy and we all were proud of him, and the way he had
become a star.”[1]The meeting—known as The Havana Conference of 1946—at Hotel
Nacional de Cuba concluded almost on New Year’s Eve with a stylish celebration.
The Parisien Casino was booked, with free good food and drinks—from French
champagne to outstanding Scotch whisky and Cuban rum. One of the most famous
orchestras from the Cuban capital city played in the show with ballerinas and
others included in the payroll of the most famous Havana’s cabarets such as
Tropicana, Sans Soucí and Montmartre.Suddenly, an unexpected and pleasant
surprise; close to midnight, the lights turned off, a little stage lit up and,
before approving murmurs and a thunderous applause, appeared the most promising
rising star in the firmament of the American song: Sinatra.“I sang as I can do
it only when I am among my friends… until I grew hoarse, said later the
Italian-American singer.[2]Jorge Miguel Jorge—a 22-year-old man in 1946—was one
of the waiters that served Sinatra and other members of the Mob at the Hotel
Nacional in that occasion. During an interview in his apartment, in El Vedado
neighborhood, he revealed to Granma International that Sinatra did not check in
at the hotel in order to be secure. He was in room 214 and he got in touch with
the other Mob members through the suites 213 to 211. He asked not to be
disturbed.“Sinatra drank a lot of good-quality whisky, Cutysarky Smuggler. They
ate many canapé or snack—bread with anchovy, creams with caviar—, American
beefsteak, with salads and Russian dressing. The hotel also prepared other
dishes to select: flamingo breasts, stews of tortoise, roast beefs of tortoise,
king prawns from Cojímar[3], large oysters of Sagua[4], deer chops”.During
their time at Havana’s Hotel Nacional nobody knew what was really happening
there. They were considered businessmen. There were no rooms available;
everybody came with their own bodyguards. Sinatra didn’t even checked- in as it
was said before. So, when he returned to the United States, an American
magazine spread the word the singer had eaten with the Mob in Havana. Sinatra
sued it for fifty thousand dollars and won the dispute, because there was
neither a photographic proof nor a testimony.Cuban musician and composer Senén
Suárez, who worked at Tropicana since 1948 to 1958, told this reporter that
Sinatra visited this cabaret in 1951, but when he was discovered, he left
quickly.Certainly, there are not many photos of Sinatra’s visits; there is one
of Sinatra with the news reporter Don Galaor, from Bohemia magazine and the
other one, which we present in this chronicle, at the mythical bar Sloppy Joe´s
in Havana.In 1951, Sinatra married Ava Gardner; they went to Miami on their
honeymoon and from there they flew to Havana, and the Hotel Nacional welcomed
the artist once again. Jorge Miguel Jorge catered for Sinatra again and he was
amazed with the beautiful woman that accompanied the singer.Octavio Benedino
Sánchez Oñaguirre (Cotán), natural troubadour, sang in Floridita bar to Frank
Sinatra and Ava Gardner. “I played for them, also for Libertad Lamarque
(Argentinian actress) and Lauren Bacall. I believe that Ava Gardner was a
little bit prettier than Libertad Lamarque was. They all were Papa Hemingway’s
friend and paid tribute to him”.[5]Frank Sinatra was to be considered a
successful man. In 1958, he owned a film company, and he meant to transmit
television programs to the United States from Havana’s Montecarlo Hotel weekly.
Nevertheless, everything remained there. History was totally
different.Translation: Mercedes Carballo (Cubarte)Notes:[1] Enrique Cirules,
The Empire of Havana, Casa de las Americas, Havana, 1993 pp. 68-69).[2] Oscar
Pino Santos, Complot. Nuestro Tiempo, S.A., 1992, p. 181[3] Cojímar: Town of
Eastern Havana.[4] Sagua la Grande: Town in the North of the central region of
Cuba.[5] Víctor Manuel Valdés and José Antonio Más: “Un acorde llamado Cotán”,
La Gaceta de Cuba, Havana, March-April 2003, p. 53.
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References:
- [sinatraphiles] Frank in Cuba
  - From: cara

[sinatraphiles] Re: Frank in Cuba

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