That explains why he was so famous when he kind of stunk as a singer.

This is insanity.

Dude had instant success. He was the first teen idol when he hit the scene. An early version of what hit Elvis and the Beatles later on.

https://media.gettyimages.com/photos/1121945gary-in-bobbysoxers-screech-and-applaud-as-frank-sinatra-sings-picture-id514945040

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/23/8f/22/238f22354ccad2d1b03485e8ab0fe10a.jpg

He was the premier interpreter of songs in the 20th century. To say he stunk as a singer to ignore all the things that made him great and put forgettable but technicially proficient singers over him. It's like claiming Larry Bird stunk at basketball because he couldn't dunk from the foul line.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUrUfJW1JGk

Listen to that and then read this by Jazz Times about what set Sinatra apart.

Frank Sinatra went from teen idol to living legend, and, without formal training, developed a highly sophisticated style. His ability to produce long, flowing musical lines unbroken by pauses for breathing, his subtle use of the vocal techniques more commonly found in the opera and classical idioms, and his manipulation of phrasing, reminiscent of Billie Holiday, set him far above the average pop singer.

Like Elvis Presley, the next singer to experience mass adulation, Frank Sinatra developed a unique white-blues style, supple enough to express the wide range of his own turbulent emotions. He transformed the songs of the great writers into something personal by the sincerity of his performance; Sinatra actually seemed to believe the words he was singing.

He has faced triumph, failure and triumph again throughout his long career as an entertainer. New musical fads and trends have come and gone during his lifetime but this man and his music have remained at the forefront of American culture for nearly half a century.

Listening to his recorded legacy, an incredible body of work that spans 1939 to 1994, there can be little doubt that Sinatra is the single greatest interpreter of American popular song-the one performer who elevated what he referred to as “saloon singing” to a high art. A man who has enriched American music with countless superior recordings of many classic standards and provided the soundtrack for much of this century.

Sinatra has touched many lives and for this tribute, we spoke with a cross section of people from the world of jazz.

John Zorn: There are so many things about him. His musicality, his timing, his creativity.

Fred Hersch: Great phrasing, great breath control.

Joe Lovano: His personality, his feeling, his tone. Frank Sinatra emerged in the late ’30 and ’40s, alongside Billie Holiday and Lester Young and Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster…Sinatra’s sound, his voice, had the same meaning and impact as the great improvisers and players of the tenor saxophone. He’s one of the few cats who spanned all these different generations and always projected amazing glow, like Miles Davis did, in a very similar way.

Tommy LiPuma: Miles told me that on Porgy and Bess, he wanted his trumpet to sound like Sinatra.

John Zorn: There are inside records, which are outtakes, from both the Capitol and Reprise years and on them, you hear take after take of Frank Sinatra and in a sense, he’s just as creative an improviser as Charlie Parker. Every take is different, he approaches each in a slightly different way. He’s always searching.

Sinatra’s a total musician in the sense that he’s not just a singer; he’s a passionate, dedicated, effective searcher who wants to be in control of all the action. He’s a perfectionist, as you can hear on some of the bootleg records from the studio. He knows how to set the mood, he knows exactly what’s happening in the orchestra. He’ll say, hey, that trombone player, that note is getting in the way of my range. I’m a little weak, he explains in a session, this note is a little weak, can you change the voicing of this chord. He knows exactly what’s going on and he gets what he wants.

Jimmy Amadie: In addition to his sound and presence, Sinatra has the ability to sing a tune in any style and make it sound like his own. The sound is always rich and full and no one interprets a tune that is more believable than the way he has with both the music and the lyrics. An example of this magnified is when you hear the music of the various arrangers in the background and the way in which Sinatra blends, it is chameleon-like. As a musician, you can feel what he is doing and at that moment you want to be a part of it.