Karen Morris, an independent producer for over 25 years, and an ardent fan of the music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., recently founded The Rat Pack Music Alliance (RPMA), an entity to honor those three legendary musical icons.
Ms. Morris has created a RPMA website as a Rat Pack collective, and has arranged a distinguished Advisory Board panel for creative guidance, including talented professionals: Sinatra Scholar, historian, and producer at Siriusly Sinatra, Sirius-XM, Charles “Chuck” Granata; NYU Professor of Cinema Studies, Dana Polan; Television Sitcom Director Howard Murray, son of comedian Jan Murray; Pianist who toured with Frank Sinatra, Russ Kassoff; President of the Dean Martin Association, Elliot Thorpe; Grandnephew of Jimmy Van Heusen and President of the Van Heusen Music Corporation, Brook Babcock; Band Leader of The Tommy Dorsey Orchestra, Terry Myers; Producer of the TV show Criminal Minds and X-Files, Harry Bring (who sadly passed); Author of Sinatra in Hollywood, Tom Santopietro; Co-Author of the Tom Dreesen book, Still Standing, My Journey from Streets and Saloons to the Stage, and Sinatra, Darren Grubb; President and Marketing executive of ImageLink, Ralph Compagnone, and a special mention of Frank Sinatra’s favorite restaurant, Patsy’s Italian Restaurant, and Patsy’s Executive Chef Sal Scognamillo.
The RPMA mission (and website) focuses on sharing information and stories about how performing artists, musicians, authors, broadcasters or other entertainment industry folks, were influenced by the music of The Rat Pack.
Excerpts from books, online articles and photos are also part of The Rat Pack Music Alliance website.
In addition, the swingin’ stories pages on the site are full of anecdotes from a variety of entertainment and sports figures who reveal personal moments or insights about The Rat Pack icons.
One swingin’ story shared by comedian Tom Dreesen in his book Still Standing, My Journey from Streets and Saloons to the Stage, and Sinatra via co-author Darren Grubb, about a conversation he had with Frank Sinatra while on tour, revealing why Sinatra always wears a tuxedo; another, Michael Weintraub shared an article via Vanity Fair about legendary producer/manager/agent Jerry Weintraub; and musician Billy Paul kindly shared a story and some family photos of his Uncle, Buddy Lester, who had a main role in the movie Ocean’s 11, the original film with the Rat Pack.
Many Sinatra style vocalists from across the country contributed as well. A few of the singers who have been honoring Frank Sinatra by covering his classic songs for many years, and who have shared stories on the site are: Steven Maglio; Tom Stevens; Bob Anderson; Henry Prego; Rose Kingsley; Dave Damiani; Vaughn Suponatime and many more.
Ms. Morris will continue to collect and research stories about Frank, Dean and Sammy, and add those to the RPMA website.
The future goal of The Rat Pack Music Alliance is to continue honoring the marvelous music of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis, Jr., and produce musical events that educate, inform and entertain audiences who attend.
