Francis Albert Sinatra, the Chairman of the Board, singing about drinking. Frank is long gone, but he’s still remembered as a two-fisted drinker. Before wife # 5 persuaded him to quit, he was what we now call a high-functioning alcoholic.
The folks who make Jack Daniels believe that the Sinatra brand can still help to sell expensive ‘hooch’. In the Winnipeg Free Press the other day I came across a half page ad for Sinatra Select, from Jack Daniels. It sells for $150 a quart, and they claim that Frank had a bottle of it with him, when they put him in the ground 16 years ago. Hopefully no one will dig him up to find out.
Jack Daniel’s is sour mash whiskey that made the state of Tennessee world famous among serious drinkers. It contains 45% alcohol, and oh yes, the company asks you to “please drink responsibly”. It’s safe to say that even in moderation, drinking is a pastime that causes a lot of problems.
Sinatra could undoubtedly afford such expensive luxury, but drinkers whose only interest is getting blotto and staying there, are not likely to shell out $150 a quart.
A few months ago, I reviewed a memoir by Paul Anka who was close with Sinatra. He wrote My Way, one of Frank’s bestselling signature songs. The man he described on many of the pages was a very scary and nasty drunk. Why anyone would choose to immortalize him on a whiskey bottle is very strange.
I’m Roger Currie
