By Jerry Pearce

Thirty six years ago this week, Frank Sinatra was a busy man; having arrived in New York City early in the month of September 1981, Sinatra had two obligations to fulfill in the Big Apple: final recording sessions for his forthcoming saloon album “She Shot Me Down”, as well as an elite concert date at Carnegie Hall.

Having recorded selections throughout April, July and August of that year, Sinatra returned to the old Columbia Recording Studios (where much of his early recording successes of the 1940s took place) on 30th Street, during which he laid down two final selections with arrangements by Gordon Jenkins, conducted by Vincent Falcone, “Hey Look, No Crying” and “Monday Morning Quarterback.”

By Jerry Pearce

A new feature of this column will feature relatively brief stabs at Sinatra history as we connect present time dates with corresponding timely historical moments in his career. For “This Week with Frank,” we travel to Upstate New York…

August 1978. Sinatra was debuting with his orchestra at the Grandstand Stage of the New York State Fair in Syracuse, New York. Concerts at the State Fair were debuted in 1976, and during the Fair’s third season, Sinatra would appear in a memorable concert date. Although he would never play the fair again, the Grandstand Stage would host the cream of the crop across the American music industry, becoming the stuff of legend before the Grandstand performances were discontinued in 2015 when the event moved to a new venue during fair time.