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Harry James discovered Sinatra at Rustic Cabin, Englewood, N. J., Fame came while Sinatra sang with Tommy Dorsey’s Pied Pipers; where he was earning $15 per week. (Nancy was getting $20 then!) but so did growing pains. Frankie left to continue his career alone.
At that time, I’d been singing with pick-up bands and knocking around for a couple of years, and I was pretty well convinced that as a singer. I’d make a pretty good newspaperman. I was a little weary and heartsick at not getting a break, and as a matter of fact, I had only three days left at the Rustic Cabin, when Harry James walked in one night and com¬ pletely altered the course of my destiny.
It was a Monday night, supposedly my night off, but I’d exchanged free nights with Lucille Kirk, the girl singer in the band — when Harry came in and listened to me sing.
Harry had just left Benny Goodman’s band to form an outfit of his own and he was casting about for a vocalist. “How about it, kid?” he asked.
Frustration died in me at once. “When do we go?” I said. I didn’t give Harry a minute in which to change his mind.
“Tomorrow,” he said. “The salary is $65 a week and the contract is for two years.”
I can’t tell you how thrilled I was at getting that job. It was like being born anew. I was filled with a wonderful nameless rapture.
I called Nancy and told her to quit her job. She was going to travel on the road with me and Harry James. And I was going to get $65 each and every week. The whole world looked good, golden, and glorious.
I stayed with Harry James for six months, six of the happiest months in my life. During that period, Nancy got pregnant and went back to Jersey City. She rented an apartment ( Please turn to page 39)
Nancy went everywhere with her husband until little Nancy arrived. Then the family settled down in a tiny house in Hasbrouck Hts., N. J.
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