An interesting incident. It's the early 60s and Frank is just closing at the Sands and Mathis is coming in. Late Sunday night, Frank is in the lounge, it's around 2am. I'm in the 21 pit and there is very little action in the casino. In those days, Sunday was the day all the gamblers went back home.

Mathis enters the casino looking angry and frightened. He stops and ask one of the Floormen where Frank is. He is told Sinatra is in the lounge. From what the cocktail waitresses told me, Mathis goes in and is begging Sinatra to help him. It's something about Mathis tried to go in the Desert Inn casino and he was thrown out. Mathis wants Frank to do something about it. Frank's reply was short and to the point. "Stay out of there. They don't want you there, stay out."

Mathis walks away and goes to his room.

I later call Minni Cardello at the DI. He says yes, they threw him out. Picked him up and bodily threw him out the front door. He says Mathis wouldn't leave nicely so they handled him. I told him what Frank told Mathis and Minni laughed "Tell Frank, thanks."

You have to put this all in perspective. This is 1961 or so and there had recently been a Civil rights march down the strip and so this was a hot item at the time. So Mathis walked into this at the wrong time.

Also The DI guys do things their own way. Frank learned this when he worked for them in his very first engagement in Vegas. The Cleveland outfit runs their casino the way they want and take no shit from anyone,

We at Sands don't tell them want to do and they don't tell us what to to do.

Later Frank is heading to his place and I motion him over. I ask him about Mathis coming in the lounge and tell what Minni told me.

Frank just says "Well he'll sing better tomorrow."

An interesting thought by Frank. What do you think he meant by that?

About Frank's relationship with Mathis, I just can say that it was an interesting one. When Frank would be talking to me alone he seemed to have great admiration for Mathis. "He's got a great instrument." "Listen to him sing - he's good" "It's the same stuff all the time but he's so good at it he's gets away with it." "They like him - Selling more records than I am."

But when Frank's around his guys he's always ribbing Mathis. He will take jabs at him and laugh "Can you imagine listening to that shit all night." Frank's guys love it.

My opinion is that Frank had an interesting relations with Mathis. I think he really liked him as a singer and admired his talents. I say this because when Frank doesn't really like someone, he doesn't rib or joke about the person. He will get tough and nasty and sometimes very mean. There is just no doubt about it.

I belive the Mathis thing was just another complicated layer of Frank who was trying to help Mathis by staying connected and yet not be in bed with him. If you understand the early Sinatra and Sammy Davis relationship and how Frank handled it, then it would make sense to you.

By the way, earlier I mentioned Mathis left the lounge and went to his room.

It should be said that Mathis has a room in the Sands to go - because of Mr. S.