James, Harry

In 1939, James discovered a young singing waiter named Frank Sinatra performing in a New Jersey roadhouse. According to James, Sinatra was “a very serious singer [even] then…. When he sang, he sang.” James hired Sinatra, and their first big hit together, “All or Nothing at All,” was recorded in 1940 but failed to make the charts until three years later when, somewhat ironically, it was reissued during a musicians' strike. James acquired talented wartime crooners such...