Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2003 | 8:49 a.m.
It was late one summer night in 1967, around 2 a.m., as Ron Fredianelli recalls the incident. Fredianelli is half of the Gaylords, a team of entertainers who have been together for more than 50 years and who will appear Saturday at Boulder Station.
Only a handful of people were in the room when Sinatra made his unexpected appearance. Fredianelli and Burt Bonaldi, the other half of the Gaylords, were performing their musical comedy act onstage.
"Sinatra says, 'I'm working here from now on,' " Fredianelli recalled. "He came up and sang 'You're Nobody Till Somebody Loves You' with no teeth only it came out something like 'You're Nobody Till Thumbody Loves You.' "
Sands Vice President Carl Cohen had knocked the caps off Sinatra's teeth during a now-legendary confrontation with the superstar. The fight reportedly was ignited when Cohen cut Sinatra's gambling line of credit at $400,000.
"Carl Cohen hit him and he came directly from the Sands to Caesars Palace," Fredianelli said. "The lounge filled up in five minutes."
Fredianelli and Bonaldi, who were known as the stand-up comedy team of Gaylord and Holiday for many years, never formed a close relationship with Sinatra. "But we did perform at his wedding in Palm Springs when he married Mia Farrow," Fredianelli said.
The Gaylords have been performing since they first teamed in their native Detroit in 1949. Fredianelli was 15 and Bonaldi 20.
"I was still in high school when I had a local TV show five days a week, and I was working in nightclubs," Fredianelli said.
Bonaldi was producing plays in the basement of a church when he decided he needed some music between acts and recruited Fredianelli.
They hit it off and performed in Detroit nightclubs until 1953, when they recorded their first song, "Tell Me You're Mine," which became a million seller and reached No. 2 on the Billboard chart.
"The only thing that stopped it from going to No. 1 was 'How Much is That Doggie in the Window?' " Fredianellli said.
Soon after, Fredianelli was drafted into the Army and was assigned to Special Services singing for the military band, a spot previously held by Vic Damone and Eddie Fisher.
During a leave in 1954 Fredianelli went on a national tour to promote his record and performed at a Cleveland high school on the same stage as another aspiring young performer named Elvis Presley, who had just released "That's Alright."
"No one had heard of Presley," Fredianelli said. "But the kids really loved him and you could tell right away that he was going to be a big hit."
In '54 the Gaylords recorded "The Little Shoemaker," which reached No. 2, and "From the Vine Came the Grape," which hit No. 1. Both were million sellers.
Fredianelli remained in the service until 1958. When he was discharged he reunited with Bonaldi and a third entertainer, pianist Don Rea. Rea, who lives in Reno, still occasionally performs with the Gaylords. He will be onstage Saturday at Boulder Station.
"We moved to Reno first and started working at Harrah's," Fredinaelli said.
Bill Harrah took a liking to the Gaylords and kept them busy at his venues in Reno, Tahoe and Vegas.
"Lounges were hot," Fredianelli said.
Half the time the Gaylords worked in lounges, and the other half they worked the main rooms, opening for almost every major entertainer of the era, from Danny Thomas to Red Skelton to Billy Eckstine.
The photo albums of people the Gaylords have worked with are an encyclopedia of the Las Vegas entertainment world when you could hear Harry James perform in a lounge for free: Bob Hope, Shecky Greene, Bill Cosby, Wayne Newton, Patti Page, Juliet Prowse, Al Hirt, Duke Ellington, Frankie Laine and dozens of others.
Fredianelli said while Louis Prima was the major lounge attraction in Vegas, the Gaylords were the top lounge attraction in Reno.
They spent about half their time in Northern Nevada and half in Southern Nevada.
In Vegas they worked in such venues as the Hacienda, Landmark and Dunes. They were at Caesars Palace for five years and the Sahara for another five years.
"At the Sands, we would work eight weeks in the lounge and eight in the main room," Fredianelli said.
That was before Sinatra lost his teeth and the Rat Pack abandoned ship.
Between 1953 and 1960 the Gaylords had a string of hits that reached the top 10, among them "Ramona" (No. 4), "Strings of My Heart" (No. 8), "Happy Time Medley" (No. 10) and "Isle of Capri" (No. 8). Fredianelli also had a solo hit, "Cuddle Me" (No. 3).
"We were well known as recording artists, but our main focus was getting into television," he said.
They frequently appeared on shows hosted by Perry Como, Johnny Carson, Mike Douglas, Glen Campbell, Flip Wilson, Roger Miller, Merv Griffin and others. They also performed on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" and toured with the show when it went on the road.
Bonaldi lives in Reno. Fredianelli and his wife, Terry, have resided in Las Vegas for more than 30 years.
Terry Fredianelli was a showgirl at Caesars, appearing as Cleopatra in a 15-minute revue that preceded shows in the main room.
"She opened for all the main acts -- Liberace, Jack Benny," Fredianelli said.
Married for 35 years, the Fredianellis have three children who have followed them into show business.
Daughter Tiffany is a vocalist with Love Shack, a popular '80s dance band at Texas Station, and with Venus, an all-girl band that appears at MGM Grand.
Fredianelli's sons Tony and Chris are with Third Eye Blind, one of the top rock bands in the country. Tony plays lead guitar, Chris plays keyboard.
"My children are doing great," Fredianelli said. "If they aren't busy, they may drop by Boulder Station and do a couple of numbers with us."
The Gaylords have remained popular throughout more than half a century of entertaining.
Fredianelli says they work about six months out of the year, as much as they want to, picking and choosing their projects and venues.
For the past 10 years they have toured with the musical comedy, "Famiglia." Fredianelli wrote all of the songs for the production.
Last year they toured in Neil Simon's "The Sunshine Boys."
They also do concerts in theaters and at Italian festivals. Next year they will perform at Carnegie Hall as part of a tribute to the Gaylords.
Fredianelli and Bonaldi rarely perform in Las Vegas anymore. Nine months ago they were at Boulder Station and the room was almost sold out.
"We didn't realize we had so many fans still around," he said. "When you've been in this business as long as we have, you lose a lot of your fans."
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