I have said my philosophy - I'm a backyard philosopher, I guess - is that the dirtiest word in the English language is "retirement."

It's the way of all flesh, you know. Aging takes its toll. Like I said, it's the way of all flesh. When the time came and he finally had to step down, the thing that kept him going disappeared.

Frank Sinatra was very devoted to what it was he did. At the end of his life, what he had left - there have been accolades, mementos, festivals, superlatives, all that stuff. He's done movies, TV, done this, done that - what he had left was a love of his audience, and that kept him alive.

I was able to put something back. I was able to be of help to [Frank Sinatra] when he needed my help - and he did need somebody's help.

I think in my generation, when I came along in the early '60s, the type of music that was in vogue in society in those days had moved on to another kind of music. I was trying to sell antiques in a modern appliance store.

This disease they call 'rap' - some kind of rhythmic pulse is going by, while some sociopathic idiot is belching out grade school poetry.

Hopefully I never get hit with that stigma of being a novelty act. Since [my father] death in 1998 I've been doing a program called Sinatra Sings Sinatra.