Peter Scott Ruben: Why Frank Sinatra is the true “Chairman of the Board,” and the Greatest of the Greats

Welcome back to Pizza Quest!

My long time friend, Peter Scott Ruben, is the best guitar player I know, having personally watched him jam with some of the great rock and blues musicians of the seventies (Joe Perry in his pre-Aerosmith days and Kim Simmonds of The Savoy Brown Blues Band are two who immediately come to mind — I just read that Simmonds died two years ago in England and the band had to break up after an amazing fifty-five year run — he was one of best, though lesser known than Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page, and Jeff Beck). Since then, Peter has fronted his own bands, and has also carried on his father’s legacy as leader of the premier special events orchestra/band in Philadelphia, through which he met “the great one,” Frank Sinatra, at a White House gig their orchestra was playing during the Reagan administration back in the 1980’s. He also donned a wig a few years ago and played as Eric Clapton in a Cream tribute concert (and I seem to recall he even played a set as Jimmi Hendrix). In addition to his amazing playing, he knows way more about music than anyone in my social orbit so, now that he has embarked on an Act 3 career performing a Frank Sinatra and Bobby Darin one-man tribute show (having bought performing rights to the original Nelson Riddle and other Sinatra/Darin charts), I thought it would be fun to pick his brain here on Pizza Quest regarding why he thinks Sinatra is the greatest performer of all time as well as to see if, together, we could create a top ten list as well as a Mt. Rushmore top four list of the greatest of the greats. It was so much fun recording this episode — as you will see and hear — that I plan on inviting Peter back to do a similar retrospective on the greatest guitar players and also another on the the best bands and performing groups of our time.  Peter and I used to stay up all night during our college days talking about stuff like this, so I know he’s game for it, as you will hear in this conversation in which we explore not only Sinatra’s greatness but also dive deeply into the why and how of what made him the GOAT (and why Bobby Darin was, according to Peter, the prince in waiting until he died way too young at 39). So, as we like to say, it’s more about the quest than it is about the pizza, and this time around we jump into Peter Ruben’s quest for what distinguishes the good from the great when it comes to musical artists. The topic may have changed, but the game remains the same — and the quest never ends….