Frank Sinatra of the hotel and were blocked by the security guard, Sinatra and Sammy Davis, Jr. forced the hotel management to begin hiring black waiters and busboys. On January 27, 1961, Sinatra played a benefit show at Carnegie Hall for Martin Luther King, Jr. and led his fellow Rat Pack members and Reprise label mates in boycotting hotels and casinos that refused entry to black patrons and performers. According to his son, Frank Sinatra Jr., King sat weeping in the audience at one of his father's concerts in 1963 as Sinatra sang "Ol' Man River", a song from the musical "Show
Frank Sinatra artists were promised creative control over their music, as well as a guarantee that they would eventually gain "complete ownership of their work, including publishing rights." Under Sinatra the company developed into a music industry "powerhouse", and he later sold it for an estimated $80million. His first album on the label, "Ring-a-Ding-Ding!" (1961), was a major success, peaking at No.4 on "Billboard". The album was released in February 1961, the same month that Reprise Records released Ben Webster's "The Warm Moods", Sammy Davis, Jr.'s "The Wham of Sam", Mavis River's "Mavis" and Joe E. Lewis's "It is Now Post Time".