Dominick Napolitano (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1981), also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for unwittingly allowing FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone to become an associate in his crew and nearly getting him made. [full citation needed]
The 66-year-old Bonanno family associate admitted to whacking mafia capo Dominick “Sonny Black” Napolitano back in 1981. Sonny Black was killed by his New York mafia pals as retribution for introducing FBI undercover agent “ Donnie Brasco ” to the Cosa Nostra family.
Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Dominick Napolitano (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1981), also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family.
Sonny Black often schooled Brasco in the workings of the mafia and would repeat the same thing over and over to make a point to Donnie. “The whole thing is how strong you are and how much power you got and how fucking mean you are that’s what makes you rise in the mob.
Sonny Black’s Blues Band, Sonny Black and the Dukes. Boazman then adopted the persona of “Sonny Black” and formed the first line-up of Sonny Black’s Blues Band Dave Bispham on drums, Dick Jones on bass guitar, with Paul Swinton on harmonica and additional vocals.
It was the job of Joseph Massino and Sonny Black to aid Rastelli in ending the struggle and killing the three capo’s opposed to him.
Who is Sonny Black?
Dominick Napolitano (June 16, 1930 – August 17, 1981), also known as Sonny Black, was an American Mafia caporegime in the Bonanno crime family. He is well known for unwittingly allowing Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Joseph D. Pistone to become an associate in his crew and nearly getting him made.
Napolitano could not believe that Pistone was an agent because of the “things we had done together, the conversations we’d had, the feelings we’d had .”. In August, FBI surveillance noticed workmen dismantling Napolitano’s pigeon coops atop the Motion Lounge.
Bonanno capo Frank Lino and Steven Canone drove Napolitano to the house of Filocomo and Frank Coppa, who was also present. Napolitano was pushed down the staircase to Filocomo’s basement and shot to death by Filocomo and Lino with .38 caliber revolvers.
Who is Sonny Black?
Musical artist. William Boazman, known as Sonny Black, is an acoustic guitarist based in the UK, who plays blues, rags and original compositions usually fingerstyle or slide. “Sonny Black” is a pseudonym adopted when he began the first Sonny Black’s Blues Band.
In the 2000s Sonny Black was drawn back to playing just finger picking acoustic and national steel guitar, often accompanied by bassist Chris Belshaw. His repertoire is now a varied selection including blues, ragtime, jazz standards.
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During the early 1970s he worked with Heron, alongside a line-up of Michael Cooper – Vocals; Gerald (G.T.) Moore – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals; Roy Apps – Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals; Mike Finesilver – Bass; Steve Jones – Keyboards; Tony Pook – Percussion, Vocals; Mike Cooper – Guitar; and Terry Gittins – Drums. Boazman appeared on the early Heron albums, but (contrary to some sources) was not formally a member of the band. These albums are now highly collectible, fetching about £150 each.
Boazman then adopted the persona of “Sonny Black” and formed the first line-up of Sonny Black’s Blues Band Dave Bispham on drums, Dick Jones on bass guitar, with Paul Swinton on harmonica and additional vocals. The band’s first album, “The Filth” (recorded in 1983 to 1987) also included guest musicians Graham Hobbs on organ, Ian Smith on bass and Frank Sidebottom on piano. Over the following years they played their hard Chicago type of blues and acted as the houseband at Dino’s Blues Bar at the West End Centre in Aldershot. Here they played with Eddie C Campbell, Lowell Fulson, Guitar Shorty, Carey Bell and others. Various line-ups featured, at different times, Sam Kelly (drums), Dan Smith (piano), George Pearson (bass), Alan Glenn (harmonica), Dino Coccia and Damon Sawyer (drums) and Bob Haddrell (organ/piano) – some of whom reformed as The Barcodes. Although performing entirely in a traditional blues idiom, most numbers were written by Sonny Black. Over time and through various line-up changes (including a change of name from Sonny Black’s Blue Band to Sonny Black and the Dukes ), the driving style of the band mellowed and jazz influences became more apparent.
With Mike Cooper, a contributor the emerging UK country blues scene in the late 1960s, Boazman began playing acoustic and slide guitar on gigs around the UK and Europe. He played on a couple of Cooper’s albums on the Dawn label, alongside Danny Thompson, Stefan Grossman, Mike Osborne and Alan Skidmore. He also added his vocals and guitar to albums by Ian A. Anderson .
At the age of seventeen Boazman first heard ” San Francisco Bay Blues ” by Jesse Fuller, which led to his enduring love of blues music. Boazman returned to Camberley in 1965, where he worked on the first edition of Yellow Pages, while establishing contacts in the world of folk and blues.
Boazman’s younger sister, Sally Boazman, is a traffic reporter with BBC Radio 2, popularly known as ‘Sally Traffic’. Boazman left school in 1965, before sitting A levels, and moved to Hayling Island, where his girlfriend Jackie Blundell, now writer and traveller Jackie Cornwall, was a student.
Why was Sonny Black killed?
Sonny Black was killed by his New York mafia pals as retribution for introducing FBI undercover agent “ Donnie Brasco ” to the Cosa Nostra family. Filocomo also plead guilty to racketeering charges and was sentenced to 20 years behind bars.
Even after the hit Filocomo was still unable to become a made man in the mafia because he was a former corrections officer before his days with the Bonanno family. The investigation into the case inspired the hit 1997 movie Donnie Brasco starring Jonny Depp and Al Pacino.
A judge has denied a bid for compassionate release from prison for Bonanno crime family mobster Ronald “Monkey Man” Filocomo.
