''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' (
1958
Events
January
* January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being.
* January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed.
* January 4
** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...
, also known as ''Sings for Only the Lonely'' or simply ''Only the Lonely'') is an album by
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
.
The album consists of a collection of
torch songs, following a formula similar to Sinatra's previous albums ''
In the Wee Small Hours'' (1955) and ''
Where Are You?'' (1957).
According to
John Rockwell
John Sargent Rockwell (born September 16, 1940) is an American music critic, dance critic and arts administrator. According to ''Grove Music Online'', "Rockwell brings two signal attributes to his critical work: a genuine admiration for all ki ...
's book, ''Sinatra: An American Classic'', when asked at a party in the mid-1970s if he had a favorite album among his recordings, without hesitation, Sinatra chose ''Only the Lonely''.
The album's front cover was painted by
Nicholas Volpe, who won a Grammy Award for the painting.
["Volpe: Portrait of an Artist"]
Beatlesportraits.com The painting features Sinatra as a sullen,
Pagliacci
''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, "Clowns") is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who ...
-like
clown
A clown is a person who performs comedy and arts in a state of open-mindedness using physical comedy, typically while wearing distinct makeup or costuming and reversing folkway-norms.
History
The most ancient clowns have been found in ...
. Sketched on the album's back cover is one of Sinatra's recurrent visual motifs: a lamppost.
Background
Sinatra had planned to record the album with arranger
Gordon Jenkins, with whom he had worked on ''Where Are You?''. Since Jenkins was unavailable at the time, Sinatra chose to work with his frequent collaborator,
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Recor ...
. The three tracks conducted by Riddle at the would-be first session (May 5, 1958) were not used, and the subsequent May 29 session was conducted by
Felix Slatkin,
uncredited, after Riddle went on a pre-arranged tour with
Nat King Cole.
At the time of the recording, Sinatra's divorce from
Ava Gardner had been finalized, and Nelson Riddle (who wrote the album's arrangements) had recently suffered the deaths of his mother and daughter.
[Ingham, Chris. ''The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra''. Rough Guides Ltd, June 30, 2005. , p. 174.] Of these events, Riddle remarked: "If I can attach events like that to music...perhaps ''Only the Lonely'' was the result."
Mono and Stereo Version Differences
''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' was recorded during the time when mass-produced
stereo
Stereophonic sound, or more commonly stereo, is a method of sound reproduction that recreates a multi-directional, 3-dimensional audible perspective. This is usually achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration ...
musical recordings were just entering the marketplace. The album was Sinatra's third full-length album to be recorded in both mono and stereo versions, after ''
Where Are You?'' and ''
Come Fly with Me''. According to audio engineer
Steve Hoffman, who produced a number of reissues of
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of not ...
albums originally recorded in the 1950s, Capitol was during this time continuing to record sessions in mono using their by-then standard microphone placement techniques (including the use of eight separate microphones on the orchestra), and making separate recordings of the session on a 3-track tape recorder using two or three microphones. This method of recording soon gave way to a method where the same set of microphones was used to record sessions to a single
multi-track tape, which then served as the source for both mono and stereo mixes (for albums that were issued in both formats).
Capitol's 3-track session tapes (which used fewer microphones) were used as the source for the original stereo album release and for subsequent stereo reissues. Differences in the number of microphones and their proximity to the orchestra's instruments contributed to some of the differences in the sound of the mono and stereo versions. "
r me, the mono version kills the stereo mix," Hoffman wrote of the two versions of the album. ''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' was the final Sinatra Capitol album to be recorded using separate equipment for the mono and stereo versions.
The original mono album had 12 tracks, while the original stereo version had only 10 tracks. The original stereo version did not include "It’s a Lonesome Old Town" and "Spring is Here", though subsequent stereo reissues of the album used all 12 original tracks.
Reception
In 2000 it was voted number 125 in
Colin Larkin
Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by '' The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged".
Along w ...
's ''
All Time Top 1000 Albums
''All Time Top 1000 Albums'' is a book by Colin Larkin, creator and editor of the '' Encyclopedia of Popular Music''. The book was first published by Guinness Publishing in 1994. The list presented is the result of over 200,000 votes cast by t ...
''.
''
Q Magazine'' placed ''Only the Lonely'' at #1 on the "15 Greatest Stoner Albums of All Time". The album also peaked at #1 on ''
Billboard''′s pop album chart during a 120-week chart-run, and was
certified Gold on June 21, 1962, nearly four years after its release.
As noted by biographer
Peter J. Levinson, "Nelson chose several instrumental soloists to communicate the essence of the music on the album.
Harry Edison showed the somber side of his playing on '
Willow Weep for Me.' The late, great trombonist, Ray Sims, the unsung soloist with
Les Brown and
Harry James
Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...
and brother of jazz tenor saxophonist stalwart
'Zoot' Sims, delivered the finest recording work of his long career with a brace of meaningful solos.
Bill Miller contributed several beautifully conceived piano solos."
[Peter J. Levinson]
''September in the Rain: The Life of Nelson Riddle''
Taylor Trade Publishing, 2005, p. 140.
Grammy Awards
Sinatra was nominated for five
Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...
at the
inaugural Grammy Awards in 1959. ''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' and Sinatra's other album released in 1958, ''
Come Fly with Me'', were nominated for the
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
, and ''Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely'' won the
Grammy Award for Best Album Cover.
Track listing
#"Only the Lonely" (
Sammy Cahn,
Jimmy Van Heusen) – 4:10
#"
Angel Eyes" (
Matt Dennis, Earl Brent) – 3:46
#"
What's New?" (
Bob Haggart
Robert Sherwood Haggart (March 13, 1914 – December 2, 1998) was an American dixieland jazz double bass player, composer, and arranger. Although he is associated with dixieland, he was one of the finest rhythm bassists of the Swing Era.
Music ...
,
Johnny Burke) – 5:13
#"It's a Lonesome Old Town" (
Harry Tobias
Harry Tobias (September 11, 1895 – December 15, 1994) was an American lyricist. Like his younger brother Charles, he is an inductee of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
Born in New York City, United States, but raised in Worcester, Massachuse ...
, Charles Kisco) – 4:18
#"
Willow Weep for Me" (
Ann Ronell) – 4:49
#"
Goodbye" (
Gordon Jenkins) – 5:45
#"
Blues in the Night" (
Harold Arlen
Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck; February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986) was an American composer of popular music, who composed over 500 songs, a number of which have become known worldwide. In addition to composing the songs for the 1939 film ' ...
,
Johnny Mercer
John Herndon Mercer (November 18, 1909 – June 25, 1976) was an American lyricist, songwriter, and singer, as well as a record label executive who co-founded Capitol Records with music industry businessmen Buddy DeSylva and Glenn E. Wallic ...
) – 4:44
#"
Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" (Cahn,
Jule Styne
Jule Styne (; born Julius Kerwin Stein; December 31, 1905 – September 20, 1994) was an English-American songwriter and composer best known for a series of Broadway musicals, including several famous frequently-revived shows that also becam ...
) – 4:00
#"
Ebb Tide" (
Robert Maxwell
Ian Robert Maxwell (born Ján Ludvík Hyman Binyamin Hoch; 10 June 1923 – 5 November 1991) was a Czechoslovak-born British media proprietor, Parliament of the United Kingdom, member of parliament (MP), suspected spy, and fraudster.
Early i ...
,
Carl Sigman
Carl Sigman (September 24, 1909 – September 26, 2000) was an American songwriter.
Early life
Born in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, New York to a Jewish-American family, Sigman graduated from law school and passed his bar exams to practice in t ...
) – 3:18
#"
Spring is Here" (
Richard Rodgers
Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 30, 1979) was an American composer who worked primarily in musical theater. With 43 Broadway musicals and over 900 songs to his credit, Rodgers was one of the most well-known American ...
,
Lorenz Hart) – 4:47
#"
Gone with the Wind" (
Allie Wrubel
Elias Paul "Allie" Wrubel (January 15, 1905 – December 13, 1973) was an American composer and songwriter.
Biography
Wrubel was born to a Jewish family in Middletown, Connecticut, United States, the son of Regina (née Glasscheib) and Isa ...
,
Herb Magidson) – 5:15
#"
One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (Arlen, Mercer) – 4:23
#:
#:
#:''Bonus tracks included on the 1987 CD release:''
#"Sleep Warm" (
Lew Spence,
Marilyn Keith,
Alan Bergman
Alan Bergman (born September 11, 1925) and Marilyn Keith Bergman (November 10, 1928 – January 8, 2022) were an American songwriting duo. Married from 1958 until Marilyn's death, together they wrote music and lyrics for numerous celebrated telev ...
) – 2:45
#"
Where or When
"Where or When" is a show tune from the 1937 Rodgers and Hart musical ''Babes in Arms''. It was first performed by Ray Heatherton and Mitzi Green. That same year, Hal Kemp recorded a popular version. The song also appeared in the film version o ...
" (Rodgers, Hart) – 2:25
Selected personnel
*
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the " Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular entertainers of the 1940s, 1950s, and ...
–
vocals
Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...
*
Nelson Riddle
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. (June 1, 1921 – October 6, 1985) was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many world-famous vocalists at Capitol Recor ...
–
arranger, conductor
*
Dave Cavanaugh –
producer
*
Felix Slatkin –
conductor
*
Pete Condoli –
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
*
Milt Berhardt –
trombone
The trombone (german: Posaune, Italian, French: ''trombone'') is a musical instrument in the brass family. As with all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player's vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate ...
*
Vince deRosa –
french horn
The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...
*
Gus Bivona
Gus Bivona (November 25, 1915 – January 5, 1996) was an Americans, American reed player — covering a range of clarinets, saxophones and flute — at the height of the big band era. Following World War II, he was a staff musician for the Metro ...
–
woodwinds
*
Harry Klee –
woodwinds
*
Bill Miller –
piano
The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...
*
Al Viola
Alfred Viola (June 16, 1919 – February 21, 2007) was an American jazz guitarist who worked with Frank Sinatra for 25 years. He played the mandolin on the soundtrack of the film '' The Godfather''.
Biography
Viola grew up in an Italian fam ...
–
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected string ...
*
Joe Comfort
Joe Comfort (July 18, 1917 – October 29, 1988) was an American jazz double bassist.
Biography
His mother was born in Mississippi and played the organ during black and white silent movies. His father, George Comfort from Natchez Mississippi tau ...
–
bass
Bass or Basses may refer to:
Fish
* Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species
Music
* Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range:
** Bass (instrument), including:
** Acoustic bass gui ...
Certifications
Notes
*On May 29, 1958, Sinatra unsuccessfully attempted to record
Billy Strayhorn
William Thomas Strayhorn (November 29, 1915 – May 31, 1967) was an American jazz composer, pianist, lyricist, and arranger, who collaborated with bandleader and composer Duke Ellington for nearly three decades. His compositions include " Take ...
's ballad "
Lush Life".
A bootleg recording of Sinatra's attempt at "Lush life" exists; this was the only time Sinatra sang the song in his career.
The session material of "Lush Life" was included as part of the 60th anniversary deluxe edition of ''Only The Lonely'', released in October 2018, and in the 1958 Mono Mix / Expanded Edition of ''Only The Lonely'', also released in October 2018.
Bibliography
*Ingham, Chris, ''The Rough Guide to Frank Sinatra'', Rough Guides Ltd, June 30, 2005.
*Summers, Anton, and Robbyn Swan, ''Sinatra: The Life'', Doubleday, 2005.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely
1958 albums
Frank Sinatra albums
Capitol Records albums
Albums produced by Voyle Gilmore
Albums arranged by Nelson Riddle
Grammy Hall of Fame Award recipients
Albums conducted by Felix Slatkin
Albums recorded at Capitol Studios