Come Fly With Me (Frank Sinatra Album)

''Come Fly with Me'' is the fourteenth studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1958.

In 2000 it was voted number 616 in Colin Larkin's '' All Time Top 1000 Albums''.

Background

Sinatra's first collaboration with arranger/conductor Billy May, ''Come Fly with Me'' was designed as a musical trip around the world. Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen wrote the title track at Sinatra's request.

May would arrange two other Capitol albums for Sinatra, '' Come Dance with Me!'' (1958) and '' Come Swing with Me!'' (1961).

In his autobiography '' All You Need Is Ears'', producer George Martin wrote of having visited the Capitol Tower during the recording sessions for the album. According to Martin's book, Sinatra expressed intense dislike for the album cover upon being first shown a mock-up by producer Voyle Gilmore, suggesting it looked like an advertisement for TWA.

The album reached No. 1 on the Billboard album chart in its second week, and remained at the top for five weeks. At the inaugural Grammy Awards ''Come Fly with Me'' was nominated for the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2004.

Though recorded simultaneously in true stereo alongside a distinct mono mix, "Come Fly with Me" was released to record stores in 1958 in monaural only, a standard practice by Capitol records at the time. The label released the stereo version in 1961.

Track listing

Personnel

* Frank Sinatra – vocals
* Billy May – arranger, conductor – Tracks 1–12
* Nelson Riddle – Arranger, Conductor – Tracks 13–15
* Bill Miller – Piano
* Joe Mondragon – Bass (1–12)
* Joe Comfort – Bass (13)
* Phil Stephens – Bass (14)
* Alvin Stoller – Drums (All Tracks)

"On the Road to Mandalay"

Sinatra recorded a jazzy, controversial arrangement of ''On the Road to Mandalay,'' in which elements of the Kipling text were changed, notably ''Temple-bells'' becoming ''crazy bells'', for the album. Rudyard Kipling's daughter, Elsie Bambridge, so disliked Sinatra's lyrical improvisations and jazzy arrangement of the song that she exercised her authority as executrix of Kipling's estate (because Kipling's poem was still copyrighted in the United Kingdom opyright in the U. K. extended for 70 years after his death in 1936)to have the song banned for some years in the U.K.

When the album was released in the United Kingdom, "On the Road to Mandalay" was replaced by " It Happened in Monterey" on original mono releases and "French Foreign Legion" on stereo copies, while the song "Chicago" was used in other parts of the British Commonwealth. Sinatra sang the song in Australia during a concert tour in 1959 and relayed the story of the Kipling family objection to the song and explained how the Australian release of ''Come Fly with Me'' came to contain "Chicago". "Mandalay" was eventually restored on the 1984 UK re-pressing, and has been included on all subsequent releases.

Kipling's daughter was not alone in being upset with Sinatra’s version. In a selection of comments on various topics, ''The New York Times'' said, "We applaud Mrs. Bambridge on her defense of good taste against the inroads of 'slanguage.' . . . It is a form of sacrilege to alter reat poetrybecause it has been entrusted to us as part of our permanent heritage.""Kipling Saved by His Daughter", "Topics of the Times", ''The New York Times'', May 1, 1958, p. 30>

References

Further reading

*

{{Authority control

Frank Sinatra albums
Capitol Records albums
1958 albums
Albums produced by Voyle Gilmore
Albums arranged by Billy May
Albums conducted by Billy May
Albums recorded at Capitol Studios
1950s concept albums