Maps of Music

Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958)

Where the lyrics of Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely take you, and where it was really made.

The front cover shows Sinatra as a sullen, Pagliacci-like clown, and the painting by Nicholas Volpe won a Grammy Award.

Key places

Recorded at Capitol Studio A in Hollywood (1958)

Recording site Capitol Studios — The album's recording studio is listed as Capitol Studio A in Hollywood, the studio named in its recording credits. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely: fifteenth studio album by Frank Sinatra
• Also known as Sings for Only the Lonely or simply Only the Lonely
• Released September 8, 1958, through Capitol Records
• Collection of torch songs
• Follows a formula similar to Sinatra's previous albums In the Wee Small Hours (1955) and Where Are You? (1957)
• Sinatra later chose it as his favorite among his recordings when asked at a mid-1970s party

Background

• Sinatra first planned to record with arranger Gordon Jenkins, who had worked on Where Are You?
• Jenkins was unavailable, so Sinatra chose frequent collaborator Nelson Riddle
• Three tracks Riddle conducted at the would-be first session (May 5, 1958) were not used
• Sinatra's divorce from Ava Gardner had been finalized at the time of recording
• Riddle, who wrote the arrangements, had recently lost his mother and daughter

Recording

• The May 29 session was conducted by Felix Slatkin, uncredited, after Riddle went on a pre-arranged tour with Nat King Cole
• Third Sinatra album recorded in both mono and stereo versions, after Where Are You? and Come Fly with Me
• Final Sinatra Capitol album recorded with separate equipment for the mono and stereo versions
• Original mono album had 12 tracks; original stereo album had 10

Cover

• Front cover painted by Nicholas Volpe
• The painting features Sinatra as a sullen, Pagliacci-like clown
• Back cover sketch shows a lamppost, one of Sinatra's recurrent visual motifs

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants.
• Began singing professionally as a teenager with the Hoboken Four, winning Major Bowes Amateur Hour.
• Joined Harry James's band in 1939, then Tommy Dorsey's band, before going solo in 1942.

Career

• Signed with Columbia Records in 1943 and became a major star of the bobby-soxer era.
• Signed with Capitol Records in 1953; collaborated with arranger Nelson Riddle on albums such as In the Wee Small Hours and Songs for Swingin' Lovers!.
• Founded Reprise Records in 1960, releasing albums including September of My Years and the hit single "My Way".
• Won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity (1953).
• Estimated to have sold around 150 million records worldwide.
• Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.
• Died May 14, 1998 in Los Angeles.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

Reappraisal

• Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums placed it at number 125 in 2000
• Q placed it at No. 1 on "15 Greatest Stoner Albums of All Time"
• Biographer Peter J. Levinson noted that Nelson Riddle chose several instrumental soloists to convey the album's essence
• Harry Edison showed the somber side of his playing on "Willow Weep for Me"
• Trombonist Ray Sims delivered the finest recording work of his long career with a brace of solos
• Bill Miller contributed several beautifully conceived piano solos

Records

• Peaked at No. 1 on Billboard's pop album chart during a 120-week chart run
• Certified Gold on June 21, 1962, nearly four years after release
• Sinatra was nominated for five Grammy Awards at the inaugural 1959 ceremony
• The album was nominated for Album of the Year, alongside Come Fly with Me
• The album won the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• On May 29, 1958, Sinatra unsuccessfully attempted to record Billy Strayhorn's "Lush Life"; this was the only time he sang the song in his career.
• Session material from that attempt was included in the 60th anniversary deluxe edition released in October 2018 and in the 1958 Mono Mix / Expanded Edition.
• The original stereo release left out "It's a Lonesome Old Town" and "Spring Is Here"; later stereo reissues used all 12 original tracks.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Maps of Ages ↗ (mapsofages.com)

Privacy · Contact