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Songs for Young Lovers (1954)

Where the lyrics of Songs for Young Lovers take you, and where it was really made.

Sinatra's first Capitol album came out as a 10-inch record and a 45 rpm EP set, and it was the first of his albums without a 78 rpm multi-disc release.

Key places

Capitol Studios, Hollywood (1954)

Recording site Capitol Studios — Sinatra's first album for Capitol was recorded at the Capitol studios in Hollywood, which the album history describes as state-of-the-art. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Songs for Young Lovers: seventh studio album by Frank Sinatra
• His first album on Capitol Records
• Issued as an 8-song 10-inch album (Capitol H-488) and as a 45 rpm EP set
• First Sinatra album without a 78 rpm multi-disc release
• Selected in 2002 for the National Recording Registry

Background

• Sinatra had already begun to change his sound before moving to Capitol
• Nightclub work in Las Vegas gave him a more mature, jazzy sound that kept its intimacy
• Success in From Here to Eternity gave him renewed confidence
• New producer Voyle Gilmore agreed to record charts Sinatra had performed at the Riviera and the Sands
• Live shows usually used eight musicians; the recording used eleven

Recording

• Conducted by Nelson Riddle
• The sessions began a long-standing collaboration that continued for the next twenty years
• All arrangements by George Siravo except 'Like Someone in Love', which Riddle arranged
• Capitol's up-to-date studios allowed a more detailed sound, giving Riddle more freedom

Cover

• A young couple taking a private stroll in the dark
• Sinatra leaning against a lamp-post in the foreground

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

At release

• Originally released in January 1954 as a 10-inch album
• In 1955 its eight songs were combined with eight songs from the 10-inch album Swing Easy! on a new 16-song 12-inch LP called Swing Easy!
• The 1955 LP used the Swing Easy! cover with a miniature inset of the Songs for Young Lovers cover

Reappraisal

• In 2002 the Library of Congress chose it as one of 50 recordings that year for the National Recording Registry

Records

• In 1962 the 1954 album was released as a 12-song 12-inch LP with four extra songs
• Those four added songs were 'Someone To Watch Over Me', 'My One And Only Love', 'It Worries Me' and 'I Can Read Between the Lines'
• The 1962 cover included both previous album covers
• In 1971 it was re-issued as a ten-track album under the name My One and Only Love

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Nelson Riddle received credit for the arrangements while George Siravo received none, and Siravo came to resent it.
• Riddle later sent personal apologies to Siravo, though he was in no way responsible for the missing credit.
• Sinatra was using Siravo's charts in his nightclub appearances at the time, and the studio musicians were surprised by how worn the charts were.
• Instead of compiling former hits, the album followed Sinatra's earlier Columbia format: a new set of songs arranged around one theme.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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