Sinatra / Capitol Sound Quality, etc.: "Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely" (1958)

Gin Martinis prove that God loves Man.

 

"Gone with the Wind"

 

I love that performance. Again, I think he was trying to prove something to Presley and his fans. Like "this is something that Elvis simply cannot do."

 

I agree with you on this one Matt. The performance itself is so pure and powerful that I can't imagine it on anyone of his albums, and yet I know it couldn't be a single so I guess we'll just leave it where it is and enjoy it as such...

 

As I've said before, I believe that "Ebb Tide" functions as a memory song on OTL, much like "Girl Next Door" does on AL.

 

There's no better endorsement of "Ebb Tide" than Bob Dylan's: “When Frank sang that song, I could hear everything in his voice – death, God and the universe, everything.”

I believe that there's a longer version of the quote out there.

 

In his autobiography 'Chronicles,' Dylan casually mentions listening to the song frequently during his early career when he was playing folk clubs.

"At Ray's, where there weren't many folk records, I used to play the phenomenal "Ebb Tide" by Frank Sinatra a lot and it never failed to fill me with awe. The lyrics were so mystifying and stupendous. When Frank sang that song, I could hear everything in his voice--death, God and the universe, everything."

There's no doubt that Dylan thought very highly of Sinatra. Just listen to his latest record 'Shadows in the Night' in which he covers 10 classic ballads which were all featured on Frank's albums 'Where Are You?,' No One Cares' and 'All Alone.'

 

Not all. Overall, Dylan's choices are more representative of Sinatra's Columbia years. Seven of his ten songs were Columbia recordings, and only two of the six on the indicated FS Capitol/Reprise albums were not Columbia remakes.

See —> Dylan covers Sinatra again (post #32)

 

Are there anymore lies I can tell you?

Thanks, Bob. I swear, in my mind I'm far less ignorant than in reality.

 

Here's a very early Capitol version of the Reprise "suitcase" (courtesy of @cds23 in the Jazz Beat thread):



The Luc Fournol photo is one of several taken at the Monte Carlo train station in Monaco, where Sinatra performed at the Sporting Club on June 14, 1958. That was right in between the recording sessions for Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely—on May 29, and June 24–25, 1958.

 

Nice wingtips. My wife tells me they're old-fashioned, but I think they have a timeless style. It's good to see that Frank wore them on occasion.

 

The Walsh CD arrived a few days ago and I finally got to listen to it on Saturday.

A damn fine effort and a few of the songs [Ebb Tide, Gone With The Wind, Angel Eyes, and One For My Baby*] are just marvelous.

Not as good as No One Cares, but fairly close.

I did notice a drop-out or two on two of the songs [I think one was Gone With The Wind - meant to note them down, but got distracted].

Happy to have two really good masterings of the Bonus Tracks, as well [Sleep Warm and Where Or When].

Thanks to Bob and The Gang.

On to the Walsh Where Are You for a re-listen.


__________________________________________
*The version from the same time, on The Capitol Years CD,
with just Sinatra and Bill Miller is still the best one, however.

 

I'd have to disagree with you there, Bob. I think that OTL is far superior to NOC. Jenkin's arrangements on the latter are, IMHO, distractingly bad: heavy-handed, over-wrought, morose. Whereas, I think that OTL is Riddle's finest hour with Sinatra. And, of course, that's saying A LOT.

Folks can debate whether Wee Small or Lonely is FS's best ballad album, but for me there's no debate about Riddle's work on OTL. Emotionally devastating without being morbid; terrifying, alienated, isolated but never sentimental or turgid. One of the greatest examples of American Classical Music, if there is such a thing.

I think that Jenkins tried to out-do Riddle when he turned to NOC--and fell flat on his face. He did a wonderful job on WAY?, and returned to that more restrained style when he reunited with FS on All Alone. But NOC, for me, is just a soupy mess.

Thank goodness Jenkins was busy when Sinatra asked him to do OTL--or we would have been denied Riddle's masterpiece....

 

While I feel WEE SMALL HOURS is the best album overall, I agree with you on this part. Astonishing, impeccable arrangements for ONLY THE LONELY. Except for maybe his work on "I've Got You Under My Skin", Nelson outdid himself, and everyone else.

 

Nelson Riddle does quite a commendable job on OTL, but, to me, at points, I think he's trying too hard to complement Frank, whereas Mr. Jenkins seems to me to be more relaxed in his approach to dealing with the difficult task of accompanying FAS.

And, I must say, I think that the melodramatic aspects of Jenkins's arranging [what RJ labels: 'heavy-handed, over-wrought, morose'] fit perfectly with the lyrics and Frank's acting. I think Melodrama has it's place in the arts, which is why I esteem Wagner as the greatest composer of Classical Music. Melodrama's exaggerated emotions wash over the Soul and drench it, and I find that a very effective way of moving people. Of course, one has to be very careful to not cross the line over into Bombast and/or Pretentiousness and/or Pomposity and of Stiltedness - so many do this and it is so easy to do that I fear this is why Melodrama has such a bad reputation. Also, I suspect, it has something to do with the American Attitude towards Life, which eschews such things in favor of straight-forwardness and plain speaking [interestingly, up until the latter decades of the 19th Century, Melodrama was all the rage in America, more so than in Europe].

No One Cares is a Masterpiece of Emotion, of Love lost, of Hope fading. Only The Lonely comes close, but it falters because of Mr. Riddle's occasional emotional detachment from the Human Heart. [I'm reserving commenting on Where Are You? at all until I accomplish my re-listen, hopefully sometime this week.]

As for All Alone: that, I believe, may be Sinatra's best 'ballad' album, followed by - and this may surprise you all - The Nearness Of You, er, Nice 'N' Easy [ followed by No One Cares].

 

OTL: the best FS album. Period.

 

I've been meaning to update this thread that the MSFL LP release of OTL is available at MusicDirect for $70.00. They recently updated the price from $40 to $70, reflecting supply and demand, I guess.

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-3394-f...-only-the-lonely-limited-edition-180g-lp.aspx

 

One of the last albums ever made that one would want to be treated that way.

 

The MoFi gold disc version arrived today, I need to stop reading and start listening

 

Searching a CD of "FS Sings For Only The Lonely" (MFSL Gold Edition) on web : it looks like that prices are crazy.
On Ebay, one is listed for 170,00 USD.

 

I wish I had bought this when it was released.

 

After a late Saturday night listen to side one of the MOFI silver box stereo, today I decided to listen to and compare the title song on all 6 of my LPs of this great album which are:

2 mono versions: 2008 MOFI and D6/N2 9 O'clock pressing
4 stereo versions: MOFI silver box, N3/N3 9 O'clock pressing, Dell box pressing and an early 80's Green label Capitol pressing SN-16202 with either a "CS" or "ES" inscribed in the dead wax next to "Mastered by Capitol"

Here is the surprise and why I am writing this post - The stereo re-issue from the early 80's sounds really good. In fact it rivals the MOFI silver box!

Another surprise - the Dell version sounds good but also sounds as though there is a bit of compression going on. I know these were digitally remastered so maybe thats why. This was my go to copy before I landed the silver box a few years ago. But I never gave the green label re-issue a chance once I got the Dell box. Turns out it sounds better IMO! Quite a surprise.

What a great, great song and album this is.