Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely - Deluxe Edition - October 19, 2018*

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Bob F, Jun 4, 2018.

  1. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    So well said, @DABarrios, I can scarcely add anything, but is it just my opinion that as much as I admire Jenkins' finest work with Sinatra over the years, and like it a lot, I somehow have come to the conclusion that Gordon Jenkins' greatest arrangements were with Nat King Cole and Nelson Riddle's were with Sinatra, generally speaking?
     
  2. DABarrios

    DABarrios Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, New York
    That's not to say that Jenkins was anything less than exceptional. But No One Cares is almost hysterically depressing. It shouldn't be dismissed but it's... definitely not an album I reach to because I suppose I just don't connect to it as well as, well, "Where Are You?" which I think is really quite dreamy. There's a lot of walking around in a daze on that album: hoping she'll be there when you turn the corner but she's not there. Just crowds of people all around him. In that way, it's more in the singer's headspace than the other albums. Which is intriguing.

    Only the Lonely is very much an album where Frank is moving: in and out of bars, bumping into a lost love, wandering through a park trying to deal with his emotions, ending back home unable to sleep, avoiding friends, etc.
     
  3. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    EXACTLY! And that is why the "lifting & separating" of Mr. S's vocal track from the mix and isolating it "up front" over everything would be absolutely criminal if that were ever done to this album.
     
  4. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    I understand. I actually like all 3 of these albums equally. I do actually find the OTL can drag a bit in places. But obviously a fantastic album.

    I am of the overall opinion, however, that Nelson Riddle, while a great arranger, is overrated. And many times people seem to have to compare Gordon Jenkins (no relation!) to him to make their unoriginal claim as to how great Riddle is.

    Not a subject for this thread I know. But I didn't bring it up.
     
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  5. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    Even if this new set is only a B- or even a C in terms of overall sound quality, I’ll be excited to have a decent version on store shelves for anyone interested in exploring Frank’s catalog. Yeah, my standards are low. WHAT’S NEW?

    That being said, it will be sad missed opportunity if this set is only decent. It’s pretty amazing to have both the mono and stereo versions (I know stereo is a remix) coming out in one set. I’d love for this to happen to other Sinatra classics.
     
  6. DABarrios

    DABarrios Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York, New York
    The only other Sinatra album where I can think of this same technique being employed (mind you, with different objectives and instrumentation) is Francis A. and Edward K.

    I'm thinking of "What's New" again. That interplay between oboe and trombone, the trombone sort of muttering, the oboe in the higher register, communicating... it almost feels like a deep sigh. And yet the way they're communicating makes sense because it's a conversational song (wonderfully colloquial lyrics) about two lovers meetings after a long period of not speaking with each other. And then the trombone is used again on It's A Lonesome Old Town, the succeeding song. But this time, the wail is papable, almost other worldly.

    Or how the oboe hauntingly closes "Willow Weep For Me" and then is the first instrument we hear as we open on "Goodbye."

    It reminded me a bit of Springsteen's Tunnel of Love, where a tune like "Two Faces" would anticipate "Brilliant Disguise" because they share similar musical elements, mind you, written by just one pen.

    Sorry, these are just some thoughts I was having a couple of weeks back while giving this album yet ANOTHER listen. I've probably heard it 200 times since I first heard it in 2004 when I was 15. Some folks had Beck's Sea Change just like I'm sure many others had Dylan's Blood on the Tracks. Yet even now, I can discover new things about this album.

    I'm almost certain that this is the most meticulously crafted of Sinatra's albums, that's for sure.

    As wonderful as the swing albums with Nelson and Billy were, their cohesion was more about overall mood but the narrative advancements in terms of song placements and Nelson's orchestrations... How they managed to do this with songs written by different authors and composers, published in a period between the mid 1920's til 1958...

    I think this album is part of a long list of breakup/heartache albums and I think it's the granddady of them all and probably still the best one. It's like a well made clock.

    I've got a lot of thoughts about this album.
     
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  7. Nick Dunning

    Nick Dunning Forum Resident

    'It's A Lonesome Old Town' is just off the planet.

    Career highlight.

    Spellbinding.
     
  8. Pants Party

    Pants Party MOSTLY PEACEFUL

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    I understand that the debate gets heated... but I always LOVE comparing and talking about these two arrangers. It's one of the (many) great, delectable things about Sinatra's catalog. It's quite a nod to Jenkins that he is the one who is often discussed alongside Riddle, given how much Sinatra and Nelson Riddle did together. That's quite a testament to the impact his work had.

    Personally, I liked Gordon Jenkins immediately, and it took me longer to truly appreciate Riddle. Jenkins had a striking quality that was very stunning and immediate. Whereas I almost didn't even notice Riddle, if that makes sense. His sound is more compact and dense to me, which ironically takes on a sort of transparency and almost "pushes" Sinatra forward -- props him up -- buoyant and innocent. Jenkins, on the other hand, creates this vast, theatrical sea with which Frank swims (or sinks), flys and "lives in."

    It's great that Riddle got to do one of the suicide albums so we can contrast them and get a sense of how the others might have sounded. And conversely I would LOVE to hear how Jenkins would have tackled Only The Lonely. I know it would have been magnificent.

    In a perfect world, I want both conductors on all the albums. Wouldn't that be something!
     
  9. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    I’m a newbie to Sinatra and purchased a US Capitol reissue of No One Cares a few months back. I found it depressing. Really depressing.
     
  10. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    We do get a bit of a glimpse as Mr. S performed Jenkins' arrangement of "One for My Baby" many times over the years. I believe it can be seen/heard on the 1970 London concert/video.
     
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  11. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    GOOD! It still works almost 60 years later!
     
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  12. RogerB

    RogerB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    Ha. Put it on late at night and pour yourself a bourbon on the rocks and drift away!

    It’s what Frank would want!!!
     
  13. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    I still found it an excellent album, even though I wanted to shoot myself afterwards!
     
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  14. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored


    Awesome post!
     
  15. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored


    It’s probably my favorite Sinatra album.
     
  16. RogerB

    RogerB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    No One Cares and Where Are You are my 2 favorites at this point in my Sinatra journey!
     
  17. RogerB

    RogerB Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alabama
    But I also think Point Of No Return is very underrated. And Watertown. And.......oh well....
     
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  18. CBackley

    CBackley Chairman of the Bored

    Back on topic....has anyone found an exceptionally cheap price for these new Only the Lonely releases yet?
     
  19. Francisx

    Francisx Forum Resident

    Thanks Genius!
     
  20. roda12

    roda12 WATERTOWN FOREVER

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Sorry for being off-topic! But somebody mentioned that Nelson was overrated. I really think the opposite!!! He was Sinatra's alter ego and their musical relationship was a match made in heaven. He alone was responsible and he gave us "the Sinatra" that we know now. He gave Frank a completely new image and was able to get the depth out of him just as Frank got it out of Nelson. Both of his albums WEE SMALL HOURS and SWINGIN LOVERS set the pace for Frank's new musical period. He created the mood for the lonely heartbroken Frank AS WELL as for the swingin bacholer Frank!!! So there's no way to appreciate him enough.

    I often think what would have happened if they never met and Sinatra would have gone to RCA instead of Capitol (as intended). They would have paired him there with arrangers like Hugo Winterhalter, Mitchell Ayres, Henri Rene etc.
    Do you really think Sinatra could have made the musical transition with them???!!!

    And as much as I love Billy and Gordy, I really do by the way, don't get me wrong, I still don't think they alone could have "created" Frank like Nelson did with those two trendsetting albums.
     
  21. roda12

    roda12 WATERTOWN FOREVER

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    Oh and I really thank God that Jenkins didn't do OTL.
     
  22. roda12

    roda12 WATERTOWN FOREVER

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    No matter how the 60th anniversary edition will turn out. I'm so thrilled and glad that this masterpiece album gets the recognition and appreciation it deserves!
     
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  23. Bob F

    Bob F Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Massachusetts USA
    For reference, these are the list prices as now shown at the Frank Sinatra Official Store:

    [​IMG]

    As usual, ImportCDs has discounts of 24% to 29% off list. Amazon.com was still showing list prices uuntil today but just dropped the 2- CD Deluxe edition by 15% (vs. 29% at ImportCDs). I would expect the other two editions to drop as well…

    2-LP Vinyl from Amazon.com
    1-CD Stereo Mix from Amazon.com
    2-CD Deluxe from Amazon.com
     
  24. paulmock

    paulmock Forum Resident

    Location:
    Hollywood, CA
    :laughup::biglaugh:
     
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  25. Kiss73

    Kiss73 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
     

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