Sinatra @ Capitol (Part two)

A Swingin' Affair. If any album can follow Songs For Swingin' Lovers for all-round perfection then this is the one. Like Swingin' Lovers and Close to You, it was recorded in 1956 - it was a very good year for arrangements by Nelson Riddle on some of the greatest songs ever written and sung by the greatest ever interpreter of them. A well balanced mix of joy and sadness.

Where Are You? I must confess that of the twelve albums I've selected this is the only one I don't physically possess. True I could get it from Amazon for £80 or a local record store for (maybe) less but that would take away the thrill of the chase. 

However, although I don't have the 1957 album, I do have most of the tracks scattered over various compilations so I feel justified. It's a 'weepie' - they usually are when Gordon Jenkins is at the helm. Listen to the string intro to Laura and the subsequent vocal then sigh...

Come Fly With Me. A themed 1957 album with arrangements by Billy May. We take airborne jaunts to Capri, Vermont, New York, Mandalay, Paris, London, Brazil and Hawaii. There's no sad songs, I don't think Billy May did sad, it's all good fun even the unrequited affair on the Isle of Capri hardly wells up a tear. My personal fave is the controversial version of Rudyard Kipling's poem On the Road to Mandalay. The Kipling estate took legal action to have the song removed from the original album and it was some years before it reappeared on later issues.

Only the Lonely. The title tells it all. Riddle puts his Jenkins hat on for a dozen tear-jerking classics. Sinatra at his peak, perhaps he's thinking of Ava as he hangs his tears out to dry. However, the greatest saloon song ever, sung with the laconic self-pity of a late-night drunk is the one. I've been there, maybe everybody has at some point in their life. One For My Baby.

Come Dance With Me. Following on from Come Fly With Me, Billy May scores a dozen very danceable (or listenable) songbook classics tailormade for any party with one or more guests hence the title. As with any Sinatra album it's never easy to pick one track but I've opted for Just in Time.

No One Cares. Another sad one - why are all the best songs the ones about losers? Certainly when Jenkins and Sinatra combine the tears flow. If it was any other team maybe it would be different but no one could write for strings like Gordon Jenkins and no could sing a sad song like Sinatra. Recorded in 1959 this was probably the last great album he recorded for Capitol and, emotionally, probably the saddest. I narrowed it down to two: A Cottage For Sale and Just Friends. I've posted links for both. Lance

Part one.