So you think you know Frank Sinatra’s music? Do you picture some
\nold man from some bygone era wearing a tuxedo, holding a microphone
\nin one hand and a martini in the other, performing swinging, big
\nband tunes? Well, then think again, because if this is your image
\nof Sinatra, then you have never heard
\nOnly The Lonely<\/i>.<\/p>\n
This is what is known as a mood album, consisting of songs
\nchosen because they deal with the pain of lost love. They say an
\nartist has to suffer in order to create great art. I do not know if
\nthis is true, but it does make sense in the context of
\nOnly The Lonely<\/i>, because it was recorded in 1958 immediately
\nafter Sinatra’s painful breakup with his second wife, Ava
\nGardner.<\/p>\n
The album starts off with the title track, and immediately you
\ncan hear the pain in Sinatra’s voice. None of the swagger
\nassociated with Sinatra can be found here or anywhere on the album.
\nThe tempo is slow, and the song is loneliness personified,
\ndescribing in great detail the feeling of losing a love. The song
\nhas great words from lyricist Sammy Cahn, and a wonderful melody
\nfrom composer Jimmy Van Heusen.<\/p>\n
The next song, “Angel Eyes” is the logical follow-up, where the
\njilted lover decides to tell anyone who will listen about the loss
\nof his angel. After telling his story, he ends with the haunting
\nline: “Excuse me while I disappear.” Next up is “What’s New?” which
\nyou may know as a hit for Linda Ronstadt in the 1980’s. Sinatra’s
\nversion crushes her’s like a grape. The difference is that while
\nRonstandt may sing it well, Sinatra sings it like he means it.
\nHere, the main character bumps into his old flame and tries to put
\nup a brave front for her. As you can see this album tells a story.
\nWho said
\nSargeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band<\/i> was the first
\nconcept album?<\/p>\n
One of Sinatra’s strengths is his impeccable taste in choosing
\nsongs, and
\nOnly The Lonely<\/i> is certainly no exception. Here are some
\nhighlights: “Willow Weep For Me” is a deceptively simple tune, but
\nit has a great minor chord melody and Sinatra’s stoic singing.
\n“Blues In The Night” shows that Sinatra can indeed sing the blues.
\nIt may not have the grittiness of many blues performances, but the
\nfeeling is definitely there. “Ebb Tide” cleverly compares romance
\nwith the flow of the tide, with the orchestra imitating that tide,
\nand Sinatra capably handling the wide range in the vocals.<\/p>\n
And finally, “One For My Baby” starts off with a rickety piano
\npart as the jilted lover is in a saloon drinking his problems away.
\nSinatra effectively expresses the weariness of the situation. This
\nis the perfect song to end this album, but for the CD, Capitol
\ndecided to add two extra tracks from another session. “Sleep Warm”
\nand “Where Or When” are both very pretty, but do not belong on this
\nalbum.<\/p>\n
Nelson Riddle does a wonderful job arranging the songs. He
\nworked on some of Sinatra’s more swinging albums, but here he knows
\nthat a subtle, understated touch is needed and allows the orchestra
\nto color, not overpower the material. He uses mostly string
\narrangements with an occasional muted horn or piano accompaniment
\nwhen needed. He wisely lets Sinatra’s voice tell the story.<\/p>\n
I consider
\nOnly The Lonely<\/i> to be one of Sinatra’s best and most
\nimportant albums. If you are a fan, then this is an absolute
\nmust-have album, and even if you are not (but enjoy listening to
\nballads), you might want to check this out, becuase it may change
\nyour mind about the singer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":27668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[6724],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39043","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-frank-sinatra","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39043"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39043\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39043"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39043"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}