Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely
| Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely | ||||
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| Studio album by Frank Sinatra | ||||
| Released | September 1958 | |||
| Recorded | May 29, June 24, 26 at Capitol Studio A, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | Vocal jazz, traditional pop | |||
| Length | 59:45 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Dave Cavanaugh | |||
| Frank Sinatra chronology | ||||
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| Allmusic |  |
Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely (1958, also known as Sings for Only the Lonely or simply Only the Lonely) is an album by Frank Sinatra.
The album consists of a collection of torch songs, following a formula similar to Sinatra's previous albums In the Wee Small Hours (1955) and Where Are You? (1957).
According to John Rockwell's book, Sinatra: An American Classic, when asked at a party in the mid-1970s if he had a favorite album among his recordings, without hesitation, Sinatra chose Only the Lonely.
The album's front cover was painted by Nicholas Volpe, who won a Grammy Award for the painting. The painting features Sinatra as a sullen, Pagliacci-like clown. Sketched on the album's back cover is one of Sinatra's recurrent visual motifs: a lamppost.
Sinatra had planned to record the album with arranger Gordon Jenkins, with whom he had worked on Where Are You?. Since Jenkins was unavailable at the time, Sinatra chose to work with his frequent collaborator, Nelson Riddle. The three tracks conducted by Riddle at the would-be first session (May 5, 1958) were not used, and the subsequent May 29 session was conducted by Felix Slatkin, uncredited, after Riddle went on a pre-arranged tour with Nat King Cole.
At the time of the recording, Sinatra's divorce from Ava Gardner had been finalized, and Nelson Riddle (who wrote the album's arrangements) had recently suffered the deaths of his mother and daughter. Of these events, Riddle remarked: "If I can attach events like that to music...perhaps Only the Lonely was the result."
Q Magazine placed Only the Lonely at #1 on the "15 Greatest Stoner Albums of All Time". The album also peaked at #1 on Billboard′s pop album chart during a 120-week chart-run, and was certified Gold on June 21, 1962, nearly four years after its release. As noted by biographer Peter J. Levinson, "Nelson chose several instrumental soloists to communicate the essence of the music on the album. Harry Edison showed the somber side of his playing on 'Willow Weep for Me.' The late, great trombonist, Ray Sims, the unsung soloist with Les Brown and Harry James and brother of jazz tenor saxophonist stalwart 'Zoot' Sims, delivered the finest recording work of his long career with a brace of meaningful solos. Bill Miller contributed several beautifully conceived piano solos."
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Wikipedia