Capitol 920
Producer: Voyle Gilmore
Track listing: Come Fly with Me / Around the World / Isle of Capri / Moonlight in Vermont / Autumn in New York / On the Road to Mandalay / Let’s Get Away from It All / April in Paris / London by Night / Brazil / Blue Hawaii / It’s Nice to Go Trav’ling
February 10, 1958
Five weeks
Before Elvis Presley arrived on the music scene, Frank Sinatra was already an established superstar end one of the best-known vocalists in the world. From 1942 through 1954, he racked up 40 top 10 hits, including the Number One singles “Oh! What It Seemed to Be,” “Five Minutes More,” and “Mam’selle.” Sinatra also had an impressive run on the album chart after 1955: In the Wee Small Hours, Songs for Swingin’ Lovers!, A Swingin’ Affair!, and Pal Joey all climbed to number two, but were unable to reach the summit. In fact, In the Wee Small Hours spent an amazing 18 weeks at number two, but did not reach the top spot.
With the release of Come Fly with Me in early 1958, Sinatra’s fortunes would change. The album marked a reunion of sorts between the crooner and arranger-conductor Billy May. “I first worked for Frank in 1944, when Axel Stordahl was doing his conducting,” says May. “I did some arranging for Axel.”
When Sinatra joined Capitol Records in 1953 after a lengthy run on Columbia, Sinatra suggested that he work with May, but the bandleader was unavailable, since he was touring with his own band. In the interim, the Sinatra-May pairing began to take on mythical proportions. Sinatra’s 1953 single “South of the Border (Down Mexico Way)” was credited to “Frank Sinatra and Billy May with His Orchestra,” but it was actually Sinatra’s other well-known collaborator, Nelson Riddle, performing a May-like arrangement.
“I’ve always been a fan of Sinatra,” says May. “I was very flattered that he wanted to work with me, because he had made a lot of successful records with Nelson, who was also working with Capitol at the time.”
Finally, in the fall of 1957, the collaboration began to take shape. May had high hopes for the project from the get-go. “I went down to Frank’s house in Palm Springs and Jimmy Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn were there,” he recalls. “The material was so good, because Jimmy was such a good songwriter and Sammy was a good lyricist. The whole idea that they presented to me was so good, I figured we couldn’t go far from wrong.”
The Cahn-Van Heusen compositions “Come, Fly with Me” and “It’s Nice to Go Trav’ling,” which open and close the album, set the tone for the album’s traveling theme. Also included was Sinatra’s interpretation of Victor Young’s “Around the World.”
The sessions, held at Capitol Records’ studios in Hollywood, went smoothly. “We did three sessions in October,” says May. “They were all in the evening. We would start around eight or nine p.m.. and end around midnight.” The atmosphere was loose. “I was always relaxed around Frank and he was always relaxed around me,” says May. “I know he gave a lot of people a lot of trouble, but I never had any difficulty with him.”
Sinatra’s involvement wasn’t simply limited to his vocal contribution. He also had input on the arrangements. “When we did ‘On the Road to Mandalay,’ I had a big ending in mind,” says May. “When it came to the part where it says, ‘When the dawn comes up like thunder,’ I had a big Chinese gong. Frank liked it so much that he considered that the end of the record.” As a result, the remaining four to eight bars of the song were left off.
Come Fly with Me became Sinatra’s first chart-topping album in its second week on the chart.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of February 10, 1958
1. Come Fly with Me, Frank Sinatra
2. Warm, Johnny Mathis
3. My Fair Lady, Original Cast
4. Around the World in 80 Days, Soundtrack
5. Pal Joey, Soundtrack