Capitol 1053
Producer: Voyle Gilmore
Track listing: Only the Lonely / Angel Eyes / What’s New / It’s a Lonesome Old Town / Willow Weep for Me / Good-bye / Blues in the Night / Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry / Ebb Tide / Spring is Here / Gone with the Wind / One for My Baby
October 13, 1958
5 weeks
In 1965, Frank Sinatra had a hit with his version of “It Was a Very Good Year.” If Sinatra had recorded the song in 1958, it would have been appropriate, as Ol’ Blue Eyes had four top 20 albums that year. The run began with his first Number One, Come Fly with Me. It continued with a greatest-hits compilation on Capitol, This Is Sinatra, Volume Two, which reached number eight. Another retrospective, The Frank Sinatra Story, released on his original label, Columbia, peaked at number 12. Then came Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely.
On the album, the carefree swing of Sinatra’s travel-themed Come Fly with Me was replaced by blue moods, as Sinatra returned to work with arranger/conductor Nelson Riddle after a brief stint with Billy May.
For the album’s opening number, “Only the Lonely,” Sinatra once again called on the veteran songwriting team of lyricist Sammy Cahn and composer James Van Heusen, who also penned the title track for Come Fly with Me. Initially, the album was to be titled For Losers Only, but that moniker was scrapped in favor of Only the Lonely. The album was recorded at Capitol Records Studios in Hollywood in three days in late May and late June of 1958. On May 29, a particularly fruitful evening, Sinatra cut six of the album’s tracks, “Only the Lonely,” “Angel Eyes,” “Willow Weep for Me,” “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,” “Ebb Tide,” and “Spring Is Here.” Nearly a month later, on June 24, Sinatra and company returned to the studio to record “What’s New?,” “Blues in the Night,” and “Gone with the Wind.” The recording sessions were completed the next day, when “It’s a Lonesome Old Town,” “Good-Bye,” and “One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)” were laid down.
As usual, Sinatra was in fine form, both in voice and in presence. “We always had such great respect for Frank,” says bass trombone player George Roberts. “He was always the immaculate dresser and he always looked great.” Sinatra’s influence wore off on Roberts, who often showed up for Sinatra’s recording sessions wearing tie. “Nobody ever did that, but I had lot of respect for Frank and wanted to be like him,” Roberts says.
Also bent on pleasing the crooner was Riddle, Sinatra’s longtime conductor/arranger. “Nelson told me whenever we did something with Frank that he wanted a first reading on everything we did,” Roberts says. “He wanted the first things we did with Frank to be clean.”
The singer’s often unpredictable moods kept Riddle on his toes. “Nelson said that there is only one man in the world that I’m frightened of,” Roberts says. “He was frightened of Frank, not physically, but because he could be in one mood and turn around and be in a completely different mood. That scared him, because when he arranged something, he wasn’t sure if Frank was going to like it.”
Yet Sinatra had to be pleased with Only the Lonely. In its third week on the chart, it became the crooner’s second Number One album of 1958, the capper of what was indeed a very good year for Frank Sinatra.
THE TOP FIVE
Week of October 13, 1958
1. Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely, Frank Sinatra
2. The Music Man, Original Cast
3. King Creole, Elvis Presley
4. Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1, Van Cliburn
5. Sing Along with Mitch, Mitch Miller