Search - Frank Sinatra :: Only the Lonely

The greatest of the Frank Sinatra saloon song albums

Lawrance M. Bernabo | The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota | 04/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"In the 1950s Frank Sinatra worked with two great arrangers, Nelson Riddle and Gordon Jenkins. "Only the Lonely" was supposed to be recorded with Jenkins, who had arranged Sinatra's previous collection of ballads, "Where Are You." But Jenkins was busy on something else and Sinatra ended up using Riddle. The result was this 1958 album that is arguably his greatest collection of saloon songs. Certainly "Only the Lonely" is the bleakest of the bunch, with a dozen brooding songs of desperation and despair. Sinatra was great at a lot of different types of singing, but for me he was clearly at his best in this genre of self-pity.



It is totally fitting, therefore, that "Only the Lonely" has his best saloon song, "One for My Baby (And One More for the Road)," by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer. The unforgettable opening line establishes the melancholy mood ("It's quarter to three, There's no one in the place except you and me") as Sinatra sings to the bartender his tale of woe. Someone described this song as being the one that Humphrey Bogart would have been singing if "Casablanca" had been made into a musical the way Sintara was in "High Society," the musical based on "The Philadelphia Story," while he drowns his sorrows. The other great torch song on the album is "Angle Eyes," with superb vocals offset by subdued orchestration. The title song, specifically written for Sinatra, starts off the album and establishes the perfect mood, and "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" completes the quartet of four classic songs on this album.



The remastered CD offers up two more songs from this period, "Sleep Warm" and "Where or When," but this was already an essential Sinatra album without those additions and I have to offer a minor complaint that with the addition of that pair of tracks the album does not end as it should, with "One For My Baby." It might not be his greatest album, but it absolutely has to be on the first hand you use when you start naming what should be on that list. "Only the Lonely" is the ultimate late night Sinatra album, to be listened to with the lights down low as you wallow in the depths of despair."

MFSL Masterpiece

UofM Tiger | Bartlett, TN United States | 01/17/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This review is for the Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs remastered CD.



I have several versions of this CD and this version is BY FAR the best. MFSL somehow got their hands on the mono version of this album and made one of the best sounding CDs in my collection.



While many people are saying to themselves "Mono? Are you serious?" My answer is "YES"! Back in the days when this album was recorded, Capital Records simply mastered the technique of capturing a mono recording. However, stereo was an afterthought. The studio spent much more time with the mono recording and in this case, the album is better in that format.



I know $30 is a ridiculous amount to pay for a CD. However, this is one of the greatest albums in Sinatra's career and this is the best digital version of the album. If you are a fan of this classic album (if you aren't, you should be) you owe it to yourself to buy this version."

Absolutely stunning

S J Buck | Kent, UK | 06/28/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a no-brainer really. Frank Sinatra at the height of his considerable powers. Yet having purchased the CD I was still stunned by his singing. The control, phrasing and pitch are perfect. Never for Sinatra the frankly vulgar ways some modern recording artists attempt to wring emotion from every word.



I'm a fan of Sinatra singing swing, preferably with the Count Basie Orchestra, but the orchestrations here are perfect for a set list of melancholy pieces. As previous reveiewers have said "One for my Baby" is the classic track, amongst an album full of classic tracks.



I enjoy all sorts of music from Bach, Coltrane to Amy Winehouse, but regardless of genre this is an essential recording for any collection.

"