Songs for Swingin' Lovers!

Last updated
Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
Songsforswinginlovers.jpg
Studio album by
Frank Sinatra
ReleasedMarch 5, 1956
RecordedOctober 1955–January 1956
Studio Capitol Studio A (Hollywood)
Genre
Length43:59
Label Capitol
Producer Voyle Gilmore
Frank Sinatra chronology
In the Wee Small Hours
(1955)		Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
(1956)		 This Is Sinatra!
(1956)

Songs for Swingin' Lovers! is the tenth studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra and his fourth for Capitol Records. It was arranged by Nelson Riddle and released in March 1956 on LP and January 1987 on CD. It was the first album ever to top the UK Albums Chart.

Contents

Production

This album was arranged by Nelson Riddle, and took a different tack after In the Wee Small Hours (1955), recording existing pop standards in a hipper, jazzier fashion, revealing an overall exuberance in the vein of Songs for Young Lovers and Swing Easy! .

An additional track, "Memories of You", was recorded during the sessions but ultimately left off the album. As a slow ballad, it was deemed inappropriate on an album of "swinging" uptempo numbers since the album already included the ballad "We'll Be Together Again". While Sinatra would re-record the song with Axel Stordahl in 1961 for the album Point of No Return , the 1956 recording with Riddle would remain unreleased until its inclusion on The Longines Symphonette album Sinatra Like Never Before (SYS-5637), released in September 1973 as a bonus LP in the 10-album boxed set Sinatra, The Works. The 1956 recording eventually reached a wider audience when released on The Capitol Years compilation in 1990. [1]

The original cover had Sinatra facing away from the young couple, but in 1957 Capitol altered the cover with a new image of Sinatra facing the couple. Most CD releases have retained the new cover, though Apple Music uses the original.

Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [3]

In 2000, the album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and ranked number 306 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003, [4] and 308 in 2012 revised list. [5] Sinatra aficionados often rank it his best or second best album (to In the Wee Small Hours ) and many music critics consider it one of the greatest albums of its era. [6]

In 2000 it was voted number 100 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums . [7]

The LP was the first number one album in the UK. It was knocked off the top after two weeks by Carousel (the 1956 movie's soundtrack). [8]

The album's title predated the term "swinging" in the sense of partner-swapping sex by 8 years, inadvertently creating a pun on top of the original pun (whereby swinging could refer to either the genre of swing as well as the original innocent meaning of swinging; i.e., to have a good time).

Releases

Songs for Swingin' Lovers! was released in March 5, 1956 on LP and January 1987 on CD. In February 2014, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released a hybrid disc (SACD + CD) of the album. The original 1956 front cover art was re-used for this issue.

Track listing

Side 1
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."You Make Me Feel So Young"
2:57
2."It Happened in Monterey"
2:36
3."You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me"
2:19
4."You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me"
2:48
5."Too Marvelous for Words"
2:29
6."Old Devil Moon"
3:56
7."Pennies from Heaven"
2:44
8."Love Is Here to Stay"
2:42
Side 2
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."I've Got You Under My Skin" Cole Porter 3:43
10."I Thought About You"
2:30
11."We'll Be Together Again"
4:26
12."Makin' Whoopee"
3:06
13."Swingin' Down the Lane"
2:54
14."Anything Goes"Porter2:43
15."How About You?"
2:45
Total length:43:59

Complete personnel

Tracks 1, 4, 10 (And Memories of You):

Conrad Gozzo, Mickey Mangano, Mannie Klein, Harry Edison (tpt); Joe Howard, Milt Bernhart (tbn); Juan Tizol (v-tbn); George Roberts (b-tbn); Willie Schwartz, Harry Klee (alt/clt); Ted Nash, Babe Russin (ten); Mort Friedman (bar); Paul Nero, Alex Beller, Victor Bay, Harold Dicterow, David Frisina, Mischa Russell, Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, Marshall Sosson, Harry Bluestone (vln); Maxine Johnson, Milton Thomas, Alvin Dinkin (vla); Eleanor Slatkin, Ennio Bolognini, Cy Bernard (vlc); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); George Van Eps (g); Joe Comfort (b); Alvin Stoller (d); Frank Flynn (perc).

Tracks 2, 9, 13:

Mannie Klein, Harry Edison, Conrad Gozzo, Mickey Mangano (tpt); Jimmy Priddy, Milt Bernhart (tbn); Juan Tizol (v-tbn); George Roberts (b-tbn); Willie Schwartz, Harry Klee (alt/cit); Justin Gordon, James Williamson (ten); Mort Friedman (bar); Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, Mischa Russell, Paul Nero, Nathan Ross, Alex Murray, Henry Hill, Alex Beller, Walter Edelstein, Victor Bay (vln); Maxine Johnson, Milton Thomas, Alvin Dinkin (vla); Eleanor Slatkin, Edgar Lustgarten, Ennio Bolognini (vlc); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); George Van Eps (g); Joe Comfort (b); Irving Cottler (d); Clark Yocum, Allan Davies, Charles Schrouder, Lee Gotch (voe [1]).

Tracks 3, 7, 15:

Conrad Gozzo, Mickey Mangano, Harry Edison, Zeke Zarchy (tpt); Jimmy Priddy, Milt Bernhart (tbn); Juan Tizol (v-tbn); George Roberts (b-tbn); Willie Schwartz, Harry Klee (alt/cit); James Williamson, Justin Gordon (ten); Mort Friedman (bar); Paul Nero, Alex Beller, Victor Bay, Harold Dicterow, David Frisina, Mischa Russell, Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, Nathan Ross, Alex Murray (vln); David Sterkin, Alvin Dinkin, Milton Thomas (vla); Eleanor Slatkin, Ennio Bolognini, Edgar Lustgarten (vlc); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); George Van Eps (g); Joe Comfort (b); Alvin Stoller (d).

Track 8:

Shorty Sherock, Harry Edison, Johnny Best, Zeke Zarchy (tpt); Dick Noel, Paul Tanner, Jimmy Priddy (tbn); George Roberts (b-tbn); Willie Schwartz, Mahlon Clark, Justin Gordon, Champ Webb, Robert Lawson (sax/wwd); Emo Neufeld, Samuel Cytron, Robert Gross, Alex Murray, Paul Nero, Henry Hill, Mischa Russell, Dan Lube, Victor Bay, Alex Beller (vln); Maxine Johnson, Paul Robyn, David Sterkin (via); Ennio Bolognini, Ray Kramer, Eleanor Slatkin (vlc); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); George Van Eps (g); Joe Comfort (b); Irving Cottler (d); Frank Flynn (perc).

Tracks 5, 6, 11, 12, 14:

Mannie Klein, Conrad Gazzo, Harry Edison, Mickey Mangano (tpt); Jimmy Priddy, Milt Bernhart (tbn); Juan Tizol (v-tbn); George Roberts (b-tbn); Willie Schwartz, Harry Klee (alt/cit); Justin Gordon, James Williamson (ten); Mort Friedman (bar); David Frisina, Harold Dicterow, Felix Slatkin, Paul Shure, Mischa Russell, Paul Nero, Victor Bay, Alex Beller, Henry Hill, Marshall Sosson (vln); Maxine Johnson, Milton Thomas, Alvin Dinkin (vla); Eleanor Slatkin, Cy Bernard, Ennio Bolognini (vlc); Kathryn Julye (harp); Bill Miller (p); George Van Eps (g); Joe Comfort (b); Irving Cottler (d); Frank Flynn (perc).

Charts

Chart performance for Songs for Swingin' Lovers!
Chart (1956)Peak
position
UK Albums (OCC) [10] 1
US Billboard 200 [11] 2

Certifications

RegionCertification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI) [12] Gold100,000*
United States (RIAA) [13] Gold500,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Related Research Articles

<i>Close to You</i> (Frank Sinatra album) 1957 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Close to You is the eleventh studio album by American musician Frank Sinatra, accompanied by the Hollywood String Quartet.

<i>September of My Years</i> 1965 studio album by Frank Sinatra

September of My Years is a 1965 studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released on Reprise Records in August 1965 on LP and October 1986 on CD. The orchestral arrangements are by Gordon Jenkins, their fifth album collaboration. It peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart.

<i>Songs for Young Lovers</i> 1954 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Songs for Young Lovers is the seventh studio album by Frank Sinatra and his first on Capitol Records. It was issued as an 8-song, 10" album and as a 45rpm EP set, but it was the first Sinatra "album" not to have a 78rpm multi-disc-album release. In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

<i>Swing Easy!</i> 1954 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Swing Easy! is the eighth studio album by Frank Sinatra. It was released in 1954 as a 10" album and consisted of only eight songs, as each side of the record only allowed approximately fourteen minutes of music.

<i>No One Cares</i> 1959 studio album by Frank Sinatra

No One Cares is the seventeenth studio album by Frank Sinatra, released on July 20, 1959. It is generally considered a sequel to Sinatra's 1957 album Where Are You?, and shares a similar sad and lonesome, gloomy theme and concept as In the Wee Small Hours and Only the Lonely.

<i>A Swingin Affair!</i> 1957 studio album by Frank Sinatra

A Swingin' Affair! is the twelfth studio album by Frank Sinatra. It is sometimes mentioned as the sequel to Songs for Swingin' Lovers.

<i>A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra</i> 1957 studio album by Frank Sinatra

A Jolly Christmas from Frank Sinatra is a Christmas album by American singer Frank Sinatra, originally released by Capitol Records in 1957.

<i>Come Fly with Me</i> (Frank Sinatra album) 1958 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Come Fly with Me is the fourteenth studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1958.

<i>Come Dance with Me!</i> (album) 1959 studio album by Frank Sinatra

Come Dance with Me! is the sixteenth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra, released on January 5, 1959.

<i>It Might as Well Be Swing</i> 1964 studio album by Frank Sinatra

It Might as Well Be Swing is a 1964 studio album by Frank Sinatra, accompanied by Count Basie and his orchestra. It was Sinatra's first studio recording arranged by Quincy Jones.

<i>Strangers in the Night</i> (Frank Sinatra album)

Strangers in the Night is a 1966 studio album by Frank Sinatra. It marked Sinatra's return to number one on the pop album charts in the mid-1960s, and consolidated the comeback he initiated in 1965. Combining pop hits with show tunes and standards, the album bridges classic jazz-oriented big band with contemporary pop. It became Sinatra's fifth and final album to reach number one on the US Pop Albums Chart. Additionally, the single "Strangers in the Night" reached number one on the pop single charts, while "Summer Wind" has become one of Sinatra best-known songs, making numerous film and television appearances in the years since its release.

<i>A Man Alone</i> (album) 1969 studio album by Frank Sinatra

A Man Alone is a 1969 studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, arranged by Don Costa.

<i>Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book</i> 1959 box set by Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald Sings the George and Ira Gershwin Song Book is a box set by American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald that contains songs by George and Ira Gershwin with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. It was produced by Norman Granz, Fitzgerald's manager and the founder of Verve Records. Fifty-nine songs were recorded in the span of eight months in 1959. It is one of the eight album releases comprising what is possibly Fitzgerald's greatest musical legacy: Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Complete American Songbook, in which she recorded, with top arrangers and musicians, a comprehensive collection of both well-known and obscure songs from the Great American Songbook canon, written by the likes of Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Jerome Kern, and Johnny Mercer.

<i>Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1</i> 2003 compilation album by Ella Fitzgerald

Jukebox Ella: The Complete Verve Singles, Vol. 1 is a 2003 compilation album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald. The album contains all the singles Fitzgerald recorded for Verve Records label between 1956 and 1965.

The Hollywood String Quartet (HSQ) was an American string quartet founded by violinist/conductor Felix Slatkin and his wife cellist Eleanor Aller. The Hollywood String Quartet is considered to be the first American-born and trained classical music chamber group to make an international impact, mainly through its landmark recordings. These recordings have long been regarded as among the most outstanding recorded performances of the string quartet repertoire.

<i>Sleep Warm</i> 1959 studio album by Dean Martin

Sleep Warm is an album recorded by Dean Martin for Capitol Records in three sessions between October 13, 1958 and October 15, 1958 with arrangements by Pete King and orchestra conducted by Frank Sinatra. Described in the liner notes as a "beguiling set of lullabies for moderns," the selections follow a "bedtime" concept with several of the song titles containing the words "dream" and/or "sleep."

<i>Its All Over but the Swingin</i> 1957 studio album by Sammy Davis Jr.

It's All Over but the Swingin is a 1957 album by Sammy Davis Jr., arranged by Jack Pleis and Morty Stevens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mr. Success</span> 1958 single by Frank Sinatra

"Mr. Success" is a 1958 popular song recorded and co-written by Frank Sinatra. The song was released as a Capitol Records A-side single.

<i>From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie</i> 1964 studio album by Bobby Darin

From Hello Dolly to Goodbye Charlie is a 1964 album by Bobby Darin. The album was arranged and conducted by Richard Wess.

<i>The Kenton Touch</i> 1959 studio album by Stan Kenton

The Kenton Touch is an album by bandleader and pianist Stan Kenton featuring a string section. As with his previous album Lush Interlude, the trumpet and sax sections were omitted and Bud Shank's flute and alto sax is the only woodwind used. It was recorded in 1958 and released on the Capitol label.

References

  1. ↑ Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography
  2. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Songs for Swingin' Lovers! at AllMusic
  3. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0195313734.
  4. ↑ Archived October 23, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "500 Greatest Albums of All Time Rolling Stone's definitive list of the 500 greatest albums of all time". Rolling Stone. 2012. Retrieved September 9, 2019.
  6. ↑ Holden, Stephen (May 16, 1998). "Frank Sinatra Dies at 82; Matchless Stylist of Pop". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
  7. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 75. ISBN   0-7535-0493-6.
  8. ↑ Wolkewitz, Martin; Allignol, Arthur; Graves, Nicholas; Barnett, Adrian G. (2011). "Does the 27 club exist?". British Medical Journal. 343 (7837): 1284–1286. JSTOR   23066612.
  9. ↑ Buskin, Richard (December 2012). "Classic Tracks: Frank Sinatra 'I've Got You Under My Skin'". Sound on Sound.
  10. ↑ "Frank Sinatra | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
  11. ↑ "Frank Sinatra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  12. ↑ "British album certifications – Frank Sinatra – Songs For Swinging Lovers". British Phonographic Industry . Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  13. ↑ "American album certifications – Frank Sinatra – Songs For Swingin' Lovers". Recording Industry Association of America.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.