| The Joy of Living | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 1959 | |||
| Recorded | 1959 | |||
| Studio | Capitol Records, Hollywood, California | |||
| Genre | Traditional pop | |||
| Length | 34:01 [1] | |||
| Label | Capitol ST-1148 | |||
| Nelson Riddle chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Joy of Living is the sixth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, released in 1959. [1] [2]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
William Ruhlmann reviewed the album for Allmusic and wrote that the arrangements "never get too lively or somber" and felt the casual, mid-tempo pieces were an assertion by Riddle of his stature with the popularity of Billy May and Gordon Jenkins. Ruhlmann felt the album was a precursor to Riddle's arrangements on Frank Sinatra's 1960 album Nice 'n' Easy as an "easygoing collection of small tonal joys". [1]
Gramophone magazine described The Joy of Living as an "outstanding Riddle collection" upon its 1998 reissue. [3]
Capitol Records released the title track "The Joy of Living" as a 45 rpm single, backed with a Nelson Riddle composition, "Somethin' Special." [4]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Life Is Just a Bowl of Cherries" | Lew Brown, Nacio Herb Brown, Ray Henderson | 2:08 |
| 2. | "You Make Me Feel So Young" | Mack Gordon, Josef Myrow | 3:14 |
| 3. | "Makin' Whoopee" | Walter Donaldson, Gus Kahn | 4:20 |
| 4. | "Bye Bye Blues" | David Bennett, Chauncey Gray, Frederick Hamm, Bert Lown | 2:33 |
| 5. | "It's So Peaceful in the Country" | Alec Wilder | 2:50 |
| 6. | "The Joy of Living" | Philip J. Davis | 2:49 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It's a Big Wide Wonderful World!" | John Rox | 2:13 |
| 2. | "June in January" | Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin | 2:13 |
| 3. | "Isn't This a Lovely Day" | Irving Berlin | 2:46 |
| 4. | "Indian Summer" | Al Dubin, Victor Herbert | 2:51 |
| 5. | "It's a Grand Night for Singing" | Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rodgers | 2:49 |
| 6. | "I Got the Sun in the Morning" | Berlin | 2:43 |
Nelson Smock Riddle Jr. was an American arranger, composer, bandleader and orchestrator whose career stretched from the late 1940s to the mid-1980s. He worked with many vocalists at Capitol Records, including Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Judy Garland, Dean Martin, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Rosemary Clooney and Keely Smith. He scored and arranged music for many films and television shows, earning an Academy Award and three Grammy Awards. He found commercial and critical success with a new generation in the 1980s, in a trio of Platinum albums with Linda Ronstadt.
In the Wee Small Hours is the ninth studio album by American vocalist Frank Sinatra. It was released in April 1955 by Capitol and produced by Voyle Gilmore with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. The album's songs deal with themes such as introspection, melancholy, lost love, failed relationships, depression and night life. The cover artwork reflects these themes, portraying Sinatra alone at night on an eerie and deserted city street awash in blue-tinged street lights.
"I've Got You Under My Skin" is a song written by American composer Cole Porter in 1936. It was introduced that year in the Eleanor Powell musical film Born to Dance in which it was performed by Virginia Bruce. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year but lost out to "The Way You Look Tonight". Popular recordings in 1936 were by Ray Noble and his Orchestra and by Hal Kemp and his Orchestra.
Ella Swings Gently with Nelson is a 1962 studio album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with an orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. This album is one of a pair, the other being Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson, that were released in 1962.
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.
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.
"Witchcraft" is a popular song from 1957 composed by Cy Coleman with lyrics by Carolyn Leigh.
"Mean to Me" is a popular song with music by Fred E. Ahlert and lyrics by Roy Turk, published in 1929. Hit versions that year were by Ruth Etting and by Helen Morgan. Ben Bernie and the Hotel Roosevelt Orchestra also recorded what might be the first male version in February 1929 with vocals by Scrappy Albert.
Lush Life is an album by American singer Linda Ronstadt, released in November 1984 on Asylum Records as the second in a trilogy of jazz albums with bandleader/arranger Nelson Riddle. All three album covers were designed by John Kosh.
Oscar Peterson and Nelson Riddle is a 1963 album by Oscar Peterson with orchestra arranged and conducted by Nelson Riddle. The album was produced by Jim Davis and released on Verve Records.
Wild Is Love is a 1960 concept album by the American singer and pianist Nat King Cole, arranged by Nelson Riddle. The album chronicles a narrator's attempts to pick up various women before he finds love at the conclusion of the album. The album formed the basis for an unsuccessful musical, I'm With You, that starred Cole and was intended as a potential Broadway vehicle for him. A television special also called Wild Is Love resulted from the album, and was shown in Canada in late 1961. The television special was not shown in the United States until 1964 due to the brief presence of physical contact between the African American Cole and a performer of Canadian European descent, Larry Kert, that was seen as offensive by commercial sponsors.
Communication is a 1971 album by Nelson Riddle and his orchestra. It was Riddle's first album for German record label MPS, followed by Changing Colors in 1972.
Return to Paradise Islands is a long-playing vinyl album of Hawaiian themed songs recorded by Bing Crosby for Reprise Records (R-6106) at three separate sessions in 1963. The tracks were arranged by Nelson Riddle who also conducted the orchestra.
Dream with Me is an album by the American singer Tommy Sands. It was arranged by Nelson Riddle and released in 1960.
Magic Moments from "The Gay Life" is the twelfth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, consisting of music from Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's musical "The Gay Life".
Love Is a Game of Poker is the fourteenth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, released in 1962.
Route 66 Theme and Other Great TV Themes is the thirteenth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, named for Riddle's theme music from the television series "Route 66". The album was nominated at the 5th Annual Grammy Awards for the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Theme and the Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement.
Music for Wives and Lovers is an album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle. It was his only release on the Solid State Records label.
Little Girl Blue/Little Girl New is a 1963 album by Keely Smith, with arrangements by Nelson Riddle. The album was Smith's first for Reprise Records, which was founded by Smith's friend and mentor, Frank Sinatra.
Sing a Song with Riddle is the seventh studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, released in 1959. The album consists of arrangements for a vocalist but without a singer; a lyric sheet was supplied with the original album package for buyers to sing along with at home. The inspiration for the release was a series of albums for amateur instrumentalists called Music Minus One on Command Records.