FRANK SINATRA SINGS FOR ONLY THE LONELY

EXPANDED 60TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

By Harvey Kubernik c 2018

Frank Sinatra’s intimate 1958 opus, Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely, has been newly mixed in stereo for an expanded

Courtesy of Capitol/UMe

60th Anniversary Edition to be released worldwide on October 19 by Capitol/UMe and Frank Sinatra Enterprises.

“Only The Lonely’ (60thAnniversary Edition) will be released in a Deluxe 2CD package, in 180-gram 2LP vinyl and 1CD configurations, and in two digital album versions. Starting tomorrow, “Angel Eyes” (2018 Stereo Mix) will be available for streaming and for immediate download with digital album preorder.

 ‘Only The Lonely’ (60th Anniversary Edition)’s 2CD Deluxe package pairs the album’s remastered original 1958 mono mix with a new 2018 stereo mix by Larry Walsh. Four bonus tracks from the mono session recordings are also featured, including studio takes making their release debuts: “Angel Eyes” (alternate session takes – May 5, 1958) and “Lush Life” (session takes – May 29, 1958). The album’s original mono mix makes its digital release debut in an expanded digital collection pairing the remastered album mix with the four bonus session recordings, while the 1CD, 2LP vinyl, and standard digital album configurations feature the album’s 2018 stereo mix. The new edition’s audio was mastered by Ron McMaster at Capitol Studios.

 “Only The Lonely was recorded as both a mono and stereo presentation,” explains Larry Walsh in his notes for the 60th Anniversary Edition. “The mono was the focus as that was the chief format of the day. The stereo was recorded with two microphones suspended high over the studio orchestra. Frank Sinatra’s voice was recorded onto a third track. With the stereo recording being mid-side decoded, the depth of the studio is revealed.”

For Only The Lonely, Sinatra recorded evening sessions at Capitol Studios in May and June 1958, joined by an orchestra and his frequent collaborator, conductor and arranger Nelson Riddle. Sinatra delves deeply into love, pain, and loss across the album’s songs of heartbreak and yearning, including “One For My Baby (And One More For The Road),” “Angel Eyes,”’ and “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry.” Only The Lonely reached No. 1 on Billboard’s albums chart and remained on the charts for 120 weeks. At 1959’s inaugural GRAMMY Awards® ceremony, the album won the award for Best Recording Package.

The liner notes to this 2018 edition incorporate Sinatra comments on the album sessions.

“I like recording late at night. The later the better. My voice was not made for daytime use. I’ve sung and recorded so many wonderful songs over the years it would be impossible to name one in particular as my favorite. Many of them are special to me for one reason or another. The ones that stick in my mind are ‘Only the Lonely,’ ‘Wee Small Hours,’ and ‘Come Fly With Me,’ because I think the orchestrator’s work and my work came together so well.”

“I was once on Catalina Island years ago at a place called Christian’s Hut, and Duke Wayne was at the bar. Suddenly, on the jukebox comes my recording of ‘One For My Baby,’ and John Wayne turned to me and said, ‘What the hell do you listen to when you’re alone at three o’clock in the morning?’”

“Sinatra recorded his melancholy masterpiece set amidst personal tragedies for Frank and arranger Nelson Riddle whose daughter had died recently of bronchial asthma,” offered Hal Lifson, an entertainment music publicist who represented Frank Sinatra’s daughter, Nancy,  during 1994-2002. Lifson is the author of Hal Lifson’s 1966!  

“This is a 1958 lush concept album with cover art of Sinatra the sad clown which would inspire many of Frank’s personal paintings in later years of clowns. Nick Volpe reinterpreted the cover art and this was the only album Grammy he received until many years later.

““One For My Baby’ and ‘Angel Eyes’ we’re saloon standouts on what many experts feel is Frank’s best album certainly his most poignant concept LP,” emphasized Lifson.

“Although In the Wee Small Hours and Come Fly with Me were brilliant albums under the Capitol umbrella when Frank set new standards not just as an interpreter of slow pensive ballads but as of an actor actually performing these songs based on his own heartbreak. The Ava Gardner lost love was never more evident than on this collection.

“Frank Sinatra Jr had related to me that Only the Lonely was his favorite of his dad’s vast album catalog and that he felt these were his dad’s most prolific vocal performances.  Nancy was honored that Bono cited this as his favorite Frank album as did Elvis Costello.  

“Frank Sinatra Sings For Only the Lonely was Nancy’s second favorite of her dad’s albums. In the Wee Small Hours was number one for her.”  

Frank Sinatra Sings For Only The Lonely (60th Anniversary Edition)

2CD Deluxe

CD 1:  Original 1958 Mono Mix + Bonus Tracks

1. Only The Lonely
2. Angel Eyes
3. What’s New?
4. It’s A Lonesome Old Town
5. Willow Weep For Me
6. Good-Bye
7. Blues In The Night
8. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
9. Ebb Tide
10. Spring Is Here
11. Gone With The Wind
12. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

Bonus Tracks (Mono)

13. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (alt take – May 5, 1958)
14. Angel Eyes (alt session takes – May 5, 1958) – previously unreleased

CD 2: New 2018 Stereo Mix + Bonus Tracks

1. Only The Lonely
2. Angel Eyes
3. What’s New?
4. It’s A Lonesome Old Town
5. Willow Weep For Me
6. Good-Bye
7. Blues In The Night
8. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
9. Ebb Tide
10. Spring Is Here
11. Gone With The Wind
12. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

Bonus Tracks (Mono)

13. Lush Life (session takes – May 29, 1958) – previously unreleased
14. One For My Baby (test track – June 24, 1958)

Expanded Digital Album (Mono)

Original 1958 Mono Mix + Bonus Tracks

1. Only The Lonely
2. Angel Eyes
3. What’s New?
4. It’s A Lonesome Old Town
5. Willow Weep For Me
6. Good-Bye
7. Blues In The Night
8. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
9. Ebb Tide
10. Spring Is Here
11. Gone With The Wind
12. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road)

Bonus Tracks (Mono)

13. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry (alt take – May 5, 1958)
14. Angel Eyes (alt session takes – May 5, 1958) – previously unreleased
15. Lush Life (session takes – May 29, 1958) – previously unreleased
16. One For My Baby (test track – June 24, 1958)

1CD; 2LP Vinyl; Digital Album (Stereo)

New 2018 Stereo Mix

2LP Vinyl side splits

Side A:

1. Only The Lonely
2. Angel Eyes
3. What’s New?

Side B:

4. It’s A Lonesome Old Town
5. Willow Weep For Me
6. Good-Bye

Side C:

7. Blues In The Night
8. Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry
9. Ebb Tide

Side D:

10. Spring Is Here
11. Gone With The Wind
12. One For My Baby

Throughout his seven-decade career, Frank Sinatra performed on more than 1,400 recordings and was awarded 31 gold, nine platinum, three double platinum, and one triple platinum album by the Recording Industry Association of America. Sinatra demonstrated a remarkable ability to appeal to every generation and continues to do so; his artistry still influences many of today’s music superstars. The Oscar® winner also appeared in more than 60 films and produced eight motion pictures. 

Sinatra was awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy, The Screen Actors Guild and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), as well as the Kennedy Center Honors, the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Today, he remains a legend and an inspiration around the world for his contributions to culture and the arts.

For more information about Frank Sinatra, visit sinatra.com.

(Harvey Kubernik is the author of 14 books, including heralded titles on Leonard Cohen and Neil Young. His 2017 volume, the acclaimed 1967 A Complete Rock History of the Summer of Love was published by Sterling/Barnes and Noble.  His Inside Cave Hollywood: The Harvey Kubernik Music InnerViews and InterViews Collection, Vol. 1 was published in December 2017, by Cave Hollywood.  Kubernik’s The Doors Summer’s Gone was published by Other Cottage  Industries in March 2018.

On November 6, 2018, Sterling/Barnes and Noble published Harvey’s book, The Story of The Band From Pig Pink to The Last Waltz, written with brother Kenneth Kubernik).