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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.
| Songs for Swingin' Lovers! | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 5, 1956 | |||
| Recorded | October 1955–January 1956 | |||
| Studio | Capitol Studio A (Hollywood) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 43:59 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | Voyle Gilmore | |||
| Frank Sinatra chronology | ||||
| ||||
Production
editThis 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
edit| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [2] |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | [3] |
| Uncut | [4] |
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,[5] and 308 in 2012 revised list.[6] 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.[7]
In 2000 it was voted number 100 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums.[8]
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).[9]
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
editSongs 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
edit| No. | Title | Writer(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 |
| No. | Title | Writer(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" | Porter | 2:43 |
| 15. | "How About You?" |
| 2:45 |
| Total length: | 43:59 | ||
Complete personnel
edit- Frank Sinatra – vocals
- Nelson Riddle – arranger, conductor
- John Palladino – engineer[10]
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/clt); 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/clt); 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/clt); 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).[11]
Charts
edit| Chart (1956) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[12] | 1 |
| US Billboard 200[13] | 2 |
Certifications
edit| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[14] | Gold | 100,000* |
| United States (RIAA)[15] | Gold | 500,000^ |
|
* Sales figures based on certification alone. | ||
References
edit- ^ Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. Songs for Swingin' Lovers! at AllMusic
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2006). Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4th ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0195313734.
- ^ Aiken, Kit (November 2003). "Croon squad". Uncut. No. 20. p. 92.
- ^ [1] Archived October 23, 2005, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "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.
- ^ Holden, Stephen (May 16, 1998). "Frank Sinatra Dies at 82; Matchless Stylist of Pop". The New York Times. Retrieved November 18, 2023.
- ^ Larkin, Colin (2000). All Time Top 1000 Albums (3rd ed.). Virgin Books. p. 75. ISBN 0-7535-0493-6.
- ^ Wolkewitz, Martin; Allignol, Arthur; Graves, Nicholas; Barnett, Adrian G. (2011). "Does the 27 club exist?". British Medical Journal. 343 (7837): 1284–1286. JSTOR 23066612.
- ^ Buskin, Richard (December 2012). "Classic Tracks: Frank Sinatra 'I've Got You Under My Skin'". Sound on Sound.
- ^ Put Your Dreams Away: A Frank Sinatra Discography. ISBN 978-0274963768.
- ^ "Frank Sinatra | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart.
- ^ "Frank Sinatra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
- ^ "British album certifications – Frank Sinatra – Songs For Swinging Lovers". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
- ^ "American album certifications – Frank Sinatra – Songs For Swingin' Lovers". Recording Industry Association of America.