Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely

Background

Sinatra had planned to record the album with arranger Gordon Jenkins, with whom he had worked on Where Are You?. Since Jenkins was unavailable at the time, Sinatra chose to work with his frequent collaborator, Nelson Riddle. The three tracks conducted by Riddle at the would-be first session (May 5, 1958) were not used, and the subsequent May 29 session was conducted by Felix Slatkin, uncredited, after Riddle went on a pre-arranged tour with Nat King Cole.

At the time of the recording, Sinatra's divorce from Ava Gardner had been finalized, and Nelson Riddle (who wrote the album's arrangements) had recently suffered the deaths of his mother and daughter. Of these events, Riddle remarked: "If I can attach events like that to music...perhaps Only the Lonely was the result."

Reception

Q Magazine placed Only the Lonely at #1 on the "15 Greatest Stoner Albums of All Time". The album also peaked at #1 on Billboard′s pop album chart during a 120-week chart-run, and was certified Gold on June 21, 1962, nearly four years after its release. As noted by biographer Peter J. Levinson, "Nelson chose several instrumental soloists to communicate the essence of the music on the album. Harry Edison showed the somber side of his playing on 'Willow Weep for Me.' The late, great trombonist, Ray Sims, the unsung soloist with Les Brown and Harry James and brother of jazz tenor saxophonist stalwart 'Zoot' Sims, delivered the finest recording work of his long career with a brace of meaningful solos. Bill Miller contributed several beautifully conceived piano solos."

Grammy Awards

Sinatra was nominated for five Grammys at the inaugural Grammy Awards in 1959. Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely and Sinatra's other album released in 1958, Come Fly with Me, were nominated for the Album of the Year, and Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely won the Grammy Award for Best Album Cover.

Track listing

1. "Only the Lonely" (Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 4:10
2. "Angel Eyes" (Matt Dennis, Earl Brent) – 3:46
3. "What's New?" (Bob Haggart, Johnny Burke) – 5:13
4. "It's a Lonesome Old Town" (Harry Tobias, Charles Kisco) – 4:18
5. "Willow Weep for Me" (Ann Ronell) – 4:49
6. "Goodbye" (Gordon Jenkins) – 5:45
7. "Blues in the Night" (Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer) – 4:44
8. "Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry" (Cahn, Jule Styne) – 4:00
9. "Ebb Tide" (Robert Maxwell, Carl Sigman) – 3:18
10. "Spring is Here" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 4:47
11. "Gone with the Wind" (Allie Wrubel, Herb Magidson) – 5:15
12. "One for My Baby (and One More for the Road)" (Arlen, Mercer) – 4:23
13. "Sleep Warm" (Lew Spence, Marilyn Keith, Alan Bergman) – 2:45
14. "Where or When" (Rodgers, Hart) – 2:25

Selected personnel