Hello, Fun-Seekers…
Since way back in January, we here at TCOTS have been celebrating Frank Sinatra’s 100th Birthday and, man, it’s been a swingin’ affair so far. We started by ticking off the 100 Best Performances of The Chairman Of The Board on CD and digital download, and now we’re ready for another supersonic flight where the air is so rarefied: counting down the Top Ten Best Albums of Mr. Sinatra, because, above everything else, ol’ Francis Albert was about da albums for a good part of his career [we’ll be featuring one album per week and this will take us right-up to the big day: 12 December].
While he may not have invented the Concept Album [and that is a matter of some dispute], Frank certainly defined and brought the genre to near-Perfection, turning out a series of them that still move the Heart and thrill the Soul.
While time will not permit me to post audio for all the tracks, I’ll try to provide a nice sampler of the tunes I enjoy the most.
So…put your seat belts on and get ready for a real mothery time [and indulge in a little ‘Hey-Hey’, if you feel the urge].
Captain Frank will be your pilot and Bobby Bell your navigator.
Let’s get this bird soaring…
03 — No One Cares
Recorded: 24, 25, 26 March / 14 May 1959
Arranger: Gordon Jenkins
Label: Capital
Best Mastering* on CD/Digital Download: 2013 Mobile Fidelity SACD. A new mastering of this in Mono is long overdue.
Mastering Engineer: Rob LoVerde.
Track Listing
[favorite Performances in black]:
- “When No One Cares” (Sammy Cahn, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 2:42
- “A Cottage for Sale” (Larry Conley, Willard Robison) – 3:16
- “Stormy Weather” (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 3:20
- “Where Do You Go?” (Arnold Sundgaard], Alec Wilder) – 2:34
- “I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You” (Bing Crosby, Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 3:16
- “Here’s That Rainy Day” (Johnny Burke, Jimmy Van Heusen) – 3:34
- “I Can’t Get Started” (Vernon Duke, Ira Gershwin) – 4:01
- “Why Try to Change Me Now?” (Cy Coleman, Joseph Allan McCarthy) – 3:41
- “Just Friends” (John Klenner, Sam M. Lewis) – 3:40
- “I’ll Never Smile Again” (Ruth Lowe) – 3:46
- “None But the Lonely Heart” (Pyotr Il’yich Tchaikovsky, Bill Westbrook) – 3:41
As my Friend In The Ether Steve M. describes this album…
It’s so dark and brooding it actually changes the weather outside when I play it. From blue skies and sunshine it changes to cold, windy, overcast and wet as soon as I put this LP on!
Indeed. No One Cares is, perhaps, the bleakest record ever made…and it’s also one of the most wonderful, penetrating, and beautiful works on the devastation of Love lost forever. Consider it a funeral mass.
Frank pours everything he has into this set [listen to the way he sings ‘You know I’ll love you’ on I Don’t Stand a Ghost of a Chance with You — that’s perfect Heartbreak you’re hearing].
Originally, there were supposed to be twelve tracks, but the limitations of the technology used to cut albums in Stereo forced Sinatra to leave the performance of The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else off the release [two good masterings of this song can be found on the 3-CD The Capital Years and as a bonus track on the 1991 Larry Walsh engineered CD]. Put this tune in place of the Stormy Weather misfire [the only track that doesn’t work here] and I think you’ll be very satisfied.
–The key’s in the mailbox, the same as before
But no one is waiting for me anymore…
–Funny how love becomes a cold rainy day…
–You know I’ll love you till the moon’s upside down
Don’t you remember I was always your clown?
Why try to change me now?…
–We loved, we laughed, we cried
Then suddenly love died…
-The hands I held belong to somebody else…
See you next Weekend as we head-off again to Bobsville and pick ourselves the Number One Sinatra Album…and tell us your favorite albums in the Comments, Clyde.
Don’t forget to also keep checking out
Pundette’s Sinatra 100 countdown,
Ms Evi’s Sinatra Celebration,
& Mark Steyn’s Sinatra Songs Of The Century.
It’s a ring-a-ding world.
If you’re having trouble tracking down any of the masterings on this List, contact me at Robert[dot]Belvedere[at]gmail[dot]com and I might be able to help you.
____________________________________
*The links I’m providing for the best CD/Digital
masterings are not meant to be an endorsement of
the site linked to. I receive no enumeration or any
kind of considerations from them. They are linked
for informational purposes only.
