Personnel includes: Frank Sinatra (vocals); Gordon Jenkins, Nelson Riddle (arranger, conductor).
Recorded between April and May 1957. Includes liner notes by Pete Welding.
All tracks have been digitally remastered.
This is part of Capitol Records "Entertainer Of The Century" series.
This 1957 recording marks Sinatra's first collaboration with arranger Gordon Jenkins. Jenkins was an innovator whose sympathetic orchestrations for Sinatra, second only to those of Nelson Riddle, would mark a bright period in the singer's long, celestial career. Besides his phenomenal vocal abilities, one of the things that set Sinatra apart from his contemporaries was his conceptual vision. He was one of the first pop singers to release albums that were thematically connected groups of songs, rather than just a haphazard collection of singles (take that, SGT. PEPPER!). The material Sinatra chose for WHERE ARE YOU reflects a mood of wistful regret and romantic longing, a mood the Chairman could mine more effectively than anybody this side of Mark Eitzel.
The unadulterated sadness of "Lonely Town" is as beautiful as it is unrelenting. Sinatra sings like a man painted into an emotional corner, powerless to change his predicament, and condemned to watch life and love blossom all around him while he remains isolated. "I'm A Fool To Want You" finds him examining the futility of his desires, backed by an unforgettable minor-key melody and a subtle, ghostly string arrangement.
And that's not even mentioning the four bonus tracks.
