Originally Posted by Tina

" I'm A Fool To Want You" Frank sings this with so much passion, brings tears to my eyes

Tina, I agree! See here for another thread about this song: I'm a fool to want you.

Originally Posted by Bob

I prefer to listen to this and other concept albums from the discs in either The Capitol Years or Capitol Records Concept Albums CD box sets, since those do not include "bonus" tracks which were unintended for the original LP's.

My own solution has been to copy each of my 60 CDs of Frank's music onto my hard disc, then organize my Media Player library according to every original album and EP song roster, adding the original covers to boot. This way I can listen to each record the way it was intended from the beginning... This way I can also add my own personal compilations and imaginary albums...

[David B.]

i'm not a big fan of bonus tracks being added to the concept albums either but, as long as there were going to BE bonus tracks added, I was pleased to discover that RAIN was one of them. Mel, I have loved that one since I first heard it on my old This Is Sinatra! album.

In fact, as long as they were going to put 4 bonus tracks on the Where Are You CD, I would rather they had been RAIN, HERE'S THAT RAINY DAY, SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME and YOU, MY LOVE rather than the 4 they chose.

I'll never get tired of hearing those whether they fit the CD perfectly or not anyway. Which also makes the case for Stephane's approach. Maybe I'll get around to doing that with my computer some day.

<<They were added to the CD just to fill it out to a longer length.>>

I know that Bob. I like Bonus songs added to cd's. A good example of this is "Sinatra and Swingin' Brass" I returned the one that didn't have the bonus tracks.

The more Sinatra the better.

[MMM]

I think it's fine to add tracks if they "belong", not just to add padding. Something like putting "Don't Take Your Love From Me" and "As You Desire Me" on the original CD of Sinatra and Strings "fits". Adding "Lean Baby" to Point of No Return is LUNACY, even though Axel conducted (Heinie Beau arranged it though).

IMO, this album should be reissued in stereo AND mono as a deluxe set. If there were any artistically acceptable outtakes/alternates/chatter available, those could be nice "real" bonus tracks.

The MONO alternate (or intercut?) take of "Autumn Leaves" appears on (authorized) compact disc only on a French EMI/Capitol 2-CD set titled Embraceable You.

This was discussed at length elsewhere: The Capitol Years (UK box set) post #37 through post #49.

[nico]

i just got the "where are you" cd with all ballads on and i must say never before have i heard a vocalist be accompanied by such a wonderfull sound of strings and orchestra!

he sings with great tone and control!!

this is a masterpiece .

what a great sound this record has!

what do the specialists think?

[nico]

sorry if i opened a thread again that was somewhere,but i entered the search button and it didn't find no posts with where are you.

anyway glad i'm not alone with my passion about this album

Bumping for the 50th Anniversary of the completion of recordings for this album. See the following posts for details of the recording sessions at the Capitol Tower:

Wednesday, April 10, 1957
Monday, April 29, 1957
Wednesday, May 1, 1957

[lorenzotedesco]

It has probably been noted in a previous post but I recall reading that Gordon Jenkins was very emotional and at times was brought to tears while conducting his own orchestrations, the music so moved him. I don't know if it is true but I like the idea of it. His work with Sinatra on this album, and the other albums they did, as well as his work with Nat Cole is just sublime.

Larry

What a nice story, this. I wouldn't be surprised, because his arrangements are so emotional, and somehow bring out the most emotional side of all the artists he worked for. Where Are You? is my favorite Jenkins-arranged album, and as emotional as a record can get!

[Noebie]

new frank truth out with a review of this album

this one took awhile to grow on me - i appreciated the artistry on first listen, but i guess i wasn't in the right frame of mind at the time or something

although i still prefer "no one cares" among the sinatra albums with gordon jenkings, the vocal performances on this one are amazing - perhaps even the most impeccable ever from frank sinatra

here's the show, by the way

http://m.podshow.com/media/1399/epis...05-09-2007.mp3

[David B.]

Thanks, Brian, I really enjoyed the podcast review of Where Are You?

Although I share your preference for No One Cares as my favorite of the Sinatra-Jenkins albums, I find that almost any comment about Where Are You? brings me back to that one and to a deepening appreciation of it.

For instance, I had always felt (as I think your review indicates you do) that Lonely Town was the highlight of the session. But after reading more of the history of I'm A Fool To Want You on the SFForum I found myself paying more attention to that selection than ever before. The other day, I played an A-B comparison between Frank's 1951 recording of it with this 1957 version of it and the "before" and "after" aspect that was now so evident just tore me apart.

The word "profound" has been used a couple of times in this thread to describe what Frank Sinatra and Gordon Jenkins accomplished with the composers' work in this album and I concur that it truly applies in ways that it rarely has in a popular music format.

In the hands of FS and GJ, I find these ballads of lost love more profoundly disturbing (in the way that all great art ought to be disturbing) every time I listen to them. I can even understand why some of us can only listen to a few of these songs sparingly before the effect is overwhelming.

And it isn't so much about the work being a "downer". Not at all. In my mind, great product is never a "downer". In fact, whenever I revisit this FS and GJ album, it makes me want to stop the next person I meet in mid-sentence and play the album for them and ask, "Can you HEAR that? Can you hear the depth and breadth of the human spirit that can be conveyed in popular words and music by these people!?"

[voice1]

Originally Posted by David B.

And it isn't so much about the work being a "downer". Not at all. In my mind, great product is never a "downer". In fact, whenever I revisit this FS and GJ album, it makes me want to stop the next person I meet in mid-sentence and play the album for them and ask, "Can you HEAR that? Can you hear the depth and breadth of the human spirit that can be conveyed in popular words and music by these people!?"

Great post. My sentiments exactly.

I do love this album as it is very much a part of me.

Amen, David!

Rick, I sympathize. I can relate so much to that album that it's scary, sometimes...

[Noebie]

it's odd, because when i approached the album from the standpoint of a review, my experience was "superb album, not my cup of tea, why do so many people call this their favorite?"

after listening over and over again to prep and produce the show i finally got to "this is magnificent, i'm going to have to eat my script"

i think i still prefer "no one cares" but i'm not sure i ever gave "where are you" a fair listen until the past week or so

thankful to everyone here who has raved about it for so long

[David B.]

Yes, Rick, I'm with you on that, too. Like Brian, No One Cares remains slightly more a part of me than Where Are You? but I can't tell you why, really. Had I heard that one first around the house as a kid? Maybe that's all there is to it.

I remember seeing the television tribute to Frank Sinatra on his passing (wish I could find that on video) and being struck by how many men were so deeply touched by Sinatra's music and were eager to say so. Of course, Frank Sinatra always had plenty of male fans, but somewhere along the line, the famous female hearthrob became a particular favorite among men in ways that he hadn't been in the beginning.

So many men I grew up around, real tough guys, ex-Marines, cops, would listen to Where Are You?, No One Cares, Only The Lonely over and over again and, as we have done here, rate the relative merits of each. Which song was their favorite, playing a particular cut to rehear the turn of a phrase and so on. And all without the slightest sense that the nature of these songs was not the stereotypical draw for "real men". They could launch into a discussion about them anytime and anywhere as though they were comparing standings in the National Football League.

Well, I'm here to tell anyone who doubts it that "real men" loved the way Frank Sinatra sang about how a man feels when he is in love. Or, in these cases, when he has been wounded by love. And I have a hunch that this era of Sinatra's career in the mid-late 50s was when that attitude was solidified among his male fans.

I don't know if there was any record purchase data collected throughout Sinatra's career to see how many females vs males purchased his records. But I'll bet the percentage of men who bought them increased from Wee Small Hours forward with an even higher percentage reached during the Where Are You?, No One Cares and Only The Lonely years.

[David Charles]

I am looking for the original album (vinyl), but have yet to find it.

[Stunatra]

This is my favorite Capitol album of them all, Only the Lonely ranking second. Frank is in fine form here and he puts on some breathtaking performances. Lonely Town is the best song here and is in my top 5 all-time favorite Sinatra songs. This is one of those songs that brings a tear to my eye each time I listen to it, it is that moving; as is most of what is here.

The Highlights for me: Lonely Town, Maybe You'll Be There, I'm A Fool To Want You, Laura, and Baby Won't You Please Come Home.

Each song is the definitive version, if you want to hear Laura, this is the version to hear, it is just beautiful.

Where Are You is one of Frank's masterpieces and you just might need a box of tissues at hand, to listen to it.

This album is my favorite of Sinatra's torch songs albums.
I was wondering if any of you ever noticed that Gordon Jenkins' arrangements for the song "I Think Of You" are, in some places, an exact copy of the First Movement of Rachmaninov's Second Piano Concerto...?!?
It's a BEAUTIFUL piece of classical music and I can understand why Jenkins used it in this song.

EDIT: After closer examination, I believe it's actually the entire song that's based on that piece, not only jenkins' arrangements.