Disc 3 of the expansive new Ultimate Sinatra opens with Frank Sinatra’s ageless 1958 triumph “Only the Lonely,” a junction-point moment. All due respect to Nelson Riddle, but this didn’t seem like it would work.
Before its release, “Only the Lonely” really felt — at first, even to Sinatra himself — far more temperamentally suited to Gordon Jenkins, the man most closely associated with much of Frank Sinatra’s string-oriented, darker work. But Sinatra and Riddle went way back. He had used Riddle as an arranger as early as 1953, on Sinatra’s second recording session for Capitol. Before that, Riddle served as a trombonist with Tommy Dorsey, with whom Sinatra had also apprenticed with as a boy singer.
They were developing an almost telepathic relationship, one that comes to full fruition on “Only the Lonely,” written by Sammy Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen. Appearing on Ultimate Sinatra as part of a sweeping multi-disc melding of high points from every Frank Sinatra era, the track ends up showcasing Nelson Riddle as the more nuanced, subtle arranger.
Riddle’s artistry in using strings within a big-band lineup, of course, has seldom been matched. Their work together had already helped solidify Frank Sinatra’s second career as one of urbane romanticism. (That is, his best tunes seemed to have a very adult attitude, one colored by love’s losses.) But their ballads were typically balanced by swinging asides, all in service of Sinatra’s slightly weathered and oh-so measured mid-career style.
The “Only the Lonely” sessions would be different, however: This was to be a very focused examination of quieter, more difficult themes. It would test both Nelson Riddle and Frank Sinatra.
Inklings of their mid-tempo genius came with 1955’s In the Wee Small Hours, but that was a jazzier, less determinedly melancholy set of torch songs. (Its title track is on Ultimate Sinatra, as well.) Sinatra’s 1957 all-ballads release Where Are You, arranged by Gordon Jenkins, followed more upbeat efforts — but, for me, it seemed a little too obvious at times, too ham-fisted. Nevertheless, Frank Sinatra had planned to record “Only the Lonely” with Jenkins, only to find him unavailable.
That led Sinatra back to Nelson Riddle. Turns out, he made an even darker album than Gordon Jenkins might have, with a larger, more expressive orchestra. In keeping, “Only the Lonely” has a rigorous, nearly classical feel that brings out every shattered nuance in a lyric. There’s none of the over-the-top swagger that Frank Sinatra was prone to even at his peak — and that Jenkins’ charts tended to indulge.
No, Sinatra is in complete control of his emotions here, and his voice. Pulling vocals over the beat and holding notes past the end of a stanza, he’s as graceful and he is devastated. Listen as Frank Sinatra sustains the words until you hear the cracks in his voice and, you become certain, his heart. It’s a gorgeous kind of hurt.
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