Track Listing

1. Close to You
2. P.S. I Love You
3. Love Locked Out
4. Everything Happens to Me
5. It's Easy to Remember
6. Don't Like Goodbyes
7. With Every Breath I Take
8. Blame It on My Youth
9. It Could Happen to You
10. I've Had My Moments
11. I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night
12. End of a Love Affair
13. If It's the Last Thing I Do [*]
14. There's a Flaw in My Flue [*]
15. Wait Till You See Her [*] - Hollywood String Quartet, Frank Sinatra

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69816 in Music
• Released on: 2002-01-08
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com

Franks Sinatra Photos

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Amazon.com
One of the most conceptually daring of Sinatra's Capitol albums returns to print in this 24-bit remaster. Close to You put the singer and arranger Nelson Riddle together with the Hollywood String Quartet, a small rhythm section, and guests including Sinatra regular Harry "Sweets" Edison for one of his most intimate sets. The delivery is very conversational and especially suits lyrics like "Blame It on My Youth," "I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night," and Johnny Mercer's wry "P.S. I Love You." These emotionally generous ballads are often relaxed but are no less intense for it. Three bonus tracks complete the 1956 Close sessions and include a straight-faced reading of the Bing Crosby novelty number "There's a Flaw in My Flue." A marvelous disc that both stands on its own and demonstrates the flexibility of the era's downbeat Sinatra. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Worth the wait.
Why this album has been out of print for the better part of 15 years defies credibility. The album was a labor of love for Sinatra, who required 8 months and 5 recording sessions to make everything--the song selections, nuanced orchestrations, sensitive readings--just right. These are not the "suicide songs" of the better-known ballad collections such as "In the Wee Small Hours" and "Only the Lonely." The spare orchestration--usually string quartet with the addition of one other instrument, whether a French horn, clarinet, flute or oboe--complements the nuanced, ironical yet fully sincere, readings Sinatra brings to each lyric. The tunes range from the familiar ("It's Easy to Remember," "With Every Breath I Take") to the under-recorded ("Close to You") to the esoteric (Arlen/Capote's "No More Goodbyes," my personal favorite). As for "There's a Flaw in My Flue," the real gag here is that Sinatra is able to render the lyric with such persuasive emotional rhetoric that the listener doesn't know whether to laugh or cry--perhaps we just smile with deep appreciation, sensing that moments this intimate and revealing are hard to come by in American popular song. Even the best song lyrics can sound false and silly in the repertory of lesser singers, no matter how resplendent their vocal equipment. It's Sinatra's singular believability that makes these songs plus the delicate arrangements come to life, that makes them feel unbelievably close.

Companion Piece
This album is the other book-end to go with "Only the Lonely". Frank Sinatra did much, much work, but never exceeded these albums in artistic quality, i.e. addressing the human condition in universal terms, and with a maximum of un-forced feeling. Sweets Edison, of course, is the constant commentator through his muted horn who never fails to synch in with judicious sensibility and right-on sensitivity. "Close to You" equals "OTL" in nostalgic chops, but floats more serenely above the depths. In this album the depths are plainly there to contemplate, while in the other one you are IN the depths.

Masterpiece
I have absolutely all of the Frank Sinatra music that he record for each of the disc company : RCA (today Sony-BMG), Columbia, Capitol and Reprise (today WB). Well, this is the most finiest af all. Frank is in the very best voice and his interpretation is very sincerily. It's a very beautiful song and with excellent interpretation of the Hollywood quartet. When I hear this music I think I am in a very pleasure world, for example along the river with very beautiful trees or in a peaceful hall. For a fan of Frank this is one you must have.