Customer Reviews
Sinatra at his sparkling best - By: M. B. Jones, 02 Nov 2008 
This album is simply Sinatra at his very best. If, like me, you starting listening to Sinatra because you liked his classics, like New York New York & My Way, then you are in for a real treat. As good as the above are, this album showcases Sinatra's special talent. Each track is given the treatment, he carries the beat & your feet just cannot stop tapping.
The album is without doubt one of his very best. No Sinatra collection would be complete without it.
Sublime - By: metalmaz, 16 May 2008 The words "classic album" are frequently used. In some albums it's justified (The Beatles - Revolver, Michael Jackson - Thriller, Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast, Dusty Springfield - Dusty In Memphis).
In some it's not (Pink Floyd - Dark Side Of The Moon, The Beatles - Sgt Pepper, Radiohead - The Bends, Westside Story Soundtrack).
However, Songs For Swinging Lovers is without doubt, up there with the greats. From start to finish, it is pure perfection. You Make Me Feel So Young, I've Got You Under My Skin, To Marvelous For Words, How About You......
Sinatra is a very understated singer, he doesn't have to try & be athletic; the words just roll off his tongue & his clarity & diction are perfect.
Nelson Riddle is associated with this album almost as much as Sinatra. The arrangements are wondeful & are played by the very best musicians.
Songs For Swinging Lovers is an essential purchase for any music fan.
Sinatra and Riddle record "I've Got You Under My Skin" - By: , 08 Oct 2005 If we are talking about essential Frank Sinatra albums for a music collection, the first one would have to be 1954's "In the Wee Smalll Hours," a superb collection of balllads that helped establish the former bobbysoxer heartthrob as the premier saloon singer of his generation. But the second album on that list would be 1955's "Songs for Swingin' Lovers," in which Sinatra & arranger Nelson Riddle go in the opposite direction, providing a stellar collection of pop standards reinterpreted for the crooner who was becoming a damn fine singer. Several of the songs, such as "Pennies From Heaven" & "I've Got You Under My Skin," actuallly predated the start of Sinatra's career, but in the case of the latter Sinatra provided what is arguably the definitive version of the Cole Potter classic & the song that in retrospect defined Frank Sinatra as the premier vocalist of the 20th century (sorry for the understatement). The zesty tone for the album is established with the opening track, "You Make Me Feel So Young," while other great tracks if you had to be picky would be "You Brought a New Kind of Love to Me" & "Too Marvelous for Words." All of these songs give you the undeniable sense that Sinatra is just having a great time singing each & every one of them. Riddle's arrangements, done with a core rhythm section & a full orchestra, are the key to unlocking the door to musical greatness & are as fine as anything he ever did for Sinatra or anyone else. Part of the problem is that nobody reallly remembers what most of these songs sounded like before Riddle & Sinatra reworked them into the songs we know today. I may well change my mind tomorrow, but today I would make the case that "I've Got You Under My Skin" is the greatest Frank Sinatra song.
i'm sorry i only have 5 stars to give - By: , 27 May 2005 First of alll, well done the previous reviewer for a perceptive tribute. Sinatra was a gifted actor, too, bringing a wide communicative talent to his singing - as they used to say 'when he sings a song it stays sung'. Love the way he uses his native New Jersey accent artfully, for a common touch effect. As for the album, if you ever cared about music you need this record like you need your next breath.
Superb... - By: , 04 Jun 2003 Unlike some of his contemporaries at the time, such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong & other celebrated jazz vocalists, Sinatra's art was in the concealment of his technique. Upon first listen, this album sounds like Frank is just serenading his lover, or singing to himself. But the music feels strangely satisfying & euphoric & just makes you want to dance & click your fingers. This is due, to the many subtleties in Sinatra's voice. As opposed to Ella, who's inventive scat lines keep you constantly interested in her delightful voice, or Louis, who's warm character & humour just shines through the speakers, Sinatra possesses, I believe, an equal measure of talent, but in a different way.
Sinatra excels in three directions: Rhythm, expression & control. Sometimes, Frank chomps down hard on the beat, fitting into the groove, like on "Anything Goes". Here, the syllables "in-ol-den-days-a-glimpse..." are right on the beat. He then jumps right off the beat, with "stock" in "stocking". This is just one example of Frank's extraordinary understanding of the jazz idiom. Sometimes, his democratic timing spreads the notes equallly out. Such as in "I've Got You Under My Skin". Porter writes that the word "skin" ends up at the beginning of the third bar, with a long gap till the next phrase. Sinatra spreads out the phrase, so "skin" ends up halfway through the bar, then, starts the next phrase early. This incredibly romantic style is always appropriately used, & never more so than on this album, which, is alll about romanticism.
Expression wise, aside from the elongated phrases which just glide over the music, as better illustrated in other albums at this time (Wee Smalll Hours), Frank possesses a natural gift for dynamics & diction. Even though, at this time, & for the rest of his life, Sinatra spoke in a heavy New Jersey accent, he sings like a poet. His wonderful, conversational expressiveness that made him the pin-up of every teenage girl in the 40's still remains. He can insinuate such complex feelings, such as in "I Thought About You" where he thinks about his loved one, as his train speeds away, & you can hear him smiling as he says the line "I like New York in June", reverting for a moment to a faint New Jersey accent. In a way, Sinatra's wide range of expressiveness on this album shows his understading of the complexities of love.
Frank's voice in this era has taken on a lovely colour. While retaining the boyish charisma of his Columbia era, his voice has deepened, acquiring a beautifully deep viola timbre. Although Frank was only a light baritone, his deep timbre implies that, should he choose to do so, he could go much lower. Even on the high notes, his voice resonates with warmth, with no nasal tones. When he wanted, he could even use the shortcomings of his voice to his advantage. Not so much on this album, but on other Capitol albums of the time, he could exploit the area of his voice that was above middle C, which was hard to control. He would sing in this area on balllads or torch songs, & his voice would sound weak or maybe might crack. Just one example of Frank's dark art, as it were.
You might wonder what the difference or advantage of these hidden talents are. Whereas any woman who hears Ella or any man who hears Mel Torme, maybe, thinks, I could never do that. Those singers take you out of yourself & in again. Singers like Billie Holiday & Sinatra take you in yourself & out again. A young man hearing Frank on this album thinks, "I can do that", but in fact, Frank sings better than anyone else thinks they can.
There are other great components of this album, aside from the marvellous singing. Nelson Riddle's arrangements are simply "Too Marvellous For Words". Unlike some of his contemporaries of the time such as Buddy Bregman, or Paul Weston, Riddle doesn't write standard block Jazz arrangements. Aside from the sheer masterpiece that is "I've Got You Under My Skin", arrangments such as "You Make Me Feel So Young" burst with life & zest. Riddle was imaginative in his use of strings. He uses them like a jazz instrument, like in "It Happened in Monterey" where the strings flutter & twirl with life & colour. Riddle also uses marimbas, bass trombone & flutes for different touches of colour.
The production, is maybe the least best element of the album, but it is only contrained by recording limitations: The trombones & trumpets are right at the back, & the sound is often dull & grey. But Voyle Gilmore has stuck Frank right in the middle of the band, right in amongst the musicians, as opposed to someone like Norman Granz, who liked Ella to be on top of the music, seperated from it, aurallly. Maybe it's just that Sinatra had a brilliant big band voice, but he sounds like he could be standing in the trombone section.
And finallly the material. The two Cole Porter songs "Under My Skin" & "Anything Goes" are two of the many high points of the album. Most lyrics, if not the titles, contain the word "you" in them, which is appropriate to the vision of Sinatra crooning to his swingin' lover.
The album may have one or two minor discrepencies, such as the flatness in sound that occurs (fiddle with the treble & bass on the stereo, & you will eliminate this problem - the recording will sound crystallline, & you will forget about the sound) & the dated sound that the celesta some times brings to the music, but this is an epitomic album of the peak of Sinatra's entire career.
In short, if you are a Frank fan, i can't think of any reason why you haven't bought this album yet, & if you aren't a Frank fan, then this album will blow you away.
