Frank Sinatra works with Gordon Jenkins for the first time

For Frank Sinatra 1957 went well beyond being a very good year. Of the six albums that the singer released that year I would argue that three of them--the swinging "Come Fly With Me," the hard-driving "A Swingin' Affair!", and the melancholy "Where Are You?"--end up on the short list of the ten essential Sinatra albums. Another two, "Close to You and More" and the soundtrack for "Pal Joey" are only a step or two below that highest level, and only "A Jolly Christmas with Frank Sinatra" is a marginal effort. Three great albums and two very good albums in one year is remarkable (when the Beatles exploded they were releasing "only" two great albums a year), and the cold hard fact is that in 1957 Sinatra had a better year than the entire careers of 99% of the world's recording artists.

"Where Are You?" is not only Sinatra's first album recorded in stereo, it is actually something of a change of pace for the singer since it was the first album he recorded at Capitol with a producer other than Nelson Riddle, beginning a successful collaboration with arranger/conductor Gordon Jenkins. The key difference between the two producers was that Jenkins tended towards the classical touch of lush string-dominated arrangements in providing the proper touch of melancholy for this collection of torch songs. The result is not the stark sadness of earlier Sinatra collections of saloon songs (e.g., "In the Wee Small Hours"), but more an overwhelming sense of sadness. Ten years later he would win the Grammy for producing another essential Sinatra album, "September of My Years."

The choice cuts off of "Where Are You?" would be "The Night We Called It a Day," "I Cover the Waterfront," and "Lonely Town." However, the tone is set by the title track, where Sinatra displays a new sense of delicacy in his vocals, the orchestra effectively reduced to subtle background color. "Where Are You?" is one of these classic Sinatra songs that you get to discover (or rediscover), when you get away from the boxed sets and hit collections and just listen to the albums. Nobody did a better job of putting together thematic collections for each release than Frank Sinatra and this album, which reached #3 on the Pop Charts, is one of his very best in that regard.

FRANK'S 'WHERE ARE YOU?"- a Real Mind Bender-Amazing

First, Frank's career is so monumental that it seems just about all his late 50's Capitol Albums are the pinnacle,and in truth they are.But "Where are You" is simply the greatest single ballad collection ever recorded.Now there are some tunes here that I admit don't meet the absolute highest Frank standards,though they are all worth a listen.But check out "The Night We Called it A Day", and then "Maybe You'll Be There". The orchestral accompaniment could have been arranged by Beethoven,no less.That's Gordon Jenkins,who specialized in high drama,sad arrangements."Laura" shows them in fine form too,but "Lonely Town" is without a doubt among a handful of Frank's absolute top ballad performances.Several listenings will simply confirm Frank's position as the greatest popular vocalist."Autumn Leaves" is fine,but I actually prefer Nat Cole's version.Next comes a match for "Lonely Town","I'm A Fool To Want You",every bit as sublime,another mind bender. Believe it or not,there are actually people who have told me Frank is nothing special.They have never heard anything beyond,say, "Strangers","New York,New York",and "My Way". It would please me no end to teach a Frank 101 class to these individuals. Just these songs easily are worth many times the admission price here. The haunting beauty is simply perfection,and requires innumerable listenings to really appreciate.I recommend this for older ballad fans as strongly as I recommend "Come Dance With Me," a mind blowing swinger,as a Frank Intro for the more youth oriented out there.

Sinatra and Jenkins at their dramatic best

Among Sinatra's favored arrangers -- the legendary Nelson Riddle, Billy May, Axel Stordahl and others -- Gordon Jenkins seems to take a few more critical blows than the others. Jenkins favors curtains of strings, lending a melancholy backdrop to Sinatra's vocals that contrasts sharply with Riddle's lighter woodwinds and reeds and May's fast brass. While Riddle and May are undoubtedly better arrangers, Sinatra clearly preferred Jenkins when he wanted to record albums of torch songs and dramatic loneliness, and this album especially bears out the singer's wisdom when it came to orchestration.

This is an immensely rewarding album to listen to, in part because it was Sinatra's first stereo recording -- and very nicely engineered (the more famous 'Come Fly with Me' is almost bombastic in comparison, due to the overemphasized channel separation.) The title track is magnificent. 'Maybe You'll Be There' finds Sinatra's voice complementing Jenkins' lush strings to perfection. 'I'm a Fool to Want You' simply aches. 'Where is the One?' is especially fine, with a lyric that never fails to put a lump in my throat: "The journey's long, much longer than I reckoned. In any throng, I'd know her in a second." Perfect rhyme, perfect timing -- and set like a diamond among Jenkins' golden string section.

There are other Sinatra albums that are more accessible, or popular in their style. While not all of the Sinatra/Jenkins recordings are this good, the artistry is without peer, and the intricacies of 'Where Are You?' make it extremely rewarding for those who share Sinatra's fascination with the brooding side of the lonely heart. Strongly recommended.