FRANK SINATRA
watertown
REPRISE RS 1031
I spent a good part of the last few days spinning Frank Sinatra's WATERTOWN. I've had an LP copy of it for years (from the radio station), but never sat down and listened to it as a whole.
Wow!
This is an incredible album. It's a rather depressing concept album about the breakup of a marriage with all tracks composed by Bob Gaudio & Jake Holmes, and Frank was in the twilight of his career when he did this, so his voice cracks a bit in spots, but like Herb's vocals, it comes off as sincere.
There are no big hit singles on the album. Here's the track-list:
1. Watertown
2. Goodbye (She Quietly Says)
3. For A While
4. Michael & Peter
5. I Would Be In Love (Anyway)
6. Elizabeth
7. What A Funny Girl (You Used To Be)
8. What's Now Is Now
9. She Says
10. The Train
From years of working at a radio station that had an hour of Sinatra daily, I can recall hearing "For A While", "I Would Be In Love (Anyway)" and "Elizabeth" from time to time, but never in the context of the whole song-cycle album.
My LP was a little noisy, so I had to clean it thoroughly first to get rid of the "Rice Krispies", then spent the better part of yesterday cleaning the tracks further with Audacity. There are still some unfortunate ticks and pops that I can't seem to get rid of without destroying the sound, so given that I've become quite enamored of this album, I've sought out a CD copy that should be here in the next week or so.
At least my LP is an original-issue gatefold cover with the embossing on it. From what I understand the album didn't sell all that well and wasn't well-received critically either upon release, but there are more and more people signing on the Watertown bandwagon all the time. If you find 36 minutes or so, give this one a listen, straight through. Follow along with the lyrics if you can. You may be left teary-eyed by the end.
Harry
watertown
REPRISE RS 1031
I spent a good part of the last few days spinning Frank Sinatra's WATERTOWN. I've had an LP copy of it for years (from the radio station), but never sat down and listened to it as a whole.
Wow!
This is an incredible album. It's a rather depressing concept album about the breakup of a marriage with all tracks composed by Bob Gaudio & Jake Holmes, and Frank was in the twilight of his career when he did this, so his voice cracks a bit in spots, but like Herb's vocals, it comes off as sincere.
There are no big hit singles on the album. Here's the track-list:
1. Watertown
2. Goodbye (She Quietly Says)
3. For A While
4. Michael & Peter
5. I Would Be In Love (Anyway)
6. Elizabeth
7. What A Funny Girl (You Used To Be)
8. What's Now Is Now
9. She Says
10. The Train
From years of working at a radio station that had an hour of Sinatra daily, I can recall hearing "For A While", "I Would Be In Love (Anyway)" and "Elizabeth" from time to time, but never in the context of the whole song-cycle album.
My LP was a little noisy, so I had to clean it thoroughly first to get rid of the "Rice Krispies", then spent the better part of yesterday cleaning the tracks further with Audacity. There are still some unfortunate ticks and pops that I can't seem to get rid of without destroying the sound, so given that I've become quite enamored of this album, I've sought out a CD copy that should be here in the next week or so.
At least my LP is an original-issue gatefold cover with the embossing on it. From what I understand the album didn't sell all that well and wasn't well-received critically either upon release, but there are more and more people signing on the Watertown bandwagon all the time. If you find 36 minutes or so, give this one a listen, straight through. Follow along with the lyrics if you can. You may be left teary-eyed by the end.
Harry