Songs for Young Lovers

Songs for Young Lovers is the fifth Studio Album by Frank Sinatra, his first released for Capitol Records. It was released as a 10" LP as a set of eight songs.

The tracks were conducted by Nelson Riddle, the sessions for this album and the preceding singles ("I've Got the World on a String" and "From Here to Eternity") initiating a long-standing collaboration between the arranger and singer that would continue for the next twenty years. All the arrangements, except for Riddle's own "Like Someone in Love", were by Sinatra's uptempo man from his days at Columbia Records, George Siravo, whose charts Sinatra had continued to use in recent club appearances.

According to www.jamesdean.com, it was the favorite album of James Dean.

Songs For Young Lovers followed a formula similar to Sinatra's previous releases for Columbia - rather than compiling a potentially inconsistent set of former hits, a set of newly recorded songs would be arranged around a specific theme or concept. This time around, the singer had more artistic freedom, and producer Voyle Gilmore was supportive of the album's consistent format. In addition, the state-of-the-art Capitol studios were capable of producing a more detailed sound, which gave Riddle more freedom in his arrangements and orchestrations. The album was re-released in 1960, combined with Swing Easy!, as a 12 inch LP with four extra songs added - "Someone To Watch Over Me", "My One And Only Love", "It Worries Me", and "I Can Read Between the Lines".

In 2002, it was one of 50 recordings chosen that year by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Songs For Young Lovers is currently available on compact disc as a double album with Swing Easy!, also initially released in the ten-inch format and consisting of eight songs. This release, however, does not include the four bonus tracks included on the similar 1960 LP release.

Track listing

1. "My Funny Valentine" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:31
2. "The Girl Next Door" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) – 2:38
3. "A Foggy Day" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:39
4. "Like Someone in Love" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) – 3:10
5. "I Get a Kick Out of You" (Cole Porter) – 2:55
6. "Little Girl Blue" (Rodgers, Hart) – 2:54
7. "They Can't Take That Away from Me" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 1:58
8. "Violets for Your Furs" (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 3:05

Expanded CD track listing

1. "The Girl Next Door" (Ralph Blane, Hugh Martin) – 2:38
2. "They Can't Take That Away from Me" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 1:58
3. "Violets for Your Furs" (Tom Adair, Matt Dennis) – 3:05
4. "Someone to Watch Over Me" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:56
5. "My One and Only Love" (Guy Wood, Robert Mellin) – 3:11
6. "Little Girl Blue" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:54
7. "Like Someone in Love" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Johnny Burke) – 3:10
8. "A Foggy Day" (George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin) – 2:39
9. "It Worries Me" (Bix Reichner, Reichel Schulz, Carl Sigman) - 2:52
10. "I Can Read Between The Lines" (David Franklin, Ramon Getzov) - 2:47
11. "I Get a Kick Out of You" (Cole Porter) – 2:55
12. "My Funny Valentine" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:31

Selected personnel

• Frank Sinatra – vocals
• Nelson Riddle – conductor
• George Siravo – arranger (for all songs except "Like Someone in Love")

References