Swingin Affair

Frank Sinatra | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 23, 1996)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Indent Series
• ASIN: B000005JNL
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,558 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Night and Day

2. I Wish I Were in Love Again

3. I Got Plenty O' Nuttin'

4. I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plans

5. Nice Work If You Can Get It

6. Stars Fell on Alabama

7. No One Ever Tells You

8. I Won't Dance

9. Lonesome Road

10. At Long Last Love

11. You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To

12. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)

13. From This Moment On

14. If I Had You

15. Oh! Look at Me Now

16. The Lady Is a Tramp [*]

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

This is simply one of the great American recordings. In the early '50s, Frank Sinatra was a has-been. The Tommy Dorsey/Harry James crooner had caused riots in Times Square in 1944, but Columbia fired him in 1952. Capitol signed him to a contract requiring him to pay for his own sessions. Meanwhile, arranger Nelson Riddle was working at Capitol; he had previously written charts for Nat Cole, including the classic "Mona Lisa." He and Sinatra would fit together like ham in a glove, or however the saying goes: Nelson was the velvet glove, and Frank was the prosciutto. Most critics agree that Sinatra's Capitol recordings with Riddle are among his best. A Swingin' Affair, one of the most upbeat and lighthearted Sinatra collections, presents 13 unsurpassable standards from the likes of Porter, the Gershwins, Kern, and Ellington. --Stanley Booth

Product Description

Digipak edition of this 1957 album from the legendary crooner. Orchestra conducted by Nelson Riddle. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sinatra/Riddle at their best, August 23, 2000

By 

bruce horner - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Swingin' Affair! (Audio CD)

This is one of the very best, one of those Ur-Sinatra masterpieces, in Gary Giddins' phrase. Every bit as good as Songs For Swingin' Lovers and even more exuberant, from the flag-waiving "Night and Day" to an almost delirious "Oh! Look At Me Now." There's a bonus track stuck on the end, "The Lady Is A Tramp," more appropriate than usual in that it was recorded during the Swingin' Affair sessions but was left off the album at the last minute for inclusion in the soundtrack to Pal Joey. It's nice to hear it, but you may want to make a tape with "Tramp" somewhere in the middle because "Oh! Look At Me Now" is the perfect ending to an album so well programed it seems almost like a suite. The few ballads on this album don't dampen the celebratory atmosphere one whit; in each case they build and build in loudness and swing as they gon on, as if Sinatra just can't contain himself. Even "I Got It Bad and That Ain't Good" does this, though it goes quiet again at the end. Make no mistake, the word "swingin'" is in the title for a very good reason.

I think Nelson Riddle's arranements reached a peak of color, taste, and cleverness here. He had perfected and seemed to revel in his patented subtle fade-in ---- listen to the beginnings of "Lonesome Road," "From This Moment On," "You'd Be So Nice to come Home To," and "Oh! Look At Me Now" to see what I mean. If you want to see how good Riddle was, compare this album to almost any other Sinatra Capitol record arranged by Billy May or Gordon Jenkins. You'll miss Riddle.

Finally, so many of the Sinatra/Riddle Capitols of this period were not only astonishingly high quality in song selection, sequencing, arranging, and execution, but were amazingly generous in sheer number of songs. Fifteen on Affair as well as Swingin' Lovers, SIXTEEN on the all-ballad In the Wee Small Hours. Back then, the average for most LP's was ten or eleven songs, twelve tops. Also, the new 20-bit remastered edition recently released---it's supposed to be a sonic mess. Get the older CD or a vinyl import.

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Frank Swings!, July 29, 2000

By 

Candace Scott (Lake Arrowhead, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Swingin' Affair! (Audio CD)

Five stars isn't sufficient for an album that contains "Stars Fell on Alabama," "I Won't Dance" and "I Wish I Were in Love Again," thre of the great vocal tracks ever sung by Sinatra. Many consider this album one of Sinatra's greatest up-tempo albums and Nelson Riddle's arrangements are nothing short of electric. This is an album where you can put it on, hit play and never fast forward, all the songs are eminently Sinatraesque and every single arrangement has a touch of genius.

Frank's phrasing is (as always at this stage of his career) letter perfect. Listen to "At Long Last Love..." never a particular hit, Frank rarely sang it live, but who cares? It's immortalized here, forever.

If you love Sinatra, you will already have had this on vinyl and cassette (maybe even eight track). If you're new to Frank, don't hesitate one moment: grab it and listen to it for the rest of your life.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars AN ABSOLUTE MUST-HAVE!, March 2, 2003

By 

The Greatest (Nowhere Land) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Swingin' Affair! (Audio CD)

Where to begin. Many people put Swingin' Lovers ahead of this as his best, but I don't this because the songs are more varied in tempo and emotion. Nelson Riddle's arrangements are also in top form on this release. Another reason I love this album is it's superior song selection. Every song is a classic standard from the best writers (i.e. Porter, Rodgers/Hart, Gershwin, etc.) They are (rated from 1-10, 10 being the best:

1. Night and Day- exuberant and powerful. evrything an opener should be. **10**

2. I Wish I Were in Love Again- a lite swinger, the best on the disc. Best lyrics I've ever heard. **10**

3. I Got Plenty of Nothin'- solid. **10**

4. I Guess I'll Have to Change...- Another great lyric (too bad he didn't do the verse). Really picks up at the end. **10**

5. Nice Work...- The Basie version can't compare. Great song to play on piano, by the way. **10**

6. Stars Fell on Alabama- Listen for Sinatra's lyrical embellishments toward the end. Starts at an almost ballad tempo. **10**

7. No One Ever Tells You- EXTREMELY underrated blues number. **10**

8. I Won't Dance- a Sinatra classic. **10*

9. Lonesome Road- the album's low point. Too gospel-ish for FS. One to skip. **7.5**

10. At Long Last Love- Luckily the low point doesn't last. Another amazing song. **10**

11. I Got It Bad...- Starts off as ballad, but picks up. **9**

12. You'd Be So Nice...- Not the greatest arrangement on the disc, but works just fine. Another Porter lyrical masterpiece. **10**

13. From This Moment On- Really strong finish to this song. **10**

14. If I Had You- Not my favorite songever written, but by this team, they can't really go wrong. **9.5**

15. Oh! Look at Me Now- Great closing song. Suave, clever lyrics, and Riddle's backing beats the Dorsey version by a mile. **10**

16. Lady Is A Tramp- Quality bonus track, but tepid compared to later version on 'the Sands' album. **9.5**

There you have it. Waste no time in making your purchase.