Maps of Music

Moonlight Sinatra (1966)

Where the lyrics of Moonlight Sinatra take you, and where it was really made.

This album's title borrows from a Beethoven sonata, and the nickname behind it came from Jimmy Durante.

Key places

Recorded at United Recording 'A' (1966)

Recording site Ocean Way Recording — The album's recording location is listed as United Recording 'A' in Hollywood, Los Angeles, as the source gives it. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Moonlight Sinatra is a studio album by the American singer Frank Sinatra, released in March 1966
• All of the tracks are centered on the Moon
• Nelson Riddle and his orchestra arranged and conducted every track
• The album marks Sinatra's penultimate collaboration with Riddle

Background

• The title refers to Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
• Jimmy Durante's nickname for Frank was 'Moonlight Sinatra'
• The nickname was noted in a television interview with Edward R. Murrow, filmed at Sinatra's new home
• Riddle's last collaboration with Sinatra was Strangers In the Night, recorded only months later

Recording

• The album was recorded at United Recording 'A' in Hollywood, Los Angeles
• The ten tracks are standards whose titles or lyrics refer to the Moon
• Moon Love is adapted from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Second Movement
• Personnel: Frank Sinatra on vocals, Nelson Riddle as arranger and conductor
• Bill Miller on piano and Al Viola on guitar
• Ralph Pena and Eddie Gilbert on bass, Irving Cottler on drums

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Born December 12, 1915 in Hoboken, New Jersey, to Italian immigrants.
• Began singing professionally as a teenager with the Hoboken Four, winning Major Bowes Amateur Hour.
• Joined Harry James's band in 1939, then Tommy Dorsey's band, before going solo in 1942.

Career

• Signed with Columbia Records in 1943 and became a major star of the bobby-soxer era.
• Signed with Capitol Records in 1953; collaborated with arranger Nelson Riddle on albums such as In the Wee Small Hours and Songs for Swingin' Lovers!.
• Founded Reprise Records in 1960, releasing albums including September of My Years and the hit single "My Way".
• Won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for From Here to Eternity (1953).
• Estimated to have sold around 150 million records worldwide.
• Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1985 and the Congressional Gold Medal in 1997.
• Died May 14, 1998 in Los Angeles.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Moonlight Sinatra was released in March 1966
• Every track is centered on the Moon, and the album's sound is shaped by the arrangements
• Nelson Riddle and his orchestra handled both the arranging and the conducting for all the tracks
• The album is Sinatra's penultimate collaboration with Riddle
• Riddle's final work with Sinatra was Strangers In the Night, recorded only months after this album
• The track list has ten songs, among them Moonlight Becomes You, Moon Song, Moonlight Serenade and Reaching for the Moon
• Further tracks are I Wished on the Moon, Oh, You Crazy Moon, The Moon Got in My Eyes, Moonlight Mood, Moon Love and The Moon Was Yellow
• Moon Love is credited to Mack David and André Kostelanetz and adapted from Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony, Second Movement
• Personnel is small: Frank Sinatra on vocals, Nelson Riddle on arranging and conducting
• Bill Miller plays piano and Al Viola plays guitar
• Ralph Pena and Eddie Gilbert play bass, and Irving Cottler plays drums
• The title and the arrangement approach point back to the Beethoven piece, which the album name borrows from

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title is a reference to Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata
• Jimmy Durante's nickname for Frank was 'Moonlight Sinatra'
• That nickname came up in a television interview with Edward R. Murrow, filmed at Sinatra's new home
• Moon Love is adapted from a movement of Tchaikovsky's Fifth Symphony
• The album was Sinatra's penultimate work with Nelson Riddle

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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