Today in Music (1958): Frank Sinatra Sings for Only the Lonely

Sings for Only the Lonely Frank Sinatra

Released: September 8, 1958 Recorded: date Charted: September 29, 1958 Peak: 15 US, 5 UK, -- CN, -- AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 0.5 US, 2.57 EAS Genre: traditional pop/vocal jazz

Tracks: Only the Lonely Angel Eyes What’s New? It’s a Lonesome Old Town Willow Weep for Me Goodbye Blues in the Night (My Mama Done Tol' Me) Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry Ebb Tide Spring Is Here Gone with the Wind One for My Baby (and One More for the Road) Total Running Time: 54:28

Rating: 4.437 out of 5.00 (average of 16 ratings) Quotable: “Sinatra’s definitive ballad collection.” – Tom Moon 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die Awards: (Click on award to learn more).

About the Album: “The sad songs come one after another on this album, Sinatra’s definitive ballad collection.” TM “One or two slow weepers is not enough for him. He needs every one of these songs to even begin to address the wonder of romance and the endlessness of its disappointments.” TM “It’s a heartbreaking record, the ideal late-night album.” AM “Only the Lonely follows the same formula as his previous down albums, but the tone is considerably bleaker and more desperate.” AM The “world’s greatest saloon singer is in his element, presiding over a kind of barstool catharsis that spreads the hurt around.” TM He plays the part of “a wounded Everyman…who lurk[s] in the lounge nursing their disappointment, bending the ear of the barkeep, seeking consolation in the woozy hues of jazz and cocktails.” TM “Originally, Frank Sinatra had planned to record Only the Lonely with Gordon Jenkins, who had arranged his previous all-ballads album, Where Are You. Jenkins was unavailable at the time of the sessions, which led Sinatra back to his original arranger at Capitol, Nelson Riddle.” AM “Riddle used a larger orchestra for the album than he had in the past, which lent the album a stately, nearly classical atmosphere.” AM “Following one chorus of Willow Weep for Me that catches Sinatra at what sounds like a rock-bottom low point, arranger Nelson Riddle begins the last stanza with a woeful descending string line that plunges the mood deeper into despair. The moment is so heavy you may find yourself actually relieved when the song ends.” TM This “set of brooding saloon songs [is] highlighted by two of Sinatra’s tour de forces – Angel Eyes and One for My Baby.” AM The collection also includes “grand rushes of futile hope (What’s New), self-pitying realizations (Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry), and moments of delicious, carefully wrought bittersweetness (Spring Is Here).” TM Notes: A 1987 reissue added the songs “Sleep Warm” and “Where or When.”

Reviews: AM AllMusic.com review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine TM Tom Moon (2008). 1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Workman Publishing Company, Inc.: New York, NY. Pages 707-8. Other Related DMDB Pages: First posted 4/13/2008; last updated 3/2/2026.