Strangers in the Night (album)

For the song "Strangers in the Night", see "Strangers in the Night (song)".

Strangers in the Night

General information

Artist

Frank Sinatra

Arranger

Ernie Freeman (track 1)
Nelson Riddle (tracks 2-10)

Release date(s)

May 30, 1966
1976 (LP)
October 6, 1986
January 2010 (CD)

Recorded

April 11 – May 16, 1966

Record Label

Reprise

Producer

Jimmy Bowen,
Nelson Riddle
Sonny Burke

Product code

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Track information

Discs

1

Total tracks

10 (original LP)
(13 in CD re-release)

Length

27:10 (CD: 35:21)

Singles

"Strangers in the Night"
"Summer Wind"

Reception

Allmusic

3½ / 5

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Alternate cover art

Chronology

Previous

Moonlight Sinatra

Next

That's Life

Strangers in the Night is a 1966 studio album by Frank Sinatra and was composed by Nelson Riddle. It is Sinatra's forty-ninth studio album.

The album was one of Sinatra's most well-rated and famous albums featuring such hits as "Strangers in the Night" and "Summer Wind". Sinatra obtained two Grammy awards from the success of this album and the album has been certified platinum.

On January 26, 2010, Strangers in the Night was re-released on CD featuring three bonus tracks including two live performances of "All or Nothing at All" and "Strangers in the Night" with the third track being an alternate take of "Yes Sir, That's My Baby."

History

Production

Following the instantaneous success of the single "Strangers in the Night," Sinatra counted on Sonny Burke to bring about a new album to help with the success which led to calling in Nelson Riddle to help arrange a new album. The album was recorded in Hollywood within a week's time. The two live recordings featured in the extended edition of Strangers in the Night were recorded on April 18, 1985.

• "Strangers in the Night" was recorded on April 11, 1966.
• "You're Driving Me Crazy!," "My Baby Just Cares for Me," "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," and "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" were recorded on May 11, 1966.
• "Summer Wind," "All or Nothing at All," "Call Me," "On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)," and "Downtown," were recorded on May 16, 1966.

Track information

The tracks featured in Strangers in the Night, with the exception of Ernie Freeman's arrangement of the title track, were all performed by Riddle in a way that would straddle along with the younger audiences who may pick up the album. The tracks featured a brash organ used by Bill Miller and were of a typically breezy, swinging pace. This album and its arrangements were some of the final works Sinatra and Riddle made together. They would work again on Sinatra's 1980 album Trilogy: Past Present Future on Sinatra's allotted version of "Something."

Track listing

1. "Strangers in the Night" (Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder) – 2:25
2. "Summer Wind" (Heinz Meier, Hans Bradtke, Johnny Mercer) – 2:53
3. "All or Nothing at All" (Arthur Altman, Jack Lawrence) – 3:57
4. "Call Me" (Tony Hatch) – 3:07
5. "You're Driving Me Crazy!" (Walter Donaldson) – 2:15
6. "On a Clear Day (You Can See Forever)" (Alan Jay Lerner, Burton Lane) – 3:17
7. "My Baby Just Cares for Me" (Donaldson, Gus Kahn) – 2:30
8. "Downtown" (Hatch) – 2:14
9. "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (Donaldson, Kahn) – 2:08
10. "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 2:24

    2010 CD bonus tracks:

11. "Strangers in the Night" - 2:14 live performance at the Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 1985
12. "All or Nothing at All" - 3:40 live performance at the Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan, April 18, 1985
13. "Yes Sir, That's My Baby" (Alternate Take) - 2:17

Strangers in the Night EP

Songs featured in Strangers in the Night were released in an Extended Play format on a 35mm disc sometime shortly after the album's release. Due to the disc's size, the EP could only feature four songs. Only one song was from Strangers in the Night – the title track – and the other tracks were those Sinatra had recently scored hits with during his Reprise years. Like most of Sinatra's Extended Plays, it was released in very few nations, but Strangers in the Night did get a rare Japanese release alongside its regular European release.

Extended play track listing:

1. "Strangers in the Night" (Bert Kaempfert, Charles Singleton, Eddie Snyder) – 2:25
2. "Nancy (With the Laughing Face)" (Phil Silvers, Van Heusen) – 3:37 – from Sinatra's Sinatra.
3. "September Song" (Kurt Weill, Maxwell Anderson) – 3:30 – from September of My Years.
4. "The September of My Years" (Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn) – 3:12 – from September of My Years.

Singles

The title track of the album, "Strangers in the Night," peaked #1 on the charts and was released along with Moonlight Sinatra's "Oh, You Crazy Moon." "Summer Wind," was released as a 1966 single as well, featuring a live performance of "You Make Me Feel So Young" from Sinatra at the Sands.

Reception

Allmusic found Strangers in the Night to be a very inventive and rich, being "delicate but comfortable balance between big band and pop instrumentation." Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic claimed "Sinatra's singing is relaxed, confident, and surprisingly jazzy, as he plays with the melody of "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and delivers a knockout punch with the assured, breathtaking "Summer Wind.""

Strangers in the Night, upon its release, peaked the Billboard 200 at the top spot of #1. Both singles "Strangers in the Night" and "Summer Wind" peaked #1 on the Adult Contemporary charts as well. The Billboard 100 singles chart was topped by "Strangers in the Night" in 1966, leaving "Summer Wind" at spot #25.

Awards and nominations

Strangers in the Night was awarded four Grammies in the year 1966. Eddie Brackett and Lee Herschberg, engineers on the album, won the award for "Best Engineered Recording, Non Classical."

Jimmy Bowen and Frank Sinatra took the award for "Record of the Year" for the song "Strangers in the Night." The title track also won the wards for "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)/Best Background Arrangement," given to Ernie Freeman, and "Best Male Pop Vocal Performance," given to Frank Sinatra.

Personnel

Personnel
Jimmy Bowen	Producer
Eddie Brackett	Engineer
Hans Bradtke	Composer
Sonny Burke	Producer
Stan Cornyn	Liner Notes
Ernie Freeman	Arranger
Lee Herschberg	Engineer
Henry Mayer	Composer
Johnny Mercer	Composer
Nelson Riddle	Arranger, Conductor
Frank Sinatra	Vocals
Ed Thrasher	Art Direction, Photography

Gallery

Album artwork of the European EP.

Album artwork of the Japanese EP.