Frank Sinatra: Watertown CD Track Listing

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Frank Sinatra Watertown (1969)
Originally Released 1969\nCD Edition Released July 1994\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Watertown is Frank Sinatra's most ambitious concept album, as well as his most difficult record. Not only does it tell a full-fledged story, it is his most explicit attempt at rock-oriented pop. Since the main composer of Watertown is Bob Gaudio, the author of the Four Seasons' hits "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," "Walk Like a Man," and "Big Girls Don't Cry," that doesn't come as a surprise. With Jake Holmes, Gaudio created a song cycle concerning a middle-aged, small-town man whose wife had left him with the kids. Constructed as a series of brief lyrical snapshots that read like letters or soliloquies, the culminating effect of the songs is an atmosphere of loneliness, but it is a loneliness without much hope or romance -- it is the sound of a broken man. Producer Charles Calello arranged musical backdrops that conveyed the despair of the lyrics. Weaving together prominent electric guitars, keyboards, drum kits, and light strings, Calello uses pop/rock instrumentations and production techniques, but that doesn't prevent Sinatra from warming to the material. In fact, he turns in a wonderful performance, drawing out every emotion from the lyrics, giving the album's character depth. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nHeartbreaking and Gorgeous, April 1, 2005\nReviewer: Jon Holcombe\nThe premise and songs on Watertown will affect anyone who has been through a divorce. Sinatra's imperfect voice makes his performance all the more moving. He conveys pain, regret, longing and sadness with an understated but, stark, haunting beauty. \n\nI cannot believe anyone could listen to this album all the way through and not recognize the brilliance of this great artist. Ironically, many people associate Sinatra of the late 60's-early 70's with his finger snapping, awkward Beatle covers. \n\nHis performance and the Gaudio/Holmes songs are an unappreciated masterpiece of late 60's pop.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nUnhearalded Masterwork, March 25, 2005\nReviewer: Greg Frediani (San Mateo, CA)\nAlthough "Watertown" is rarely mentioned in the lists of great Sinatra albums, and none of it's songs are part of any of the compilations released throughout the years, make no mistake - this album is a masterpiece, and begs to be listened to en toto. Sinatra shines in humility as a modest hard-working husband living in a small rural town, who's wife up and leaves her life as dutiful wife and mother. The songs tell the story in brilliant fashion and Sinatra shows his genious in interpreting them. \n\nThere are also great liner notes by the writers of the album, and the story behind first approaching Sinatra with the project. This is a great album.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nAn oddball project - but much more than a curiosity, October 7, 2004\nReviewer: Daniel Bergman (Sweden)\nMy grandmother loved Sinatra. As a kid, I would watch various TV shows where he'd be performing "New York, New York" or "My Way" (Just those two songs. Never any others. Never.) and grandma would be watching with sparkling eyes as Frankie Boy added yet another vibrato on "way". \n\nSince then, I thought that I'd always see him as Mr. Light Entertainment. But that was before I'd heard "Watertown". Oh my God. \n\nIt should be made clear that "Watertown" differs greatly from pretty much anything else in Sinatra's catalogue, save for "Cycles" which was released the year before. Sinatra would never again move into pop territories quite the way he did here. It helps to know that all of the songs were composed and arranged by Bob Gaudio (previously a member of The Four Seasons), which explains the nature of the album. Scott Walker used to cut records just like this one - string-heavy baroque pop with deep, crooning vocals. \n\nChances are that neither mom or grandma, both pretty content with watching Ol' Blue Eyes burst into another shmaltzy version of "My Way", will find any interest in this heavily orchestrated concept album about a man who sees his wife and kids abandon him for the vanity of the big city. On the other hand, your average art school student who's read his Kerouac is not very likely to be checking out "Songs For Swingin' Lovers" any day soon. \n\nBut he'd love "Watertown", and so do I. Where should I start? There is not one throwaway track on the album. The exquisite "I Would Be In Love (Anyway)", the open lament to his wife, "Elizabeth" and the absolutely heartbreaking "The Train", where he thinks his wife and kids are coming home again to sort things out but finds himself waiting on the platform in vain - they are all miniature masterpieces and Sinatra delivers them as convincingly as could. \n\nThe man himself famously despised pop music, and his remarks of "Something" as being the best Lennon/McCartney song showed his disinterest in the genre. Alas, he was never very fond of "Watertown" once it was released. But who cares? Time has proved him wrong. Grandma, I surrender - My God, he sure could sing.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nQuiet masterpiece, August 26, 2004\nReviewer: James Peter Walsh (roseburg, oregon United States)\nI have never understood why this album gets so many bad reviews. It seems that none of the critics like it. \nI have been listening to it since its release, which is a long time ,and I have always found it to be one of Sinatras best from a vocal standpoint. His voice is quiet when it needs to be and the overall feel of the album is one of distinct intimacy. Only he could do this. \nThere have been embarrassing Sinatra disasters and the Rod McKuen album is a prime example. Except for a few songs it was self indulgence taken to the extreme and I don't know how he could have undertaken such a folly. \nNot so with Watertown. I am still listening to it after all these years and I wish more people would give it the credit it deserves. \n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nIt's Sinatra, but it ain't THAT good., August 17, 2004\nReviewer: J. Aagaard "pop musicology" (Wisconsin)\nTough call on this one. I'm glad Sinatra was willing to experiment, he could certainly get away with stuff no other singer could; and the overall experimental "concept" of this album (more than adequately described in numerous other reviews) is noteworthy. \n\nI will admit that on repeated listenings it grabbed me a little more than at first, certainly the lyrics are first rate, the connection from one song to the next is admirable, and one can easily see how Sinatra was drawn to the work. \n\nThe problem is with the actual music. It's just not that good, and often times trite. The arrangements/orchestrations are equally to blame. It's not that I want a Billy May swing chart; the traditional fare by him or Riddle would not have been right for this project. The music is simply not quality stuff, and all too often it's distracting. \n\nI suspect that an additional problem was that Sinatra was talked into doing his part AFTER the instrumental tracks were recorded. I know that's the general practice today, but that doesn't make it a good one. Sinatra had proved for over 20 years that he was "part of the orchestra", he would react and adapt as it all went down at the same time. There are time's here where he just seems stilted. \n\nI'm glad he was willing to experiment, he just needed to do it with better material.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nClassic!!, January 22, 2003\nReviewer: A music fan\nIf you're not the kind of person that can truly LISTEN to a CD from start to finish without interruption...please DO NOT buy this CD. This CD is for serious music listeners because it's from the most serious singer that has ever lived. Read the liner notes first, put the kids to bed, turn down the lights, pour a little wine, or a little Jack Daniels, and listen to one of the greatest CD's that Sinatra ever made. This is not New York, New York or Summer wind. Frank was one of the first artists to do "concept albums" in the sense that an album had a particular "feel" to it, "Only the Lonely" is probably the best example. But "Watertown" tells a story, start to finish, connecting all the dots. Heartbreak WITHOUT the romance, and no one can tell that story better than Frank Sinatra. When I've had breakups with girlfriends, this album has gotten me through them. Sometimes you need to listen to the "Master" sing about pain to help put your pain in perspective. This is that CD!\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWeak Material; Sinatra miscast, October 3, 2002\nReviewer: Vincent Reda (Albany, NY)\nThis is an album with two passable songs, "Goodbye" and "I Would be in Love Anyway." Most of the other tunes range from weak to insipid. Although Sinatra sings all the material with sensitivity and intuitiveness, the vocal portrayal of him as a man who has lived his entire life in a small town and worked for the Sante Fe railroad is unconvincing. The understated lyrical feel of Jake Holmes's lyrics is undercut by the overblown nature of both Bob Gaudio's melodies and Charles Callelo's arrangements.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nWatertown and Ozu's Tokyo Story, February 14, 2002\nReviewer: A music fan\nThe phrase "life is disappointing" comes from Ozu's 'Tokyo Story," and partially summarizes its plot in a sentence. It is one of the saddest yet true to life movies ever made. [Also one of the best movies ever made.] This album, in part, makes the same point, is just as sad, and just as real. Like Ozu's movie, which broke the boundaries and assumptions of what a movie plot could be, this album also stretches the boundaries of our concept and assumptions about what an album should be. It is inexplicable to me that this album is not better known and revered. The only song I did not like on it was Lady Day. Its a great song by itself, but breaks the mood and impact of the ending from the prior song. As usual, Sinatra's instincts were right on target as he decided to delete it from the album when originally released as an LP. Fortunately, with CDs we can just program that track out of the sequence. My favorite tracks are "Goodbye" - wherein the man's wife calmly leaves him while they are eating pie, and "Michael and Peter" - the latter for reasons already stated by prior reviewers. But to be really appreciated, the album must be listened to as a whole - and one must be paying attention; this is not background music.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nSinatra's 'Sgt. Pepper', July 18, 2001\nReviewer: "franksoprano" (Tamarac, Fl USA)\nIn March of 1970 Sinatra issued his first album of original material written especially for him and hardly anyone noticed. "Watertown" sold poorly (only getting to 101 on the Billboard charts) and dissapeared quickly. Warner Brothers reissued "Watertown" on CD in 1994, but that too is now out of print.\n\nUnfortunate.\n\n"Watertown" remains to me one of the all time great (and underrated) Sinatra albums. \nWritten by Bob Gaudio (of 4 Seasons fame) and Jake Holmes, "Watertown's" seamless collection of songs tells the everyday story of a small town railroad worker whose wife leaves him and their two kids to make a life for herself in the big city.\n\nIt's hard to put into words the pain that Sinatra's superb singing and phrasing evoke in this album. For example in "Michael and Peter," a song written in letter form, from husband to wife ,Sinatra sings the line\n\n"John Henry came to cut the lawn again he asked me 'where you'd gone' Can't tell you all the times he's been told-- But he's so old..."\n\nAnd Sinatra's voice almost cracks with anguish.\n\nTo the general public "Watertwon" is unknown. To Sinatra afficiandos, it remains a rare work of art and in many ways the bleakest album of Sinatra's career (even considering "Only The Lonely"). I notice that Amazon is selling a British import issue of "Watertown." Do yourself a favor, order it and give yourself a musical experience.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nwatertown, April 21, 2000\nReviewer: steve baldwin (Birmingham, AL)\nI was an AOR disc jockey in Detroit when this album was first released. It was a demo sent to the station that no one had any interest in even previewing. My interest stemmed from the fact that much of the album was written and arranged by Bob Gaudio from the 4 Seasons. This piece of work is a beautiful story set to music, not a selection of songs with no continuity. It is unique and perhaps my favorite album. I am looking for the CD since my vinyl copy was destroyed. I hope someone can help. I do understand however, that you might not want to part with it. Please e-mail me with info on where I might find a copy.\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\n"Watertown" gets a double 5 star rating., June 3, 1999\nReviewer: A music fan\nThis is a pop music masterpiece that deserves a place next to classic pop rock recordings--King's "Tapestry", the Beatles "Sgt. Pepper", Gaye's "What's Going On". Like Gaye's "Here My Dear", the pop music audience was not all enthused by "Watertown" with a show of purchase when it originally was released, but also like "Here My Dear", time has served it well. Sinatra here is in excellent voice. The orchestrations--moreso a collaborative effort of sorts by Bob Gaudio and Charles Calello of the Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons production team--are simply brilliant. The lyrics and melodies, from Gaudio and high-hattist Jake Holmes, are so great that it's hard not to get a little emotional when in "Michael and Peter" Frank relates "you'd never believe how much they're growing" in a letter to the estranged partner. Or feel the sadness in "there is no great big ending, no tempest in the tea" during the casual break-up in "Goodbye.." The CD version has the cut "Lady Day", which was not in the original vinyl edition. This helps make "Watertown" a must-have for music lovers, Sinatra lovers, and lover lovers. Get it from Amazon.com, now.\n\nHalf.com Details \nProducer: Bob Gaudio \n\nAlbum Notes\nRecorded at Columbia Studios, New York. Includes liner notes by Ed O'Brien.\n\nAll songs written by Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes.\n\nSince Sinatra was pretty much the originator of the concept album, it was only natural that during a time when rock bands were acting like they invented the idea, he should remind everyone just who started the conceptual ball rolling. Unlike his early concept albums, though, which collected similarly-themed songs by different writers, WATERTOWN depended exclusively upon the songwriting team of Bob Gaudio and Jake Holmes. It's one of Sinatra's rawest, most immediate recorded performances, as he puts his all into telling the tale of a broken family from the point of view of a brokenhearted man (a character he's played more than a few times, both in art and in life). The sophisticated arrangements make subtle use of the rock world's innovations, making this a thoroughly contemporary album, striking in its originality and its unsentimental worldview.
This misc cd contains 11 tracks and runs 36min 33sec.
Freedb: 85088f0b
Buy: from Amazon.com

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