Maps of Music

She Shot Me Down (1981)

Where the lyrics of She Shot Me Down take you, and where it was really made.

The album is widely seen as an artistic triumph, yet it was not a commercial success.

Key places

Recording site Columbia — MusicBrainz links Columbia Studios as a place where this album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording site Hollywood Sound — MusicBrainz links Wally Heider Recording Studio as a place where this album was recorded. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Recording sessions ran from 8 April 1981 to 10 September 1981
8 April: "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" and the medley of "The Gal that Got Away" and "It Never Entered My Mind"
20 July: "Thanks for the Memory", "A Long Night" and "I Loved Her"
21 July: "South - To a Warmer Place"
19 August: "Good Thing Going (Going Gone)"
10 September: "Hey Look, No Cryin'" and "Monday Morning Quarterback"
Arrangers and conductors include Gordon Jenkins, Don Costa, Nelson Riddle and Vincent Falcone, Jr

1	Good Thing Going (Going Gone) (album version)	3:55
2	Hey Look, No Cryin’ (album version)	3:02
3	Thanks for the Memory (album version)	4:27
4	A Long Night (album version)	3:46
5	Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down) (album version)	3:25
6	Monday Morning Quarterback (album version)	4:39
7	South - to A Warmer Place (album version)	3:47
8	I Loved Her (album version)	4:06
9	Medley: The Gal That Got Away/It Never Entered My Mind (album version)	5:51

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.

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.

Generally considered an artistic triumph that evokes the best of Sinatra during this stage of his career
Harks back to the triumphs of the Capitol years
A set of torch songs with soaring strings, lyrics fraught with loss and regret, and world-weary vocals
Of the chosen recordings, the only remake of Sinatra's own earlier recording is the medley of "The Gal that Got Away" and "It Never Entered My Mind"
Sinatra performed this medley in concert with much success, especially in live concerts filmed in the Dominican Republic for the Concert for the Americas

Not a commercial success
"She Shot Me Down", originally recorded 4 June 1973, circulated on bootleg records and was not officially released until 2021, on Reprise Rarities, Volume 4

The 1973 recording of "She Shot Me Down" circulated only on bootlegs until 2021, when Reprise Rarities, Volume 4 officially released it.
The medley of "The Gal that Got Away" and "It Never Entered My Mind" is the only remake of Sinatra's own earlier recording on the album.
Sinatra brought this medley into his concert set-list, where it was especially successful in the live Dominican Republic concerts filmed for the Concert for the Americas.
The album was the last one Sinatra recorded for Reprise Records, the label he founded.
The sessions were spread across several dates from 8 April to 10 September 1981.