Maps of Music

Sinatra & Strings (1962)

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

This was the first album Frank Sinatra recorded with arranger Don Costa, the start of a partnership that ran through Trilogy in 1980.

Key places

Recording site Hollywood (Los Angeles) — Sinatra recorded the album in Hollywood, Los Angeles, over November 20–22, 1961. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The first album Sinatra recorded with Costa
The two later worked together on Cycles (1968), My Way (1969), A Man Alone (1969), Some Nice Things I've Missed (1974) and Trilogy (1980)
The collaboration that followed made Costa a long-term partner in Sinatra's later recordings

Recorded November 20–22, 1961, in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Frank Sinatra provided vocals
Don Costa handled the arrangement and conducted the orchestra
The producer and mixing engineer enhanced the flat session tapes with reverberation, giving the sound a glossy, wet quality

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.

The album was the first that Sinatra recorded with Costa
It is Sinatra's 24th studio album and consists of standard ballads
Released January 1962, with Costa's arrangements and conducting
The record put a large orchestra and string arrangements at the center of Sinatra's sound

Charles L. Granata, in his 2003 book Sessions with Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording, wrote that the producer and mixing engineer chose to enhance the flat session tapes with just the right shower of reverberation
Granata said this resulted in an appealingly glossy wet sound
Don Costa later said the album was and always will be the hallmark of his existence
Sinatra's son, Frank Sinatra Jr., felt that the album, with its large orchestra and lush string sound, marked a new era in his father's recordings

The album was the first Sinatra recorded with Don Costa, who later worked with him on several more albums.
Granata's 2003 book described the sound as an appealingly glossy wet sound.
Sinatra's son, Frank Sinatra Jr., said the large orchestra and lush string sound marked a new era in his father's recordings.
Costa's later work with Sinatra reached as far as Trilogy in 1980.