L.A. Is My Lady Explained

L.A. Is My Lady
Type:	studio
Artist:	Frank Sinatra
Cover:	Laismylady.jpg
Released:	August 1984
Recorded:	April 13, 16–17, May 17, 1984 New York City, New York and Los Angeles, California
Genre:	Vocal jazz
Length:	36:35
Label:	Qwest, Warner Bros.
Producer:	Quincy Jones
Prev Title:	She Shot Me Down
Prev Year:	1981
Next Title:	Duets
Next Year:	1993

L.A. Is My Lady is the fifty-seventh and final solo studio album by American singer Frank Sinatra, released in 1984 and produced by Quincy Jones. While the album was Sinatra's last (excluding the Duets albums), he recorded five further songs, only four of which have been officially released.

The album came after an album of duets between Sinatra and Lena Horne, instigated by Jones, was abandoned after Horne developed vocal problems and Sinatra, committed to other engagements, couldn't wait to record. This was the first studio album Sinatra had recorded with Jones since 1964's It Might as Well Be Swing.

The sessions were filmed, with a small audience, and released as Frank Sinatra: Portrait of an Album (1985). The documentary shows Sinatra meeting Michael Jackson for the first time, with Jones affectionately calling Jackson "Smelly".

Singers Dean Martin, Donna Summer, Michael McDonald and Van Halen members David Lee Roth & Eddie Van Halen make cameo appearances in the video for "L.A. Is My Lady", which in turn made moderate rotation on the fledgling MTV Network.

Despite its title, the album was mostly recorded in New York City. The album peaked at #58 on the Billboard 200, and #8 on the Top Jazz Albums chart.

One notable departure for Sinatra was the clear inclusion of synthesizers on the title track.

Songs

• This was the first time Sinatra recorded "Mack the Knife". He re-recorded the vocal on October 30, 1986 (combined with the original orchestra track) for the album's 1986 release on compact disc.^[1] The musicians that Sinatra name-checks on "Mack the Knife" are; Quincy Jones, Randy Brecker, Michael Brecker, George Benson, Joe Newman, Bobby Darin, Frank Foster, and Lionel Hampton. The double bassist Major Holley scats over the opening bars of the song.
• Sammy Cahn wrote a new verse for "Teach Me Tonight", referencing Sinatra's many love affairs.
• Cahn also altered the lyrics of "Until the Real Thing Comes Along", with Sinatra claiming "I'd even punch out Mr. T for you".
• In the liner notes, Jones says he had a new arrangement of "Body and Soul" planned for the album, but Sinatra had nothing new to say with the song, and declined to record it. Nevertheless, Sinatra did record a vocal track for the song during the sessions, and Sinatra's vocal for "Body and Soul" from the L.A. Is My Lady sessions was added to a new arrangement by Torrie Zito and released as a bonus track on Nothing But the Best, a 2008 compilation album.

Track listing

1. "L.A. Is My Lady" (Alan and Marilyn Bergman, Quincy Jones, Peggy Lipton Jones) – 3:12
2. "The Best of Everything" (Fred Ebb, John Kander) – 2:45
3. "How Do You Keep the Music Playing?" (A. Bergman, M. Bergman, Michel Legrand) – 3:49
4. "Teach Me Tonight" (Sammy Cahn, Gene de Paul) – 3:44
5. "It's All Right with Me" (Cole Porter) – 2:39
6. "Mack the Knife" (Marc Blitzstein, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill) – 4:50
7. "Until the Real Thing Comes Along" (Mann Holiner, Alberta Nichols, Cahn, Saul Chaplin, L.E. Freeman) – 3:03
8. "Stormy Weather" (Harold Arlen, Ted Koehler) – 3:38
9. "If I Should Lose You" (Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin) – 2:36
10. "A Hundred Years from Today" (Joe Young, Ned Washington, Victor Young) – 3:04
11. "After You've Gone" (Henry Creamer, Turner Layton) – 3:15

• Quincy Jones arranged track 1.
• Torrie Zito arranged tracks 1 & 4.
• Dave Matthews & Jerry Hey arranged track 1.
• Joe Parnello arranged tracks 2 & 3.
• Frank Foster arranged tracks 6 & 11.
• Sammy Nestico arranged tracks 5, 7, 8, 9 & 10.

Personnel

• Frank Sinatra – vocals
• Harry Lookofsky – Concert Master
• Oscar Brashear – trumpet
• Randy Brecker – trumpet, flugelhorn
• Jon Faddis – trumpet
• Gary Grant – trumpet
• Joe Newman – trumpet
• Alan Rubin – trumpet, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet
• Lew Soloff – trumpet
• Snooky Young – trumpet
• Jerry Hey – trumpet, arranger
• Wayne Andre – trombone
• George Bohanon – trombone
• Urbie Green – trombone
• Lew McCreary – trombone
• Benny Powell – trombone
• Bill Reichenbach Jr. – trombone
• David Taylor – bass trombone
• Bill Watrous – trombone
• Michael Brecker – saxophone
• Buddy Collette – reeds
• Ronnie Cuber – baritone saxophone
• William Green – reeds
• Kim Hutchcroft – saxophone
• Jerome Richardson – reeds
• Larry Williams – saxophone
• George Young – saxophone
• Frank Wess – saxophone, alto saxophone
• Frank Foster – arranger, saxophone
• John Clark – french horn
• David Duke
• Peter Gordon
• Sidney Muldrow
• Jerry Peel
• Henry Sigismonti
• Toni Price – tuba
• James (Jim) Self – tuba
• Margaret Ross – harp
• Amy Sherman
• George Benson – guitar
• Tony Mottola – guitar
• Lee Ritenour – guitar
• Lionel Hampton – vibraphone
• Ray Brown – double bass
• Gene Cherico
• Bob Cranshaw – bass
• Major Holley – double bass, vocals on “Mack the Knife”
• Marcus Miller – bass
• Neil Stubenhaus – electric bass
• Leon "Ndugu" Chancler – drums
• Irving Cottler – drums
• Steve Gadd – drums
• John "J.R." Robinson – drums
• Ralph MacDonald – percussion
• Sy Johnson – piano, fender rhodes
• Joe Parnello piano, arranger, Fender rhodes
• Craig Huxley – synthesizer
• Ed Walsh - synthesizer
• Jimmy Smith – Electric Organ
• Bob James – synthesizer, electric piano, Fender rhodes
• Hilary James – synthesizer, piano, fender rhodes
• Randy Kerber – synthesizer, piano, fender rhodes

Production personnel

• Quincy Jones – arranger, conductor, producer
• Joseph d'Ambrosio – production coordination
• David Matthews – arranger
• Sam Nestico – arranger
• Torrie Zito – arranger
• David Smith - engineer
• Gus Skinas – engineer, digital engineer
• Phil Ramone – engineer, mixing
• Jimmy Santis
• Stanley Wallace
• Allen Sides – engineer, assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Steve Crimmel – engineer, associate engineer
• Mark Ettel
• Cliff Jones – engineer, associate remixing engineer
• Ollie Cotton – associate engineer
• Bradshaw Leigh – associate engineer
• Roger Nichols – digital engineer, associate engineer
• Bernie Grundman – mastering
• Lee Herschberg – digital mastering
• Don Hahn – remixing
• Elliot Scheiner – remixing, assistant engineer, mixing assistant
• Alan Berliner – photography
• Bill Ross
• Ed Thrasher
• William Warren
• Stan Cornyn – liner notes

Notes and References

1. Web site: See under "Weill" . https://web.archive.org/web/20081226194800/http://www.songsbysinatra.com/songs/composers/composers_main.html . 2008-12-26 . SongsBySinatra.com . 2008-12-26 . 2012-08-17.
2. Book: Kent, David. David Kent (historian). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated. Australian Chart Book. St Ives, N.S.W.. 1993. 0-646-11917-6. 275,276.